AV-SP1-6 Special 6 Valve : real tube sound - best cleans for the price

I play jazz, blues, surf, classic rock with Strats (single coils, vintage, and hum-cancelling versions).

Specs

Tube amp with a 10? speaker, a combination of a Fender Champ and Princeton, with only two knobs, a standby/high/low power switch, and a footswitch for the boost mode. Built quality is decent,it has a classic point to point construction so is robust and mod friendly, the transformers are big for its power rating and the 50W speaker has a massive magnet. The only small problem is that the push-pull volume switch is a bit fragile, so you have to operate it carefully.

Blackface: jazz, SRV, Surf

In standard mode has very nice cleans with huge bass for its size. In low power mode you can dial some nice jazz sounds. In high mode is more dynamic and trebly, suitable for blues. A tube screamer type pedal can take you easy to SRV territory and reacts perfectly with the amp. For surf you only need a reverb tank, the sound is just convincing.

A bit of Tweed: tight crunch

Boost is for use like a drive pedal for solo, but the effect is too intense when you play at lower levels. What boost really does is to change the eq voicing and dynamic response from a blackface sound to a more tweed overdriven type sound (without the extra sag). If you have a distortion+/dod250/DS-1 type pedal they?ll love that mode. You can TOTALLY nail the classic ?Live At Leeds? Who sound. You can go from full crunch to a nice clean sound just by roll of the volume pot of the guitar just like the old days.

In any case, the combination of the big speaker with the low power is great. Playing at home with amp at 4-5, tubes compress a LOT, making chords and notes sustain gracefully. It changes your perception for the instrument. In a live situation it works (especially because of the strong bass), but you need help from the P.A., there are also plenty of mods to make the amp a bit louder.

Conclusion

This amp is highly recommended for beginners to understand and nail the classic clean and crunchy sounds of the 50?s, 60?s, players who want one but GOOD sound, pros who want a nice practice or recording amp at home.