Thinking About Getting a Class 5

[Captain Wedge]

Hi.
Since Im going to be playing in my school's praise band (the same one whith the guy who says I can never play lead guitar without a delay), I need to keep my DT or some other tube amp there. We practice or perform 4 days a week, and I don't want to carry my guitar, amp, and cab to and from school every day or leave it at school and have no amp at home for other gigs or practicing. I though about getting another 1x12, but is seems like a much better choice to pay $40 more and get a Marshall Class 5. Does any one have any thoughts on them? I tried one out at a guitar shop and it sounded great. At 12 pounds, it would be a whole lot easier to carry than my DT and cab.
The only problem is that the guy mentioned previously Hates combo amps. He says the vibrations from the speakers destroy the inner workings. Seeing that the amp is only 5 watts, he might reconsider.
If I do get one, I want to get it in white.


I'm having trouble finding a white one though. Apparently they had them in the US or a while, but now only in the UK. Any ideas on how to get one in the US?

[savage8190]

I ordered one a while back when they first came out...I returned it two days later...complete piece of shite.

Sounded pretty piss poor, Im not a big fan of Marshall to begin with mind you, but as far as Marshalls go I wouldnt say its much better than an MG. And TONS of tube rattle.

I even tried one out again a little while ago for the heck of it...still felt the same.

[Randy Bass]

I'm not sure that a 5-watt non-Master Volume tube amp is the best choice for your situation. I'd be reluctant to leave an amp that I really liked at school/church anyways. Just get a cheap solid-state or hybrid amp that you don't have to worry about. I imagine you have to play with fairly clean settings anyhow with all that Delay and what not .

[jason41224]

i think you're looking for a Roland Cube. great, great, great amp. solid state and it still sounds great. i use mine at my church all the time. of course, if you wanna go tube, maybe check out a Vox AC15.

[Captain Wedge]

i think you're looking for a Roland Cube. great, great, great amp. solid state and it still sounds great. i use mine at my church all the time. of course, if you wanna go tube, maybe check out a Vox AC15.

If I brought a solid state amp, the guy would not let me play at all. He is kind of a boutique amp fan, and he builds tube amps. He says that most amp companies such as Marshall, Mesa, Orange, and Fender are building garbage these days in order to make a profit. He doesn't like my DT very much, and I know he would not like a solid state at all. The only amps he truly likes are the ones he makes, and they sound OK. He is a very nice guy though.
I already have a Roland mico cube, and it's great. I'll have to check out the Vox, although I've never been a fan of them.

[sidvicious]

I have a class 5. I never play it.

[Randy Bass]

I'd tell your pal, Mr. Gear Fascist, to build an amp for you that will meet his rigid standards. Or tell him to go Canonize himself .

[myboss57]

I'd tell your pal, Mr. Gear Fascist, to build an amp for you that will meet his rigid standards. Or tell him to go Canonize himself .

Yeah, I could not agree more with this ^. I've never heard anywhere that combo amps destroy the amp's innards. How is that any different than a head sitting (and vibrating) on top of a cab??
I say, if he has such strict requirements that he should be the one financing your gear for use at the school!

[Belzebuth]

I think a Blues jr. could do the job better than the Class 5. Everyone who buys a class 5 sell it after 2 months!

[Ronnie Robinson]

I'm struggling to understand why up put up with this guy - he sounds like a conceited control freak who loves to hear the sound of his own voice

[jason41224]

If I brought a solid state amp, the guy would not let me play at all. He is kind of a boutique amp fan, and he builds tube amps. He says that most amp companies such as Marshall, Mesa, Orange, and Fender are building garbage these days in order to make a profit. He doesn't like my DT very much, and I know he would not like a solid state at all. The only amps he truly likes are the ones he makes, and they sound OK. He is a very nice guy though.
I already have a Roland mico cube, and it's great. I'll have to check out the Vox, although I've never been a fan of them.

is this the same guy who said he wouldn't let you play unless you bought a delay pedal? he needs to take capitalism 101. if they're building garbage, the masses will stop buying, and buy the good stuff. plus, that sets up a market niche (perhaps him, but not really ) to build non-garbage at a reasonable price. some people...

that being said, i have a cube 30 and it's really hard to get a bad tone out of it. i honestly prefer it to my orange at my church, because the Rocker 30's dirty channel never really sounds voxy (which is kinda what i'm going for there). it goes from extremely clean to modded marshall in a hurry. unless i crank the power tubes, but of course, that idea's laughable at church. so i always end up playing with either too much gain or too little of it. the Brit Combo model on the cube sounds fantastic.

