Hi I'd appreciate some advice. I recently picked up a Tony Balls Fender 5C1 Champ clone head just to check out some low-wattage valve goodness for home use. I now need to put together a speaker cab to go with it. The amp is 4-5 watts I think.
So far I've played it through the stock Fender cone in a friend's Princeton Reverb II combo, and tbh it sounded pretty shitty, really honky, shrill, and fatigueing with no bottom end. I then tried it with a borrowed Marshall 4x12, one of the cheaper ones not the full-fat 1960. Much better results - more balanced rounded sound, shrieking tamed, and more bottom (obviously!). Also decently loud for bedroom use.
Anyway I have to return the 4x12 soon so I'm thinking I'd like to put together a 2x12 using the Montage Intro cabinet available here in the UK. This is closed or open back with a removable panel.
I've no idea whether I can achieve many of the sounds I'd like with such a basic, limited amp head, but my reference points are
Classic blues rock
ACDC
QOTSA/grungy stuff
Crunchy blues tones
Glassy cleans
If I can tick a few of those boxes I'll be happy. Obviously I'm not looking for the classic 50s Champ r'n'r sound :)
The Champ breaks up quite nicely on its own and I'm using a Bad Monkey pedal to push it hard into grunginess and add some bass and treble. This seems to work quite well. My guitar is a Gordon Smith with two coil-tapped humbuckers, and I have a an '85 MIJ Squier Strat too.
I've listened to all the WGS clips I can find on the net and the tones which have caught my attention are the Invader and the ET65. Clearly both of these are way overkill in terms of power handling, but I like their sound.
What speaker pairings would you recommend to get some good tone from a basic little amp which can shriek a bit if not carefully matched?
Thanks!
I guess I could be barking up the wrong tree here and should be looking at something from the American range...
Naw ... I don't think so! Personally, I think a pair of Green Berets or Reapers would be awesome with that project ... and it would make a good multi-purpose cab, too!