Help me find a light tube amp for rehearsals,

[kurt1981]

Hey guys, I'm hoping someone can help me find an amp that won't break the back, to haul to various rehearsals. I have a boogie lonestar that's great, but a bit overkill for small rooms and it weighs a ton. Hoping someone has some ideas, and preferably I'd like to keep it under $1000.
Thanks all,
Kurt

[ckofahl]

How about a vht pitbull 45. Their light, compact and 2 channels, the clean is good and the lead side will cover most demands. It's also very peddal friendly. A very all round good amp. I've seen them go used for around $800.

[kurt1981]

I'd like to stay away from a higher gain amp, and I've tried the pitbull, and wasn't too happy with it. I think I need a 6l6 or el34 based power section, I'm not too fond of the class A stuff.
Thanks so much,
Kurt

[ckofahl]

Your Welcome, The pb45 is a el84 based power section, which is like a mini el34, only bit more sparkle on the top end. It's not a high gain type of amp, it's more of a roots, blues type of amp. If you prefer 6l6 you might look at fender deville or delux, great clean sounds,but you'll need to depend on your pedal set up for od and dist. I hear many good things about the Mesa Lonestar 112 combo. I've not played through one, but many that post here on this forum have good things to say about them

[Stys]

I got a Mesa Subway Rocket that has been my main studio amp until I got the F-30 and Lonestar Special Special. I am parting with the Subway, which is decked out in Hunter Green leather with a gold grille, for $250. E-mail me at stys207@wowway.com for pics if interested

[Woodash]

Victoria 5112 (5F1 circuit) with a 12" speaker. Slap a Celestion Blue in there and it'll sound great.

[chadmj]

I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe... 1x12 40 watt and fx loop. I'm about ready to upgrade the speaker on it soon too. The amp runs around $600 and a speaker should run $120 - $140.
I only use the clean channel on it and rely on my pedals for overdrive / distortion. With a DT or a Cobra it sounds pretty good (even with the stock speaker)!

[picnic]

My 06 DRRI had a Weber California and JJ's. I bought it off the gear page used for $575. It held its own against my Allen Accomplice, a BFDR clone.

Try your upgrade first, speakers and power tubes and I think you may have your answer.

[Casper]

Try the Peavey Classic 30. New around $600.00. used 3 to 400.00. Solid EL34/12AX7 power section. Decent stock speaker, but no seperate EQ. Breaks up nicely and has ext spk out with effect loop. It was my main amp for over 12 years hundreds of jobs without fail.
just my .02
Shaun

[Barry]

Hey guys, I'm hoping someone can help me find an amp that won't break the back, to haul to various rehearsals. I have a boogie lonestar that's great, but a bit overkill for small rooms and it weighs a ton. Hoping someone has some ideas, and preferably I'd like to keep it under $1000.
Thanks all,
Kurt
How bout the Mesa Express series amps ?

[kurt1981]

Hey, thanks, I'm checking into that mesa line right now, I'm hoping I can find one to check out.
Kurt

[m_lance]

The Hot Rod Delux is only 42 lbs (reasonable) and actually, the middle channel ("green") is a great way to kick up your clean tone just a bit. You can dial in a great Fender-y clean tone and then dial in the Green channel to be that plus just a bit of gain and volume increase. PERFECT!

The amp breaks up early, so you can't get real loud, but even at breakup, I'm already in ear plug territory.

Alternately, find your favorite amp and buy a head/cab combo. Neither will weigh what your Mesa combo weighs, so you get to carry 2 lighter things rather than 1 heavy. Plus, separating the cab & head will provide longer tube life as the head doesn't get rattled by the speaker vibration.