Tube Amps Under 20 Watts

Bogner Metropolis - 30 or 15 watts

Kalamazoo low-watt old amp

Dr. Z 18 watt amp MAZ-18 Junior

Dr. Z Carmen Ghia - 18 watts

The Carmen Ghia looks modest. This is why this amp leaves so many people floored from the first note. Clean notes come out with a warmth, complexity, and sustain like one has never heard from such a small amp. Every note has a hugeness to it that seems far beyond an 18 watt head. All this comes before the amp starts to sing. As you turn the Volume clockwise, the fun factor increases. The big clean notes get bigger than they were before. Sustain becomes as smooth and musical as you have ever heard it. Notes seem to sing forever. This is an incredibly fun amp, and you'll have trouble putting your guitar down. The Carmen Ghia interacts with the player because the player can feel the power tube distortion. A favorite in recording studios around the world. It's also a great little amp for small clubs. While many other small amps have trouble cutting through the mix and have a rather flatulent low end, your Dr. Z Carmen Ghia will cut through the mix, always tightly and musically.

Specifications

Power output 18 Watts
Output tubes: 2 - EL-84
Preamp Tubes: 1-5751, 1-12ax7
Rectifier: 1 - 5Y3
Controls: Volume, Tone. What more do you need?
Configurations: Head, 1-12 Combo
Colors: Black, Red, Camel. Other custom wood finishes are available.

Comments from Dr. Z

"This hand-built amp contains some of the most original designs ever used in a guitar amp. From its tone control, which makes finding the sweet spot for any guitar a snap, to its Conjuctive Filter and fixed DC biased phase inverter, you won't see many of these features in other amps."

"The Ghia maintains the tightest, most focused output distortion of any amp on the market. You cannot find a better built or sounding amp for twice it's price. Maybe that's why there's no other amps in its class being made today."

Carmen Ghia review from Tonefrenzy.com

user reviews at Harmony Central

Sound clips

Sample clips available at amp tone MP3s page

The MAZ 18 Jr. is fast becoming an all-time favorite among Z enthusiasts. Check out the 2x10 combo.

The Prescription is the amp that started it all.

Buddha Twinmaster 18 watt tube amp

Clark amps to mention

Raeford 8 watt head.
Grifton 15 watt.
Fremont: 15-40 watt.
Gullah - 15 watt
Beaufort - 18 watt.

Vacuum Tube Valley - 2x4-watt head $399 kit $499 assembled, $75 for chrome chassis.
8 w 300B amp $900. 2 6SN7 preamp tubes.
run it:
l ch
hot plate
r ch
hot plate
spk

Blues Jr. settings

Duncan 10-watt amp with sample clips

Allen Amps: Class Act 7-watt tube amp. local page

[to do - include the new alternative "studio recording amps" and any power-tube footpedal that can drive a speaker]

The Hughes & Kettner Blues Master (aka Crunch Master) rack-mount scaled-down power-tube unit is a several-watt tube amp, perhaps 4 watts. It's been discontinued, but probably just due to lack of awareness -- it was premature. But now the Lawbreaker steps in to fill its place.

These amps are good for harmonica, fiddle, lap steel, keyboards, and other instruments. The proper mic for harmonica is supposedly the Green Bullet. I saw a Chicago blues band with vintage equipment. The harp player used a green bullet and a 15 watt silverface Champ. They totally blew me away, especially the harp. The guitarist played through an ancient Fender television set. The bass was a stand up bass. They really smoked that hip little cafe. The singer/harpist praised Little Walter.

I hope we hear a lot more harmonica through small tube amps. It really seems to bring out the roundess of tube amps even more than guitar does. I don't like the tonality of plain harmonica -- it's really thin and raspy. The harmonica is one instrument that completely turns into a monster when put through a little tube amp -- a real Jekyll and Hyde tonal transmogrification.

Many amp reviews by owners, at Harmony Central.

But I Can't Afford a Tube Amp -- They Are Too Expensive (not true!)

