Fender Pro Jr Amp Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great amp. Light and portable but loud as hell. I used this guy at a band practice with drums and another guitarist recently and only had the volume at about 3 and it was plenty loud enough. Sounds great too. Its definitely got that tube sound. I also love the simplicity of the controls: just on/off, volume, and tone.

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The Pro Junior™ is a simple, uncluttered 15-Watt tone machine, a great grab & go tube amp for stage or studio. It's got the fat mid tones characteristic of EL-84 output tubes, a dual 12AX7 tube preamp, and a 10-inch Fender Special Design speaker with vintage cone. These ingredients add up to incredibly touch-sensitive dynamic response that experienced players prefer.Other features include a unique clean-to-drive volume control, and external speaker capability. The new Pro Junior IIalso includes these upgrades: Easier reading black control panel with front reading text; New badge; Vintage Fender "dog bone" handle; Vintage sized jewel light; Lower-noise shielding; Rattle reducing shock absorbers for EL-84 tubes; Heavy duty set screw "chicken head" knobs. Fender Hot Rod Series Pro Junior 15W 1x10 Tube Guitar Combo Amp Features: All tube preamp and 15-watt power section Volume and tone controls 1 - 10" special design Eminence® speaker Extension speaker jack

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Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 Review

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(More customer reviews)This sucker sounds really great. And it's true what they say about tube amps. You aren't really hearing it unless you crank it. I cranked it, and it was the greatest thing I've ever heard (I played a metal chord, then turned it from super loud to very low, and I could progressively hear the tone go from amazingly thick and rich, to crackly and thin. so only buy this if you plan on playing it LOUD). Put it on the Metal or Insane settings, and it's just nuts. However, it broke the next day, so I had to send it off for repair to a "local" service center (where Line 6 made me pay 30 bucks to ship. thanks L6). It's been over a month and they finally got around to checking it out. They told me the tubes were faulty. So great. Now they say another 2 weeks to order new tubes and test to see if there are any other problems. Nice work, Line 6. BTW, my POD X3's headphone jack only outputs a MONO signal now. How great is that? Talk about quality! (the presets suck too btw. no one uses those. and you can't customize them like you can on the POD X3, but thankfully, you don't need them. the main channel knob has all you need!!)
Other than that, this amp sounds AMAZING. A shame about the faulty tubes in my unit, but I hope when I get it back, it will last longer than a few minutes of it cranked. And no, not crazy cranked, just normal cranked.
The matching cab sounds amazing btw.

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Spider Valve fuses the versatility of amp and effects modeling with the performance and feel of a world-class tube amplifier. Combining award-winning Line 6 modeling technology with a genuine tube amplifier designed by legendary amp designer Reinhold Bogner, Spider Valve delivers unmatched performance, responsiveness and tonal flexibility on the stage and in the studio.

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Fender Blues Junior Hot Rod Series with Optional Amp Cover- Black Review

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(More customer reviews)IF you are looking at getting a Blues Junior, you are basically a stay home practice/player, home recorder, or real small gigger.
Most of the great sounding CRUNCH amps are really meant for large gigs like Hiwatt, Marshall and most Orange's.
Only Orange of those makes a nice crunch in a small amp, but it's not cheap either. Almost 800.
If you want a Blue Junior, you've already decided to get a tube amp and one with EL84s for their crunch, and NOT 6L6 and not an amp for it's amazing CLEAN sound, like say the Fender Reverbs.
Bottom line, this is an amazingly affordable and superb sounding amp at all levels of crunch.
I rate it at a 5 because of it's very reasonable price, especially used. I don't know truly if the newer ones since 2001 are as good as the American made ones, so you'll have to check that out. I don't like these reviews that seem to put all Blues Juniors under one review umbrella when they are different makes at different times, so check out the date info and compare them IF you can. Let your ears determine, not a review or persons opinion.
All I can say is I've searched and played amps for a long time now and I like 6L6 tube amps for clean and EL84's for crunch, all tube and for home non-gigging crunch the Blues Junior is the least expensive best sounding way to go.
As for problems, the main one I've heard is that the tubes don't last as long as other amps, that they are setup to be "hotter". I don't know if this is true, but my attitude is: if that's what it takes to make it sound like this, I LIKE it.
Also, don't get caught up with the "MOD" bug. Yes, there are zillion things you can DO to a Blues Junior. My only advice is, should you want to do this to YOUR amp, let it be your SECOND Blues Junior. If you can't afford a second copy, then don't go messing with the first.
People are always whining about how things don't sound like they did in the 50's. Well, they probably don't remember how while an amp might have sounded superb, the recording technology was in it's infancy and so what they 'heard' on records was a pale shadow. So to sound "like" your favorite Fender amp player, I'm very sure you can make this modern baby sound that bad if you set it up just wrong in the right way.
Good luck, and let your OWN ears, in comparison, sell an amp to you over time.

