Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Fri Sep 08, 2017 6:55 am

Hello again my g & l comrades; my first intro was about 2 months ago, exploiting the idea of buying a usa comanche as my first electric guitar. As stated then that over the years I have learned not to underbuy. With that in mind I have purchased a mint condition usa comanche semi-hollow sun burst with a white finger board.
I am now looking for the amp/combo to mate it with.
My homework is telling me to purchase (again not underbuying) a fender 68 custom twin reverb tube type. Had a hard time deciding between that and the 65 reissue twin. I love them both, decided on the 68 because of the extra channel. My only drawback is I know that while I am still learning to play at home, I will not be able to volume up into distortion.
So what do you guys think? Should I settle for half the power of the 45 watt power model and mic it in large venues or stay with the 85 watter?

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:06 am

imo- 45 watts would be sufficient for most venues and styles of music.
Any pics of the guitar?

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:55 pm

If you aren't concerned about "underbuying", I would reccommend a Class A Tube Amp that also has a modern fx loop, etc. My favorite is the Rivera Venus 3 - Has reverb, distortion, tone for MILES, and brick outhouse reliable. 15 Watts Class A is more than 45 watts solid state or Class AB. You could play a everything but a stadium with this thing. And G&L's MFD pup sound divine through a Rivera.

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Fri Sep 08, 2017 5:47 pm

i'd get a fender deluxe reverb RI, or if you want to save some money,
a carvin nomad 1x12. The twin is too big and too heavy.

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:58 pm

I play through a modded Fender Blues Junior (Google Bill Machrone mods). It works for me.

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Mon Sep 11, 2017 6:11 am

under buying, twin reverb,, omg..i repaired one of these beasts a few weeks ago, filter cap short, all old paper ones too,, rectifier diodes failure result, choke cooked as you can imagine. repaired and customer tested accordingly,, im not sure if you know what your buying into here. it can near play a stadium clean but dont expect to much saturated drive.. im with the other guys, 50, 60 watts is huge,, try,, listen to all,,then buy... and let us know what you decided on please,,

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:45 pm

my son is a musician/guitarist and sound engineer for Bauder Sound in philly, they do sound/mixing/backline for alot of the pro acts in the tri-state area. alot of those acts request twin reverbs on the backline. he says the best overdrive pedal he's heard through a twin is this:
https://catalinbread.com/product/katzenkonig/
i have no affiliation and have never tried one myself.
fwiw...

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:39 pm

I got it guys, my honeyburst usa comanche in pristine condition. I was told the person who had it before was a collector and seldom played it at home. When I received it, I looked it over and there is not any marks anywhere on this baby; the only way to tell it has been played is on the pickguard (pearl).

Secondly, I broke the bank and bought the 68 twin-reverb 85 watt amp. OK I know, its way too much not only for me but my apartment. So I will be looking at purchasing a bit more sedate; but also a tube amp as well.
What about the blue's jr. ?

I will up load pictures soon.
Blessings to my g & l comrades...............

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 4:40 am

Thanks for your PM jv and i so understand your situation. There is a place for everything at a given time and im sure the twin will have that time and place when it happens. Dont sell it, you can never have to many amps,,,lol,,,AAS again,,, As your in an apartment at the moment low power tone is as you said the goal, you might even be investing in some quality earphones and amp to suit yet. The problem is tone is such a subjective quality. What might sound good to one might not sound so good to another. Im almost convinced if you grew up with 70,s/80/s music, then thats the tone you want to replicate,,others grew up in the later decades and were more metal orientated, so they listen for that. Knowing the tone you want so much to hear is just the beginning. Producing that tone though, selecting from what is theoretically an infinite variety of tones, produced by everything from the wood of the guitar to the final speaker is what is not so easy to find.. I fix old amps and love the purity of minimal wiring Valve amps, some of this modern valve stuff that ive been exposed to gives me no pleasure at all to work on, neither do the resultant tones, just too much crap in the signal chain,, the sum tone of the guitar is lost in a maze of electronics. As was mentioned in a earlier thread Modeling amps are advancing, it might well be that the tone you seek is as simple as a button push.
Hopefully the guys here will contribute with their amp suggestions if you give them an idea of what your wanting hear, what tone are you chasing,, :D
Cheers G
Last edited by geoff douglas on Sun Sep 17, 2017 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:02 am

5 watts is huge in an apartment, i could suggest between 1 and 5 watts is a good place to start, headphone if possible and 1x12, there's a few out there. Anyone like to comment on the low watters tone,, i quite like them :D
Last edited by geoff douglas on Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:14 am

Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzDohmkXeJs



20 watts, 12ax7 pre, solid state power, just as an example , 3 cigarette packets big, driving a 4x12,,, yep, 20 watts is too big,,lol,, but you can pick one up cheap and it sounds good turned down too through a 1x12 or 2x12,, You can easily play with the preamp tube type for learning the importance of the first stage amplification and tone quality too, though you can do this with any of the low watters, its interesting if you like that sort of thing, :D . Eminence Red Coat series,"The Governor' speaker suits it well., but then again, so does a Patriot series "Texas Heat",, different tone in each case though,, :D Enjoy the ride now that its started,,Cheers G
Last edited by Craig on Sun Sep 17, 2017 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Admin converted to inline video

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:01 pm

Some low watt amps for your consideration,, :)

Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z9CGBoIPKY
Last edited by Craig on Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: posted link is not safe as a clickable link

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 4:22 pm

Thanks guys for the opinions; thank you Geoff, the link you provided for small tube amps was great. As far as tone I lean toward 70's - 80's, I do like some of the early metal stuff too. But the tone of the fender blues jr. makes me take a deeper breath.
But, the little orange micro terror is amazing as well. I could plug its output into my twin reverb speakers, yes?
However again the blues jr. is awfully tempting.

I am right about being able to plug the orange output into the twin ?

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:39 pm

Hi jvic... yes the speakers can plug into the Micro Terror if the cable is long enough. The Blues Jnr is a nice simple amp and if it sounds just right for you thats a perfect outcome :D cheers G

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:53 pm

Greetings friend; thanks again for your input and interests in my quandary. I am leaning towards the blues jr.

Blessings;
JV

Re: Amp/speaker cabinet combo's for usa comanche

Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:54 am

I recently described building a muff pedal from a kit. When I had finished building the kit, I posted a rather lame video clip of the finished pedal.

Of interest to this topic, is that I am playing my Comanche through my Blues Jr. Unfortunately you'll only hear a few test riffs prior to the pedal being engaged, and the sound quality isn't anything to write home about - but you can get a feel for what the Comanche can sound like through a blues junior from the clip.

Edit: I should mention that my B.Jr has almost all the BillM mods, and I've replaced the dinky transformer that came with it, for a much larger one (Lot's more headroom), and I swapped out the stock speaker for a Patriot -Texas Heat one, so mileage may vary...

One thing to note: I am playing what's recorded in that clip at around 10:30 p.m. while my kids were in bed sleeping. To me, that is one of the cherries on top of that pie. Having two volumes, I can crank to wake up the tubes, and the other to reduce the overall volume. It allows me to sound the same playing at low volumes (with no compromise) as I do at high volumes.

I think of all the guitars I play, the Comanche sounds best in my Blues Jr. (personal opinion and testimony)