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Posted by: bleez Sep 13 2015, 01:09 PM

Im thinking about getting a small amp for home use. Has anyone tried the http://www.thomann.de/gb/vht_special_6_combo_ultra.htm?
I wanted an amp which would be different from the all digital sound Ive been using so far and this is tube driven with an effects loop. I have a couple of overdrive pedals, cry baby at the moment and I'd like to add a few more pedals later on.

I tend to play 70's style blues rock and stoner rock mostly, any thought on this amp good or bad?

Posted by: Mertay Sep 13 2015, 02:59 PM

Never played one, checked a youtube demo and sound fine to me.

Incase it helps, if you like to use overdrive pedals for tone variety choose amps that gets some form of distortion when driven. As much as I like them, Fender amps in this range for example (like blues jr.) don't pass overdrive and cause of this might not be as versatile as some expects to be.

Posted by: Chris S. Sep 13 2015, 05:15 PM

My only complaint would be the single tone control, but that's just me

I had a bugera that was almost identical to that one except it didn't have an FX loop - wasn't a fan but once I invested in an equalizer pedal that opinion changed

Posted by: bleez Sep 13 2015, 07:24 PM

yeah, I had been looking at fender amps, all the ones I like are too expensive Im hoping to get a strat or tele in the not too distant future so I cant blow all my cash on the amp.


Im not too fussed about the tone switch but I do want the fx loop.


I was also looking at the http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/orange-crush-35-rt-solid-state-35w-combo-with-reverb-tuner-and-fx-loop.html. Im not keen on a solid state but they make a big deal about the analogue circuit, it has an fx loop and as much I want away from the modelling aspect I can see the advantage of the headphone cab sim feature.

I kinda wanna go all old school vintagey like the cool kids
do you think the analogue circuit on the Orange is a gimmick or would that make the amp sound more like a 'real' amp?

Posted by: Mertay Sep 13 2015, 07:53 PM

I know this guy from a music store (the company also distributes orange) and we had a chat a month ago on Orange amps.

He told me they're really strict on their circuit designs specially the high-end stuff, commented even Fender used some modern circuitry on the reverb part of its high-end amps (I have no idea about circuits further than this ). The place we met first where he previously worked distributed Fender's and after playing some I wouldn't care any bit if they're not true vintage circuited or not

As for tone, I told him I liked the amps of Orange but the cab. sounds bad (non-pleasent low-mid fatness to my ears, eq on amp doesn't fix this) to my ears. He said he uses one with a Fender cab.

Since its all about sound, you really have to get out there demo'ing to find your tone. I always comment here on guitars as they share some relevances of tone but amps are a whole other story...

I'd say if you do like Fender amps and have the cash, just delay the 2.nd guitar as an amp you like will give you better tone and make you like your current guitar much more. To me in the analog world amps have a much bigger % of tone than guitars.

Posted by: bleez Sep 13 2015, 09:36 PM

I cant argue with your logic here

The orange would be quite easy to try but I doubt I can find the VHT in an actual shop, they seem quite rare around here.

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 13 2015, 09:38 PM

I just picked up a Fender Blues Junior III Tweed edition a couple of weeks ago. It was a revelation into a whole other aspect of playing I've seriously overlooked - clean playing

I was at Guitar Center a couple of weeks ago and decided to plug a standard Strat into a Fender amp. It was a "holy shit!" moment. That's it! That is THE sound!

I tried to talk myself out of buying it, so I convinced myself to wait until I get a coupon in the mail. The next day I got a 15% off coupon in my inbox. I guess it was a sign lol picked it up the next day.

Once I brought it home there were many things I realized. The most obvious was how poorly my guitars were setup. All of the fret buzz that was normally masked by mountains of gain or digital processing were readily apparent. Also, all of my pedals took on a new life. The few overdrive pedals I have became very distinguishable from each other, before I couldn't tell much of a difference. Mind you, I do have a few tube amps, but they're all geared towards the high gain sound. Plus those other tube amps have massive amounts of clean headroom.

I'm still learning how to get tones out of this amp. It's amazing how such a simple amp can generate so many tones. The most important tip I'll leave you with is this - plugging a Fender into a Fender is one of the most magnificent sounds you'll ever hear I highly recommend it.

Posted by: bleez Sep 13 2015, 10:34 PM

damn dude that sounds great! the blues Jnr was one of the amps I really liked. double the price of the orange and VHT but they sound great in every demo Ive seen. It watched a youtube vid of a guy plug his les paul into one and sounded amazing.
how do you find it is volume wise for playing at home, is it something you need to crank or it is good at a lower volumes?

