Top 6 | Budget Tube Combos | Part 3: Fender, Jet City | Thomann

[@marchaberberger4464]

Bought the Fender Bassbreaker 15 After Kris showed It to me! Awesome Amp. Thx again Kri!

[@andyp5743]

Great videos, really nice touch having the decibel meter there as you can never tell what sort of volume guitar, amp or pedal demos are being played at in the room. For the likes of me (a home player who's still very much learning) these things make a difference. I can't play loud at home and am not good enough to gig, so this shootout is really interesting for me, and I'm sure lots of other people too.

[@nicolasisaksson1175]

For me the Laney had the best sound, specially with the cabinet. Really nice comparison video!

[@johnbuxton2529]

Interesting and entertaining - as usual. A really sensible shoot-out of small combos showing just what they can do ....... and, just as importantly, what they can`t do.

[@Owen_plays_music1049]

The Bassbreaker sounds very nice to my ears

[@VikingVertigo]

bugera and laney sounded superb with the 2x12!

[@dancrowell2933]

I'm surprised at how good the Bugera V5 sounded, especially with the 2x12 cabinet.

[@davidtrueslayor7474]

Yeah I agree im surprised he didn't mention that one at the end but the way he reacted I think it sounds different on his end, he seemed to like the fender and although that's the one that's in my cart presently I think the Bugera will take its place.

[@recordingbude8653]

I have a Bugera V5 converted into a head and its sitting on top of my 212 cab. Awesome sweet sound and plenty loud to compete with drums. :)

[@TheDistortionPrinciple]

Yep lol

[@esticaandres3169]

Yeah the V5 is my favorite as well, and they can be found for 100 bucks!!

[@JohnDoe-sz3lz]

I have the 007 and I also have a Marshall 1987x halfstack with a slant 1960A cab. If you want a tone like the old marshall plexis that sounds extremely genuine, buy a bassbreaker, I'm telling you. I bought my Marshall head and cab for a ton of money but my Bassbreaker sounds reallllly close to it for a fraction of the price.

[@aixpert291]

John Doe that is so awesome. Added to my wish list!

[@Quipstiley]

John Doe, That’s what I wanted to hear. I have a Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 but I want a small, el84 Marshall tone to go with it. The DI is a bonus.

[@Lowtech14]

I was addicted to the db meter. Great touch. If I’m buying only one it’s the Bassbreaker for me. If I was gig worthy I’d buy the Jet City and change speaker to a bassier one, like a Celestion G12H

[@pyroman6000]

That baby Vox sounds fantastic!

[@burtonmiller]

Excellent, thoughtful, systematic review and comparison. Bravo!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thanks a lot Burton! //cheers, Kris

[@trmbtwo]

Great like for like comparison at the end. Well done for actually sharing your recommendation/preferences too. I think my top 3 is Bugera, Laney, Vox in this order, using the 2x12.

[@vaibhavjoshi9141]

I've read on these amps a lot. My choice: 1. Laney Cub 10 (for cleans) : Have played it and it's amazing at Tweed cleans. Very spongy and with cushion (tube feel) Great at bedroom volume 2. Fender BB007: Probably the best plexi at bedroom levels.. best master volume in this range I believe 3. Bugera: Great value amp. amazing sounds (cleans) All these amps benefit with a speaker upgrade but it makes them louder.

[@mattgilbert7347]

I have the "next-level" Laney & Fenders (ie: Cub12r & BB15) and I have come to prefer the Cub as a pedal platform. The Bassbreaker has its virtues tho. The speaker upgrade thing is bang on - for most affordable tube combos. The BB15's V-Type is pretty good tho.

[@vaibhavjoshi9141]

​@@mattgilbert7347 You really have the best of the affordable amps. I like the gain structures on the BB15 but have never played one. They should be more popular though; there is nothing in this price range when it comes to Marshall sounds besides the DSLs. I've read that the BB speaker is decent enough especially after playing it for some time. You're right about that. The Cub 10 I played had a muddy/ muffled low end and reviews blame the speaker on that one. I guess it's the same one on the 12R. I've been tempted to buy the 12 as it comes used once in a while. Laneys are pretty popular in Asia and the Cub comes at a nice price point. I would have taken the used Cub 10 that night but it had a power supply issue.. mere $100 Either a Fender BB007 or a Cub 10 would be my next purchase (1st tube amp) and I'm mostly just excited about the bouncy tube cleans they offer.. At the moment I use a pedal to emulate that feel.

[@jc6721]

What speaker would you recommend to upgrade the Bugera? I have heard very mixed reviews of the Eminence 820h which was supposed to be a high end upgrade for amps with 8 inch speakers…..the demos of the 820h that I have heard sounds like it has very little bottom end and just fizzles out….after that I am at a loss. I’d love to get some recommendations as I think this might be the amp I have been searching for as my bedroom practice amp.

