I’m totally with you. Epiphones are at least as good as many guitars twice the price. Definitely a cut above Fender’s Squier line. They were a respected manufacturer right into the 70’s and 80’s until Gibson acquired them; they’re not just Gibson’s economy line either, they still produce their own unique models.
Sorry, I’m sure you all know these things already. Point is, Epiphones are good guitars.
I asked MrsSqueegee if I could have an amp for my birthday next month, and she didn’t even turn around, just tossed a “sure!” over her shoulder. Of course this was just after she finished the taxes and found out we have a damned fine refund coming (you gotta love those quarterly estimated taxes), so I may have a limited window of opportunity.
Damn, what am I going to get? My params are humble – I don’t gig and I don’t know anyone who plays; the amp is just for my enjoyment. I like a saturated tone like SRV but also warm/clean for the jazzy stuff my guitar teacher gives me (yes, 30 years playing as a hobby and I decided to take more lessons – I was in a rut, and its worked out pretty good so far, my teacher has me thinking outside the pentatonic box). I think I want something all-tube, really traditional, and I’ll juice it with outboard stuff as needed. I already have a POD, Guitar Rig software, blah blah, but I want to try living with that pure tube tone everyone talks about. I also don’t want to have an overpowered amp for my situation, where I need to blow out the windows of my office to get tone. I do have a detached office, so I can get really loud if I want that, but most times I’d rather not.
I tried out the Fender Blues Junior everyone here seems to like, and once I got a boost pedal hooked up it had a nice growl, and a great clean tone. I was using a Mex Tele, which is close to what I’d play at home. The store had several shredder kids playing unfortunate Line 6 tones, so I didn’t feel much like exploring other brands at that moment, I just spent maybe 30 minutes with the FBjr. I thought the Fat mode wasn’t all that fat, and everything turned up sounded really clean unless I tortured the preamp with the boost pedal. I may just have to buy the thing and wring it out within GC’s 30-day money-back policy.
I think my budget is maybe $400-$700. Is that a realistic price point for a, I dunno, 15-30 watt tube amp?
ETA: maybe I should have tossed this post into the Ongoing thread.
**squeegee **-
Yay - go wife!
Tube amps take getting used to - the tone isn’t automatically as “there” as with a digital amp because the tubes react more to your playing - and you don’t yet know how to make them make the sounds you want ;). Give it time - that 30-day return could be a good thing for you.
a good fuzz pedal is essential for classic rock tones - I typically dial down the Distortion level but dial up the Level and use it to drive more signal into the amp and overdrive the preamp tubes a bit more - that’s when fun things happen. If you can dial up a nice clean tone and use a pedal to drive the amp into a good crunch tone, you will probably like it a lot.
remember: you will be using your tone controls more - roll the V down to 8 or 9 and the T to as low as 4 - 6 on your Tele…
If you can try a Peavey Classic 30, a BJr., a Champ and other “true tube” amps you will get a few ideas…
Keep us posted - this may warrant another thread like when you were guitar shopping…
squeegee - You might want to try out one of the Epiphone Valve Junior amps. Am I getting tiresome with these Epiphone plugs? Sorry. These amps are really cool play-at-home amps with great tube tone at a low price. They are also one of most modded amps around, so there are lots of resources on the internet detailing little things owners have done to them to tweak the tone. I played one in a store and will probably buy one soon. I have to justify it to the minister of finance first, despite the low price. She thinks I have too many guitars and amps.
I don’t have a specific reccommendation, but there’s been an explosion of truly awesome little 15-30 watt amps in recent years and you can basically get the type of tone you used to have to pay at least a grand for, for half that, easy. Just go try 'em all, that’s half the fun, anyway.
ETA: my home amp is an Orange Tiny Terror w/ an Orange 1X12 cab (not my amp pictured, but I have the same thing).
Ooooo! Do you like that thing? I have been wanting to try one. Remind me of the circuit - 7 watts and a 1x EL84, right? (that was from memory…lemme check on line…nope: 15 watts, but switchable down to 7…)
One amp that I played and wish I had bought was a used Orange Rockerverb 30 - I loved that tone and coulda gotten it for ~$1,000. Does the Tiny Terror bring any of that Rockerverb goodness? Does it crunch up nicely on its own or does it need a stompbox driving the channel?
Nice crunch; I’m not terribly enamored of it, though, only because I like my Vox so much more.
You’re a sucker for those May-like trebly mids on the Vox, right? 
