Played with a guy who used a fender super 60, it was VERY heavy and i wasn't that into the sound, the clean was nice but the dirty channel sounded a bit harsh. I like those JTM 60 marshall combo's, we used to gig alot with a guy who used one, and I borrowed it occasionally very nice. He sold his because it wasn't loud enough but he does play in LOUD bands. Another tube one I liked was the peavey classic mentioned above.. that was a really good sounding amp' again maybe a little quiet. The heavy band i was playing in recently two of used 70's 100watt transistor amps (a carlsboro and an H H) and they were well loud.. but super super heavy.. so solid state isn't always lighter! My selmer tnb 50 watt head and vox 2x10 cab (actually an old solid state vox with the amp removed) was way lighter! AND i took the handle off the selmer and it slotted exactly into the top of the Vox! it was sweet. In fact I kind of want it back but i sold it to a friend.

Guy Forks wrote:

Zenarchist wrote: Fender Hot Rod stuff seems to be a love hate thing, I like them.

I agree, and I like em too. Loads of people totally diss them, mainly cos of the 'distortion' channel sound not being to many people's taste. I like it though. I have a Hot Rod Deluxe amongst other things, which is only 40 watts, but seems to have shit loads of head room - in fact by the time you get any break up out of the clean channel its way way too loud. In fact I have never played a club where the sound guy doesn't go crazy if I turn it up above 4 (out of 12). But generally for the money, I think they're really good amps.
I'm sure the more tech minded people on this thread could tell you about biasing and how different tubes will get you more break up or headroom, but I couldn't.

Orange making some outstanding (and very expensive) smallish valve combo's in the region of 30 watts, and these things really do rule, as do Vox AC30 especially the Top Boosts.
And has many people seem to say, Fender Twins seem to be the real workhorse of the decent sized combo world.

i've got a Hot Rod Deluxe too - i swapped the stock speaker for a Jensen one and upgraded the tubes and the clean is lovely sounding now. Sometimes it can sound quite bassy for some reason though - especially when i use it for gigs where i'm playing my ambient/drone stuff, but i usually attribute that to the guitar i use, etc

ianscanlon wrote:The heavy band i was playing in recently two of used 70's 100watt transistor amps (a carlsboro and an H H) and they were well loud.. but super super heavy.. so solid state isn't always lighter! My selmer tnb 50 watt head and vox 2x10 cab (actually an old solid state vox with the amp removed) was way lighter!

It's not the speakers that resulted in the weight difference? It's weird for a solid state amp to be heavier, what with good tube amps generally having gigantic output transformers where solid state amps have none... The vast majority of the weight of an actual amp comes from the power transformer and (in the case of tube amps but not solid state amps) the output transformer. And a choke transformer (if the amp has one) will add a little to the weight, but not nearly as bad as the power and output transformers.

In general.

Get an old Roland cube they are light and found cheep second hand. With the benefit of being fairly common. It is light and loud at least 60 watts the keyboard one that is blue as opposed to orange has a nice clear sound and is 100 watts with a horn. For a basic clear distortion sound sound the orange ones are nice too. They have effects loop out and in usually a distortion Chanel and they are small and loud. These days people are so in love with tubes that they go for cheap. For me at least solid state and tube sounds are more flavors of sound so one or the other is fine.

I think it's probably the speakers and the construction of the sealed back cab' part that makes it heavy.. when the amp's been taken out (for fixing etc) It seems to be a fairly compact/ light arrangement! All's I know is I nearly bust a gut last night taking the stupid carlsbro out of my car and downstairs to the practice room, and the H H is no better, although at least it has handles on the sides!

ianscanlon wrote:All's I know is I nearly bust a gut last night taking the stupid carlsbro out of my car and downstairs to the practice room, and the H H is no better, although at least it has handles on the sides!

Believe me, I hear that! FWIW, I've found that even when they have one or more handles, really heavy amps are easier to carry from the bottom, like if they were a box with no handles.

Even still, sometimes heavy is just fricken heavy. I had to walk almost a full block down the sidewalk with a V4 one time, much of that distance ON ICE!! WTF?!?!

There is *definitely* something to be said for speaker cabinets with casters... just leave the head on top of the cab and roll the whole damn thing.

I wasn't kidding before when I said that thing about using a Radio Flyer wagon. I dunno if it looks lame or cool, but it sure makes life easier.

Greater advances have been made in hand truck technology (particularly folding ones useing skate board wheels) than in constructing amp cabinets. I have noticed that a lot of the new PA system speakers seem to be made from some type of plastic with built in handles I don't really see that with amp cabinets.

I generaly don't like my cabinets on wheels although the SVT 5 x 10 is a nice design as the casters are used when you lean the cabinet back.

Casters tend to make noise while playing and not be heavy duty enough to deal with dirt and the drops stages bring on (they suddenly will stop rolling causing problems when they get dirty or on a wood floor). The casters on Twins are nice as you can remove them but are still problematical dealing with the wheels.

On a really stupid note I did a show on a rased stage where the caster side of my 2 X 15 cabinet with amp on top was on the ground during a feedback portion of the show the amp and head went off the back of the 20 ft riser. On the positive side it did not kill anyone and my TRanor BMM II contiuned to work fine even thought the speaker out was pulled a 1/4 out of the amp frame I managed to get the bass off before it pulled me off the stage. 3 minutes later I was back in action and the band never stopped playing.

Although on a totlay unrelated front I did see a new type of VU meter that seemed to be made from some material like a neon tube on new DJ consoles that was super cool. the max level seemed to be a dimmer shade of blue light and the present level a vey intense color.

not a combo, but you should check out sovtek mig 50 heads. they're small, loud, and resonably inexpensive. you could easily cart one around with a small cab, 2x12 or so, and i think it would be a real workhorse for your situation. and as i recall these things sound great for the money. it has been a long time since i had one but i remember being really sorry i ever traded it away. there are some mig 100's on ebay right now. but they are a lot bigger and more expensive. keep a look out, i just may have to poke around for one myself now that i think about it.

scott wrote:

ianscanlon wrote:All's I know is I nearly bust a gut last night taking the stupid carlsbro out of my car and downstairs to the practice room, and the H H is no better, although at least it has handles on the sides!

Believe me, I hear that! FWIW, I've found that even when they have one or more handles, really heavy amps are easier to carry from the bottom, like if they were a box with no handles.

Even still, sometimes heavy is just fricken heavy. I had to walk almost a full block down the sidewalk with a V4 one time, much of that distance ON ICE!! WTF?!?!

There is *definitely* something to be said for speaker cabinets with casters... just leave the head on top of the cab and roll the whole damn thing.

I wasn't kidding before when I said that thing about using a Radio Flyer wagon. I dunno if it looks lame or cool, but it sure makes life easier.

I never want to move my Ampeg again. 120w 1x12 combo...yeah prolly about 80# or more with ONE handle. What were they thinking?

sunset_gun wrote:I never want to move my Ampeg again. 120w 1x12 combo...yeah prolly about 80# or more with ONE handle. What were they thinking?

VT-22?

Yeah, there's a point where the truly badass combo amp is just too damn heavy. The Twin is even into this territory, maybe. Take the already-really-heavy transformers in a badass tube amp, and add extra wood, and a fricken heavy-ass speaker that can handle the wattage...

Wagons!!!