Ceriatone Forum

Hi. I have old VHT Pittbull 45 2x10" combo. Very heavy - about 30kg/66lbs. I hate to even move this thing. Anyway it has two channels, green is non-master clean to crunch, red is the crunch to lead with master volume. It has 4xEL84 and class AB/class A switch (45/30watts). I play Warmoth Strat with thick V all maple neck and the body is chambered swamp ash with quilted maple top. It is hard-tail non-tremolo strat. I have two DiMarzio Area 58' in the neck/middle position and just ordered DiMarzio BC-2 Billy Corgan PUP for the bridge position. What I like about the VHT is the solidness of the tone. It is tight and punchy. That is what I like. What I don't like is the bottom end (I believe it is caused by the 2x10" configuration and the open back cab of the combo) or rather the absence of it. When you max the bass control it just gets boomy and unclear. The next thing I don't like is the lack of "3D"ness and color in the tone. What I mainly want to achieve is the great clean/crunch sound. Let's take a look at my tone heroes:

Clean tone: John Mayer, Robert Cray, SRV, John Frusciante, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix

Crunch tone: some lighter Pearl Jam stuff, and some higher gain Keith Urban, Eric Bazilian on Joan Osbourne's Relish Album (Les Paul+Vox AC-30)

As I know Nik has more vintage models than modern, it wouldn't be appropriate to want higher gain amp but I would be glad if the amp could handle pedals well and had tight and clear punchy bottom end for some aggressive more modern stuff such as:

higher gain Pearl Jam stuff, Alice in Chains, and Foo Fighters.

Volume wise I'm not going to play it trough something bigger than 2x12 closed-back cab. I think I'm leaning more towards 1x12" ported closed-back cab. And I'm going to play it mainly at the small to medium indoor gigs, maybe few larger open-air stages a year but not much. So I assume anything between 20-50watts would be good (depends on the punch and tightness of the amp), maybe even less but for the clean tone the headroom is needed and therefore more power. I think I won't need much bells and whistles like power-scaling or so but good working master would be nice too - in other words I would be glad if the amp could sound very good even at lower master volume settings. It doesn't have to be a two channel amp.

So...any suggestions? Thank you all

I'd say the 50w Dumble clones are the most versatile, and have footswitching. They have 4 sounds: clean, OD, boost, and OD+boost
I think You can get true half power switching on the 100w ones too if you would ever need 100w, on the 50w ones it's triode mode half power switching.
You could certainly get the clean tones you want with one, they can also sound like a fender twin, but with a switchable bass boost.
With an HRM model, you have a lot of scope to tailor your distorted tone too (extra TMB after OD)
For the heavier stuff I'd say get a second amp to run in parallel, but most people are happy just adding a pedal

I'd try fastening wood across the back of your VHT before being certain that your open back cab is a problem.
In any case the amp itself will determine the amount of damping on the bass, nad how much you can get without distortion

Weight - get a separate head and cab. You'll be glad you did. I was. I only have heads+cabs and 1x12 combos now.

Bass: is it maxed-out bass on clean or dirty you want anyway? are you scooping you lead sound?
I find that some amps can deliver more bass than I want with an open back in a small studio (fender twin, 5x3, Overtone), and it needs to dial down a little, but on a stage you lose that reflection from the back, hence the popularity of closed back cabs on stage

If you do want a D-Amp, trouble is Nik's are so popular you now have several varations to choose from.
I like the extra OD controls on the HRM ones
the bluesmaster HRM has the OD trim setup so that you can set the master vol on clean, and the trim on OD, so you can balance the levels more easily

Cheers
Tone

I would suggest a Stray Cat 30.

It'll have the 3D quality because it lacks a negative feedback loop.  That's the key to the 3D-like feel of Vox, Matchless, Tweed Deluxe's, etc. 

It offers a Vox-like channel for 3-D cleans and some great AC-30 drive and a separate more modern High Gain channel.  It covers from modern country to classic rock or hard rock very well.

Otherwise, I see no reason you can get what you want out of the 2204 JCM 800, plenty of headroom for cleans, plenty of gain.  Mark Knopfler seems to get by with his Reinhardt JCM 800-derived amp these days.

can you get Fender Twin cleans from the Stray Cat 30? I thought it was a high-gain beastie
T

No Twin tones

The Clean channel based the non-Top Boost Vox AC30.  Warmer and more mids and less stiff and crisp compared to the Twin.  Not the same chime and sparkle available on the DC30's Top Boost-based channel.

I mention it since the OP asked for
Clean tone: John Mayer, Robert Cray, SRV, John Frusciante, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix
they mostly sound like Fender territory (or a JTM45 run clean)

cheers
Tone

Yes, but from Nik's limited offerings, it's one of  the most versatile amps.  Plus it has some of that AC30 crunch the OP was asking about.  That said, since I made the original suggestion I've been looking at the Hot Cat 30 reviews on YouTube and I think the Clean channel may lack a little preamp headroom for sparkling clean tones.

The Overtone's have nice Fender cleans, but the overdrive has that signature Dumble tone that doesn't do modern high gain.  If it were just for the clean and crunch tones, I would say the Overtone is the way to go (especially since many of those artist use(d) Dumbles or clones themselves, but adding high gain, I think the Stray Cat is worth a look.

Telling clean amps apart in a recording can be a lot more difficult than many think...for instance SRV and Johnson routinely used their Marshalls for clean and BF Fenders for dirt.  I would venture to say if set for clean, most people wouldn't be able to tell a BF Fender from Tweed from AC30 from Marshall, as much as all of those amps have a unique signature tone.

You're quite right, I would not bet much money on guessing which amp was used for a recording.
The feel would vary of course
My real opinion is that if you need that range of sounds, taking 2 amps is the best way, otherwise you'd be looking for a multi-switching PCB amp.
I'd be happy with an HRM BM and a DZ30

To make do with one amp for clean and crunch, I think I'd go for JTM45 - it does the Fender thing, then the early Marshall thing, adding an OD pedal may be the answer. The Trainwreck Express can do this too, but you have to put some lower gain preamp tubes in to get the cleaner tones, and the heavy end is 1980s rock
There may be some combination of pedals that can help any of these amps, but it's too personal to guess what will work for someone else.

For the OP:
make sure you get a separate head and cab. It's much more flexible and as time passes your back will thank you. 30kg combos are dangerous for backs.
Also it's cheaper to ship heads from Malaysia and source a cab locally.

I especially like ToneControl's idea about closing up the back of your Pitbull.  Leave at least a one inch slot for air to enter and waft up towards towards the hot tubes, and of course leave room for that hot air to escape.  You might be pleased at the bang for the buck results.  If it doesn't work to your satisfaction, well, it didn't cost much money to try it out...