My newsgroup thread, List of all-tube amps under $250

0-4.9 Watts

Clark lil' bit 3 watt 1x8 tube combo user comments. Now *this* is closer to the power range I have in mind. Clark Amplification - amps page - Lil' Bit: "Three watt, one eight combo, 5F1 circuitry. Although the Lil' Bit is small on size it is large on quality sound. From the solid first quality knot free pine, finger jointed cabinet, covered in aged to a golden amber tweed, to its WeberVST P8R speaker, this amp is all about quality and exactness to Leo Fender's tradition. This amp features NOS USA tubes throughout, NOS military tube sockets, and NOS paper, foil, and oil capacitors are used in the signal path. This amp is built to last. Ideal for practice and recording. This is probably the most recorded amp ever. All NOS USA tubes. One WeberVST P8R 8" speaker is standard. For extra punch and headroom one Sovtek 5881, one Sovtek 12AX7WXT, and a Chinese 5AR4 are also included in this amp package. $800.00" My page: Clark Lil' Bit - 3 watt 1x8 tube combo

Actodyne Lace Electro-Furniture with McIntyre Bluesmaker MKII SPL-3 Stereo 3 watt x 2 guitar tube amp with load and speaker simulator, $3000

Rising Force - The Paradox. 4-watt head. 1 ecc83. 1 el84. $133. Single-ended. 2 in's. Loudness ctrl. Tone ctrls. Power Mute ckt. Attitude Selectro. Standby. Ground-lift sw. Tone-shaped multipurpose outlet. Option: reverb. Handmade in Bulgaria. 1-ch, low-tech. Direct pricing does not incl. shipping. Various combo setups available, between $194 and $279 total.
Rising Force Co.
Box 40
1680 Sofia, Bulgaria
359-2-592948 phone.
risingf at mail.techno-link.com

5-9.9 Watts

Crate VC508 5 watt 1x8 tube combo user comments. EL84. My page: Crate 5 watt 1x8 tube combo. $notMuch!

Kendrick 118 5 watt 1x8 tube combo. $590 My page: Kendrick 118 - 5 watt 1x8 tube combo

Victoria 518. 5 watt 1x8 combo. Classic 50s circuitry. $649.
630 369 3527. See my page for this, for web site and details: Victoria 518 - 5 watt 1x8 tube combo (Champ clone), $649

Kalamazoo Model One -- "about five watts, one 6BQ5 into an 8" speaker. It's a cool little amp." Kal.1 info

Kendrick Roughneck. 6 watt 1x8 tube combo. $690. Volume control. Line-level output. user comments My page: Kendrick Roughneck - 6 watt 1x8 tube combo

Fender 1967 [model] VibroChamp - 6 watt 1x8 tube combo - discontinued.
VibroChamp user comments
several more user comments
regular old Champ user comments

Trace Elliot Velocette 12R (1x12, 7W or 15W Class A tube combo).
See my page Trace-Elliot Velocette 12R - 1x12 7.5 or 15 watt tube combo.
User comments for Velocette (1x12).
The 12R has a pentode/triode switch, reducing it to 7 watts.
Official Velocette product page.
Researching the Velocette prices at Harmony Central, I see $315 street, $400 street, $355 street, $480 street, $189 street for a demo unit, $250-350 used, pesetas 65000 street.
See also the entries for other Velocettes, below.

Rising Force - The Dwarf. 7 watt head. $133. Push/pull Class A. 2 ECC83. 2 EL84. 4 in's. Sensitivity and loudness ctrls. Headroom ctrl. Exclusive Attitude Selector Swtich. Power Mute circuitry. 2 spk out's. 2 aux outs. ground-lift sw. Option: reverb. See notes for 4 watt Rising Force amp above.

Rising Force - The PassAmp. 7 watt push-pull head. $139. 2 ecc83. 2 el34 [typo? el84?]. 4 in's, loudness, sensiitivity, frequency, balance ctrls. Parallel fx loop. Multipurpose Power Attenuated Aux Speaker Out. 1-position rotary attitude selector. Headroom ctrl. Power Mute Output. Tone-shaped/level-adjustable multiipurpose output, ground-lift sw. Option reverb. See notes for 4 watt Rising Force amp above.