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 14 2015, 03:38 AM

So far from my limited experience I can say that while using a Strat I can get great clean tones at low volumes. Add some reverb, delay and/or chorus and it sounds great. I've noticed that turning down the preamp volume and turning up the master volume allows the guitar to have more of a dynamic range with out breaking up. So when you brush the strings with your pick its very delicate, but then you dig in and it "pops" much louder. I am just now learning about picking dynamics. Apparently everything I was playing before was much too compressed.

When you get to crunch sounds it gets a bit more complicated, as it varies greatly on the guitar/pickups being used and if a overdrive/distortion pedal is being used. At very low volumes, it does get a bit thin and fizzy. but you don't have to turn it up much to get it to fill out. When I use the LTD H-1001 with EMG 57/66 pickups with the master at 1 and the preamp volume dimed out, I can get decent crunch sounds. It's not loud, but people in the next room will hear it. And if you live in an apartment with paper thin walls, your neighbors might hear a little bit of it. However, the amp in general isn't very heavy on the bottom end - it's definitely not a metal amp.

Keep in mind, I just picked this up, I'm still playing around with it and learning how overdrive and distortion pedals work with it. I just picked up a distortion pedal today (TC Electronic Dark Matter) to see how it handles higher gain, and so far I've been impressed. I also never thought I would've liked a distortion pedal lol

It is a totally different experience than the digital/solid state realm. Definitely give it a try bro

Posted by: bleez Sep 14 2015, 10:22 AM

aw man, I just noticed that the blues Jr doesnt have an fx loop. Thats a bit of a downer.

Posted by: Phil66 Sep 14 2015, 06:03 PM

Have you looked at Blackstar 5 watt??

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 14 2015, 06:20 PM

It's a fine amp and pretty much perfect for what you want I'd say run your overdrive in front and chorus/delay in the loop.

Posted by: Mertay Sep 14 2015, 06:25 PM

Jetcity amps get nice reviews too, the only downside is its almost considered a sin not to change the stock tubes on it with nice ones.

I read a very long review of it (unfortunatly Turkish) but the user commented though this increases the price, options on tube models help customize the tone to users liking.

Posted by: bleez Sep 14 2015, 07:08 PM

y'know I glanced at the blackstars but I had it in my head that they were more a metal type amp. I dont know if that's actually correct, probably not


yeah, that was what I had in mind. I was also planning on maybe a mxr uni-vibe in the loop as well for some trower / hendrix type vibes


not heard of jetcity. Ive read a few reviews about the VHT special where people have upgraded the speaker to a jensen.

Posted by: Phil66 Sep 14 2015, 07:22 PM

Not really, the company was started by ex Marshall staff and users include Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne/Firewind), Neal Schon(Journey), and James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers) so not just metal. They do have a metal range though

Couple of demos. I have the HT1 R head and it is plenty loud enough for home use but no fx loop.



Or maybe the combo for you



The last model of the combo was the best selling amp at Andertons for two years. MP3 input and emulated output too

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 15 2015, 02:08 AM

P.S. The "JET CITY" stuff is designed by MIKE SOLDANO of SOLDANO AMPLIFICATION. If you haven't heard of them do a quck youtube search. Jet City is sort of his budget line but still very good stuff

Posted by: bleez Sep 15 2015, 08:16 AM

that combo has quite good specs, not sure its as versatile as the vht but worth checking out, thanks dude.


ah cool, I know soldano amps. I'll check them out.


Here's a pretty decent example of the tones from the vht -

Posted by: Mertay Sep 15 2015, 11:35 AM

1 tone amp users (Classic Fender amps) usually buy boutique eq pedals to shape character if needed.

These are kind of expensive cause they imitate amp eq's and much smoother sounding then graphic eq's (affordable ones). You also have the fx loop option for eq but that will work more like a balance thing rather than character, it will be almost like changing the speaker.

The VHT sounds fine on video's but engineering-wise I felt they had the idea of user friendly customization design if extras are ever requested. This is really up to you, while some enjoy this process a lot (like me) some feels more comfortable working around an overall tone center. It comes down to the use of money though if customization is wanted, as a preference of customizing the hell out of an amp like the VHT or simply buying a more expensive amp that covers enough needs and moving on. I guess this is the hard decision you're going to make.