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The Blues Junior, a warm-toned favorite, takes our 15-watt tube preamp/power amp platform and pushes it through a 12" Fender® Special Design Eminence® speaker. That sound comes courtesy of a pair of EL-84 Groove Tube® output tubes and three 12AX7 preamp tubes. Add our renowned Fender® reverb, flexible controls, and FAT circuit with footswitch for golden tones, and you're in business. And just look at that chrome panel, that black textured vinyl with silver grille cloth, and those vintage pointer knobs.AccessoriesCover :Optional Amp Cover AvailableFootswitch :Uses Optional 1-Button Footswitch, p/n 0994054000ElectronicsChannels :One ChannelControls : Reverb Master Middle Bass Treble "Fat" Switch VolumeEffects : ReverbInputs : OneRectifier : Solid StateCabinet Material :Black Textured Vinyl Covering Front Panel:SilverPilot Light Jewel:Red Amp JewelAmplifier Type :TubeSpeakersSpeaker Impedance :8 OhmsSpeaker :1-12" Fender® Special Design Eminence® 8 ohm, 50 watt SpeakerInput Impedance :1 MPower Handling :15 watts into 8 ohmsPower Tubes :2 x EL84Preamp Tubes : 3 x 12AX7

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DigiTech CM-2 HardWire Tube-Overdrive Extreme-Performance Pedal Review

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(More customer reviews)I tried this pedal at the store and my first thought was "Everything sounds better at the store but then you get it home and buyers remorse starts to set in." But a week later I picked it up and for the past three months I've been using it daily.
So many pedals say they have real tube tone but never quite get it right but the HardWire Tube Overdrive is one of the few that does. If you like blues tones this'll warm up even the thinnest sounding solid state amp. The low and high knobs really have a big effect on the overall tone, so much so that in making adjustments I sometimes only have to turn a knob the width of a couple hairs to get the tone I'm looking for. The knobs have a nice mild 'notched' feel to them so you can adjust one or two 'notches' and know where that tone is even if you go to a different setting.
You have a lotta range in the drive knob as well. From a nice clean boost sound to a very hard rockin' overdrive. But the real star in this pedal is the classic/modified switch. Using this with the drive opens up the possibilities in this pedal.
In classic mode with a healthy amount of drive you'll be playing Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Petty, Hendrix, Santana and loads of your own classic style riffs. In Modified mode you'll be amazed at how tight the drive is. I love it for Joe Walsh, Cheap Trick and it's perfect for Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion'.
If you're the kind of player that just likes to set it and leave it alone, this pedal (as well as all pedals in the HardWire line) come with a rubber cover that slips over the steel knobs and switch so they will never be accidently moved from your settings.
If you have a pedalboard that uses velcro, Digitech (the makers of HardWire pedals) also include an adhesive velcro strip fitted to the pedals 'footprint' and a glow-in-the-dark strip that you can apply to the pedals top so you can see it on a dark stage.
So, what is the downside of this pedal? Well, it eats batteries like candy. You'll want to invest in a power supply. It draws a lot of power so if you want more than one HardWire pedal I'd suggest the 1 Spot by Visual Sound and a daisy chain connector.
It's also a little noisy although not really any more than you'd expect from an overdrive pedal. This becomes a real problem though when you run one overdrive into another. A good noisegate will be needed. But oh how good it sounds when you run them together like that!
Try it!
In closing, This pedal is going to stay out of the old unused-pedal-box-in-back-of-the-closet purgatory for misbehaving pedals for a long, long time. It's price tag of about $100 places it in the same price range as other quality overdrives but I'm much happier having spent this much on this pedal than some others I've picked up in the past.