I’d love to have you try my Cornford sometime - the clean channel feels very Vox-y to me. I know you would prefer the Vox - its the real deal - but I would be curious what you thought about this “interpretation”…
My FAVORITE settings for playing
-SG with toaster bridge pickup and a gibson burst bucker type neck pickup, through a Digitech 255 set on rectified with extra reverb. Volume on 10, tone around 6-9. Amp is a Peavey Vyper. Sounds GODLY.
-I do have MANY other guitars, 2 other pedals, and a really bad other amp, but these are the greatest sounds I’ve found.
My ‘tone’ appears to be effing buzzing on the effing second fret of the low E every time I fret the effing first fret. GRRRRRR.
What’s a toaster pickup? That phrase is used as a nickname for a Rickenbacker pickup; did you install one of those into a Gibson?
Okay - I got bit by the bug and I blame all of you scoundrels. Especially you, WordMan. I’ve ordered an Epi Les Paul Standard Plus Top and a Fender FM 25 DSP amp.
It should arrive next week. So far, I’ve learned:
I did buy a good book that has a ton of information in it. It’s not very instructional, but it is a good reference. I’ve started studying it a little every evening until the guitar arrives. I want to learn to read music and learn a little music theory as I go along. I’m pretty excited about it now. I hope the excitement lasts.
Welcome, brother! You will want this:
The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread, wherein we discuss guitars. And I ask stupid questions because I am just learning as well. I’ve discovered the Hal Leonard books are very good.
Yay! Or, should I say “Mwa HA HA HA! My dastardly scheme to overrun the world with guitar geeks moves forward another precious step!!” ::rubs hands menacingly::
Sounds like you are approaching things the right way - good on ya, mate. Just make sure you are having fun while gearing up to read music. If you can’t play cool riffs on one string and make those huge arena crowd noises in your brain, what’s the point?
Dastardly scheme indeed. Up until a few months ago, I was pretty happy with a few acoustics - I had a cheap but serviceable six string, a 12-string, and a really nice Martin electric-acoustic that I could plug in when we played in my buddy’s garage. I had a cheap mandolin that I could plink around on when I was feeling bored, and life was good. I thought I’d beaten my GAS, and my SO had pretty much calmed down now that the “phase” was over.
Then I started reading all these threads. I’ve got an Epiphone Les Paul now and a little practice amp, but now I’m jonesing for a Telecaster and a big crunchy tube amp. And maybe a hollow body like a 335 or a dot reissue. The SO is unimpressed.
But wait, there’s more! Going through the guitar build threads, I keep thinking “I could do that!” My dad’s garage is full of woodworking tools, and I grew up helping him make furniture - reading BigShooter’s threads, I’m pretty sure I could build a guitar myself… except all Dad’s tools are 3000 miles away, and I don’t have the workshop to do it. So now I’ve got GAS, and woodworking tool acquisition syndrome.
This “free” message board is about the most expensive thing I’ve got.
mwa HA HA HA HA!!!
Seriously, dude - guitars AND tools? Oh yeah, you got a bad case of GAS…
[enabling]
Maybe start off like…who was it, Johnny L.A.? - where he got a Made in Mexico Telecaster for ~$400 and mess with it (I think he started with an even less expensive Squier Tele) - you know, try swapping in new pickups, maybe swap in a new body if you want to try something more ambitious and there is a cool body you want try making or just finishing, where you don’t have to access all the tools. That’s how I dipped my toe in the world of Homebrews - I got someone’s orphaned Parts-o-Caster, bought a new, already-finished body that needed a little routing done and took it from there.
And, of course, I then got the original body over to fellow Doper **Crotalus **who used it as the basis for his first homebrew…
[/enabling]
mwa HA HA HA HA!!!
I didn’t mention the worst part… I’m a grad student, and that $400 is a hefty chunk of cash these days. At least I had a real job and disposable income the last time I had GAS. For now, though, it’s gotta be cold turkey.
The DTs are the worst part. Can’t even fret cheater’s A with 'em! 
Wait - you’re 3,000 miles from your dad, who is clearly a tool junkie, and you need to find a way to get into a Tele-type guitar in a way were it is cheap and you do some of the wood work?
Sounds like a cool father/son long-distance bonding experience! Have him make the body to your spec (online Tele blueprints are easy to find) - you can work side-by-side with him when you visit next - then find a used neck and pickups on Craigslist for <$100 get a few electronics parts and wire it up!!! Jeez - that sounds like the guitar version of Field of Dreams!!
Problem solved - GAS enabled! Next?
:D;)
That’s a great idea! I gotta make a phone call - if this flies, I’ll start my own build thread.
WordMan, I can’t decide if you’re pure genius or pure evil. Whichever it is, I’m glad you’re here.
mwa HA HA HA HA!!!