Do check the Jet City stuff too, I remember amplitube has modeled of 2 of their amps.

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 16 2015, 02:35 AM

What's funny is I didn't realize it until I had it at home for a couple of days I was a bit disappointed at first, but so far it hasn't been as essential as I thought it would be. But then again, I'm playing mostly clean stuff and am using overdrive and distortion pedals for the more gainy stuff.

But I must say, after playing around with it, for a nice rock tone, you will need to turn it up a bit. You won't really be able to get the tone to fill out at very low volumes. Fifteen watt tube amps aren't as quiet as you'd think. That's part of the reason why I'm having reservations about keeping it (I really don't want to part with it). Even 5 watt tube amps move some serious air. I don't know what your living arrangement is like, but if you live in a small apartment, a 1 watt tube amp might be your best bet.

Posted by: bleez Sep 16 2015, 08:34 AM

Im not too bad for volume. I only have neighbours on one side, I cant crank an amp mega loud but I can get away with a bit of noise.
the VHT that is currently at the top of my shortlist has a switch for adjusting the watts, the theory being you turn that down and are able to crank the amp without needing too much overall volume to get it overdriven. How that works in real life, I dont know but I like the idea of that.

Posted by: Phil66 Sep 16 2015, 08:34 AM

I have the Blackstar HT-1R head on two 4x8 (just for show ) and that is plenty loud enough. You wouldn't crank it if the kids were in be
It doesn't have a loop but I did find a mod for it somewhere on the www, I'll see if I can find it.

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 17 2015, 12:42 AM

I was just looking at the VHT, and I kinda want one now It seems like a good deal, especially if you can get one used. I like that the circuit is wired using an eyelet board. Not really because of tone, but for the fact that it will be easy to service and/or mod. I'm not completely sold on the clean channel, but I would have to try one myself to make a final judgement. The Ultra channel sounds decent however.

One thing I now look for in an amp is a gain knob on the clean channel. I want an amp where I can go from clean to crunch with the guitar's volume knob, and use an overdrive for more saturation. The VHT doesn't have that in the traditional sense, but it seems like you can turn down the wattage and turn up the volume. I'm not really sure how the guitar's volume knob works with that, but it would be great if you could let us all know

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 17 2015, 08:10 AM

Have you thought about the VICTORY amps? Rob Chappers sig brand.

http://www.victoryamps.com/v30-the-countess.html

or how about a Hughes and Kettener?

comes as head or combo

http://hughes-and-kettner.com/products/tubemeister/tubemeister-5/

or heck, how about just a power amp and a cab? Put whatever you like in front

Posted by: bleez Sep 17 2015, 08:46 AM

Im not keen on the victory amps for what Im after at the moment however that Hughes and Kettner small combo looks interesting, Decent price as well. Im gonna check that one out, thanks Todd

Posted by: bleez Sep 17 2015, 08:50 PM

guys, Ive noticed that for about £30 more I could get the VHT special ultra in a head / cab. Other than looking cooler, would there be any real difference from the combo amp?

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 18 2015, 01:52 AM

One may be open back while the other is closed. The separate head and cab should be a slight bit more reliable, because the tubes don't share an enclosure with the driver blasting away.

Posted by: jstcrsn Sep 18 2015, 12:06 PM

In my op, anything with a closed back designed sounds far superior

Posted by: Darius Wave Sep 18 2015, 12:35 PM

I had a head version of it (basicly the sam amp module). It's a cool amp but I would not recommend it for home purposes (that's why I sold it). It's a typical situation where you get overdive but cranking up the volume. Unfortunately before you get the type of drive close to AC/DC, you are already loud enough to play with drums (seriously). I took it for a jam session a few times. WAs cranked up at full volume and was sounding great but...with drums, on a pub stage. At home I would go for something that can bring you some useable distortion at small volumes as well.

Personally I would search for something that has already good distortion so I would not have to use any additional distortion pedals that would partially kill the dynamics and idea of having "hjard top handle" tube drive that simply demands more from the player and I suppose that's the purpose of practicing

Posted by: Phil66 Sep 18 2015, 12:39 PM

If you go for a head and cab you can always try to get a Marshall Powersoak. There are usually some home made ones on Ebay though I don't know how good they are, in fact I don't know how good the Marshall one is but it's an portion to look into

Posted by: bleez Sep 18 2015, 12:55 PM

Interesting points, Darius. I was actually thinking about getting the head + cab version instead of the combo
so did the watts knob not help with the volume?
I thought that feature was supposed to allow you to reduce the watts and crank the amp more but without making it too loud. I can make a bit of noise

I was planning on using a couple of overdrive pedals, rather than distortion ( I dont know if that would make a difference ) I was also going to use a 70's style fuzz box occasionally for some stoner rock type sounds. I thought they would be cool through a small tube amp, do you not think they would be?

