need amp advice

[jcopeland1]

Hello all,
I currently play a voxad30vt amp. I mostly use it in a church setting where it can be miked. I am thinking about upgrading the amp to a small portable tube amp. I have looked around and am looking at the Fender blues Jr, Peavey valveking 112, Peavey classic 30 and vox ac15. The two I like th best so far are the blues jr and the valveking. I have seen the video on the gearwire site and it looks like the valveking is the most versatile. Can anyone give me some advice on the amps above or something else in this price range (250-500)

[1TwoRock]

Greetings,
I play in a praise band as well. I would suggest a good starter amp would be a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue and some good pedals. A clearsonic baffle helps out too.
Blessings!

[samuraisoundman]

I agree that the Deluxe Reverb is a great amp for that application. Unfortunately, you'll be hard pressed to find one under $800.00...
The Blues Jr is definitely a "one-trick pony". It's clean sound is fairly non-existent and noisey. I have had several issues with the ones that I've run into in my church sound work. They are cheaply built, are very prone to picking up RFI noise (like Latino AM radio stations!), and the preamp tubes are prone to becoming microphonic due to their positions directly behind the internal speaker. They get rattled easily from the vibrations, and go funky fast. The switches/jacks are cheap and contribute to the noise problems.
And the 'verb is a cheesey little tank that sounds like a tin can. Otherwise, it's a great amp
I used to be in music retail many moons ago, and have sold more Peavey products than a "professional" soundman would want to admit. But my personal vote would be for the Classic 30. You get a decent clean channel, a good overdrive channel (not too high-gain, but very musical), better 'verb, and better build quality than what Fender is delivering on the Jr./DeVille series these days. I use a Classic 50 for my Heritage 555 when I do blues gigs, and it's held up very well, being transported around town.

[daschwarjazz]

The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe ($649.95 retail) might be something to consider. It is relatively light and has a great clean tone. I'm not so much of a fan of the overdrive channel, but a good overdrive pedal will compensate for that. I've been using a Hot Rod Deluxe for almost ten years now, and I love it!