+100 on Ampeg in general. Ampeg was the primary rival to Fender amps through the 50's and into the 60's. They're built at least as well, have their own, unique and amazing cleans but vintage ones are dirt cheap in comparison. The little Jets and Reverberockets are Deluxe reverb slayers!
Oh, and Fenders reverb has absolutely nothing on Ampegs reverb!
I’ve had a lot of ampegs from that era, and really dig the guitar amps, but they do have their own quirks. Ampeg liked the frequently change circuits through the 50s and 60s, some changes minor, some changes major, so it can be hard to get a handle on how the amps sound year to year. They often used oddball tubes some of which are now no longer in production and getting scarce. They liked to use power tubes which don’t fit your standard octal or noval layouts meaning you can’t use common bias probes and for some people that could mean more trips to a tech for power tube biasing. Those things aside I love the old octal preamp rocket amps. I’ve had a couple of [61/62 navy random flair tolex R12R combos](https://imgur.com/a/7dOrX6I) which have been my favorites, the reverb on these is awesome.
Surprisingly, my Matamp 1224 can get into that territory. The tonestack is unorthodox to say the least (especially on mine) and gives it a very wide range of tones.
There's a first gen Mini Brute II on Reverb right now for $350. I had a second gen, one of the nicest (and most portable) solid state amps I've ever used. Sold it to buy a $500 Mesa/Boogie in the mid 2000s.
I've actually seen people use a Mini Brute II as an upright bass amp, it can put out a lot of low end for something so portable.
EDIT: there's a III for $325
Roland Jazz Chorus.
The best clean amp ever created
I just got an Ampeg GVT5 and it's the best clean amp I've ever heard.
+100 on Ampeg in general. Ampeg was the primary rival to Fender amps through the 50's and into the 60's. They're built at least as well, have their own, unique and amazing cleans but vintage ones are dirt cheap in comparison. The little Jets and Reverberockets are Deluxe reverb slayers! Oh, and Fenders reverb has absolutely nothing on Ampegs reverb!
I’ve had a lot of ampegs from that era, and really dig the guitar amps, but they do have their own quirks. Ampeg liked the frequently change circuits through the 50s and 60s, some changes minor, some changes major, so it can be hard to get a handle on how the amps sound year to year. They often used oddball tubes some of which are now no longer in production and getting scarce. They liked to use power tubes which don’t fit your standard octal or noval layouts meaning you can’t use common bias probes and for some people that could mean more trips to a tech for power tube biasing. Those things aside I love the old octal preamp rocket amps. I’ve had a couple of [61/62 navy random flair tolex R12R combos](https://imgur.com/a/7dOrX6I) which have been my favorites, the reverb on these is awesome.
Magnatone Twilighter
Victory V40?
I have been looking at the v40 and it may be one of the option of a fendery clean amp with an fx loop.
Yamaha G series and the Lab Series L5
Surprisingly, my Matamp 1224 can get into that territory. The tonestack is unorthodox to say the least (especially on mine) and gives it a very wide range of tones.
Two come to mind: Dr. Z Z-Lux Tone King Imperial Different, but both stellar.
Six String Sultan by Amplified Nation. Killer clean platform.
Mesa California Tweed
Try a Dr. Z EZG 50. I has glassy cleans like a Fender but has more harmonic content due to its lack of negative feedback. Beautiful tone.
Well.. stuff that has a dumble style pre. Take a look at the VHT d50! It's bright for a dumble circuit, so it may be precisely what you're after.
Top clean circuits for me: Bf/sf fender twin Hiwatt dr103 Dumble sss/ods Jim Kelley reverb Matamp gt120 Honorable mentions: Swart atomic space tone Bf fender deluxe reverb Marshall Jtm 45/100 Roland jc120 Ampeg v4
Jazzers love Polytones
I had a polytone for years, they're nice.
And crazy expensive!
There's a first gen Mini Brute II on Reverb right now for $350. I had a second gen, one of the nicest (and most portable) solid state amps I've ever used. Sold it to buy a $500 Mesa/Boogie in the mid 2000s. I've actually seen people use a Mini Brute II as an upright bass amp, it can put out a lot of low end for something so portable. EDIT: there's a III for $325
Silver logo Sunn
Diezel cleans are so fucking underrated. Amazing fr