Posted by: Darius Wave Sep 18 2015, 01:24 PM

My opinion in that field should not be taken objectively since I'm not a fan of overdrive or distortion pedals at all. The only one i think i tolerate is a plextone by carl martin. It's mostly because the fact that most of those keep sound descent if you turn on your guitar volume kno to 10. Otherwise they start to sound sort of like a chewing gum. Reaction of those is way different than amp's built-in overdrive.

These days not many people imagine different things saying distortion or overdrive...let's treat it the same por the topic purpose.


Yes - watt switch did not make enough difference for distortion level on the power amp of vht. But if you plan to use external distortion/overdrive devixes than it should not make much difference. Volume scale works fine at home.

Posted by: bleez Sep 18 2015, 03:17 PM

thanks Darius. One thing you cant get from demo videos is the real volume of an amp so it's helpful to get feedback like this.
Its actually good to know that you chose the same amp because you certainly know how to get amazing tones so, for me, that is a great advert for the amp

Posted by: Darius Wave Sep 20 2015, 08:27 PM

You're too kind bleez Anyway I was satisfied with the tone of this amp. It's a beast for the price and size

Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 21 2015, 10:11 PM

Does the amp have wattage setting so you can get drive tones from it without killing the neighbors and such? I watched several vids and it seems like a great blues amp but not "high gain" sort of thing? I saw you posted about using pedals, but then saw Darious say he didn't like using pedals the amp?

Posted by: bleez Sep 22 2015, 07:02 AM

yes indeed, to all of the above
there are a couple of features on this amp which I like and havent seen on the other amps which Ive compared. The adjustable watt switch and the fx loop. In theory you should be able to turn down the watts and increase the volume on the clean channel without being 'too loud'.
I wouldnt really say it was a metal amp though but Im looking for a more blues type of thing.
I was planning on using a few pedals. Darius wasnt a fan of using overdrives ect and I'll definitely be experimenting without them but the plan was for an overdrive, delay ( the amp has no reverb ), an obnoxious 70s style fuzz and if I can afford it Id love to have a rotovibe

Posted by: Mertay Sep 22 2015, 12:18 PM

Looking at the thomann link, that Jet city JCA2212 seems more and more logical to me as you describe your needs. Did you search the amp on youtube? seems it can do bluesy and get rude fine.

Posted by: bleez Sep 22 2015, 12:54 PM

the jet city looks and sounds good.
I thought maybe it would be too loud at 20 watts compared to the 6 watts of the vht ( plus the adjustable watt switch on the vht ). Its a bit more expensive that the vht combo ( roughly £60 more ) Although I had considered upping my budget to get the vht head / cab, I can get the head/ cab combo for a little less than the jet city combo - thats not a dealbreaker, it's just a consideration.

Its really tough not being able to actually play them! I think both sound fantastic TBH. I like the reverb on the jet city but I had initially thought a 20 watt amp might be too big.

Posted by: Mertay Sep 22 2015, 01:44 PM

By the way, I can't see reverb on jetcity?

Any amp if not cranked losses something, there are few options but none work perfect.

As for the watt control thing (though never tried VHT) I'm not much of a fan of it but in a way how Darious commented on pedals. It really narrows down the dynamics (compress) of the amp for the listener, maybe you watched the toneking demo where he uses it slightly near the end of the video. Not saying its simply bad as again I don't know the amp but I wouldn't depend on it too much.

I prefer decreasing the master volume on the 2 channel amp I have (65 watt transistor based Peavey amp), on extreme low it gets muddy but just around the level of I guess speaking volume I can't complain. My friend has a Fender Hotrod Deluxe (40 watt tube amp) and its the same with that too.

The nice thing is the jetcity offers this master volume option and being 20w my guess (!)would be positive that the neighbors won't complain. Also it has like 7 tubes in it so that can't be bad

But finally no one here can advice you with comfort an amp you can't play, as I see there is no rushing for this amp anyway isn't there some musicshop close to you to demo some amps? if not, maybe a weekend trip to the biggest city near you with a friend might fun to test amps?