Hi-Mu 7 watt tube amp. See my page at Hi-Mu 7 watt tube amp, full-featured, large speaker Reviewed in Guitar Player Feb 1994. Speaker simulator output for DI.

Emery Sound - The Spotlight - 8 watt. Class A tube combo 1x10. Volume and tone knobs. $1000. Tube rectifier. As I recall, 1 6V6, 1 12AX7.

Holland 8-watt class A tube combo. My page: Holland 8-watt Class A tube combo

Mill Hill - Love. 8 watt tube combo. Copper chassis. 1x12. $6000. point-to-point wiring, silver wire and solder, exotic packaging. millhillaudio.com Mill Hill Audio

H&K - Tube 20 combo, features Direct Power Amp Control, to overload the power amp at room levels. [watts?] [research]

10-14.9 watts

Epiphone - Electar Tube 10 - 10 watt all tube 1x8 , 3-band eq, 115/230 volts. $359. www.gibson.com 615 871-4500 See my Electar page for lots of info & links.

Bluesland - BabyBlues B10 - 10 watt 1x10 combo , P10R Alnico speaker. 1 or 2 6L6's. Various vinyl coverings. $600.
info at bluesland.com
www.bluesland.com

Rocktron - Egnater TOL 50 $1295. 10-watt or 50-watt. No MIDI? 1x12 combo version $1395, 2x12 $1495. See my page TOL50. Official product page: http://www.rocktron.com/egnater/tol50.html.

Rocktron - Egnater TOL 100 $1795. 10- or 100-watt tube 4-ch head MIDI. reverb. Ser/paraFX loop w/ level mixing. 10-watt power sw. 2x12 combo version $1995. [I think this is false - there is no mention of a 10 watt setting for this model at official product page, http://www.rocktron.com/egnater/tol100.html]

Kalamazoo Model Two (10W tube combo) - user comments

Vox AC10 (not produced) - user comments

Clark Amplification Penrose - "Twelve watt, one ten combo. Single volume control. Solid state rectifier, two 6V6 and two 12AX7. Blue & White or Green & White two tone tolex with basket weave grill cloth. Low and high gain inputs. Plugging into the high gain input accesses an additional tube gain stage. Ideal for practice and recording. This amp sings. You will be surprised by the tone and volume. Easily pushes extension speaker cabs. One WeberVST ceramic Blue Pup 10" speaker is standard." $1030.00. Clark Amplification - amps page.

HiWatt Bulldog Dual-channel 40. $1299. 12 or 40 watts. 4 EL84 1x12 combo.

HiWatt DC40 with 1/4 power mode is 12 watts. [is this the Bulldog, above?]

Hiwatt Custom 20 (13.5 watts) and the Booker Valve Dynamics amps. By the Audio Brothers. Enables saturating power tube, output transformer, and guitar speaker at practical volume levels. Two EL84's in Class A. Booker Valve user comments V12M (13.5W Tube combo). Custom 20 (2x10, 13.5W Class A tube combo) - HiWatt Custom 20 user comments Local link (commentary): Hiwatt Custom 20 and the Booker Valve Dynamics amps

Edward Amp Co. - The Ed - 14-watt, 1x12 push-pull Class A all tube combo with Celestion Greenback spk, bass and treble, reverb, gain switching, boost, tube-buffered output [?], and headphone and ext spk outs. $1074.

Edward Amp Co. - The Hed - 14 watt. no headphone out or ext spk out. $1007. edward at netinc.ca - Edward Amp Co.