[@jc6721]

For the all amps same riff comparison my choices in order are: 1. Bassbreaker 2. Laney 3. Bugera. The Bassbreaker doesn’t have an fx loop or a built in attenuator so it may not be the best choice for at home and it doesn’t have the best clean tone. The Laney had a great clean tone and sounded great in the comparison challenge. The Bugera sounds real good clean and crunchy, it has a built in attenuator but it has an 8 inch speaker. So for practical home use my choices would be 1. Laney 2. Bugera 3. Bassbreaker 007.

[@ctcards2636]

I have the Bugera T5 Infinium head and its awesome ! Did a few mods to it. Put 150pf caps on the inner 2 pins on the Volume and Gain knobs and it made the amp 10x better. Also I replaced the stock tubes with 6n2p preamp tube (w/adaptor) and 6p14p for the output tube. This is a killer combo and you can find these T5 heads for $125-175. A steal and the reverb is actually pretty damn good.

[@BMWBikes-i7n]

I took TAD Tubes in my 007. Wonderfull real Stratsound!!!

[@bendari]

At the end your comments were well thought out as far as helping people choose a nice little amp. To me the worst amp was Jet City because it was one dimensional but Laney was nice because it was more balanced overall. Thanks for video! Bugera was OK as well.

[@eppleheid]

Bugera has that tweed Neil Young tone. I like it...

[@badmrfrosty-1]

Thanks for differentiating between bedroom and stage volumes. I was concerned the Bassbreaker 007 couldn't do stage volume.

[@sneifert1968]

I was definitely impressed with the Bugera ( especially on external cab) The Laney was very good as well. Looking at the decibel meter, they both look like they could be used to gig.

[@gioigeniale6711]

Hi! For me it`s big fun, seeing how you`ve got a lot of fun testing this amps. Thank you. I have a Bugera V5, in our rehearshal basement. loud as hell! With the real valve sound and dynamic. Further I have a VOX ac4tv. I took the amp out of the canbinet and put it in a cabinet that`s about the double volume, plus an original VOX 12", 16 ohms speaker. For playing at home it`s far too loud. Even in the rehearshal basement it`s too loud. With the original VOX sound, that I love so. And my back tells me being happy that I leave the Music Man 65 at home...

[@liamkavanagh4856]

I have a Jet City... Absolutely awesome Amp!!

[@nicksherman88]

Hi I'm talking about getting one , Can you tell me the pros and cons about it in your opinion

[@cobratex7]

@@nicksherman88 The Jet City 2212 is a brilliant amp. Made by Mike Soldano, tonnes of gain, great crunch and overdrive, 2 channels with independent master volume, some models have reverb. Effects loop is great for adding reverb, delay etc Plays great at low volumes but ideally needs to be pushed to get the best out of it. Has footswitch also. For the price, brilliant value.

[@brunojacq5473]

This Bugera sounds really good !

[@simon01ize]

The Bassbreaker sounds incredible.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

I'm also a fan //Andy

[@mindofown]

Great Video thanx from Perth Australia

[@jaystudio6970]

bugera and laney sound great

[@redseadiver43]

They do. If u listen how horrible the fender and the blackstar sound with a distortion pedal...Also Vox sound very nice. But the distortion problem again...

[@shroompicn-shrooman]

I have the Bugera V22 and it's awesome.. bought it used for 200 bucks .. it's a great pedal platform and super clean when I need it ... even my acoustic guitar sounds great though it .. I would love to pick up the v5 for the house so I don't have to go into the garage to use it ..

[@timothyjay2012]

I use to love the review you did of your old Marshall head dude. Its now got no sound in the US because of copyrighted material but I got to see the video when you first did it. Sounded incredible!

[@kingstumble]

Very interesting comparison.Surprisingly I liked the Bugera best and I thought the Blackstar was awful. I'm not convinced though that tube amps are the way to go for home use. Far too loud. I have an old Vox DA5 which I have permanently set on 0.5W and my neighbour reckons he can still hear me----this despite our houses not being attached!

[@matschi1984]

Sehr coole Aktion mit der Serie!!!

[@HexydiaHQ]

Thanks a lot for those very interesting 3 shootouts. I'm still wondering about which one could fit to me, playing on T-type guitar, mostly blues/funk. Awesome playing Kristof, as usual!

[@benlogan430]

Hexydia HQ probably any one of them except for the BlackStar.

[@cropster92]

To me the Fender sounds a lot better than any of the others...might just be me ;D

[@grilledspaghetti]

Give me this for drive sounds alongside the Laney cub for cleans.

[@zachb5803]

Bassmaster is a beast but also a "master" at smooth

[@357jazzman]

great comparison. would love to hear you compare the boss katana to one of the small tube amps.

