In my opinion the champ. the Blues Jr has a warmth that I wouldn't personally want for surf (I have owned 3 different Blues Jr.s before).

However if you have a little more to spend i would get a Quiilter. Easy to busk. direct out to record on some models. Just my opinion though.

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Last edited: Feb 27, 2023 12:28:03

I woould recommend Quilter Superblock US both for gigs and recording. In my opinion it is also has much more of a surf tone than both mentioned amps and will cost with decent cab around $450-500.

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revmike wrote:

Samurai wrote:

I woould recommend Quilter Superblock US both for gigs and recording. In my opinion it is also has much more of a surf tone than both mentioned amps and will cost with decent cab around $450-500.

While tube amps will often sound more authentic for surf (not always, lot of factors go into the sound), I agree with Samurai. I have one of these as well, and it is really versatile, and I can dial in a variety of surfy tones. The onboard reverb is more atmospheric than drippy, so you will probably need some other type of reverb.

Rev

Yep, with good cab and SurfyBear it does miracles!

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Tqi wrote:

Samurai wrote:

Yep, with good cab and SurfyBear it does miracles!

So related note, Jerry - what are you using for reverb? I listened to a couple of your tracks and they're decently played but really dry. Honestly you'd probably be better off with a more affordable amp and putting cash toward a Surfy Bear than buying something flash like a Princeton, BJ, DR...

What do used amp prices look like near you? The Frontman 212r is an all-analogue amp with real reverb that sounds pretty great and tends to be pretty cheap on the classifieds. I'd take that and some money towards a surfy bear over a new budget amp any day.

That’s what I’m thinking, too. As much as I love my vintage fender amps, the most important part of your surf tone will be the reverb unit. Surf your money there first (surfy bear is a great option) and just get something loud and clean enough like that fender 212r or even a big crate amp. You should be able to get a cheap one of those off Craigslist, etc. Then, you can pick up any of the other amp options and already have your reverb situated.

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If you want to busk outside, you either need something battery powered or carry some type of generator or power supply with you. You say you have a 5 Watt Vox for busking. So why do you need this other amp for busking? Do you really need a lot more power for that use?

To me, unless you're planning to gig at a fairly high volume, you want the best relatively small amp you can get. Personally, I think that a vintage silverface Fender Princeton Reverb is as good as it gets for a lot of styles, including surf. In fact, with proper PA support, I gig with my '74 Princeton Reverb pretty regularly. In small clubs, I am pretty much expected to not use anything significantly bigger than that, to maintain a reasonable stage volume. It works fine as a monitor for myself and the PA takes up the slack. The drummer in my surf band is not exactly quiet. I also sometimes use an old Gibson GA-8T. I supply reverb for that amp. The Princeton Reverb's reverb is just fine, IMO.

The main disadvantage to an old-school tube amp is that it doesn't have a line out for direct recording. One can be added pretty easily by tapping the signal between the output transformer and speaker. There are lots of simple schematics online for this.

Now, if you want to be able to silently record, something like a Quilter is a very good choice. As already mentioned, the Superblock US is a good choice if you want something smaller - loudness-wise, more in the Princeton/Deluxe Reverb range. I use a Tone Block 201 (200 Watts of clean juice) for pedal steel a lot, and it's a very good loud-and-clean platform into a lightweight 1x12" cab, either for guitar or steel. It's very small and weighs 4 pounds. I've recorded direct with no speaker connected, and the results were just fine for clean guitar or pedal steel. I just went for the cheaper 201 (rather than the current 202) since the reverb on the Quilters I've tried doesn't really suit me, especially for surf. But as a solid platform, I think they're both excellent. I also have a Quilter Microblock 45 - it's pedal-sized (fits on my small pedalboard easily), kind of cool, but the tone shaping is pretty limited. There are many different Quilters. For example, the 101 Mini or 101 Reverb, which is 50 Watts - without or with reverb, respectively. One of the guitar players I work with uses one pretty regularly.

The Blues Jr. is a good modern amp. I would say it could be used if you want more breakup as you push the amp. But I also don't really consider it a particularly good surf platform. So I'd much rather have a Princeton Reverb. YMMV.

Depending on your budget, there are a ton of options out there. For example, Tim Marcus at Milkman makes a really nice portable tube preamp (The Amp), 50 Watts into 8 Ohms or 100 Watts into 4 Ohms, with both reverb and tremolo. Pretty old-school tube preamp into a Class D power amp. They can be frequently had used on the Steel Guitar Forum - originally Milkman amps were more-or-less designed for pedal steel, so the focus was on a very good clean sound. In other words, great for surf.

All to my tastes, blah blah blah.

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One option not mentioned (I think) is for recording we live in a golden age of inexpensive software amp plugins. If you have a Mac, Garageband is already on it and is more than adequate for your needs. The reverb plugin even does a decent drip. Entire albums are recorded with a guitar plugged into an audio interface into a computer.

Danny Snyder

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joebonni wrote:

I have an old Vox Viscount very early solid state and this thing has great sound I mean they vary from year to year but mine has the built in distortion and that is ok but not great ........ I would like to install a Master Volume I saw a guy that did that and overdriving the transistors is like tubes and has the same reaction .........

Sorry I meant to post a picture ........

-

Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 16:00:13

Please note that a 15 watt tube amp will get you in trouble with your neighbours quickly.

I'd look into a Fender Mustang GTX50 (excellent recording options and clean amp models) and pair it with the Surfy Bear. For busking and recording, another great option is the Yamaha THR II30.

Tqi wrote:

DrippyReverbTremolo wrote:

Please note that a 15 watt tube amp will get you in trouble with your neighbours quickly.

Hey, if my next door neighbour is reading this, I still don't know how to take that time you complimented the improvement in my playing.