15-19.9 watts

These amps are way too loud. I am considering eliminating them from this page, what do you think? Like 50 watt and 100 watt amps: they are much too loud, and yet the companies offer a thousand choices here, while almost *no one* is offering truly *low-power* amps such as 10mW, 1/2 watt, 1 watt, 2 watt, or 3 watt amps. 15 watt amps win the award for "unclear on the concept". They are neither loud enough to play with drums, nor quiet enough for apartment studio or bedroom playing. They are only a hesitant step in the right direction; but they are not as radically quiet as the designers think. These might be best in a pro recording studio. From the user comments: "15 watts blows me out of the house." I've seen many comments like that. Dudes, 15 watts is *loud*!!! That's why I am on the verge of deleting this entire section; I don't want to encourage the 15-watt amp industry and give the impression that "there are a lot of low-power tube amps to choose from" -- because 15 watts is *not* "low-power". Our standards are insane and radically out of touch with the needs of home playing, by several orders of magnitude. 15 watts is a third of 50 watts; I'm calling for a hundred-fold or a thousand-fold reduction in power and volume -- as are our neighbors. I turned up my 50 watt Marshall combo for 3 minutes once, and immediately got a phone call from the "neighbors", to turn it off -- they live on the other side of the lake! A half-power switch is a joke; we need a hundredth-power switch.

Orange AD1510 (1x10) or AD1512 (1x12) 15 watt tube combo. tube rectifier. official product page. Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume (and apparently, Gain). Standby switch. 8, 16 ohm outs. 2 EL84 power tubes, 2 ECC83 preamp tubes, 1 GZ34 rectifier tube.

(All the corners are actually black, not clear.)

Laney 15 watt 1x10 tube combo. Class A/B. 5 or so controls. $300. LC15R user comments LC15 user comments

Peavey Classic 20. 15 watt 1x10 tube combo. 3-band eq. master vol. headphone out. $330. user comments

Fender Blues Jr. 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. user comments $470. Fat switch. fx loop. reverb. Fender. Ramon's Blues Jr. page

Fender Pro Jr. 15 watt 1x10 tube combo. Black tolex.Review: guitar player June 94. $340. user comments Reviewed in Guitar Player magazine, October 1994. $360 list. I bought a new one on sale at Guitar Center for just $200. My Pro Jr. had a bad volume pot with a huge volume leap around 10 o'clock, right where I needed gradual control, and the idiot salesman (a "Mike" at Guitar Center, San Jose, California, 1995) said "That's just the power tubes kicking in". (When power tubes "kick in", or start to saturate, the volume pot has *less* effect per angle of increase, not *more*.) I described the problem, when I was in the store without the amp, but he refused to accept that the volume pot could have been bad. "Finally I had to say, the bottom line is, can you order me a replacement Fender volume pot, or not?" That interaction opened my eyes.

Jester Enterprises - Oahu JU 28. Reissue 16.5 watt 1x10 combo, EL84, 2 12AX7, 5Y3, dual in's, line-out level, spk out. Op's: 6v6's, piggyback ver. w/ 1x12 cab. $465. jesteren at jesterenterprises.net Jester

Dr. Z 15W Tube head - user comments

Epiphone Pathfinder (1x12, 15W All tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Spitfire (1x12, 15W Class A tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Tornado. (1x12, 15W Class A tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Clipper. $1099. 15 watt 2x10 tube combo, 12ax7, 2 EL84. 1x12 option.

Matchless LLC - Skyliner. 15. As clipper, but 2 ch, fx loop, ftsw. $1349. Reverb $1599.

Matchless LLC - RA-30. 30- or 15-watt rackmount EL84 Class A amp. 2 outputs, brilliance, spk phase, 1/2 power [yielding 30 or 15 watts], chrome face, master vol. $2000.

Matchless LLC - SC-30. $1899. Combo. Celestion Vintage 30. 2-ch. preamp - one is parallel triode w/ tone ckt, one is high-gain pentode w/ 6-posn tone sw. Mast vol, cut ctrl, 1/2 power mode, 4 EL84. Exotic packaging $4899. I assume this is 15 or 30 watts. matchless-amps.com

The Matchless Lightning entries here have some redundancy:

Matchless LLC - Lightning. 15 (1x12 Tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Lightning. 15 (1x12, 15W Tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Lightning. 15 watt 1x12 combo. Vol, interactive tone sw, line out, ext-spk jack, 2 EL84. $1899. Reverb $1999. Matchless LLC - Lightning Reverb 210. (2x10 All tube combo) - user comments

Matchless LLC - Lightning 210. (2x10, 15W All tube Class A combo) - user comments

THD - UniValve head. $649. 15 watt tube head with power attenuator and line-out. 6L6. Can accomodate EL34, 6550, 8417, 6EY6, 6EZ5, 5881.

