# Bedroom/Living Room Amps Users



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

What amps to you use in the bedroom or living room? What do you like or don't like about them? Why? This is not about basement amps, as I find you can crank higher in there. Thanks.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i live in a single room apartment- 
i use a 76 champ, a champ 600, a pignose, or an old 60s pepco head- i think its about 5 watts
all of these can be heard through the walls where i live when cranked, but its not too bad. all my neighbours are pretty noisy themselves and i never hear complaints-
i just find it uncomfortable when i can be heard so clearly all the time.
strangers often come up to me and ask if im the guy with the guitar they hear when theyre in the area.
late at night ill throw my pimp jacket over one of my amps -(pimp jacket is one of those big suede coats with the sheepskin lining, from the 70's) and that tames things just fine.
only problem i find is that none of my amps are a tweed bassman. and if one of them was, i wouldnt be able to use it here.


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## CDWaterloo (Jul 18, 2008)

Blackheart little giant 3/5 watts + THD attenuator (I still need it, even at 3w). I like its clean and crunch sounds at 5w, it takes pedals very well, and it is inexpensive. What I dont like is it doesn't have an effects loop that I need occasionally.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

i use a tech 21 "trademark 10" in the living room...it sounds like a cranked marshall jcm 800 at very low volume...it can do fender cleans and mesa rectifier dirty too...it has a direct out for recording too...


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## sivs (Aug 5, 2009)

I live in a basement... so my living room is in the basement.

Regardless, I use a Reason Bambino for all of my home playing. My other amp is a Vox AC15H1TV which can also be decent at lower levels, but the bambino is a three channel amp, and it sounds FANTASTIC. 8/2 watt modes, but it's loud enough to gig with. Built to sound like a big amp, check out the youtube clips. 1x12" and relatively light. Also has a headphone out and a 1/4" recording jack out with a speaker modeler built in which works amazingly well for silent recording. Just a fantastic amp in all regards, it's making me wonder why I'd ever need anything bigger.

Please try to ignore the beautiful guitar... it's a good looking amp too!


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

> i use a tech 21 "trademark 10" in the living room...it sounds like a cranked marshall jcm 800 at very low volume...it can do fender cleans and mesa rectifier dirty too...it has a direct out for recording too...


that looks like a pretty good bit of kit there jimi- have you done any recordings with the direct out?


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## screamingdaisy (Oct 14, 2008)

Boogie Mark V and a Boogie Lonestar Special.

I usually throw the LSS into 15w mode, then lower the master volume to taste. 5w mode is also nice, but 15w feels a bit firmer so I prefer it.

The Mark V I usually leave in 90w mode and lower the master volume. It has a 10w mode, but truthfully I've never tried it as the master volume already works quite nicely. Using the built in variac works extremely well if you want a bit more compression.










I'm in the process of ordering a 1x12 open back/1x12 closed back thiele setup for the Mark V... should make it even better for lower volume work.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

76 VibroChamp. I keep getting small amps, and keep going back to it.

AC4TV is great for much more (old style) grind at low volume.


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## GUInessTARS (Dec 28, 2007)

Roland Micro Cube. 2 surprising watts. I can turn it up loud enough to get the evil eye, but it sounds quite good at low volumes.


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## holyman (Dec 22, 2009)

sivs said:


> I live in a basement... so my living room is in the basement.
> 
> Regardless, I use a Reason Bambino for all of my home playing. My other amp is a Vox AC15H1TV which can also be decent at lower levels, but the bambino is a three channel amp, and it sounds FANTASTIC. 8/2 watt modes, but it's loud enough to gig with. Built to sound like a big amp, check out the youtube clips. 1x12" and relatively light. Also has a headphone out and a 1/4" recording jack out with a speaker modeler built in which works amazingly well for silent recording. Just a fantastic amp in all regards, it's making me wonder why I'd ever need anything bigger.
> 
> Please try to ignore the beautiful guitar... it's a good looking amp too!


I checked out some clips and it sounds like a great amp. I may just have to pick one up. Where did you get it? Are there any dealers in Canada?


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

There is quite the love fest over the Reason Bambino at The Gear Page.


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## sivs (Aug 5, 2009)

holyman said:


> I checked out some clips and it sounds like a great amp. I may just have to pick one up. Where did you get it? Are there any dealers in Canada?


I don't know if there are any Canadian dealers - I manged to pick it up used at the gear page.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

When i need to play realy quietly, i'll often use my little treasure box.. and to think i almost sold this sucker, thank god i came to my sens..

You add a OD808 on this sucker..and it screams even at very low volume.. Very 80's metal tone..


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## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

al3d said:


> When i need to play realy quietly, i'll often use my little treasure box.. and to think i almost sold this sucker, thank god i came to my sens..
> 
> You add a OD808 on this sucker..and it screams even at very low volume.. Very 80's metal tone..



