Hello there everyone,
Im kinda new to Surf guitar.
I play the guitar for 31 years now, but Metal is 'my main thing".
So, experienced player....but not in Surf.

What would you guys recommend as a starters amp?
Bedroom level is enough.
I have "the big guns" but again, for Metal (2 Peavey Triple X's and 2 Randall 4x12 Warhead cabs).

I was eyeballing a Fender Blues Jr. Seems like a nice allrounder?

For reverb, I have the Ocean 11. And thinking of maybe buying the new UA Golden Reverberator.

Any help would be appreciated.
Or, if I'm nr. 123012832899 with the same question, a link to a proper topic is welcome too.

Grindpad - Oldschool Dutch Bay Area Thrashmetal

Blues Jr is a good amp especially for it’s price, and has spring reverb. I’ve owned the tweed one before, but once you hear a blackface Fender you’ll be trading that thing in fast. If you can afford it, personally I’d cut to the chase and for a few hundred bucks more than the Blues Jr and get a Fender ‘65 Princeton Reverb reissue, which has better sounding reverb and has tremolo, also way nicer clean sound. Can’t go wrong with that blackface Fender sound and Princeton will be good for home. Also a ‘65 Deluxe Reverb reissue is another good choice, though slightly more money and a little bigger but not by much. Both those reissue amps are killer Fender surf tone machines and you’ll never be wondering “what else is out there” as most do when they go the shortcut. Unless you want the outboard reverb tank sound, the onboard reverb is amazing and will definitely suffice. Blues Jr reverb seemed weaker in comparison to blackface amp reverb. The Princeton reverb and Deluxe reverb are not starter amps, they are the only amp you’ll need pretty much and save you the “upgrading” loss of selling the Blues Jr a year later when you want something better after listening to surf tunes and noticing your sound is missing something. Do it right the first time, and you will love the tone and be inspired to never stop playing the amp! Best of luck.

I will add that I’ve owned a Blues Junior in tweed many years ago as my first tube amp and though it was good, after playing through my dad’s Deluxe Reverb reissue, I traded it in for a new Deluxe Reverb and never looked back. For clean tones, the Blues Junior was kind of sterile and exceeds better at blues breakup tones as it’s thing. Blues junior didn’t inspire me like the reissue Fenders still do to this day.

Last edited: Jul 02, 2021 13:22:47

I came here to say "Fender Princeton", I'm not surprised it has already been recommended.

If budget is an issue I'd consider a Quilter superblock US. Along with a Surfybear classic or Surfybear metal.
Be careful of falling down the reverb pedal rabbit hole. I ended up spending more than a reissue Fender tank on pedals before I got my Fender tank. Nothing comes close to the sound of a real spring tank.

I'd suggest going the head + cabinet route. My feeling is that surf guitar sounds best through a punchy sealed cabinet. If you get a good 2x15 or even a 2x12 cab, then the amp really doesn't matter so much. Anything pumping through the cab will sound awesome!

A Blackface Princeton or DRRI are good choices. The Blackface amps sound somewhat different from the Brownface amps that were used in the earliest days of Surf, but I can state from personal experience that a DRRI is an excellent and versatile amp. Only the purest of the purists would object.

I NOW use a Winfield Tremor, which is very similar in circuit and sound to a Brownface Princeton, but a lot less expensive than the Chris Stapleton RI Princeton. I was visiting amp builder Winfield Thomas a few years ago and he invited me to try a prototype he had built, based roughly upon an improved version of the Tweed Vibrolux circuit, which is functionally very similar to the Brownface Princeton. The Bias-Varying tremolo is sublime, and perfect for Surf.

The difference in timbre is that the Tweed and Brownface circuits have stronger midrange than most Blackface Fenders.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Sorry, but also to the later reply's:
Thanks people!!

Grindpad - Oldschool Dutch Bay Area Thrashmetal

Samurai wrote:

This one is a great starting amp, affordable and surfy)

I agree, I use one of those box ac4s pretty regularly at home. I upgraded the speaker to an alnico Weber blue pup (celestion blue copy but in a 10”), and it gets recording use alongside my fenders as well. The stock speaker will get you going and is fine, but upgrading the speaker down the line makes it even better.

-Eric

New music!
https://thedesolatecoast.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify

Also:
https://theverb.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theverbseattle/

Slikbeer wrote:

Hello there everyone,
Im kinda new to Surf guitar.
I play the guitar for 31 years now, but Metal is 'my main thing".
So, experienced player....but not in Surf.

What would you guys recommend as a starters amp?
Bedroom level is enough.
I have "the big guns" but again, for Metal (2 Peavey Triple X's and 2 Randall 4x12 Warhead cabs).

I was eyeballing a Fender Blues Jr. Seems like a nice allrounder?

For reverb, I have the Ocean 11. And thinking of maybe buying the new UA Golden Reverberator.

Any help would be appreciated.
Or, if I'm nr. 123012832899 with the same question, a link to a proper topic is welcome too.

Blues Jr is also nice, I used it for several years but it was a little too much for bedroom practice and I wasn’t always happy with the sound. Then I tried Vox in guitar shop and made a switch within a couple of days.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Slikbeer wrote:

And, just to be sure, that is the Vox AC4C1-12?

I’m sure the 12 would be nice, but that blue one we’re talking about has a 10” speaker.

-Eric

New music!
https://thedesolatecoast.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify

Also:
https://theverb.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theverbseattle/