[@elvillegas1211]

VOX all the way !!! But the Bugera sounds surprisingly good. The Laney seems cool too.

[@marciomvp9458]

I am used with Marshall DLS1C at my bedroom. Do you think I can turn the BB007 down and still have a crunch tone?

[@stainlesssteve25]

Laney or the fender for me

[@gerryloughran1676]

Cool ...Bugera, Blackstar, Laney

[@backspin6698]

Great reveiw. What should we do without Thomann Music. You guys are great good service and you know your stuff. I think all of them sound good. It's just matter of taste. I liked The Bugera and Bassbreaker best. But if Blackstar was 4 or 5 W, the it would be the winner. Great sound, but 1W seem little weak.

[@robertphillips597]

Jet city has the best tone by a mile!

[@vbence12]

13:00 That's what he said :D

[@dc3763]

Bugera ftw :)

[@brunojacq5473]

Top demo !!!

[@spiraldrop4897]

What happened with Jet City amps?

[@redseadiver43]

Hi! Finally, in your opinion, wich is the best amp to work well with pedals, like overdrive? The Laney? Thanks!

[@thomasr.5443]

Ok now, where's the Harley Benton Tube5? You could even consider the Tube15. It's under 400€ too. And both are outstanding Amps.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hey Thomas, this video was shot years and years before the Tube 5 and Tube 15 came out. :) //cheers, Kris

[@jwhtn]

Can we talk about the big SPL meter? I've been looking for something like this, but can't find it.

[@CGCEifel]

Same here.

[@AirplaneStudio]

SPL-D2 Dateq Audio technologies

[@CGCEifel]

Thank you! Have a sub

[@kadathfir]

Hey there, I just bought the 15w bassbreakee version amp!! for any classic rock/ blues/ jazzy tones is the best of the best in the budget. Now, I'm looking for a distortion/ overdrive for modern High gain rock/ metal tones (seether, disturbed, thrice, alter bridge, ...) You know what I mean :) It's really imposible for my to set the amp to sound something near modern high gain with my Epi Les Paul standard (saddly the only guitar I own). I will be very thankful to recieve any recomendation!!

[@grawman67]

I'm in the same boat. I've seen and heard good things about Orange amps that are smaller like the Dark Terror and the like. Marshall as well as Hughes and Kettner. It's not cheap but people like Mesa Boogie as well. For economic pricing, I would say Marshall or Orange are good places to start looking. Also the Peavey 6505 line

[@davidpopelka4073]

Reagardibg budget is intresting Blackstar HT 20MKII. It has 2 channels with additional 2 voicing. 1 on clean to get dirty sound and 1 on crunch channel to get "high gain". All voicing are switchable via FS. Its not high gain monster but its quit enough. Very big plus is wattage reduction from 20w to 2w. Sound is still ok even on 2w. Clean is very nice as well. It has a lot of head room and its also bassy.

[@mirko2481]

i cant find that jet city on your website

[@yusufhendriantoalidrus1043]

dang, that James by Pat Metheny, if Metheny used OD pedal lol...

[@CGCEifel]

Feine Übersicht, interessante Amps. Eine Frage: Was ist das für ein DB Messgerät? Wird eigentlich recht intensiv in den Kommentaren angefragt, aber bei Euch im Shop hab ich es leider nicht gefunden :-) Haben will.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

:) Guck Mal hier: www.thomann.de/de/dateq_spl_d2.htm?ref=search_rslt_db+meter_323964_1

[@petkopeet]

Why tou dont sell jet city anymore?

[@phenixreturns]

maybe you should try a guitar with alnico V pickups and not ceramic

[@paulhamrick9092]

phenixreturns the G&L S-500 does have alnico pickups, unlike the Mexi strats

[@jarnevreys7909]

Why aren't there any demo's on the Harley Benton amps? Are they any good?

[@VintageSG]

