Undervalued/appreciated amps?

[thepezident]

I'm getting the itch to get another amp.
I have a Katana MK II and a Spark.

I dont have any pedals and really dont want to get into that.
I'd be open to an overdrive pedal I guess.....

My budget is south of $500.
And this is just basement playing.

I guess I'm open to tube and SS.
I've been intrigued by the 5150 combo, the Marshall DSL40C and more recently - the Bassbreaker 15.

I like to play with gain but I dont need facemelting Br00tal gain.

I prolly have some kind of ADHD so sometimes all the options of the Spark and Katana are overwhelming.
I've also had a Blackstar ID30 TVP which I liked but sold when I got the Katana....

Are there any do it all underappreciated amps that you'd recommend?

[andrewsrea]

I know firsthand, that the 5150 Icon combo is versatile and delivers more than enough gain, which can be tamed. The Celestion is voiced well and the tone is great at bedroom volumes. It falls into a tweaker amp and I think you'll need a few more $.

For a plug in and play, hunt around for an Ampeg VL502 (head) or VL503 combo. A Crate Blue Voodoo is also an undervalued quality amp.

[thepezident]

I know firsthand, that the 5150 Icon combo is versatile and delivers more than enough gain, which can be tamed. The Celestion is voiced well and the tone is great at bedroom volumes. It falls into a tweaker amp and I think you'll need a few more $.

For a plug in and play, hunt around for an Ampeg VL502 (head) or VL503 combo. A Crate Blue Voodoo is also an undervalued quality amp.

The 5150 15w or 40w?
The 40w can be had for "just a pinch over $500....If I'm patient...

[tonebender]

My response to these threads are always the Peavey C30. Unless you are looking for a high gain Amp. I will leave that to others, but I do know Blackstar does a good job in that area.

[golem]

I mean... anything you get a good deal on would be undervalued.
I'm really fond of the Vox MV50s as far as budget amps are concerned, but you'd need a cab to run it through. The 1X8s they come with in a set aren't bad, but it's not as good as a 1X12 with a good speaker.

[toomanycats]

For basement playing, in a controlled environment, it would be very hard to beat a used 90s era Crate Vintage Club 30. These are typically priced below $500. These can be fragile and tend to run hot, though the upside is tone, toNE, TONE! I found mine dirt cheap at a pawn shop and I'm still blown away by the tone every time I plug into the thing.

Though I've never actually owned one, I had the privilege of spending a considerable amount of time, on a job, playing through a Traynor YCV40-WR in oxblood red with a Celestion Vintage 30 and two 5881WXT beam power tubes. I'm guessing that it was a model from the early 2000s.

Both the aforementioned Crate and Traynor models will get you bona fide "boutique tone" for little coin.

Another all tube option with which you absolutely cannot go wrong, which was already mentioned by @tonebender, is the Peavey Classic 30. It's built like a tank and has a tone somewhere between a Marshall and a Vox . . . though it really is its own unique thing.

For tube amps I also have a very high opinion of the Blackstar Studio 10. I own the 6L6 iteration, have gigged with it a hundred times, and it is a simple though versatile platform capable of cover everything from country to hard rock.

For hybrids, my first thought is a Marshall Valvestate 2000 AVT50. The preamp is a 12AX7 and the power amp is solid state. This was Marshall's final word on solid state before brands like Line 6 took over the market with modeling in the mid 2000s. I once owned a Marshall Valvestate 2000 AVT50, well remember its excellent tone, and lament selling it.

If you wanted to go a little further back into the "golden age" of Marshall solid state, then I'd recommend an 80s era Marshall Master Lead 20 or 30. These amps are completely solid state and come off tonally very much like a JCM-800. I currently own a Master Lead 30 and it is my go to amp when I need something portable, light, loud, and which delivers that authentic 80s Marshall roar.

[Rollin Hand]

Peavey Classic 20 combo. For some reason, that amp loves 10-inch speakers. And it has next to no options.

I'll agree with @toomanycats on the Traynors as well. Some of their Custom Special models have the ability to run at lower wattages as well.

[andrewsrea]

I know firsthand, that the 5150 Icon combo is versatile and delivers more than enough gain, which can be tamed. The Celestion is voiced well and the tone is great at bedroom volumes. It falls into a tweaker amp and I think you'll need a few more $.

For a plug in and play, hunt around for an Ampeg VL502 (head) or VL503 combo. A Crate Blue Voodoo is also an undervalued quality amp.

The 5150 15w or 40w?
The 40w can be had for "just a pinch over $500....If I'm patient...

The 40w 51150 Icon, which has power scaling to lower wattages. My friend bought his about 18 months ago for around $600.

[andrewsrea]

For hybrids, my first thought is a Marshall Valvestate 2000 AVT50.

Definitely an underappreciated amp. I want to say the Yes 'Big Generator' album is all Valvestate. @thepezident a word of warning with Marshall Valvestate amps: once they fail, they cannot be repaired. The output section is high power, matched MOSFET which abruptly stopped production in the early 2000's. Getting a matched pair is hen's teeth and getting six matched is unobtainium.

