Thunderverb 200 good choice for me?

[Jke]

Hello!
I am thinking about changing amps to an Orange thunderverb 200. I was thinking about either a TV50, Rockerverb 50 or OR50 at first, but then I stumbled upon a great deal on the TV200 (about half price for a new one) which would be about the same as a used lower wattage alternative.

I play mainly small shows and record in my bedroom studio. I realise 200w is completely overkill, but is it a disadvantage considering I can get it cheap?
I need an amp with great cleans that takes pedals well, I use a lot of reverb and delays for ambient clean sounds. I would also like a big fat organic distortion.

Buy or no buy is the question?

[PBA]

I've never even seen a TV200, let alone played one.

I can't imagine any 200W valve amp being worthwhile at bedroom levels. Even with an attenuator, it sounds unlikely that you would be able to control the volume enough for it to be tolerable without it also seriously compromising the sound/tone.

It may be priced low for good reason.

Even pedal platform amps are meant to shape the tone. A 200W amp might be a bit too similar to plugging directly into the PA...

[Boy_Narf]

Too many watts... unless you are playing bass through it. Your original three options would be better. I had a RV100 for a long time and it had to be painfully loud to get a good tone out of it. It's long gone, but I only use a TT and R30 these days. More than enough power/wattage. Have you checked out the Dual Dark series?

[Jondog]

The Thunderverb 200 has outputs to take two tubes out of the circuit to make it 100 watts. I don't know much about the amp, but it may be possible to run EL34's in it, which means it could run at 50 watts in half power mode. Im only speculating though, so don't quote me that it can. Might require some modding. If that's the case better to just get an amp thats right from the beginning.

[Jke]

Thanks for the input everyone!
Even though the opinions weren't all that optimistic, I couldn't resist giving it a go for the price. I'm hoping 100w mode plus attenuator will make it work, if not at home at least at practice/shows. I'm planning on getting a torpedo live sometime in the future which would probably make it a lot easier to use at home for recording etc. We'll see how it goes!

It's paid for and on it's way here, and I'm so stoked! Can't wait to try this monster

[Jondog]

If it was a good deal, don't see why not. Hope you like it.