High end, low volume amp

[Kremlin]

The good news is that I'm becoming a homeowner, soon, but the bad news is that it's a condo and the "big boy" amps gotta go I have a Mesa Boogie Mark IV and a Rivera TBR-1SL which I love very much (the Rivera's clean in particular, and the Mesa's lead channel) but they're faaaaar too loud for a condo, and getting them loud enough to feel some tube-mojo is out of the question.

Can anyone recommend some high end amp options that deal well with low volumes? I basically never gig anymore. I have played with Line6 gear in the past, and it sounds good at lower volumes, but gets harsh on the rare occasion when you turn it up and lacks a lot of the clarity and feel I want from a real tube amp...

[ColinMmmmm]

What kind of sound are you going for? And can't you run the Mark IV at 15 watts?

[guitarnoize]

How about a Cornford Carrera? Don't mean to pimp my site but Paul did a great review of this amp recently:
http://www.guitarnoize.com/blog/comm...nford-carrera/

[jb4674]

JSX Combo

Jimmy

[Darin]

Originally Posted by jb4674

JSX Combo

Jimmy

Or head through a 1x12 cab. It does low volume very very well.

[speedy mcfeely]

Line 6 Pod X3 live and a Tech-21 power engine, or Atomic reactor 112.

[Kremlin]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

Yes the Mesa will step down, but I think only to the 30W range. I've heard good tube amps that were still "damn loud" at 5W though

I'm not a fan of digital stuff at high volumes. Works well down low (I have a POD and Peavey practice cube that sound great) but I find at jam-volumes they sound overly harsh. I'm also not a fan of the JSX sound, I just don't like Satch's tone these days

The Cornford might fit the bill... Also I guess I should check out some attenuators.

[mcmurray]

The Mesa Mark V will step down to 10W.

Why not get a hotplate for your Mark IV?

Or just use your POD for low volume and crank the Mark IV for jamming.

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

It's hardly "high end", but the Blackstar HT-5 kicks arse! Check one out before you drop your $ on something else. They are shockingly good for the price.

Rock on!

[carlos seo]

Kremlin, I had the same problem as you and my solution was to keep my big amp (for occasional jams) and buy GuitarRig 3 for my PC and use that to play at home. If you have a good machine with a low-latency ASIO-capable soundcard, it's great!

[d. troy castro]

how bout a hot plate?

[xklusivly4u]

egnater rebel amp can go from 1w to 20w.

[robertkoa]

The Carr Mercury is a very hi end 8 watt amp that goes down to 2 watts and 1/2 watt and sounds very good until you go down to 1/10 watt. It has great cleans, pushed cleans and blues tones. Full tone stacks,tone stack bypass etc.with a 12" Hi end speaker.The amp goes to a mild crunch with good sustain but sounds like it would be unbelievable with 1 more gain stage,which they wouldn't do when I asked. The amp is about $2200. I think.With that extra gain stage or a channel 2 with the extra gain It would be worth it, but I want an amp to SING at very low volumes,which very very few do.