The HB-80R is pretty good. Loud, clear, nice spring reverb, takes a footswitch for channel and gain switching, very good with an overdrive in the front. The on board overdrive sounds aren't that pleasant beyond a mild crunch, but whack a pedal in there to take care of that and all is well. Chuck a delay in the FX loop for slapback charm. Good, big, cheap transistor amp that sounds OK. Holds its own in a band situation. Build quality is mediocre in places, but adequate overall. Easily gets over a loud drummer in my experience. I'm quite happy with mine. Far more punk/rock/funk than metal, though it will do a Dimebag at a push. As I am wont to do, I took mine apart and the transformer and smoothing caps are huge, which probably goes a long way as to why it sounds pretty damn fine with strident, defined bass, good mids and very clear treble at markedly high volumes. No fart-out even when using open E as a drone. The reverb is proper spring tray, the PCB is well laid out, the wiring neat and the speaker is a Celestion Seventy/80. Bit harsh until the speaker has had a few hours play time, then it's actually a very good match for the amp. Match with the Harley Benton G112 ( not the Vintage, it won't stack on that one ) and get 65 Watts of ear-bleed goodness for pocket money prices. The HB-40R is Ok for what it is. I don't own one but know someone who does. Simple, quite loud. Not in the same league sonically as, say, an Orange Crush 35RT or even its big brother, the HB-80R, but as a cheap, 'beater' amp, not offensive in the slightest. A better sounding amp than a Line 6 Spider, though obviously lacking in gadgets and gizmos. Just about carries over a drummer. Again, the onboard gain bettered by a pedal. Good for home practice or for a cheap amp to take to practice. From memory of sitting in while they had the room before us, it got a little lost in the mix from time to time but was generally Ok. Not harsh or fizzy providing care was taken with the onboard gain. The only experience I have with the HB-20 is a chap who uses one as a harp amp. It sounded a little nasal and tinny, which is exactly the sound he's looking for. There are better amps for sure. Not that it's bad, heck, I once had an Orange Crush 10 and that was dreadful!, but for not much more, greater amps await.

[@jarnevreys7909]

Thank you man! awesome. I think I'll have a closer look at the HB-80R then.

[@jimcricket8128]

Serious question. Im in america and have been looking for a small tube amp. Even with the shipping, thomann blows away the competition on price. Sweetwater can't touch them.

[@jimcricket8128]

Even some of their prices are lower than used gear here in the US. Can anyone enlighten me? Is it a dollar-euro thing?

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hi Jim. I don’t know how but it’s pretty sweet isn’t it! //Andy

[@benlogan430]

Volume I’d say...economy of scale!

[@MattiasStrandAudio]

Im having that problem with my 100hdm, it's just to fucking bright, is it normal for it to be so? And for metal, it just feels like i almost need to turn down the treble to almost nothing, and the presence aswell. I know this may not be the place to ask, but im running the 100hdm with a EVH 412, and could you give me advice on a solid gojira like tone?

[@nicholasdaronch6156]

I'm not an expert, but I think something is wrong with your amp. You should take it to a technician and get it checked.

[@MattiasStrandAudio]

As they said in the video, jet citys has some crazy treble

[@MattiasStrandAudio]

I dont know whetever it is me that don't understand how to dial in an amp, because if stand by the side, it sounds awesome, when i stand in front of it, the treble fucking hurts my ears

[@nicholasdaronch6156]

Try to test the head with a different cabinet, idk man.

[@MattiasStrandAudio]

Used the jet city cab before, sounded the same (but worse)

[@Antares1982]

Bugera!

[@stringsnare]

bugera or vox would sound the best in a mix. laney, fender is way too deep and lots of eq to have it cut through the mix.

[@zzubuzz]

The Vox ac 4 and the Blackstar sounded like shit compared to the others but the Blackstar was by far, the worst of the worst. I'm not familiar with some of the others but I do own a Bassbreaker 007, sound is good but no clean headroom and when cranked up loud can sound mushy. So, that leaves it up to the Jet City because it has 20 loud watts for plenty of clean headroom plus tons of gain.

[@EspenNorman-l8i]

So Clever to have a decibel meter , in the back ground . 65 dba when talking , of course its with a good mic and camara . Wonder when someones gonna use a phone camera in this reviews Subjective or objektive ? Subscribe You make money Its not a real Word anyway Great played but Blacktstar mentionrd as a Home tube amp HT 1 ? I guess 😊

[@JGAbstract]

Why are amps so expensive 😢 And they are priced all over the place that you go, well why not pay $150 more for this one that's way better? Then you end up looking at $800 fender amps with only 10" speakers and are confused why you'd pay that much for a 10" and the cycle starts all over.

[@paqman78]

Kong Tube Five and Tube Fifteen beat all of these in terms of value.

[@jasper_of_puppets]

who the hell says "zero zero seven"? It's double-oh seven!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hey Leatherwings007, we like it this way :)

[@jasper_of_puppets]

Haha, fair enough :P

[@craigstratford5086]

Zero is a number oh is a letter 😉

[@cobratex7]

Laney smashed the Blackstar and Fender. You choked the Jet City by having treble and presence on 0. I have that amp and it sounds way better than that.

[@georgel2519]

Blackstar all the way. Vox not bad either

[@egSmith-sp9gl]

You pick the 2 worse ones !!!!!

[@juriewel4461]

blackstar and fender.

[@nunocarmona]

Jet city is just not suitable fot single-coils. It's a (modern) humbucker amp IMO.

[@Nightingale1887]

Nuno Carmona Oddly enough Clapton is greatly behind Soldano's fame. Which is what these JC amps are (MiC Soldano). I have the JCA50h and JCA20h.

[@joer2723]

@@Nightingale1887 I am planning on buying a JCA 20H... what do you feel now? I play hard rock metalish type music.