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Superior Technology \' Meticulous Craftsmanship \' True InnovationTrue Bypass. HardWire pedals modify your guitar tone only when you want. HardWire pedals add pure effects when they\'re on and don\'t add noise when they\'re off—truly the best of both worlds. And if you happen to lose power to HardWire pedals in the middle of a performance, you can keep playing because HardWire pedals switch to True Bypass mode until power is restored. Higher Voltage . HardWire pedals preserve guitar tone because they operate at a significantly higher voltage than your standard pedals. HardWire pedals get the most out of hot guitar pickups and perform flawlessly in the high voltage environment of an amplifier effects loop.Constant Voltage. HardWire pedals guarantee constant effects performance throughout the life of the battery and prevent tone loss because they operate at a steady voltage—independent of decaying battery voltage.Tourworthy. HardWire pedals are designed for the touring musician. Unique Stomplock\' guards prevent controls from being kicked and your tone from being changed. Each HardWire pedal includes custom-cut Velcro pads to fasten it to a pedalboard and green gaffer tape for the actuator label and see the pedal in the most adverse stage lighting conditions.

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Bellari HA 540 Class A Tube Headphone Amp Review

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(More customer reviews)Though I'm the satisfied owner of a Fiio E9 headphone amp, I own Ultrasone PRO750 headphones which are much like Grados only with more robust bass. The Ultrasones sound dry on some recordings, so when I found the Bellari HA540 Class A tube headphone amp at a steep discount, I purchased it. Since my integrated amp has two tape loops, I can connect the Fiio and the Bellari simultaneously.
The Bellari is manufactured in the USA by a division of Rolls. Readers might be familiar with Rolls through their HA43PRO headphone amp, which is often used to connect to the RCA outs of a TV. The Bellari uses one tube, a 12AX7, which is very common and easily sourced. Rather than use the stock tube, I purchased a Mullard. I'll only use the stock tube to fill in when I need to get another.
The Bellari is a Class A amp, but is barely warm to the touch. It's an OTL design: there's no output transformer. In practical terms, that means your headphones are providing the load on the tube. Headphones with too low an impedance could overdrive the amp. A headphone amp is the perfect application for an OTL design because headphones rarely have impedances as low as loudspeakers, which are mostly in the 4 to 8 ohm range.
The lowest impedance headphones I own are the Denon AH-D2000 at 25 Ohms, and the Bellari can handle it--but that's about as low an impedance as I'd want. The Ultrasone PRO 750 isn't very efficient, but the Bellari has lots of gain--it can drive the Ultrasones into pain territory without trying. It has two gain settings: a low setting for iPods, and a high setting for typical line out devices like CD players or the tape loop of a preamp, integrated amp, or receiver. The low and high designations refer to the input voltage, iPods having lower output than CD players or tape loops.
My expectations for the Bellari were more than met: it adds liquidity to the Ultrasones. I'm not into tubes per se, but it's a synergistic combination. This isn't a fuzzy warm tube sound--the Bellari has some real kick, with subterranean bass. The OTL design has a very clear, open sound, and if you've never heard an amp like this, your first impression will be how different it sounds from solid-state designs.
My only criticism of the Bellari is that the headphone out jack is located on the rear of the amp, but you can reach it easily, so it's not a problem. If you want to experiment with a tube amp, you may find the Bellari HA540 a perfect introduction.

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The Bellari HA540 is a audiophile grade headphone amplifier. The all class A signal path ensures smooth clean analog audio. The 0 feedback design means smooth natural analog response. It features 2 input paths and high gain for MP3 players, ipod, etc and a low gain path from audio selectors, mixers, satellite receivers, etc.. It also features direct into the tube grid coupling for no loss or distortion. The unit is included with a universal powersupply for use most anywhere in the world.

