18 Watts?

[BNS]

I love my VM but it really does sound best when it is turned up and sometimes it can be a bit too much for certain venues. I was thinking about picking up an 18 - 22 watt combo but I don't have much experience with these. I have seen posts on the Marshall 1974x and plan to try one soon. Has anyone tried the 65 Amps London combo? I play mostly blues/rock and from all I've read and seen it seems like a good fit, although I haven't found one to test yet (and yes it's very expensive so don't tell my wife). Any other suggestions? Much appreciated.

[bluesbrother]

Hi,
The VM can give me any sound at any volume .At lower volumes i use a clean booster which works really
good for me.The VM is compared to other amps not very loud .A voxac30cc2 in its 22 watts setting (other is
36 watts) would blow this 50 watt amp with 4x12 totally away. The 1974X is a non-mastervolume amp that
really needs to be turnedup. Do not make the mistake to think this amp or a voxac15 is not loud. They get there drive
by pushing the powertubes hard.Not all lowwatage amps are loud though i tried a 15 watt fender champ XD and that is
volumewise a joke...
The other amp , the 65 london, well almost all the clips(250) from proguitarshopdemos on you tube are done with
this amp. This will give you something to do...hahaha... The 1974X,voxac15h1tv,65 london are reviewed too and pretty
good if i might say so.

PS, i bought a 1974X and will receive it by the end of this week.
I will make a review of it on this forum.
I bought it for a certain bluestone and the portability but to tell you the truth because of the non-mastervolume
i fear it is gonna be much louder than i want it to be.....we'll see :

[bluesbrother]

Oh Yeah,
There is also a site for lowwatage small tube amps or self built amps!
18 watt community center.Sometimes a little too technical for me but
alot can be learnt on this site, especially for me because i am not very
technical.I think a very good site. I only like to read it but not to post. :shock:
Enjoy,
Bluesbrother.

[BNS]

Hi,
The VM can give me any sound at any volume .At lower volumes i use a clean booster which works really
good for me.The VM is compared to other amps not very loud .A voxac30cc2 in its 22 watts setting (other is
36 watts) would blow this 50 watt amp with 4x12 totally away. The 1974X is a non-mastervolume amp that
really needs to be turnedup. Do not make the mistake to think this amp or a voxac15 is not loud. They get there drive
by pushing the powertubes hard.Not all lowwatage amps are loud though i tried a 15 watt fender champ XD and that is
volumewise a joke...
The other amp , the 65 london, well almost all the clips(250) from proguitarshopdemos on you tube are done with
this amp. This will give you something to do...hahaha... The 1974X,voxac15h1tv,65 london are reviewed too and pretty
good if i might say so.

PS, i bought a 1974X and will receive it by the end of this week.
I will make a review of it on this forum.
I bought it for a certain bluestone and the portability but to tell you the truth because of the non-mastervolume
i fear it is gonna be much louder than i want it to be.....we'll see :

Thanks Bluesbrother. I've actually got the Vox AC30CC2x (the other guitarist in the band uses it) and I agree it can be louder than my 50W VM and 4x12. It's also heavy as hell. Ironically, that is one reason I got the VM, to have a separate cabinet and head so I wouldn't kill my back dragging the Vox all over town. Now I've come full circle. There's nothing like finding an excuse to buy a new amp!

One issue as you mentioned is portability and another is stage optics. That is, if I'm in a small club with a small stage sometimes sound guys get freaked out when you bring in a head and a 4x12 cabinet, particularly if there is more than 1 band playing (we play a lot of charity fundraisers with multiple bands). For those shows a smaller combo with great tone would be great. Also for bringing to friends' basements, etc. I've checked out the reviews on the London and they seem great, but any first hand knowledge would be appreciated. I note that the London is also not a master volume so I wonder if that will be a problem or if it also sounds good at lower volumes.

[bluesbrother]

Hi,
I sold the vox for being too loud and too heavy.I am a big guy but going up the stairs with
this amp is not funny. One time i almost could not hold it .I sold it with pain in my heart because
it has a very good tone, not very versatile,i spend a fortune on pedals.
I know it is not done to show up with a 4x12 on a bluesgig, but i deal very easy with this :
f*ck them .I am getting older (43) so i wanted a 1x12 for my own ease.Never take notice of
people saying you are overpowered, I rather be overpowered than underpowered.
Just my thoughts,good luck
bluesbrother.

