I'm looking for a 50w guitar amp, something more portable than my 100w Marshall. Any recommendations, anyone?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Howell on August 8, 2010 at 16:58

A Laney VC 30 or LC 30 would get my vote - but then what do I know, I'm a bass player! Seriously, I used to sell these when I had a shop a couple of years back - great tone, so much power - a 30 watt valve amp will walk all over a 100 watt Marshall MG, and the valves will give you that natural overdrive.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hargreaves on August 8, 2010 at 17:11

Thanks a lot Mike. I will definitely have a look at, and a go on, these Laneys. Jimmy

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GuitarPermalink Reply by Paul Englefield on August 8, 2010 at 21:25

Like Mike says, 30W of valve goodness is plenty loud enough and will smoulder nicely at stage volumes. I'm very happy with a older (tweed style) Peavey classic though I did swap out the original speaker for an Eminence. It doesn't have a gain control on the clean channel though - which might be a problem for your slightly overdriven rhythm sound.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hargreaves on August 9, 2010 at 15:44

Thanks Paul, I hadn't considered Peavey. Jimmy

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Permalink Reply by Willy Barden on August 9, 2010 at 17:10

All this is good advice - a decent simple 30watt valve amp will do the job and be easy to keep fixed. There are plenty of makes - try a few and see what you like.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hargreaves on August 9, 2010 at 18:20

Thanks Willy, will do, Jimmy.

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BassPermalink Reply by Matt Russell on August 10, 2010 at 10:46

If you wanted to have a look at a Laney there's one going on Gumtree

http://www.gumtree.com/london/80/63657580.html

Cheers

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Byrne on August 21, 2010 at 15:38

I have a nice Laney VC30 which I've just re-valved & re-speakered with new Celestions. Also put a new handle on with bolts & washers instead of screwnails. Has a clean & a dirty channel with footswitch to change channels & turn reverb on & off.

Main combo is a 2x10 and has a 1x12 ext. cab.

£300 is about what would do it if you're interested, but I'm in Loughborough.

Geoff

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hargreaves on August 23, 2010 at 16:05

Thanks Geoff, but I just found a VC30 locally, which I'm picking up in the week. Jimmy

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Byrne on August 23, 2010 at 16:52

OKDKY - open to offers from others.

Geoff

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GuitarPermalink Reply by Richard Birch on August 25, 2010 at 1:34

Laney VC30 - comes as a 1x12, 2x12 or 2x10. I have the latter - (with the excellent 2x10" Jensen C10Q16 speakers) wonderful 'vintagy' tone, loud as hell, superb cleans and a footswitchable gain channel. Has a good accutronics spring reverb, and a bright switch, FX loop, and a 4/8 Ohm extn speaker switch. It has a very cleverly designed but simple speaker connection system that lets you connect to a cab with internal speakers on or off. I have the 1x12" extn cab with mine. Very portable & compact all-valve Class A amp. (And as you probably know, 30w class A is louder than 50w class A/B!). Also, if you buy new & register on line, Laney give a 5-year warranty upgrade. Great British tone. I love mine! But you might be looking second-hand for £2-300. (Note: - Don't get the old version with the dreadfull HH Invader speakers - new ones have the much better 12" Celestion Seventy-80 or 10" Jensen's (that are excellent!)

Another rugged little amp that you can get for under £200 secondhand is a MkI Marshall Valvestate 8080 - the 1x12" was the most popular model & Marshall's biggest seller - best Valvestate they ever made. Two channel, excellent Celestion G12T75 speaker, loud (rated 80w RMS) & punchy as hell, and lightweight. Solidstate but with a 12AX7 tube in the pre-amp of the Gain channel for classic Marshall valve crunch. Two tone settings in each channel, reverb, FX loop, & footswitch for channel/reverb. I kept mine & it was my main amp for a few years, & it's been my number one backup amp simply because it's so reliable - nothings gone wrong in over 15 years!

If you want to buy new, Bugera are making some great amp clones that are a fraction of the originals, but with tone that's so close the difference ain't worth worrying about. Reliability is the only uncertainty, but by all reports Bugera's customer service & support has been excellent. The Bugera BV22 is Class A and a lot louder than its 22w rating sounds - it'll rival a 50w Marshall combo - typically £275, I've seen them go for £250 new!! That's a lot of amp for the money!:- http://www.dv247.com/guitars/bugera-v22-guitar-amplifier-combo--64902

And second-hand, a stalwart classic that's highly respected, beautifully portable with a single 12" driver, 2 channels plus reverb, & FX loop, extn cab out, is the Peavey Classic 30 - good cleans, great crunch, and loud!

Finally, check out the new twin channel Vox AC30VR - uses the excellent 'Valve-reactor' circuitry but in a non-modeling amp. Designed as a lighterweight AC30 it includes reverb, and has wider gain & EQ range than an AC30 - extn cab out, is loud & punchy as hell with a classic AC30 tone, but it has no FX loop : - http://www.voxamps.com/valvereactor/ac30vr/ (Also available as an AC15VR which is cheaper but not sure if 15w is loud enough for you though). AC30VR is circa £350 but you might find cheaper: http://www.dv247.com/guitars/vox-ac30vr--69568

Hope this is of some help. All the best, Rich

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GuitarPermalink Reply by Vladi Shlesman on October 7, 2010 at 19:07

what did you get in the end? Are you happy with it?

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