THD - Type-O. $1699-2890. 50 watt all tube combo. Plexi and Tweed style circuitry. Built-in Variac control. fx loop. Options: head-only version, reverb and tremolo. Black, brown, cream, tweed, paisley [note], or Big Blue Flowers [note].

I spoke with Mesa Boogie rep John Marshall, mid November 1998.

With the early version of the Mark III, a Simul-Class amp, when in Class A mode, it's 15 watts. The newer Mark IV is currently being made. It's a Simul Class amp. When Class A is selected, and when Triode rather than Pentode is selected, it is 15 watts.

He also mentioned "the early version of the Mark II" but I'm not sure it has 15-watt capability.

The later Mark III, no longer made, does not have triode mode; it is always in pentode, for a minimum possible level of 25 watts, when Class A is selected.

Currently made: The Blue Angel amp has 3 settings:
2 6V6's, for 15 watts
4 EL84's, for 33 watts
Both, for 38 watts
He didn't specify anything about Pentode/Triode setting, or Tweed vs. Full setting, but he said the minimum power is 15 watts.

Also currently made: 20 watt Subway Blues, and 20 watt Reverb Rocket. My site only lists amps *below* 20 watts, because I consider 20 watts to be very loud and high-powered (whereas the amp magazines call them "small" and "low-powered"). A *truly* low-powered amp would be 50 mW, 0.5 W, or 5 watts.

Mesa/Boogie. [15 watts with 6V6 option?] Heartbreaker amp. EL34 or 6V6 adaptable. ($1499 for head-only version). 2x12 combo version $1699.

Mesa/Boogie Mark IV - does this get very low power, less than 30 watts? 2-page review, page 39, Guitar Player May 1991. Tweed Power switch - Class A disconnects the 2 centrer tubes, cutting output in half. 3-way power sw: Full, off, tweed; tweed lowers the tube voltage and power, for a looser sound. Can't you use these together, to get it down to 15 watts? And maybe change tubes, to get even less? Simul-Satellite combo amp has these features. The Mark IV also has speaker mute, which I guess involves a load so that the DI outs have power-tube saturation. Isn't there a way to run some M/B amp down to 7 watts or less, with some combination of settings and setup?

Mesa/Boogie - Blue Angel $1000 (combo version). Tube head or combo. 1 ch. 5 ctrl knobs. Progressive linkage switches between the 2 6V6, 4 EL34, or all 6 power tubes, for 15, 33, or 38 watts. No ftsw, no mst vol, no master eq. Reverb, par fx loop, Celestion 90 watt custom spk. Fan. Depth control for FX loop. A variety of out jacks for different ohms. Options: head only, $899. 2x10, $1000. 4x10, $1099. Reviewed in Guitar Player Sep 1994. "This is a sweet sounding amp with much power-tube sponginess; not for metal or loud clean tones. Turning the volume knob more than halfway adds more saturation than loudness. Capable of detailed clarity, but not at high volumes. The overdrive is always creamy even with chords, never muddy; your playing retains articulation and individual strings. Not a bad sound in it. Designed for classic tones, for subtle dynamic and tonal contrasts."