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EBS ValveDrive Class A Bass Tube Preamp / Overdrive Pedal Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not some kid with a Fender Squire P Bass who's hot on distortion. I'm a 45 year old live/recording bass player as well as an accomplished live sound engineer. I don't have an inflated view of my accomplishments or capabilities. I'm certainly not unique. I'm just giving some context so you can judge this review fairly. It's hard to wade through reviews on some sites.
Most bass player shoppers are looking for a distortion pedal that sounds like the song Hysteria from the Muse album Absolution. Great sound! Every serious gigging bass player should have something like that on their pedal board and if that's what you're looking for then this EBS Valve Drive isn't it. Instead, check out the Malekko Barker Assmaster or the Big Muff. (Bass players are a dirty bunch when naming things aren't we?)
This EBS ValveDrive pedal can shred with the best of them, don't get me wrong, but if that's all you're looking for you probably won't appreciate it more than a cheaper stomp box.
Go to the EBS website and listen to the sound samples for this model. You'll appreciate the subtlety of tone in a preamp that sounds like a classic. It will define your sound, not just give you an effect to stomp. It's expensive the same way designer shoes are expensive. Owning a pair of $300 shoes impresses nobody but you and people who appreciate shoes. This is a designer preamp. It gives you a tone that musicians, engineers and producers will fawn over but the average listener will not likely notice till you turn it off. THAT my friend, is art.
I was hesitant to spend $300 on a pedal especially when the mounting of the tube looked like a gimmick; a designer glow to make it look cool. It is worth every penny for it's added Vintage mode which gives an airier crunch. You get two distinct flavors of overdrive in one box. Most importantly, there is very little sacrifice on the low end with this pedal. Any amount of overdrive/distortion in a bass signal is bound to subtract some low end punch but this bad boy puts out as much low end as you want. Remember, EBS specializes in bass gear and they're passionate about bass tone. They're not just some division of a large corporation like most of the other pedal makers out there.
I can't say enough about this pedal. It is now in my "indispensable" category. In retrospect, I would spend my money on this before any amp modeling unit. I own a POD X3 Live and now run it without bass amp modeling so the tone of this preamp shines through. I keep the X3 for volume, tuner, and sub octave effects.

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EBS ValveDrive offers the possibility for classic and traditional warm tube sounds up to hard and pure tube distortion. The EBS ValveDrive tube preamp/overdrive pedal can make your bass either glow or growl, whether you want your instrument to sing or scream. The EBS ValveDrive delivers everything, from classic tube warmth to hard and pure tube distortion. The design in steel, chrome and Bakelite is based on a classic concept with an easy dial-in design.

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Orange Amplifiers Dual Terror DT30H 30W Tube Guitar Amp Head Review

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(More customer reviews)Like most guitarists I am always searching for tone. I have a very respectable rig but I wanted a true 2 channel amp that would give me full gain capability on both channels. I also wanted something portable. The Dual Terror fits the bill very nicely.
The original Tiny Terror channel is versatile. It's very responsive to touch but can peel the paint off the walls when you need it to. The Fat channel is deeper and very melodic with a hint of more drive giving you lots of tone and texture.
I am a tube roller. For those not familiar that means I like to experiment with different valves (tubes) to alter my tone. This is a great rig for tube rolling because the different wattage switches allow you to slightly alter the overall sound of each channel. I am currently running several new old stock tubes in this head and have been very pleasantly surprised with the results. Before you buy an amp do yourself a favor and check out this one. It's really well constructed and very versatile.
By the way. You can get a great sound at low volume levels but this thing really sings when you open it up! It's definitely loud enough to rehearse and gig with. I'll be posting a full review on conventionalcurrent.com soon. Don't go by, give it a try.

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The Dual Terror DT30H 30W Tube Guitar Amp Head from Orange Amplification is an all-valve, twin-channel 30-watt portable guitar head. It features a unique two-stage preamp with massive tonal range using just three controls per channel. The Dual Terror switches from 30 to 15 to 7 watts making it a highly versatile portable amplifier both for studio and stage. The Fat Channel delivers warmer tones whilst the Tiny Terror Channel has the sonic character of the original Tiny Terror. Note: The Dual Terror does not require rebiasing when replacing power tubes.

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Blackstar Venue Series HT Club 40 40W Tube Guitar Combo Amp Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this amp about two months ago and waited to do a review. I read many reviews on it and saw that the speaker needs "breaking in" like most amps. Right out of the box the amp sounded great. 2 clean channels and 2 overdrive for just about any tone you are looking for. The ISP knob goes from British to American and numerous tones in between. The more you play the better it sounds. This amp is great for playing at home or small venues without a mic. I would certainly purchase another one if anything ever happened to this one.
One suggestion, if you are not familiar with setting up effects pedals with amps please research. On this amp it has a effect loop in the back so throw the modulation pedals there and your OD,compressor, wah, etc in the front. If you go and try one have your money ready because it is hard to walk away from them without buying.

