hmmm...what amp am I looking for?

[haledixon]

details details details...

[mezcalhead]

A quick price check reveals the Hotplate isn't as cost-effective as the BOR: painted BOR £200, Vexter BOR £140, Hotplate £240.

I've done a quick Google video with the Vibrolux running up through the volume knob and the Hotplate keeping the overall volume under control .. you wouldn't be able to tell from the video since the camera mic has a ridiculous amount of compression, but the volume stays a little too loud for conversation throughout.

You can see the Hotplate lights blowing off power at higher levels, and there's quite a bit of noise when I change settings and bring the guitar too close to the amp but it's OK otherwise. The camera mic isn't the finest audio equipment and has a little of its own clipping but you do get an idea of how the amp is breaking up.

Above 4, I wouldn't have coped standing next to the amp without the Hotplate on as the VR is incredibly loud. I wouldn't recommend running the amp at 8 with -16 ohm attenuation, the highest settings here, but it gives you an idea of how well the Hotplate tames the amp. Personally I like it at about 4, nice and sparkly with some crunch available from the SD, but still not too overdriven .. then dial the overall volume down with the THD as needed.

The line out has its own separate volume, independent of what's coming through the speakers.

[zhivago]

thanks Jon

I've been playing round with the channels jumpered, and I'm getting a better sound...more towards what I need....the volume isn't as high as going into one channel...adjusting the Duper differently is yielding some results, but I'll need to experiment a lot more with all the different gains....

hmmm.....

maybe I can get away with it live...there's only one way to find out....playing that gig next week...I'm hoping to play the Tremolux.

thing is, because I live far away from central London, sometimes Darryl, who sings in the band, brings his fender tweed deluxe reissue for me, and I play through that...this way we save on transporting the equipment, as we need one people carrier cab from his place (which is nearer central London)....we'll see.....

[Jarvis]

I think it's the Pro Junior that Nels Cline has been associated with. There's a blurb from his webpage that mentions it but then there are other sites (such as Kid Congo Power's) in which the Blues Junior is mentioned.

Blues Junior (15w, 1x12" speaker)


Pro Junior (15w, 1x10" speaker)


Both seem to have their fans...

I'm rockin' a Blues Junior right now and it's pretty nice. I'm gonna do a few choice mods (replace the filter caps, better tubes, cleaner preamp tubes, more efficient speaker) to make it ideal. You can really get these things goin'. Really nice tuber distortion sound, but not tooooo heavy. Goose it with a boost for some nice harder rock tones. (Aside, I'd like to get a Pro Junior and use a junior stereo setup some day)

[LHR]

Jarvis: Hey, before you go and do all those things, check out the Bill fellow online who is recommending the bias trimpot mod.  He has some VERY convincing arguments.  According to him, a speaker replacement is really an overly expensive answer to a much cheaper question with these amps.

http://home.comcast.net/~machrone/bluesjunior.htm

By the way, I bought a Blues Junior on a lark and just love it.

[Jarvis]

Jarvis: Hey, before you go and do all those things, check out the Bill fellow online who is recommending the bias trimpot mod.  He has some VERY convincing arguments.  According to him, a speaker replacement is really an overly expensive answer to a much cheaper question with these amps.

http://home.comcast.net/~machrone/bluesjunior.htm

By the way, I bought a Blues Junior on a lark and just love it.

I may do a bias mod, but I'm looking for a different voicing, and the speaker does play decent part of it. Plus, I don't like the high end treble from the speaker. One thing I'm recommended all the time is his tonestack mod, which I think sounds not that great.

[chrisjedijane]

Those pro juniors are great - a guy i play in a band with plays a Ricky 12 through one of those, and it's amazing. i might get one, eventually.