Rivera - TBR heads. $1895-2295. Rackmount. 2-ch all-tube head. Pickup compensation. Tunable midrange. [I assume these are pre-distortion eq]. Stereo fx loop w/ lev ctrls. Hammond Reverb. Direct out w/ level ctrols. Triode/pentode switching. EL34's [how many watts min?] Focus (damping) and presence ctrls.
rivera at rivera.com
Rivera

Rivera - TBR amps $895-1295. Rackmount. all-tube stereo power amps w/ mast vol, standby, triode/pentode, Focus, presence ctrols. [how many watts min? I am only interested in units able to do 15 watts or less.]
rivera at rivera.com
Rivera

Emery Sound - Dominatrix. 15-watt head. Vol, tone controls. Class A push/pull, chorus. 5Y3. 2 EL84s. 2 12AX7s. $1000. Cabinet, $1425. exotic finish/wood, +$100.
emerys at earthlink.net
(510) 236-1176

Clark Amplification Gullah - "Fifteen watt, one twelve combo. Power output is very conservatively rated. Normal and Bright channels with a common tone control. This amp is pure "class A" single ended. It uses two 6L6WGB tubes in the output section with a 5V4 rectifier. 12AX7 and 12AY7 tubes provide the gain. Thick rich second harmonic distortion when overdriven. This amplifier features all NOS USA tubes. One Weber Blue Dog 12" speaker is standard." $1350.00. Clark Amplification - amps page.

Clark Amplification Fremont: "Fifteen to forty watt head. Ideal performance and recording amplifier. Tube compliment one 5AR4, two EL34, and three 12AX7's. Audio Note ceramic tube sockets standard. Normal and bright channels that are intended to be bridged (cable included, George L's of course). Common bass, treble, middle, and presence controls. Cathode (class "A") to fixed bias (class "AB") switching, pentode to simulated triode switching, the ability to switch the output tube's bypass capacitor out of the circuit for accentuated sag and envelope, and change between EL34's and 6V6's with only a rectifier tube change. Extremely versatile, clean to mean and all in between. This head was designed to work well with overdrive pedals, in fact the Klon Centaur was used during the development stages. Thick rich distortion when overdriven and exceptional accentuation of second order harmonics when pushed. This head is available with many speaker cabinet options." $1900.00. Clark Amplification - amps page.

Crate VC2110. 15 watt 1x10 tube combo $350 punch button, headphone jack, external speaker jack. user comments 2110R user comments

Crate VC2112RB 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. Class A. Tube reverb. punch button headphone jack external speaker jack. $450. 2112RB user comments 2112R user comments

Ampeg Jet. 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. Reverb. tremolo option. $490. J-12D user comments J-12R user comments J-12T user comments

THD. UniValve. 15 watt tube head. power attenuator, line out, 6L6. $650.

Hi-Mu 15 watt tube head. Tube rectifier. Half-power switch. Black or tweed. many tone controls. $800.

Hi-Mu 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. Tube rectifier. Half-power switch. Black or tweed. Celestion G12M. reverb, many controls.$900.

VOX AC15TBX. 15 watt combo amp. $1250. Guitar Player 4/97. New York 516 333 9100

VOX AC15TB. 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. Class A . 2 EL84. 5Y3 tube rectifier. 2x10 avail. $1000.

Matchless Hurricane S/C 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. $1500. celestion. vol tone trem speed trem depth. EL84s.

Matchless Lightning S/C 15 watt 1x12 tube combo. Celestion. tone swtich. volume. line out. external spk jacks. EL84s. $1500. Review: Guitar Player April 95.

Trace Elliot Velocette (1x10 Tube combo)
User comments for Velocette (1x10).
Official Velocette product page.
Researching the Velocette prices at Harmony Central, I see $315 street, $400 street, $355 street, $480 street, $189 street for a demo unit, $250-350 used, pesetas 65000 street.
See also the entry for Velocette 12R, above, with highly desirable half-power ability for 7 watts. Includes link to my detailed page.

Trace Elliot Velocette (1x12, 15W Class A tube combo)
User comments for Velocette (1x12).
Official Velocette product page.
Researching the Velocette prices at Harmony Central, I see $315 street, $400 street, $355 street, $480 street, $189 street for a demo unit, $250-350 used, pesetas 65000 street.
See also the entry for Velocette 12R, above, with highly desirable half-power ability for 7 watts. Includes link to my detailed page.

