Valve Shootout

I think I'm coming to a conclusion about which valve combo to get... and that's even without managing to sit down with any of them for a test drive!!!!

After discounting the Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special (sigh) my shortlist of amps included such toys as the Epiphone Valve Junior and the Blackstar HT-5. I briefly allowed myself to consider the Orange Tiny Terror but a) 15W is way OTT for my needs and b) you should have seen Tim's face the last time I brought home an Orange (ORANGE!) amp. He gave me the look of 'either it goes, or I do'. Fortunately, at the time we were renting a place with a semi-finished basement, so the little eyesore could be hidden away so as not to offend his furniture-matching sensibilities!

Nevertheless, having been the recipient of 'the look' once, I figure that an important consideration when selecting an amp is that it has to be as low-impact as possible.

Now, all my opinions about the amps I've considered have been purely based on internet research, so...

Whilst the Epiphone was initially a very attractive proposition, when it comes down to it I'm not 100% certain that it's versatile enough for my needs (or at least for my desires). It sports a bewildering array of knobs and features...

...an input jack... a volume control... a power on/off switch...

...but whilst the simplicity of the thing appeals to me, I'm not sure I can live with the fact that I might have to push it really hard to get some decent overdrive.

Having said that, when it was £75, that wouldn't have mattered. Now that the price of the combo has gone up to £125 it's much less appealing. Having said that, you could add a few pedals in there to get 'the sound'... but adding pedals is the opposite of what I want to do. I currently only own one pedal, a Vox Wah... and I don't use that much right now. I'm lazy. I want to plug in and play, not faff around with cables.

I can't help but think that karma is leading me towards the Blackstar HT-5 combo. Despite the recent price hike from £250 up to £300 it still seems remarkably good value on the bangs for bucks scale and you can dial up any tone you want at any volume. No, that's not 'pure valve' logic as it uses some new-fangled 'push-pull' electrickery, whatever that is, but those muso's who've tried the amps say that they sound absolutely fan-bloody-tasic.

At the end of last week I found myself in an eBay auction for a Blackstar, trying to snap up a deal. I did not win the auction as it nearly reached the price of a new one! These things are that hot right now. I have one of the shops on Denmark Street calling me when their next shipment comes in.

Needless to say there are nay-sayers as well as supporters. Some have said that on high-gain settings, when you're palm-muting in a certain way, the amp makes a 'farting sound'. Not everyone gets the farting sound from the amp... possibly it's the guitarists' version of pointing at the dog and saying 'he did it'!?! Who knows.

I'd really like to try one of these puppies out either to confirm that it's the right choice or to rule it out. The biggest problem is that they're selling like hot cakes so actually seeing one in the flesh is nigh-on impossible.

...on the 'karma' front, I wonder whether it's significant that the funds raised by selling my old amp plus a bit of practice kit would just cover the Epi... Hmmm!?!