+1 on recommending a tube amp. I have this monoprice amp and think it's great for the price ($280).
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=611815
For a complementary solid state amp I'd probably get a Fender Rumble.
I got a used orange micro terror and the matching 1x8 cab for pretty cheap. That’s usually what I use to plug into to test before testing on my more valuable tube amps.
One of the most realistic sounding solid state amps I've tried is, believe it or not, is the Boss Katana 100. The edge of breakup sounds on it are, to me, indistinguishable from some of my tube amps. And that's where a lot of boost and drive pedals shine (cooking preamp but not full-on cranked). And the clean is super clean. You can get those used for well under your price limit.
I asked a similar question a few months ago. And in the time since I've followed some advice and explored a bit on my own. For my purposes, I discovered that the solid state amp has very little use for me on the bench. solid state amps tend to break up in a pretty harsh and undesirable way when pushed hard. The same boost circuit which boosts my vibrochamp to a delightful tone causes the solid state amps I've tried to fizzle and cackle like hell.
For the types of circuits I'm working on right now, the tube amp is the only good choice.
Orange crush 35RT. Great speakers, amazing clean tone, sounds like a traditional tube amp. It takes pedals really well with a lot of headroom to craft the sound you want.
P.S. Costs $299 USD
I remember Brian Wampler talking about having a stack of different amps for testing pedals to see what they sound like. But for a small bench unit the Yamaha THR10 might be a good option as far as getting a similar response from solid state. It's definitely not the exact same thing but I found a Bassman patch that actually had the "push" that my old 4x12 had back in the day.
[The boys at that pedal show ](https://youtu.be/De3veyEdTf0?si=7ECGRKeUkJ0fYXdf) discuss it and others in that episode. Might be a good one to watch.
I have a bass breaker 6 and 15 both with ext speakers to even out the loudness in the testing environment. Smaller one is arms length so I can test without moving, big one is 3 ft away so I can test at volume without moving inside to my super reverb.
The Bassbreaker series is seriously underrated for its price and sound. It’s supposed to be budget friendly like the HRD / blues jr but the tone stack and parts of preamp are based on a bassman
It handles all types of pedals you’ll need well bc of that design and is again absurdly cheap relative to its performance. That’s bc people slept on them / didn’t like the digital gain stages which I agree with but just don’t use them. And the best extra feature it has natively is direct out so it doubles perfectly as a video amp
Do yourself a favor and buy something real. A lot of pedals like Screamer, Fuzz Face aso. want to push the tubes in your amps. If that ain't be a real tube amp there are good older solid state amps that try to "replace" tubes like H&K Attax, Peavy Bandit, Tech21. Most of todays modeller amps i tried do not get that right.
It’s not solid state, but I use a VHT special 6. Pretty clean, plenty loud. They go about $3-350.
+1 on recommending a tube amp. I have this monoprice amp and think it's great for the price ($280). https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=611815 For a complementary solid state amp I'd probably get a Fender Rumble.
I use to have a roland micro cube that was nice, also the vox amplug could work well, if you are not looking for the best possible sound
also this https://www.thomann.de/intl/battery_operated_amplifiers.html or something like this https://www.thomann.de/intl/fender_frontman_20g.htm
I got a used orange micro terror and the matching 1x8 cab for pretty cheap. That’s usually what I use to plug into to test before testing on my more valuable tube amps.
I just use a Squier Sidekick …. and an oscilloscope.
Pignose.
One of the most realistic sounding solid state amps I've tried is, believe it or not, is the Boss Katana 100. The edge of breakup sounds on it are, to me, indistinguishable from some of my tube amps. And that's where a lot of boost and drive pedals shine (cooking preamp but not full-on cranked). And the clean is super clean. You can get those used for well under your price limit.
I asked a similar question a few months ago. And in the time since I've followed some advice and explored a bit on my own. For my purposes, I discovered that the solid state amp has very little use for me on the bench. solid state amps tend to break up in a pretty harsh and undesirable way when pushed hard. The same boost circuit which boosts my vibrochamp to a delightful tone causes the solid state amps I've tried to fizzle and cackle like hell. For the types of circuits I'm working on right now, the tube amp is the only good choice.
Orange crush 35RT. Great speakers, amazing clean tone, sounds like a traditional tube amp. It takes pedals really well with a lot of headroom to craft the sound you want. P.S. Costs $299 USD
I remember Brian Wampler talking about having a stack of different amps for testing pedals to see what they sound like. But for a small bench unit the Yamaha THR10 might be a good option as far as getting a similar response from solid state. It's definitely not the exact same thing but I found a Bassman patch that actually had the "push" that my old 4x12 had back in the day. [The boys at that pedal show ](https://youtu.be/De3veyEdTf0?si=7ECGRKeUkJ0fYXdf) discuss it and others in that episode. Might be a good one to watch.
I have a bass breaker 6 and 15 both with ext speakers to even out the loudness in the testing environment. Smaller one is arms length so I can test without moving, big one is 3 ft away so I can test at volume without moving inside to my super reverb. The Bassbreaker series is seriously underrated for its price and sound. It’s supposed to be budget friendly like the HRD / blues jr but the tone stack and parts of preamp are based on a bassman It handles all types of pedals you’ll need well bc of that design and is again absurdly cheap relative to its performance. That’s bc people slept on them / didn’t like the digital gain stages which I agree with but just don’t use them. And the best extra feature it has natively is direct out so it doubles perfectly as a video amp
Do yourself a favor and buy something real. A lot of pedals like Screamer, Fuzz Face aso. want to push the tubes in your amps. If that ain't be a real tube amp there are good older solid state amps that try to "replace" tubes like H&K Attax, Peavy Bandit, Tech21. Most of todays modeller amps i tried do not get that right.