Vox AC15-TB (1x12, 15W All tube class A combo) - user comments

Vox AC15-TBR (1x12, 15W Class A tube combo) - user comments

Vox AC15 (1x12, 15W All tube combo) - user comments

Vox AC15 TBX (1x12, 15W Class A tube combo) - user comments

Marshall 15 watt Lightning 210 - 2 EL34's.

Marshall Skyliner. 15 watts.

Marshall RA-30. 15 or 30 watt rackmount amp.

Marshall DC-30. 15 or 30 watts.

Marshall JJ-112 John Jorgenson. 15 or 30 watts.

No longer produced: Marshall 4001, aka Studio 15. Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. 1x12 combo. 15 watts. The only Marshall to use 6V6's. Built-in attenuator. Headphone jack. XLR output. Made 1986-1992. History of Marshall book, page 66. user comments

Vox AC15 TRBX - user comments

Hoffmann 15 (1x12, 15W Tube combo) - user comments

Soldano Atomic 16. $599-999. 16 watt 1x12 tube combo. Controls: preamp, bass mid treble volume presence.3 12AX7, 2 EL84$500. user comments. Head or 2x12 combo version. sean at soldano.com Reviewed Guitar Shop Oct 96, which I have. page 71. 17" square. Sounds better driving a big cab [like all these combo amps with dinky spk/cabs].

Soldano Astroverb 16 (1x12, 16W All tube combo) - user comments Head or combo. $799-1199. Like Atomic 16, but all-tube reverb ckt. Head or 2x12 combo versions. sean at soldano.com

Soldano Astroverb 16 (2x12, 16W All tube combo) - user comments

Valco/Jester - Oahu. 1x10 16.5 watt tube combo. $465 list. official page. The Oahu Amp Line was reincarnated and updated by Jester Enterprises, Inc. Available as a head also. As an option, we offer the Oahu with 6V6 tubes, which changes the overall tone to a Supro-like sound. (The only technical difference between a Valco Oahu and Valco Supro10" were the output tubes and covering.) The output transformer is designed to drive any speaker load between 4 and 16 Ohms, so you can run any speaker cabinet that you want. The 1x12 extension cabinet has the same measurements as the Oahu combo. Its ported design allows the speaker to produce extended low end. Power handling is 80 Watts, ideal impedance is 8 Ohms. The Oahu JU28 is an all tube guitar amplifier, with a simplistic, straight forward preamp, two channels with separate volume master tone knob and 16.5 Watt class A output power. 16.5 Watts delivered by two power tubes (originally 6973's) in an Class A mode with cathode coupled feedback. It used one 12AX7 preamp tube, one 12AX7 in the phase splitter and a 5Y3 rectifier. It had 4 inputs: treble/normal for each of the two channels, and a tone control. The output transformer is relocated on the 18 gauge, powder-coated metal chassis and connected to the speaker with standard 1/4"speaker jack. We added an additional external speaker output plus an adjustable line-out. The 10" Eminence speaker handles the 16.5 Watts without a problem and sounds as close as possible to the original Jensen. The Oahu features two channels with two different input options, one kept like the original with grounded cathode and high pass filter or normal input, the other was changed to get a better low end response, with high or low filter cutoff options. In March '97 one of our customers dropped off an Oahu at our repair shop. The amp was in a pretty bad shape but sounded incredible, even with lots of noise and hum. We started to disassemble the whole amp, replaced nearly everything , except the speaker and output transformer. After the job was done, we were more than impressed. This little amp sound-wise blew everything away. The original had one Jensen 10" speaker, typical for the time, the attached output transformer. A few weeks later we got phone calls from ten different people that saw and played this little amp, wondering if we could find some more. Between May and August of '97 we tracked down eight more Oahu amps. Only one was still in original condition, so we upgraded it and sold it to El Dorado Studios in Burbank/CA. For the rest of the amps we started to build replacement parts, cabinets, power and output transformers, metal chassis, etc. While rebuilding all of these Oahu's we figured out it is easier and less expensive to build a completely new amp. Valco discontinued the amplifier production in the early 60's. They were responsible for the Supro (most Oahu amps are identical to Supros, except covering and output tubes), some of the Gretsch amps, some Silvertones, etc. The name Oahu wasn't in use or trademarked so we filed for a trademark and decided to reproduce this incredible amp, upgraded in mechanical design and with a few more options.

