Looking around my house I see lots of great clean non master volume amps but not a single amp that can produce tube overdrive at low volume. I've been relying on pedals for my distortion since I got rid of my Peavey Classic 30 but now I think its time to sell an amp or 2 and get something designed for dirt. I could be convinced to give a attenuator a shot but I have a feeling its not the answer. What recommendations do you guys have. I'm not really into metal or classic rock, I'm more of a 70's-80's punk guy.

My only problem with the smaller Master Volume amps that I've played with (Blues Jr. being the latest) is that i'm not a fan so much of preamp tube overdrive as I am...uh....power tube? overdrive? I don't know what the terminology is. With the volume cranked and the master down, it just sounds too brittle-y and thin for me. Be interested to hear comments on other amps, it might have just been the couple i have experience with.

I love my Classic 50 2x12. I had a C50 head until a few weeks ago, it was great, but I had too many amps and bills. Obviously if you've had a Classic 30 you know how it sounds. I love 'em.

I've heard decent things about the newer Hot Rod Deluxe series, but I don't have any hands on experience.

Ya I hear ya Mark and agree but If my memory is clear (probably not) my old classic 30 still sounded better than the pedals I'm using now. Ultimately I need more volume but since I can't have that due to my living arrangement I'm trying to get the next best thing.

Kustom Defender or Coupe series. There. I said it. You knew I was going to...

I'll second the Kustom suggestions. The Coupes are discontinued, but the Defenders are pretty close, and great amps. I've got the 5w Defender head, and wouldn't mind picking up the 50w combo at some point.

Those were both designed by the same guy that designed the Peavey Classic series, James Brown. Never heard an amp he designed that I didn't like.

Cory, I gigged for a while, with a Classic 50 212 in the 90s. They are medium gain amps. If you want to get them into the mega grind territory, do like I used to do - slam the front end with a clean boost. It's like total death tone!

The new Kustom Defenders (V50 and V100) are reworked designs of the 36 and 72 coupes respectively. The new V30 is essentially the old 50-watt Defender single-channel amp with master volume bypass option.

If you want to experiment with something on the cheap, see if you can find a used Pignose G40V 2x 6L6 that was designed by Dennis Kager of Ampeg fame. They are roughly based on the 59 bassman and early marshalls.

I got mine for $200 that included an upgraded Mojotone AlNiCo speaker and pretty good tubes. I am still keeping my eyes out for a cheap but good 15" speaker to build a 1x15 ext cab for it and maybe put the amp in a small head cab.

Cool, thanks for that tartan. I like the idea of the master volume bypass. I need to get some more Kustom amps in my store so I can demo a few and see which I like better. I was disappointed to find out the Coupes were discontinued. Something about the look I really liked, and they sounded awesome.

Ellen, I've used my C50 with a punk band, and a metal band. I didn't even have the gain dimed. All my guitars are set up to be pretty hot, so the front end gets hammered pretty good. That with early breakup tubes and a Nocturne and it's all good. I don't play that heavy much now, but it's there if I need it. I've yet to find something I couldn't do with this amp.

How much are you looking to spend? The Orange amps are really cool, from the Tiny Terror all the way up to the big 50 and 100 watt heads. There's some good Vox amps too: AC15, AC30, and Night Train for high gain stuff. I also like the Marshall Haze series. Egnater make some good original stuff as well.

Peavey Delta Blues, 210 or 150. Great for Gretsch.

Ok that didn't tranlate properly but it was 2 by 10 or single 15" speaker version.

Righto, I'm still confused. Can someone please clarify so I can get it right in my head about the difference between a master and non-master volume amp?

I have a Fender Frontman 15W (about 10yrs old) and it has Normal Volume, Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid, and Bass dials. I either run my guitar straight into the amp or through an Atomic Brain to play.

Master volume amps have a gain knob, and a volume. Or if it's 2 channel, a clean volume, a drive volume (sometimes pre and post gain) and a master volume.

Non master volume amps only have one volume. Though the term usually applies more to tube amps.

Otter I'd like to spend under $1000 but if something intrigues me enough I could go over that limit. It sort of depends what amp or amps I sell and how much I get for them.

http://www.garnetamps.com/herzog.htm

http://www.garnetamps.com/guillotine.htm

I went from 30 years of Fenders to Traynor...I just prefer the sound...

COOL GRETSCH in this video.

Not me...

Give this a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Master volume amps have a gain knob, and a volume. Or if it's 2 channel, a clean volume, a drive volume (sometimes pre and post gain) and a master volume.

Non master volume amps only have one volume. Though the term usually applies more to tube amps.

Thanks Ripley. Much appreciated!

Marshall. Haze, JCM800, etc...

Don't laugh, but my favorite punk rock amp (at least among my stable) is my 5122. Just dime it and go.

You can get a refurbished AC15HW1 with full warranty for $999 with a 12" greenback. AMAZING amp.

I'll gladly recommend egnater! I love my rebel 30.

Traynor YCS90.

A great amp, hand made in Canada, 2x12, 25w class A or 90W class AB. Celestian New Century Neodymium speakers, so as light as a 1x12. Won't break your back moving it.

Does Vox, does Marshall and Fender, I can even cheat a good Bassman tone out of it.. Will also do modern scooped tones if that's your bag. Hugely flexible, loads of knobs, and very usable at low volume, and pretty stunning at high volume.

All valve - great reverb, it's a realy nice amp. Near impossible to find in Europe (I have the only factory built 240v one made for the UK), but lots of great deals on these in the US.

Pics here - (not my one)

http://acapella.harmony-cen...

Seriously, do some research on it, try one out.

Enjoy

Marlin

Well it looks like I have quite a bit of research ahead of me.

Another thought I had a few minutes ago was to see what Billy Zoom had kickin around. I was actually trying to play an X song when I had the idea to get a new amp so who better to talk too. The other idea I had was to build a kit amp.