[addisj]

My Class 5 has had the RAT treatment and its seriously good... for blues and classic rock. Modern rock... not so much. got my TH30 for that.

Not a rattle to be heard now too btw.

I got the following done;

1. - 'OPR' - Output Power Reduction. Yep - Real marshall distortion at bedroom levels.

2. - Variable Boost Footswitch - Switches the Boost Circuit On-or-Off with Variable Boost Control, RED LED Indicator - Metal Construction with 12 Foot Lead.

3. - Master Volume Control - Allows Preamp Overdrive -or- Power Amp Overdrive -or- Both.

4. - 3x Preamp 'Bias' and 'Gain' Switches.

5. - Modified Tone Stack - Allows each Frequency to sweep from 'Zero-to-Max'. A switch can be added to the Front Panel to select between Stock/Modified.

6. - Series FX Loop - 'Send' and 'Return'. The 'Send' Socket can also be used as a PREAMP 'Line Out' and the 'Return' Socket can be used for Direct Access to the Valve Power Amp (For External Preamps -or- Multi-Effects Processors).

7. - Dedicated 'Line Out' Socket - Speaker Emulated (Open Back Cab) taken from the Output Transformer - Active in both 'Speaker' and ' Headphone' Mode.

9. - Tri-Rectifier System - Uses a 3 Position Switch to Select 'Silicon', 'Valve 1' or 'Valve 2' Operation.

10. - Standby Switch - Fitted only on Amps without Reverb.

[savage8190]

My Class 5 has had the RAT treatment and its seriously good... for blues and classic rock. Modern rock... not so much. got my TH30 for that.

Not a rattle to be heard now too btw.

I got the following done;

1. - 'OPR' - Output Power Reduction. Yep - Real marshall distortion at bedroom levels.

2. - Variable Boost Footswitch - Switches the Boost Circuit On-or-Off with Variable Boost Control, RED LED Indicator - Metal Construction with 12 Foot Lead.

3. - Master Volume Control - Allows Preamp Overdrive -or- Power Amp Overdrive -or- Both.

4. - 3x Preamp 'Bias' and 'Gain' Switches.

5. - Modified Tone Stack - Allows each Frequency to sweep from 'Zero-to-Max'. A switch can be added to the Front Panel to select between Stock/Modified.

6. - Series FX Loop - 'Send' and 'Return'. The 'Send' Socket can also be used as a PREAMP 'Line Out' and the 'Return' Socket can be used for Direct Access to the Valve Power Amp (For External Preamps -or- Multi-Effects Processors).

7. - Dedicated 'Line Out' Socket - Speaker Emulated (Open Back Cab) taken from the Output Transformer - Active in both 'Speaker' and ' Headphone' Mode.

9. - Tri-Rectifier System - Uses a 3 Position Switch to Select 'Silicon', 'Valve 1' or 'Valve 2' Operation.

10. - Standby Switch - Fitted only on Amps without Reverb.

With all the good amps out there that seems like an awful lot to get something usable...

[baytamusic]

I had one. I don't really like them. 5w amps suck IMO. Get a 60s Ampeg Gemini I. Those things are tone heaven w/ a speaker upgrade. If this dude doesn't like the Ampeg he's a moron. Plain and simple. My bandmate has one and it's the best sounding combo amp I've heard so far. The breakup is just so sweet sounding.

[nguideau]

Combo amps are more prone to having microphonic tubes because of the vibrations of the full cabinet and chassis. When you have a head separate from the cab, the tubes are in a separate chassis and have a set of rubber feet between them helping to absorb some of the vibrations.

There are some amps that seem to be more prone to this (do a Google search and you'll quickly find the Peavey Classic series and Fender Deluxe Reverb come up a lot).

That all being said, this, to me, seems to be a pretty minor concern. You're talking about hours and hours and hours of loud playing with a decent set of tubes before it becomes an issue. And it's really not "destroying the innards." Just taxes the tubes a tiny bit more...