Posted by: bleez Sep 22 2015, 04:04 PM

ah, no reverb!my bad, I was watching an andertons demo and didnt notice they were playing a different model
I'll need to check the availability of the jet city as they are not in stock at thomann. The vht heads are back in stock at the end of october ( if I want to go for the head / cab ) so I have plenty time
The biggest store I can get to is 'Guitar Guitar' they have a lot of stock, no jet city or vht but I would at least get a feel how loud certain amps are.
buying guitars is sooo much easier

Posted by: Mertay Sep 22 2015, 04:19 PM

Keep in mind as usually the stores are bigger than the room in your house you play guitar, it gets difficult to understand the loudness. Also not to forget if the store is crowded that day think the same loudness there gets doubled at home.

Stores are also cool as you can try stuff you never had in mind, me and my friend 2-3 months ago went to the store to buy an ibanez amp but walked out with that Fender hotrod I mentioned he's still quite happy by the way with his unexpected choice

Posted by: bleez Nov 16 2015, 07:54 PM

bit of an update on the amp front. Basically I was looking at the VHT ultra head / cab or the jet city JCA2212. Both seemed good choices to me, although I was probably leaning towards the vht because I could get the head and cab for not a lot more than the combo Anyway, it looks like the VHT wont be coming into stock. It was supposed to be in at the end of last month but after it didnt show I asked Thomanns ( basically the only place I could find it with a reasonable UK delivery ) they dont know when or if it will be back. I think that option is dead.
The Jet city isn't in stock either but due in at the end of this month so in the event of that falling through as well, I was looking at a possible alternative - what about the http://www.andertons.co.uk/combo-amps/pid32643/cid691/laney-cub12-cub-all-tube-combo.asp?
I can get it from a UK store, which is a bonus. Its has the fx loop, and also as well as the 15w input it also has a 1w input which I thought was pretty cool, hopefully that would allow it to be pushed quite hard without needing to be too loud. Good price as well.
Anyone know if these Laneys are decent?

Posted by: Darius Wave Nov 16 2015, 08:13 PM

CUB has a similar distortion idea as special 6. It needs a high volume to properly saturate it's power amp. We spoke about you using some extrenal distortion devices so it doesn not matter that much in your case. My personal experiences with Laney are all good. Of course do not speak off private tone preferences but most of the stuff I had something to do with was usually 2/3 the price of other solid brands and if was always onb top of "most rarely repair-need" type of gear

Posted by: Mertay Nov 16 2015, 09:53 PM

Never played but always heard positive comments.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 16 2015, 11:28 PM

LANEY makes good gear. They have been making good quality gear for quite some time. Folks still collect their amps from the 80's in fact. The cub12 has a tube signal path so the overall "tone" will be nice and warm. As was mentioned for gain/dist, you'll probably need to add a pedal.

This little guy has a lot of options/tones/fx for the money. But it's not a full on tube amp.

http://www.andertons.co.uk/combo-amps/pid19408/cid691/vox-valvetronix-plus-vt80-80w-combo.asp

here is the new version for 50 euro more

http://www.andertons.co.uk/combo-amps/pid41866/cid691/vox-valvetronix-vt100x-12-100w-combo-amplifier.asp

Posted by: bleez Nov 17 2015, 01:52 PM

thanks for the info guys Im always a bit concerned I buy an amp or other piece of gear and then find out that its just for noobs and suckers

Posted by: jstcrsn Nov 18 2015, 03:30 AM

My main amp was a Laney Lead 100 . When I first bought it , my band was in the middle of recording and I didn't want to record with it as most of the tracks were done. Our engineer found out I had it and talked me into bringing it in . He asked if I would record one song with it and if I didn't like it , he would not charge me for that studio time. Long story short- it sounded so much better than my Randall That we ended up re-recording four or so of our strongest tracks , because they sounded weaker compared to the Laney tone. I don't know if there is still a Gmc radio , But the track is in there if we do.

Found it , if you look under my name , there are three songs . Never look away was the Laney , the other two were the randall
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Portal:GMC_Radio

Posted by: bleez Nov 18 2015, 09:43 AM

That's pretty cool. your guitar sounds excellent through the laney.
Thanks for the link, I didnt know about the gmc radio

Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 19 2015, 01:58 AM

Let us know what you decide on The old LANEY AOR heads are still sought after and they are 30 years old. Sounds like any amp mentioned in this thread will do you right so just pick the one you like the best