Combo 5 watt tube amp suggestions?

[DIYmastermind]

Hey all. i have a number of heads (some tube, some ss, some hybrid) and cabs, which is great for experimenting with different speaker combinations and such, and looking sweet (as stacks do lol). but i've been looking into a small 5 watt combo amp, as nothing beats the convenience of just grabbing a combo to take out into the living room or on the front porch. i'm looking for a small 5 watter combo, preferably tube (but open to hybrid as well). i love one knob wonders, but really i'm open to anything (within the constraints of my budget, which is 3 hundy or lower). just to put it out there (so nobody suggests these amps) as far as tube amps go i already have an orange micro terror (yes ik, hybrid), a heavily modded (courtesy of gabe from gabespedals.com) kustom defender 5h, a blackstar ht-5rh (ik, also hybrid..ish), and a revenge lil rock 5 (based on fender Princeton 5f circuit). I'm looking for a sweet bluesy tube overdrive at lower volume levels, so a triode-pentode type switch would be a big plus. Obviously, the lower in price the better (I catch enough hell from the misses for my gear habit as is lol). Any suggestions would be welcome.

sorry for the super long post and thanks all!

[DrGonz78]

I have a few of Epiphone Valve Jr 5 watt tube amps. I bought two working amps for $75 each and a non-working one for $40. These amps are easy to mod and are cheaper than most of any of the tube amps out there... Still not the greatest sounding, but still can be modded in so many ways. I also have an attenuator for Epi Valve Jr. to make it breakup at lower volumes. Sure you can spend money on a kit and build a Fender Champ or something. I found a sweet deal on three Gretsch Electromatic G5222 amps for $50 each. Those amps are basically like the Fender Champion 600 type amps. My point is that given some patience and research on craigslist, 5 watt tube amps are easy to find at a great price. 

[Roly]

http://www.ozvalveamps.org/ava100/ava101minilamington.htm

?

[DIYmastermind]

Hey drgonz, I myself have looked into the valve jrs, champ 600's, and the gretch amps. The one that peaked my interest the most was the gretch (more so over the champion 600, simply because of cosmetics) but no stores in my area have the gretch, so I haven't had the chance to sit down with one (or the champion 600 either ). What's your experience with the gretch?

and thanks roly! That looks like it would be super cheap to throw together. But I were to build something, I'd be looking for a kit, simply because I haven't built an amp yet. Any ideas on a cheap tube or even hybrid kit?

[Roly]

There is a kit available with construction manual and on-line support for the 15 watt version of the Lamington;

http://valveheaven.com/Lamington%20Amp%20Kit.html

...and other kits at AX84;

http://www.ax84.com/kits.html

...in association with Doberman Amps;

http://shop.dobermanamps.com/?Click=363

There are also kits available for Fender-like amps, blackface, etc, 'tho most kits tend to be for rather more powerful amps than 5 watts, around 15 watts being very popular because they are suitable for gigging small to medium venues and for home and studio recording.

If you Google tube or valve amp kits you will see quite a few.

HTH

[tonyharker]

There's also this guy in UK.  http://www.ampmaker.com/store/home.php

[guitarmikey]

Hey all. i have a number of heads

sorry for the super long post and thanks all!

What about Ibanez. TSA5? You should deffinetely try one...
Fender cleans with TubeScreamer included and a Celestion 10... That's a real Deal...

[joecool85]

Hey all. i have a number of heads

sorry for the super long post and thanks all!

What about Ibanez. TSA5? You should deffinetely try one...
Fender cleans with TubeScreamer included and a Celestion 10... That's a real Deal...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TSA5/

Looks neat, I hadn't ever heard of it.  Made in Indonesia.  Has a footswitchable overdrive channel.  Normal Controls: Volume, "Color".  Tube Screamer Controls: Level, Tone and Overdrive.  Comes with a 10" speaker and should sound pretty good.  I've never seen one in person, let alone played one though so I can't vouch for it myself...but it looks cool.

[J M Fahey]

You already have a Ton of store bought ones, now it's build time.

As suggested above, go for one of the AX84 suggestions.

They don't have a kit per se (although they might have added one lately), but the huge amount of info and good people there more than makes out for it.

For your bluesy sounds, I'd build the simplest, Champ like one I could find.

And use a *good* speaker; in simple practically non equalized amps, it sets the tone.

Jensen MOD are killer bluesy sounding speakers, thing MOD10-35 for a shimmering sound or MOD10-50 for a "middier" one.

[DIYmastermind]

Hey all. i have a number of heads

sorry for the super long post and thanks all!

What about Ibanez. TSA5? You should deffinetely try one...
Fender cleans with TubeScreamer included and a Celestion 10... That's a real Deal...

I sure would if i didn't already have the Ibanez TSA15H