best hi-gain 1X12 tube combo.

[Incognito Man]

hello, i am in the market for my 1st 1X12 tube combo preferably low wattage for sweet thrash metal bedroom jams at lower volumes

i dont know anything about small tube amps, what should i be looking at?

right now the marshall dsl15c is catching my eye.

budget is 500-1k.

 

[bryan_kilco]

You could check out the Mini Recto but I'm not sure what the price tag is on that little guy.

 

[binting]

Blackstar ht-5 its like 300-400$

 

[Forceps]

Maybe the Peavey 6505+ 112? Or is 60 watt too much?

 

[decoy205]

Randall has some cool new low wattage offerings. They looks pretty good spec wise I'm sure more clips will be around soon.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Peavey 6505 112, Randall RG80, Mark IV.

 

[wetpenny]

Blackstar ht-5 its like 300-400$

Great little combos, I picked up a 2x12" to use with mine and I'm well happy!

 

[Jind]

I guess it depends on which sort of tone your looking for and what you consider low wattage for bedroom levels.

I've always been a bit more on the Marshall type high gain side of things as far as preferences go and less on the Peavey or Mesa modern high gain so if I was in the market for something that would play a role in what I looked at.

Also while the 6505+ 1x12 combo is certainly an option, it is 60 watts and for many that's way above bedroom volumes.

If you are looking more for a Marshall type tone, Marshall has the newer DSL40C (they also have it in a 15 watt version in head or combo form (DSL15C/DSL15H) based upon the JCM2000 DSL100 head. The 40 watt combo has a pentode/triode switch to run it in half power mode.

The bedroom volume/studio amp market has a ton of choices these days with the lunchbox amp market exploding over the past several years. Ultimately it really depends on the type of tone your looking for. In my case, I was looking for more versatility of tones than just crushing high gain as what I play is probably more of the rock/traditional metal variety so the Egnater Tweaker 15 fit the bill perfectly as it has enough gain for what I need (I can always boost it if I want more) and it offers a large variety of other tones with it's voicing switches for both the power amp section and the EQ voicings. It has a Vintage/Modern switch to choose the power amp tone and a US/AC/Brit (Fender/Vox/Marshall) switch for the EQ voicing, plus 2 other voicing switches for Tight/Deep and one for Bright/Normal. I bought the head version and the matching 1x12 cabinet which has a Celestion G12H-30 in it. It works well for what I'm looking for which was Fender like cleans and Marshall like gained tones.

 

[EOC]

engl screamer 50 all the way!

 

[Sethis]

I've searched a lot for the same thing and believe me...even 15 watts is way too much for what you need it. So just get whatever sounds good to you regardless of wattage and turn it down. It's tone that should be your primary concern.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Low wattage and high gain really don't make sense. You really don't want a lot of power tube saturation, because it makes the amp loose in the lowend and lose its high-end sizzle. Low wattage amps are for people who want to crank the amp to get rock and blues tones. High gain is in the preamp, never really understood why people need to crank an amp for metal, especially when those little amps have EL84s or 6V6s which in most cases are just totally wrong for high gain. Not to say low wattage amps can't fit the bill, the JCA20 and Krank Rev Jr are both great little amps, but just because you have a 50/100w amp doesn't mean you have to crank it all the time. There's a volume knob for a reason.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Low wattage and high gain really don't make sense. You really don't want a lot of power tube saturation, because it makes the amp loose in the lowend and lose its high-end sizzle. Low wattage amps are for people who want to crank the amp to get rock and blues tones. High gain is in the preamp, never really understood why people need to crank an amp for metal, especially when those little amps have EL84s or 6V6s which in most cases are just totally wrong for high gain. Not to say low wattage amps can't fit the bill, the JCA20 and Krank Rev Jr are both great little amps, but just because you have a 50/100w amp doesn't mean you have to crank it all the time. There's a volume knob for a reason.

Which is why the 6505+ 112 is his best option

 

[Lodge]

I can confirm the 6505+ 1x12 is awesome for bedroom playing. I have one myself, and as I live in a duplex its awesome because it doesn't sound like shit at low volume, yet its plenty loud for practice and gigging. Just stay away from the direct input and you will probably want to change the speaker out. The Sheffield is passable for playing, but I wasn't able to get a great tone out of it for recording. I'll also warn you that they did something to the F/X loop. Running anything in the loop has a very audible effect on the tone, some people like the coloration, some people hate it. Either way, its very easy to to simply change your eq depending on if you're running anything in the loop. First tube amp I've ever physically owned and I have no regrets!

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Don't forget the old Peavey XXX Super 40 EFX

 

[tihulu]

Katan 50 is the most versatile and wise choice, but if you wanna go full tube Marshall DSL40CR or Bugera V22 is the best. You can check here for more hi-gain amps.