Bought my daughter a Super Champ XD

[LeftyStrat]

I figured before I built her anything, I'd establish a base line.

Not a bad little practice amp. Got it for $140. The digital fx are okay. Probably good enough for her. I'll wait until she's a better player before giving her pedal fever.

Probably needs a re-tube. I have some NOS GE 6V6's I might try in it.

Anyone have one of these?

[Firestorm]

Don't know that amp, but it's got to be all pcbs and God knows what. Wouldn't waste NOS in there. Get some new EHs. Probably can't hear the difference.

[LeftyStrat]

Don't know that amp, but it's got to be all pcbs and God knows what. Wouldn't waste NOS in there. Get some new EHs. Probably can't hear the difference.

If I don't hear a difference I'll throw in some JJ's I have laying around. She's definitely not getting any of my Mullard 12ax7's, even if she is my daughter

[Firestorm]

Don't know that amp, but it's got to be all pcbs and God knows what. Wouldn't waste NOS in there. Get some new EHs. Probably can't hear the difference.

[xtian]

Love the SCXD! Been my go to church amp for the past year. Replaced the speaker with emi Rajin Cajun (probably a racist speaker, huh?) and it's much more authoratative.

I added a jack on the back panel that bypasses the digital front end, and goes straight into the all tube power section. run guitar thru a boost pedal, then into the new jack, and it's pretty nice. The digital section adds a lot of hiss, not noticeable on stage, but bothersome in the bedroom.

Any SCXD under $200 is a great deal.

[sonicmojo]

Any opinions on the smaller Vibro Champ XD? There is one for sale here on Craigslist for $75 and I keep thinking I should get it just as a small practice amp.

[Cliff Schecht]

While I agree with Lefty's sentiment of buying his daughter a production amp, I can't really ever justify buying tube amps anymore. For $75 I could do enough damage to put together a few amps. My favorite circuits are the Vibrochamp (or just a Champ but the vibrato is super cool) or little pentode preamp and power amp (6SJ7-->6V6 or 6AU6-->6AU6 like the first tweed Champ or old Gibson/Silvertone SE amps). I've got a few of these laying around as grab and go practice amps. I also like to build them small enough to fit on the bench . Note the 5V4 tucked away behind the power transformer below!

[Reeltarded]

I really like Roland Cube 20 and 30.. CLIFF! Is that a Cube!

[Cantplay]

Vox Mini 3 is under $100 new, and plays 30 hours on 6 AA batteries.

It has mic in with seperate trim and dly/rev send so you can blend in a mic or backing track to jam to.

I guy wearing this amp on a shoulder strap played a couple of riffs on a recent subway ride and passed his cup. I flipped him a buck. Not because of his playing, but because I was so impressed with the amp.

Run a jack for external speaker, and I think you'll be suprised how it sounds into a real cab.

http://youtu.be/01rVgISZdKE

John

[sonicmojo]

Vox Mini 3 is under $100 new, and plays 30 hours on 6 AA batteries.

Funny, but I actually got this amp last year when I was in Hawaii for a month visiting with my travel guitar. Now I live here and it made the trip back with me. It is actually a great little amp for packing in a suitcase.

[Firestorm]

If you don't need power, the VHT Special 6 Ultra is pretty cool (don't know if they still make it, tho). Basically a Champ with a 12" speaker; variable bypass caps on the output tube, and a power-scaling control. That last part doesn't work as well as it could, because they left out the MV, but there's a loop in front of the PA, so you can build a plug-in. Speaker is 16 ohms, so it won't easily cope with other tubes (besides the stock 6V6), but you can change the speaker.