Best clean tube amp for a pedal platform

[pdf64]

When I was doing pub gigs through the 90s, I used multifx and a single channel NMV 50W EL34 build, with lots of eq controls - presence and resonance on the power amp, multi position bright switch on the volume, as well as the regular TMB tone stack.
I went through a few preamp designs and found that the regular 5F6A arrangement worked best for me, compared to eg aTR ab763 normal channel, DR103 etc.
That was using closed back cabs with Celestion Vintage 30 or G12H30.

[Travis_HY]

That would be my guess, but that’s only based on what I’ve read here. You might also look to some of the Hiwatt designs as well. Again, no personal experience with them. But I’ve read they are very clean.

I have made variations of both a DR504 Hiwatt and the mhartman spec'd SSS. My main amp for about a decade has been a 1967 Pro Reverb with a Bassman OT. That's also a great clean amp that can get dirty if you wind it up. Bassmans of the same era are great too if you are interested in a classic design.

The Hiwatt is my go-to because it covers the most ground in one box and it can do anything I can think up. It's not a direct clone of anything that Hiwatt made; the preamp is pretty much a linked-input mid 70's pre with a slightly tweaked power amp. The power amp is LUXURY in every form. It's such a great amplifier for clean electric guitars, but the way it breaks up is unlike everything else out there that I am aware of. It's very controlled and clinical, but when you dig it, it offers some really nice and musical "give". The Pro Reverb is slower and more forgiving response-wise. The Hiwatt is quicker and more defined on the low end and still being fairly forgiving when you really hit it hard with pedals. The Hiwatt definitely supplies a cleaner signal than the Pro, but it also isn't as polite to some pedals because of that extra low end efficiency.


https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30403
My variation of the SSS is sort of a tough amp to get along with in my experience. I mean that in the best way possible: it is such a great amp because it is so entirely over-designed in a way that I could find myself using it in a 4 or 5 ways and each would be equally great. The options to truly get any clean guitar sound are always in there. It's a great guitar AND bass amp too. That being said: it is also super, super, SUPER clean and it enters power amp distortion very quickly when it does enter it; at which point the house will be shaking. It's super fast, super efficient, super loud but also it is exactly like the "football field covered in marshmallows" tone that we all aspire to. So it really is the ultimate clean pedal platform in that regard, but I would say that ymmv with your pedals selection, their settings and how they translate to that sort of amp as there is not much in the way of the power amp's distortion blending with anything. It's just real clean and real loud and real great.

Hope that helps!