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Equipped with 2 channels and 4 modes the Blackstar HT Club 40 is an ideal gigging tube amp for club-sized venues. The 40W EL34-driven power amplifier has amazing punch and dynamics that will easily cut through in a full band situation. Switching to the amazing overdrive channel—equipped with ISF (Infinite Shape Feature)—accesses two more modes: 'classic crunch' and 'super saturated lead.'The Clean Channel on the Blackstar Venue tube amp has two modes, 'boutique' and 'modern' and its own Tone control provides a wide range of clean tones. The Voice switch reconfigures both the preamplifier voicing and gain structure, and the power amplifier damping, to reproduce either ringing Class A Performance in the 'boutique' mode, or very clean and tight Class AB tones in the 'modern' setting.The Overdrive Channel has its own EQ section and a Voice switch that allows the character of the channel to be changed, providing a wide variety of overdriven tones.The channel is characterized by a tone that's high in gain, but lacks any of the detached top-end 'fizz' often found in similar designs. This is a result of unique preamplifier and power amplifier shaping techniques, which cleans up the overdrive beautifully as the guitar volume is reduced. Even at the most extreme settings, the overdrive channel remains natural sounding. The ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) control is unique to Blackstar Amplification and represents a major step forward in tone shaping flexibility. The Blackstar amplifier's ISF control shifts the response of the three-control tone stack between a US-type response at one end, and at the other a UK-type response. The tube amp provides an infinite number of alternative tone choices in between the two extremes that would be otherwise unavailable.The Blackstar HT Club 40 tube amp also features a completely natural sounding digital reverb, which is outstandingly musical on both clean and crunch tones. A Dark/Bright switch allows the overall reverb characteris

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ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp Review

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(More customer reviews)+ REVIEW +
This is really an excellent little preamp for the money. It's quiet as a mouse, built like a sherman tank, and has some nice little features like an output limiter, phase reverse, a -20db pad, and of course, 48V phantom power for your condenser mic. Great for boosting a quiet source like an electric guitar or a condenser mic, but don't expect it to give you crazy tube warmth like you'd find on higher end units. It's more like a DI box with just the slightest bit of tube character. I've used this thing for vocals and guitar mostly, and in both cases it provides super silent amplification of my signal. My only complaint is that it doesn't push the signal quite as hard as I'd like to get a good level going into my DAW (Garageband or Logic 8).
+ COMPARE TO: Presonus TubePre +
PreSonus Tubepre Single-Channel Vacuum Tube Mic Pre
The only thing keeping me from recommending it over something like the PreSonus TubePre (despite the fact that I gave the TubePre 3 stars instead of the 4 I've given to the ART) is that it's hard to get a high enough level out of the ART -- I've maxed out the volume controls for both input and output with my AT4040 ($300) mic. In contrast, the Presonus TubePre provides a little more gain and allows you to control the amount of signal being sent to the tube via a separate "drive" knob. This is nice because you can boost the signal using the solid state portion, and then add the tube in as desired to color the sound a bit.
+ HOW TO: Replace the tube +
This can be a bit intimidating to some people but it's super easy and you'd have to be pretty clumsy to do any damage. Tubes are meant to be swapped -- they're engineered in such a way that they're very easy to replace. If you don't like the way the MP sounds out of the box, replace the cheap piece of junk tube it comes with. Try a Sovtek 12ax7 or any of the JJ tubes, either of which will cost about $12 at your local music store or Guitar Center. To install it, just remove all of the screws and unscrew the hex nuts around the line level input jacks. Gently rock the top part of the unit it opens like a book. Be careful because there is some wiring near the "spine" of the "book" and you don't want to rip it apart. Rock the tube back and forth until it comes out. Don't be afraid to apply counter pressure and tug on the tube fairly hard to get it moving -- you won't hurt it. Pop the new tube in, put the screws back in, and you're ready to rock. If you're freaked out by the process, as someone at a local guitar shop to give you a hand but don't let them charge you more than $5 because replacing a tube is really not a difficult task.

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The original Tube MP made pro-caliber tube preamping available to ordinary musicians and home studios. The MP Studio goes a step further by adding a VU meter for better level control and ART's OPL (Output Protection Limiter), which controls and maintains the output peak signal to protect hard-disk recording systems and soundcards. The VU meter reflects the impact of the OPL circuitry when it is activated, which allows more effective fine tuning of the audio signal. It is a valuable tool for recording in project and home studios and can also function as a DI box with impedance matching and preamplification for line-level sources. Includes a 3-year warranty.

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