[bluesbrother]

Hi BNS,
I can tell you the 1974X is not a loud amp at all.
I can dime it in the high input and when i boost it with 16DB its like VM higain
territory. The sound stays beautiful and clear.The VM gets most of its distortion
from the preamp,the 1974X from the poweramp.This might well be a very good
amp for recording. It does not have as much clean headroom as the VM but it
can be cranked very easily at home.The sound out of this 1x12 is amazing and
sounds bigger to me than the vm combo i have had .At home or small bars this
amp can not be beat.I love it!!!. I discovered the preamp is pretty clean (distortion
from poweramp) and it reacted very good on all my effects in front of the amp and
even a soundprocessor sounds extremely good through it.I have had a ENGL amp that
get all its distortion and drive from the preamp and therefore it liked nothing in front of
the amp except a wah.Before this i bought a clone: the crate V18 2-12, that was a piece
of shit and comes nowhere near the soundquality of this amp.
If you want portability and not too loud when cranked this may suits your needs...... :D

[surfnorthwest]

IMO the two best sounding amps at 22 watts or less are the

Fender Deluxe Reverb


Orange Tiny Terror

[bluesbrother]

Hi Surf,
The deluxe reverb was the amp i was going to get.
But this one was so cheap from the UK to Holland , i could not
resist.I think both these amps also sound so good for a 1x12
because the cab is bigger than most 1x12.In the future i plan to get the
the deluxe reverb also and run them in a 2 amp setup.
The voxac15h1TV is also breathtaking .( G.A.S...???)
Considering what my wife spends when she goes shopping this is peanuts,
maybe i go to the doctor with her and ask if they can sew that big hole in her hand..... haha
just kiddin, besides that she and my little girl are the light in my live.
:D All the best,
Bluesbrother.

[surfnorthwest]

There is always time to buy other amps, and the Deluxe Reverb is a gem in any amp collection. You are a lucky man that your wife is understanding about buying gear, mine just shakes her head and thinks I have some mental illness. Doesn't understand why I need two stacks, two 100 watt heads and that Fender in my studio. I fact you should have seen her face when the fright truck dropped of my new 88 key KORG....

[BNS]

Thanks for all the great responses. It was a very tough decision, but the process of researching and learning about all the amps was a blast (and very time consuming).

In the end, I went with a 65 Amps "London" 18 watt head, which I got slightly used at a price I couldn't turn down. I paired it with a 2x12 cabinet by Port City (relatively new product, gets rave reviews, reasonably priced) with 1 Vintage 30 and 1 G12H30. That should be a nice portable setup for smaller gigs. Gear should arrive on Wednesday, so naturally I will be working from home that day! I will be interested to see how the Port City cab pairs with the VM as well.

I am still very interested in a 1974x and of course everyone needs a Fender amp (the Deluxe Reverb sounds sweet) so my gear collection days appear not be over. The only question is will I run out of room in the house before my wife runs out of patience? Or should I just get a bigger house?

[surfnorthwest]

I run out of room in the house before my wife runs out of patience? Or should I just get a bigger house?

You could kick your wife out of the house, most women have a shoe collection that would make more than enough room for more amps :mrgreen:

[bluesbrother]

Believe it or not my wife has 200 pairs of shoes!!

I like my independency.I started my own bussiness 20 years ago.
I do not mind to work really hard 7 days a week .
I pay everything and everybody so nobody can tell me what to do.
The only relaxation i got is when i got home and play the blues....
She sees it makes me happy , and do not complain when i play a
little louder.The neighbours do : i told them .if you got a problem:
call the cops.They however do not have the guts to do this.
I measured the Db and i stay within that the tollarance and i do not play after
22.00 oclock.I think they got nothing better to do

[BNS]

The 65 Amps London arrived yesterday - head and Port City 2x12 cab (Vintage 30 and G12H30). Played it for about an hour with the Strat and it was fanatastic. Then I played the Les Paul for only about 10 minutes (wife and kids were going deaf) and was in complete amazement. That amp and the Les Paul were made for each other.

It has a Vox AC 15 based circuit and a vintage 18 watt Marshall based circuit, in 2 different channels. Both are obviously voiced differently and really give you many tonal options. The Marshall side has a fantastic, rich, deep tremolo. The Vox side has a "colour" feature that really lets you dial in a good sound for whatever guitar you are using. What is truly special about the amp is how articulate it is. Even my wife commented on how "clean" it sounded, although it was in full breakup mode. Very impressive amp, not a bad sound to be had anywhere, although like the VM it really exposes the flaws in my playing. It also sounds very good when the volume is less than full and takes pedals extremely well.

The Port City cabinet was also as advertised, full of low end even though it was only a 2x12. I tried it with the VM as well. At first I heard a strange fizzing sound - wasn't sure if it was coming from the speakers or the head. I checked the impedance and both were set to 8 ohms, so I don't know what the issue was. I didn't play it for too long because I got nervous, but I thought it also brought out the best in the VM.

If there is an issue with the London amp it is that the channels are not switchable. So I plan to use an A/B box to switch. I normally use the A/B box to switch between guitars into an amp when at a gig. I'm not sure what to do about having dual switching capabilities - amp channel switch and guitar switch. I suppose I could set up a second A/B box going into the first A/B box but I wonder if there is a a better way. Any advice would be appreciated.

[BNS]

Well, I've answered my own question with some internet research. I've found the Morely Quad Box, the Red Onion Dual AB box and a couple of places that will build it on request (including Analogman). If the price is reasonable I'll probably go with Analogman.

[slowpokerhino]

Be sure to check these guys out:

http://www.loop-master.com/

I've used them before & their stuff is top quality, price is reasonable & service is great.