Wizard - 17 watt tube head or 12" Greenback combo. 3-band eq. presence and bright controls. gain. $1700-2100.

TopHat Club Royale (18W Tube amp) - user comments 2x12 user comments

Clark Beaufort (1x12, 18W Tube combo) - user comments. Clark Amplification - amps page - Eighteen watt, one twelve combo. The classic 5E3 circuit. Features the clean tone and the ability to achieve overdrive distortion without the volume. Tube compliment is one 5Y3, two 6V6, one 12AX7, and one 12AY7 all NOS USA. One WeberVST P12R or P12Q (your choice) is standard. Two Sovtek 5881, one Sovtek 12AX7WXT, and a Chinese 5AR4 are also included in this amp package. Many 5E3 lovers will tell you this is the best tube compliment in this amp. $1260.00

Victoria 20112-T. 18 Watts. 1x12 tube combo. 2 6V6's. Guitar World's buyers guide and the Victoria web site, listed at my Victoria 518 page.

Mesa/Boogie - 20/20 Stereo. $499. all tube power amp. fan. Stereo. 1 rack space. Dyna-Watt output section [? research]. 4 EL84. 3 12AX7. Mesa/Boogie

H&K Tube 20 Combo - 20 watt, tube, 1x12. Accutronix rev, fx loop, line out/in, balanced Red Box DI, ext. cab, ftsw jack. $899. H and K

Budda has several 18W tube amps, possibly including: [see user comments at the Harmony Central amp database]

Budda - Verbmaster - dual-input all-tube point-to-point wired 18 watt Class A/B combo. FX loop, slave out. Available as head, various spk combinations. $1000-$3000
buddatone at budda.com

Budda

Budda Stringmaster (All tube head) - user comments

Budda Twinmaster 12 (1x12, 18W All tube combo) - user comments [see the amp database for links.]

Budda Twinmaster (2x12 All tube combo) - user comments

Budda Twinmaster (4x10 All tube combo) - user comments

Budda Twinmaster Ten (2x10, 18W All tube combo) - user comments

Standel 25L15 - 1x15 or 1x12 combo 18 watt Class A 15". 25L12 is 12". Point-to-point wiring. 2 807 power tubes.

Dr. Z MAZ 18 Studio Deluxe Junior (1x12, 18W Class A all tube combo) - user comments

DR. Z CARMEN GHIA Head; 12AX7 (Tesla) preamp; 5751 (NOS JAN GE) phase inverter; 2 EL84 (Groove Tesla) output; 5Y3GT (NOS Tung Sol) rectifier; Class A; 18 watts; single channel with volume and a single tone control; one speaker jack; one speaker out set for 8 ohms, but can drive 4 or 16; $599 list.
http://www.drzamps.com
User comments: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Dr._Z/Karmen-Ghia-01.html There's a review at http://www.cross.com.au/drz/ .

Also of note

Marshall EL-84 20/20 (20W Stereo tube poweramp) - user comments

Egnater DT100H dual tone tube head . variable output power 10-100 watts.$1550. various options.

Egnater IE4 - what is this? someone compared it to the SE3+ by Custom Audio Electronics.

Demeter SSC-1U 1x12 silent speaker chamber speaker not included$500 mike adapter, wiring, hardware.

Micro Room speaker isolation cabinet with 6" guitar speaker - not found.I have this on file elsewhere.

I'm also researching the Ampulator and other low-wattage power tube saturation gear. Check antique.radios for tube radios. You can patch the guitar into the volume pot and route the speaker output to a guitar speaker cabinet. Of course, I'd prefer something more like the Blues Master or a 5 watt Champ reissue.

Need low-watt tube amps