[thepezident]

@toomanycats your suggestions are spot on from other websites/threads I've come across.
Kudos!!

I'll do some you tubing on the Peavey Classic.
I sold my Peavey Transtube when I saw what happened during that episode of Undercover Boss....

Thanks for the input.

[dabbler]

When you go used, there are sooo many great values it's hard to pick. But at the risk of being laughed at I'm going to add these discontinued models you should be able to find cheap:

1. Bugera V22 (don't laugh until you've tried one)

2. Kustom Defender V30

3. Bugera BC30 - heavy, but if you don't have to haul it, who cares?

[tonebender]

Those early 2000 Traynors are excellent. I have only played them in the store but it was all I could do to walk away with my money in tact. At the time I had several vintage Traynor amps so I was flush with Traynor. All mine were just clean machines though, and those had nice drive channels.

The other guitarist in the original Tonebender line up had a Bugera and it was a tone machine. My guess is it was an exact copy of a better known brand, that is what Behringer was good at.

[honyock]

Of all my amps, I would say I have 2 that are severly undervalued. One hard to find, out of production for probably 2 decades, the other a copy of a China built UK designed amp (not too unlike Marshall DSLs...)

My Line 6 Duoverb. It was almost $1000 back in the early 00s. It is a relatively large amp, 2x12, but can basically act as TWO different 1x12s at the same time. It is a modeling amp, but it is laid out dead simple almost analog way, but you can really get geeky with it if you get a MIDI controller or even the foot board gives access to make patches to get the most out of it while still being dead simple. It is also built like a tank and makes for an amazing powered speaker for my more modern modeling pedal (Mooer GE300)

My Monoprice SB20 is probably my favorite amp to just plug into and noodle. The clean channel is so good and with a master volume and level control on each channel, you can really run the gamut of volume without a ton of tone suck. They copy Laneys for all their other amps, but I haven't been able to figure out this one, thinking maybe an LC50. (they are OOS at Monorpice, and last price was $559, I paid significantly less, $300 + tax in 2022, so not a great deal unless you find one used IMO)

[glasshand]

When you go used, there are sooo many great values it's hard to pick. But at the risk of being laughed at I'm going to add these discontinued models you should be able to find cheap:

1. Bugera V22 (don't laugh until you've tried one)

2. Kustom Defender V30

3. Bugera BC30 - heavy, but if you don't have to haul it, who cares?

I would never laugh at the V22! That was my first tube amp, I think. Very respectable, overall.

The V30 looks very cool too, although they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth. V5s are all over the place, of course.

[honyock]

I think the V30 got blown out thorugh Musicians Friend, such a good deal. Was $150 with an $800 MSRP.

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[tonebender]

An amp I wish I would have hung onto was my Fender Excelsior. It was not much out of the box but changed out the tubes for NOS units, converted the dark/bright slide switch to a tone pot, ditched the plastic Excelsior badge for a medal Fender badge and changed out the crap speaker for a Weber Blue Dog Alnico 15" speaker. That amp was a blues machine and had tone to die for. It was a little heavy but I could have put it in the rehearsal studio and left it. Currently I use my C30 for that which is my first choice of undervalued or underappreciated amps.

[thepezident]

An amp I wish I would have hung onto was my Fender Excelsior. It was not much out of the box but changed out the tubes for NOS units, converted the dark/bright slide switch to a tone pot, ditched the plastic Excelsior badge for a medal Fender badge and changed out the crap speaker for a Weber Blue Dog Alnico 15" speaker. That amp was a blues machine and had tone to die for. It was a little heavy but I could have put it in the rehearsal studio and left it. Currently I use my C30 for that which is my first choice of undervalued or underappreciated amps.

Screenshot 2025-04-18 092534.png

Damn...My back hurts just looking at the pic!

[glasshand]

Another all tube option with which you absolutely cannot go wrong, which was already mentioned by @tonebender, is the Peavey Classic 30. It's built like a tank and has a tone somewhere between a Marshall and a Vox . . . though it really is its own unique thing.

This reminds me, if you're looking for a head, the Peavey Classic 20 Mini Head is also really nice. My only real gripe with it is that the white labels on the chrome faceplate are impossible to read in a dark club even before the text starts to wear off, which it seems to do very quickly.

[thepezident]

Another all tube option with which you absolutely cannot go wrong, which was already mentioned by @tonebender, is the Peavey Classic 30. It's built like a tank and has a tone somewhere between a Marshall and a Vox . . . though it really is its own unique thing.

This reminds me, if you're looking for a head, the Peavey Classic 20 Mini Head is also really nice. My only real gripe with it is that the white labels on the chrome faceplate are impossible to read in a dark club even before the text starts to wear off, which it seems to do very quickly.

I'd be looking for a combo. And remember...I'm a drummer masquerading as a guitarist.
I did just stumble on the Nux Might 60 MK II amp.....it's a SS modeler....but it look kewl.
Has a built in drum looper, 20? amps and 43 pedals. Looks fairly easily controllable...
I do have the Katana and the Spark which do the same thing.....

I dunno.......