Amp Choice

[zoommutt]

Hello, I'm looking at two amps and I would like your thoughts. A tweed deluxe or a tweed Ivy league with 2x10 speakers. I know the deluxe is a great blues amp. I don't know much about the Ivy league, but I would like to try the 2x10 speakers. The two amps have almost the same tubes, but the deluxe has a 12AY7 and the Ivy league has a 6AT6 tube. Could you explain the difference in tubes. These are new amps. Thanks.

 

[fakejake]

Pretty sure I'm the minority here, but I'm not a fan of Tweed Deluxes. I had a beautiful one but just couldn't get it to sound right. The interactive channels drove me nuts. I sold it, now I have a tweed Vibrolux which is so much more usable for me. Simple controls and really quick and easy to dial in sounds. The Ivy League seems to be a single channel amp as well, so I'd vote for that. Plus, it is much less common than the Deluxe, so you'll sound a bit more unique as well

 

[zoommutt]

That is something to think about. It is harder to break up the Ivy League than the deluxe ? I like the simple controls of both.

 

[Wally]

The 12AY7 has an amplification factor of 40 versus the 6AT6’s amplification factor of 70, which is more like the 5751. The more important difference would be the bias8ng. The Deluxe runs cathode bias while the Harvard is fixed. The Harvard is very much like the 5F11 Vibrolux but for the single channel preamp versus the two channel preamp if the Vibrolux ...which is more akin to the Deluxe.
The 5F11 is in essence the basis for the later 6G2 Princeton. They are imho great amps with very lively cleans and an overdrive that rips. The 5E3 Deluxe is also a great amp, but it has an earlier breakup and does not have that rip of the Vibrolux and 6G2. I have never played a 5F10 Harvard, but I would think that that bit of extra gain in the preamp would be 8nter3sting...someth8ng like runn8ng a 5751 in the 5F11 and the 6G2.
fwiw, the BF/SF Princeton/Princeton Reverb are a continuation of that 5F11 platform albeit with a more complex tone circuit.
and....the Rivera era Super Champ, which is imho a great amp, is in essence a Princeton Reverb that has been hot-rodded without the tremolo. If a person knows how to manipulate the controls, the Super Champ can do what all of the above amps will do....
back to your choice...if you like the rip of a big Marshall when you push an amp but want a small package, you will find that Ivy League to be an interesting amp, ime.

 

[gibson-r8]

Dude...

Wally you rock.

 

[Trans-Am]

I'm at home with a good Tweed Deluxe/5E3 1 X12 narrow panel.

 

[Wally]

Dude...

Wally you rock.

Well, I play a little country, too. Some little bit of jazz....

eeehaw...

 

[DutchRay]

I'd love to get my hands on an Ivy League. The store I used to work for was a big Victoria dealer and I still have dreams about the V-front 2x10 Ivy League we once had in stock... At 14W it wasn't loud enough to compete with a heavy footed drummer, but it sure sounded awesome at full blast!!

 

[LeonC]

The other distinction that's important (between the Harvard and the 5E3 Deluxe) is the inputs... The Harvard includes 3 inputs...which appear deceptively "identical" if you just look at them w/o taking the time to understand how each one works. But each one changes the input circuit with the effect of increasing the "oomph" as you move from input 1 to input 3. I believe the Ivy League works the same way...perhaps someone can confirm. Anyway, I always dug this about the Harvard.

 

[Wally]

The other distinction that's important (between the Harvard and the 5E3 Deluxe) is the inputs... The Harvard includes 3 inputs...which appear deceptively "identical" if you just look at them w/o taking the time to understand how each one works. But each one changes the input circuit with the effect of increasing the "oomph" as you move from input 1 to input 3. I believe the Ivy League works the same way...perhaps someone can confirm. Anyway, I always dug this about the Harvard.

If you plug into one of those inputs and then run a cable between the other two inputs, you have a hot input signal...more gain.

 

[zoommutt]

The experience on this forum is so important! More please! I know the Ivy doesn't break up a fast as the Deluxe, but do I have to go to 10 for it to happen? Thanks.

 

[Wally]

Not if you play a Gibson with humbuckers or P-90s.

 

[zoommutt]

That’s what I play. I’m almost there! Even though my birthday is in April, I think I should buy it now..because... well with COVID there may problem getting parts so they might not make anymore. That it! That my story and I’m sticking to it. More experiences?

 

[DutchRay]

Both the Deluxe and Ivy League are not clean amps in my book, they need to be pushed to sound great and I do not consider them great pedal platforms. At 12W and 14W gigging means pushing them to the limit, the headroom you have depends on the loudness of your drummer. Unless they're miced up, gigging with them would be a problem for me.
At home, 12-14W is very loud, so you'll need a drive pedal to make them sing, think Klon clone or something like that, turn the amp up a bit and choke the drive pedal output and guitar volume.
They work well with some boost, maybe a fuzz or some vibrato/chorus but a big pedalboard with 17 overdrives/distortions/delays is not what these amps are made for.
Whatever you decide to tell yourself, covid stuff, almost b-day, it might rain, etc. you'll love the Ivy League 2x10. It is awesome when you crank it up an use your guitar volume but I assume you're already used to playing like that.

 

[zoommutt]

Yes DutchRay, you are right, I have had it for a few months and I really like that my ears don't bleed to get some crunch. That's why I thought about the Deluxe. The 2x10 speakers do not sound boxy to me. Thank you all for your inputs.

 

[Guitardon]

I had a 110 Ivy League. It was a great amp, sorry I sold it but it wasn’t loud enough for gigs and I don’t have a need for a bedroom amp. It did sound as good as any vintage tweed I ever owned. I didn’t know Victoria made a 210 model.