These are surprising little amps. A friend has one and it does kick out classic hard rock/metal tones in a small package. I believe these are one of the few, if only Marshall amps that used 6V6s. These bad boys can be pretty loud if memory serves. So good for the living room and small jams.

Shawn.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I tried out a Gibson ES339 into a Marshall Class 5 at 12th Fret the other day. I set the volume first at 8:00 and then at 9:00. At 9:00, it would have been way too loud for the living/bedroom.


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## mugtastic (May 25, 2010)

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swart 6v6se and "night light" attenuator - with the bulb compression in the night light and the negative feedback switch on the amp there's 9 volume levels, all with pure class A power tube saturation.

without the night light the 5 watt amp would be too loud for most "quiet" applications when turned high enough to break up satisfyingly.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

For the last couple of years, my bedroom amp (i.e., in the house and need to keep quiet 'cause the little guy is sleeping etc.) has been the Blackheart Little Giant switched to 3 watts and turned down then boosted back up with a pedal or two. I've been playing it through a 1x12 cab with a Jensen P12N. Works and sounds great.

Now i have a Blackheart Handsome devil which has a master volume and more versatile EQ, so I think it may replace the LG, even though it ROCKS loudly as well.

mugtastic, welcome to the forum. Nice gear!! Do you find the "night light" attenuator to be as transparent as the website says?


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## mugtastic (May 25, 2010)

it changes the sound - maybe rolls off a little treble and you're not hearing the speaker being pushed and not experiencing air being pushed, but compared to past experiences with attenuators (built in and external), pedals and master volume amps, it is the best i've heard - by far!

my quest for lower volume tone has been fulfilled. 

of course i'm looking for a tweed overdrive/fuzz sound, not a screaming marshall distortion, so i'm sure it wouldn't be everyone's ultimate tone.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

what you see on the right is waht I use at home and at jam sessions/band practices, excluding every pedal but the TS haha


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i'd recommend the blackstar ht-5.

amazing AND affordable.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

my basement amp is a JTM45. It's a just a wee touch loud for the basement, so I use a THD attenuator which reins it in quite nicely. I had a Dr. Z Airbrake, which sounded fantastic, but didn't do the bedroom level thing at all, and I've been thinking of getting a Ho attenuator for it, but in all honesty, the THD works great so I'm in no rush.


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## naisen (Nov 25, 2009)

for messing around in the house at low volumes I use an Vox DA5 with a 8" jensen mod speaker shoehorned in. great little amp, similar to the microcube (had one of those too) Decent sound, portable, plus you can hook in an ipod and a mic for fun.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

I love my Mesa but its not a bedroom amp, it does play very very well at low volume but it always creeps up.
My hearing is starting to suffer a bit so am moving to a modeling rig, same tone at lower managable volumes.

Mind you it is going through a 500 watt amp LOL!!!


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## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

My Allen Old Flame combo sounds good at pretty much all volume levels so I usually practice through it. But I do own a Fender Champion 600 that I can use as a bedroom amp but I don't use it much as it doesn't sound very good. Small amps, even high-end ones, sound small, whatever some may say. When I really need to practice quietly, I plug my pedalboard into a Line6 Pocket Pod Express and use headphones.


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## Guest (Jul 13, 2010)

AxeFx in to cans or studio monitors. Both are meant for low listening levels so they sound great when you've got to keep it down.


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## Jimi D (Oct 27, 2008)

jimihendrix said:


> i use a tech 21 "trademark 10" in the living room...it sounds like a cranked marshall jcm 800 at very low volume...it can do fender cleans and mesa rectifier dirty too...it has a direct out for recording too...


+1!! The Tech21 Trademark 10 has been my living room amp for the last seven years... It's just a great little practice tool - and it sounds very good at low volumes. Highly recommended.


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## aC2rs (Jul 9, 2007)

My small amp is a Roland Cube 30 - but as often as not I simply play unplugged when I'm upstairs


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## dusty tolex (Nov 22, 2007)

I think a pretty great bedroom amp is a Fender Bronco or Vibro Champ, with a side of Verbzilla, compression, DE-7, and Timmy:










cheers
dt


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Line 6 SPider III 15w.
The built in basic effects make it real sweet to play with at low volumes.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Diablo said:


> Line 6 SPider III 15w.
> The built in basic effects make it real sweet to play with at low volumes.


my brother is borrowing his friends, and i managed to set it up to sound ok but his randall IMO sounds much better. He loves the cleans though, and with the strat it did sound nice.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Budda said:


> my brother is borrowing his friends, and i managed to set it up to sound ok but his randall IMO sounds much better. He loves the cleans though, and with the strat it did sound nice.


Oh ya, theres better amps for sure...but you can buy one of these used for the price of a tank of gas


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