Since you seem fine with solid state amps, I'd recommend the Tech 21 Trademark 30. It's got a number of settings, and the Fender setting is very good sounding at low "bedroom" volume, and you can add in a nice amount of grit to it without it going it to metal territory - I think it's great for 60's garage tones and bluesy sounds as well as surfy sounds (when you dial back the gain). The other settings are in the Marshall and Mesa veins and are much more distorted and loud - not very useful in the bedroom amp context.

The one drawback to the amp is that when you want to play really loud, the Fender setting doesn't give you much volume compared to the other settings. But that shouldn't be a big deal given the parameters you specified.

And I'll point out that the Tech 21 amps are analog, and so they generally refer to the settings as "emulating" other amps, whereas "modelling" refers to those that use digital processing to imitate other amps.

Were you perhaps looking at the Trademark 60 - it's larger and more expensive than the Trademark 30. The TM 30 is definitely smaller than 50cm and shouldn't be near that expensive. Of course, if you are in the UK, it may be harder to find one.

You might look into one of the Roland Cubes - there are several models that are quite small, and a used one ought to be quite affordable (the new small Cube models aren't expensive either). An older Cube 30 or 40 would be more straight-forward, without all the digital circuitry they cram in the newer models.

ifallalot wrote:

I like and play the same kind of music you do and with this amp I've been able to dispense with all my pedals except for a Big Muff and a Tremolo

Loud enough to play a gig but scales down to bedroom volume as well

Thanks a lot for the heads up. I can't quite figure out what it is. Fender Supersonic only gives me a £1200 amp. I don't have that kind of cash laying around unfortunately, and it looks very, very big. For now I unfortunately have to stick with something fairly cheap and small, so really in the size of the small Yahamas or possibly Mustang GT40. That would still fit. I will look at something bigger sometime in the future after finishing my study and hopefully living bigger again.

I consider the Nuggets Box Set to be my bible

I didn't quite realize you were looking for amps that small. I hear very good things about those Yamaha TH series amps

Last edited: Aug 06, 2018 09:19:46

First off, never be ashamed of a Telecaster. They're certainly just fine for surf & many other styles. They're probably the most versatile guitar out there.

As for a bedroom amp, I like the Fender Mustang I or II. Great amps.

Otto & The Ottomans
Kennedy Custom Guitars

Bob's right, telecaster's rule. Congrats on the guitar.

Thanks all. I'm really happy with my Tele to be honest. When I saw it I just fell for it and finally decided to buy a guitar. Might not have a tremolo, but I just love this single coil sound and very simple, classic design. <3 You won't see me with a pickup monster from Ibanez for example

Also thanks for all the amp recommendations. I've looked at the Fender Mustang before and it really does look interesting. It's just that they are about 16" wide, which is just about the space I have to get from livingroom into kitchen. I can't store it anywhere, so it would basically block the only bit of walking space I have in my flat. I'm afraid I have to go smaller even I know it sucks if you want certain cool sounds and can't get a tube amp, and then not even a half decent transistor amp.

Bob_Kennedy wrote:

First off, never be ashamed of a Telecaster. They're certainly just fine for surf & many other styles. They're probably the most versatile guitar out there.

As for a bedroom amp, I like the Fender Mustang I or II. Great amps.

Cool photo @Samurai! How useful do you find the different amp models on the THR, or rather: how useful are the more gainy models for you? All reviews I find focus on playing them with gain all the way up, which isn't helpful for me. Btw, what settings do you use for a cool sound?

Regarding Fender Mustang: What about the I instead of the II? It's certainly smaller and would not cause much problem. Plus it's really cheap.

Bob_Kennedy wrote:

First off, never be ashamed of a Telecaster. They're certainly just fine for surf & many other styles. They're probably the most versatile guitar out there.

As for a bedroom amp, I like the Fender Mustang I or II. Great amps.

D'oh, you suggested I or II. Forget my previous comment. Yes, I'm thinking about it. Still a bit on the big side (doesn't fit underneath my bed) but might just about work.

Samurai wrote:

garagelass wrote:

Cool photo @Samurai! How useful do you find the different amp models on the THR, or rather: how useful are the more gainy models for you? All reviews I find focus on playing them with gain all the way up, which isn't helpful for me. Btw, what settings do you use for a cool sound?

Regarding Fender Mustang: What about the I instead of the II? It's certainly smaller and would not cause much problem. Plus it's really cheap.

I find them very useful) Not talking about some heavy stiles (I like to play some Metallica or Iron Maiden stuff sometimes)My favorite sound for classic surf is Mesa-Boogie (that they call Modern) with low gain and high level, punchy and crisp! Marshall style amps are nice for some Link Wray style or garage. I also enjoy Vox and Fender emulations there with gain pushed a little bit. Reverb is pretty decent and tremolo is nice, that's basically all that I need.

Thanks a lot Samurai. This gives me something to think about, between the THR and possibly the smallest Fender Mustang. The THR is much smaller, but also a LOT more expensive. So I guess I need to decide on my priorities. In the end it's always about compromising, and I guess I need to decide on how much to spend vs. space.