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Vintage 15-20W amp ideas

Tim's Guitars

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
81
I'm in the market for a vintage 15-20W amp and need help working out what to get! I'm a blues/blues rock player and already have a 1957 Fender Deluxe...so have the narrow panel tweed deluxe covered!

My short list:

Brownface Deluxe (to similar to the tweed Deluxe?)
Late 50s Gibson GA-40
Watkins V front Dominator
Vox AC15

Anything else I should think about? What do people think?
 

guitplayer

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
Oh yeah..... I had a 57 tweed deluxe. Was`nt
really powerful enough .Almost though. The vintage amp I own
that sounds great is a 1961 Vibrolux. 30watts
 
Last edited:

Xpensive Wino

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2012
Messages
6,079
I'm in the market for a vintage 15-20W amp and need help working out what to get! I'm a blues/blues rock player and already have a 1957 Fender Deluxe...so have the narrow panel tweed deluxe covered!

My short list:

Brownface Deluxe (to similar to the tweed Deluxe?)
Late 50s Gibson GA-40
Watkins V front Dominator
Vox AC15

Anything else I should think about? What do people think?

Tremolux.

Here's one from a very reputable seller:


https://reverb.com/item/2550369-fender-tremolux-tweed-amp-1957-tweed
 

Nick-O

Active member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
223
Friedman Runt 20...lots of good things going on with this amp.
 

F-Hole

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
2,171
Gibson GA-2RT.

16 watts, reverb, tremolo....and half way between an 18 watt and a tweed deluxe.

Best $1,100 I spent on an amp.
 

Flying Fish

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
632
I *think* OP is looking for an actual vintage amp yes?

I'd go with a Vox, even a US made TO or a Marshall 20 watt.
 

Red Baron

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Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
6,774
My short list:

Brownface Deluxe (to similar to the tweed Deluxe?)
Late 50s Gibson GA-40
Watkins V front Dominator
Vox AC15

I think you'd be happy with any of your choices, but personally it's hard to go past a Brownface Deluxe, they're just such sweet little amps.
 

akstrat61

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
1,845
Many, many years ago, one of my friends handed me a '57 LP Jr that was plugged into a brown Deluxe!:bigal

That night cost me thousands of dollars!:laugh2:
 

BurstWurst

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
568
Many, many years ago, one of my friends handed me a '57 LP Jr that was plugged into a brown Deluxe!:bigal

That night cost me thousands of dollars!:laugh2:
akstrat61, I know exactly what you mean there, I have that very setup and it is quite potent and memorable.

To the OP's point, I have both a narrow panel 5E3 tweed deluxe (albeit a clone) and a 62 brown deluxe and can attest that these two amps are different enough from each other to warrant owning both. The 62 will cut through in a band setting in ways the tweed will not. Both great amps!
 

humbucking

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
1,542
I'm in the market for a vintage 15-20W amp and need help working out what to get! I'm a blues/blues rock player and already have a 1957 Fender Deluxe...so have the narrow panel tweed deluxe covered!

My short list:

Brownface Deluxe (to similar to the tweed Deluxe?)
Late 50s Gibson GA-40
Watkins V front Dominator
Vox AC15

Anything else I should think about? What do people think?

I've had all of these amps except the GA-40. The Brown Deluxe & the AC15 are the ones I kept. The Watkins was cool, but didn't hold up as well as the AC15.
 

jrgtr42

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
They are great, but hard to find at a reasonable price point....and real. Would love one though!

That's a good point. Maybe a clone would work out though. They are out there for relatively reasonable prices.
To me, having the Fender like you already do, one of the obvious choices for something different may be a Marshall.
Any of the others on the list are great amps. Personally (and this is just me) I would skip the brown Deluxe. Even though it's a different design than the Tweed, it's still a Fender Deluxe.
 

montesada

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
713
Traynor YGM-3 (GuitarMate Reverb)
Reverb and Tremolo, sonic bliss with the right speaker, for under $500
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
Traynor YGM-3 (GuitarMate Reverb)
Reverb and Tremolo, sonic bliss with the right speaker, for under $500

Yep. They sound great with overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals, too. Unfortunately, they're the weight and size of a 40 watt amp.

Here's mine-
IMG_2437_zpsahtq6nus.jpg
 
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