[k o y l]

Zhivago, I don't know where you are in your amp quest but I feel I must give you the link echobasone gave me in my "amp quest thread" because these amps seems to fit your needs well... and even more but they are quit cheap:
http://www.frenzeltubeamps.com/id16.html

[zhivago]

I'm probably gonna keep my Tremolux...I have been jumpering it lately and playing round with different boost levels, and I've been getting it to work better than it did before.

the jury is still out...I have several gigs coming up in the next few months...let's see how the Tremolux handles it all....they are all different size venues....most are in the 150-200 people capacity....


basicaly I have looked at so many amps in this quest, I have come back to square one.... 

things got REALLY expensive too...


so yeah, in order to keep my sanity, I'm giving my '65 Tremolux another try....wish it good luck

[Felix]

so yeah, in order to keep my sanity, I'm giving my '65 Tremolux another try....wish it good luck

I know how you feel about wanting to try different amps, but you're really making a good choice in trying the Tremolux again. The grass is always greener...
The one thing I love about the Fender blackface tone, particularly the medium powered amps, is that they really can cover just about any sound and genre I explore.
My Vibrolux Reverb and my Vibroverb both have a purpose in my everyday writing and playing.

Keep tweaking that very cool amp, and I hope it works out for you.

[zhivago]

I know how you feel about wanting to try different amps, but you're really making a good choice in trying the Tremolux again. The grass is always greener...
The one thing I love about the Fender blackface tone, particularly the medium powered amps, is that they really can cover just about any sound and genre I explore.
My Vibrolux Reverb and my Vibroverb both have a purpose in my everyday writing and playing.

Keep tweaking that very cool amp, and I hope it works out for you.

thanks for the encouragement...

I think giving it another chance is the best thing...I was talking about this with the singer in the band I'm in...he plays guitar too and he was like "Yanni, have you REALLY tried playing round with the settings, or do you want another amp?"

he's always been really harsh with me when it comes to gear....so I felt a bit bad and went back and started tweaking...and after jumpering the channels and spending loads of time with it I started getting some better results...

tomorrow it comes with me at our practice space...and then, the first gig try-out is on Tuesday...we're playing a really prestigious underground night called "Artrocker"...it's hard to get gigs for these guys, so I'd LOVE to have great tone as it makes me play waaaaay better...I hope the Tremolux doesn't disappoint....

I have a good feeling about the gig, so maybe it's a sign

if it does good, it'll probably stay

[k o y l]

I know that feeling of going insane by looking at thousands of amps/pedals or guitar to try to find THE ONE and finally get back to the starting point... It's..well..insane !

Even if it surely wasn't nice to hear, the singer in your band is probably true: it's a good thing to try a little bit harder before giving up... If the tremolux reveals to really not suit your needs, then you'll have no regrets at all to sell it and find another amp and you'll know more about what the amp lacks, it will make the choice of the new amp easier I guess...
I wish I had someone to tell me those things in the past actually.. I 'd probably not sold my first (painted) fuzz factory to buy another one (vexter) a year later.. You only know you miss something/someone once it/he/she's not here anymore... I guess it's human nature 

Nice to hear you begin to see the light with the tremolux.. and good luck for the show..
And as a little green friend of mine once said: "May the tone side of the force be with you" 

I'll be glad to hear how the show went... 

[Felix]

Yes, definitely hope the show goes well. 

[zhivago]

thanks guys, I'll post an update once the show's done

[zhivago]

post-rehearsal update...

I got back from the first rehearsal in my current band, where I used the Tremolux.

and...


it was terrible.

lemme set the scene, here....

in the band I play, it's me and another guy, we both play guitar alongside a drum machine...we use some mad tunings (I detune my thick E to B or A sometimes) and we fake the bass by using loads of low end, provided by numerous EQ pedals and detuned guitars...the music is quite "art-rock" I guess...


anyways,

the Tremolux not only wasn't loud enough to compete with my singer's Marshall through a 4x12, but also the two 10" speakers would totally fart out all the time....I actually wacked it up on 10 at some point just to see what it'd do...and it didn't cut the mustard....


I need to point out that the settings here were bass on 10 and treble on zero + the EQ pedals I use......when playing in normal guitar settings with treble and bass both on sensible levels everything was fine...but the way I wanna use it....hmmm...it's not doing it...


tomorrow, I'm giving it another chance...I'm gonna plug the Tremolux into a 4x12 and see what the score is....

it ain't looking too good at the moment, but if the 4x12 can provide more low end and more volume (and it should) I'm gonna put my Tremolux back into a head format and buy a 4x12....it'll be a bitch to carry, but I need loads of low end, and the two 10" speakers are totally useless in this musical situation.


I have about ten gigs lined up too, so I need to sort this out ASAP!

more updates tomorrow evening after the rehearsal.