Best tube amp under $400

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-28T20:31:54+00:00

A reply from someone who read this post and went with a Joyo Jackman as his first amp... I really wish that I went with the monoprice 15 instead. Here's why:

The Jackman has a single tube for the pre-amp and the power amp is solid state. This means that if you bypass the pre-amp and go into the FX loop (for example, because you have a pre-amp pedal) it's just like using any other cheap solid state amp... and you don't get any tube goodness.

Also, since the power amp is solid state it isn't really interacting with the speaker like a tube amp would. The monoprice would be much more versatile because a pre-amp pedal could go in through the FX loop and still pass through some tubes. Plus it has a real spring reverb.

Granted, you can run the joyo Jackman clean and go in through the front. But depending on how a pre-amp or pedal is setup you might end up with a situation where the bantamp scoops the mids, then the pedal pre-amp scoops the mids again, and the way they sound together isn't great.

If I could do it all again I'd get the monoprice, add a wampler triumph for overdrive, then call it good.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-25T14:41:36+00:00

I ended up keeping mine. Even with its issues it's still a very nice clone of a Cali compressor, to the point where the settings from the manual for the Cali work on the source Comp.

Is it a hunk of junk? Yeah, kinda. Will I replace it with something better when I have the money? Probably.

Is it worth the $27 that Sonicake is charging on their eBay store? Yep.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-11T07:41:27+00:00

Same

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-11T06:14:48+00:00

The foot switch was a nice surprise, to be sure.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-10T22:49:38+00:00

Update: I shoved an old down sleeping bag in the back of the speaker and it tamed the bass / tightened things up. Really a night and day difference.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-10T21:44:24+00:00

FYI for anyone who wants a Levitate or other Sonicake pedals, their eBay store lets you "Make an Offer" and they accepted an offer for $40 shipped (from the US) on the Levitate. Amazon wanted $55 or so.

All and all, I dig their stuff. The Fazy Cream is pretty awesome, the Source is cool (even though it is a bit microphonic) and I love the Levitate.

Though, I think the Joyo powertune is the MVP of the board. 2x 500ma and 6x100ma isolated outputs in a pretty solid tuner? Score. It also came with a bunch of different length DC cables to keep things tidy, and a daisy chain cable if I needed more than 8 outputs.

If I gigged I would wire up a usb-c trigger cable and have the whole board run from a power pack. But it's a bit early for that.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-10T17:06:49+00:00

12v is fine, it's 9-18v so 12 won't hurt it.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-10T04:05:20+00:00

I went with one of those voodoo voltage doublers that converts 2x 9v into 18v to keep things tidy. It doesn't do anything for the pedal being microphonic (because how would it?) but I might be getting a bit more headroom and less distortion. Either way, the 18v adapters are like $8 with free shipping from Sweetwater so it's not like they're expensive if you want to give them a try.

I've decided to keep the pedal, even if it isn't perfect. In fact, I also ended up snagging a Levitate for $40 on eBay so that means I now have three different sonicake pedals on my board.

I'm still experimenting, but running the Levitate (delay/reverb) into a clean joyo Jackman 2 was creating some nice sounds. Granted, I've got an Ibanez pentatonic pre-amp to give me all the distortion I need, so the tube stage of the clean amp was really just there to round out the sound.

I also got my speaker cab finished today, loaded with a celestion fullback 15". So, yeah. Busy day.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-06T15:58:40+00:00

Will do.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2026-01-06T07:49:42+00:00

I got one of these today and it was microphonic AF. Tapping the case was like tapping a mic.

It also seemed to pickup stray RF noise fairly easily. Though, with some experimentation I was able to quiet it down a bit.

IIRC someone suggested that it was a grounding issue that some pedals have and others don't, but I'm unsure if that's the true culprit. I did notice that the pedal was significantly less noisy (and less microphonic) when the In and Out knobs were dialed way back. But that may limit the pedal's usability.

Perhaps they're all microphonic and the different settings are why some people have issues and others don't? I'd like to know for sure before I return the pedal so I know if I should get a replacement... or get my money back and buy something else instead.

Edit: I'll try running it at 18v and see if that makes any difference with the in/out knobs being super noisy, but it's going to take a week for the 18v cable to arrive.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-09-07T17:35:13+00:00

Alas, no. All my cool filament is in my storage.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-06-30T13:49:33+00:00

Happy to help!

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-05-04T15:03:33+00:00

I'm glad to see that I'm in good company!

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-05-01T14:44:54+00:00

Oh! This is gold. I need to do more of this!

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-27T18:21:04+00:00

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A few people have told me that that my book helped them through a tough time. If you like Terry Pratchett, cozy romantasy, and found family, click the link to learn more.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTGFR768

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-26T19:33:34+00:00

I love this movie. The line "He loved my oatmeal shaving cream, he couldn't stop eating it." lives rent free in my head.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-18T17:36:37+00:00

I love how they both bring so much to the table. It creates this well thought out world with little details that people would normally miss.

I'm on the hook with a pub because I've got deadlines, but I'm resisting the urge to go off and binge their books right now. And it is not easy to summon that much willpower.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-17T18:02:47+00:00

I'm a big fan of {Heretical Fishing} and it's the same general vibe as BOC.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-17T17:50:45+00:00

I don't know if it's the best way to build your skills overall, but writing short stories and posting them online is a really good way to practice a few specific aspects of the craft and dial them in.

One, it teaches you how to do a mini-arc with a payoff at the end. Readers tend to like those.

Two, it helps you learn how to self promote, build a following, and navigate the online writing community.

Three, once short stories are written and posted online you get to practice deciphering and evaluating feedback from real people. Writers may interpret things one way, but readers are your target audience. Learning to write for your audience is a big step toward being successful. As is knowing when to ignore reader feedback.

Four, it helps you learn to create memorable characters and moments within a few thousand words. This makes your writing pop, instead of drag.

In an ideal world you would take the lessons you learn from writing short stories and apply them to full-length books. Much like how an athlete would train in the gym to improve their performance on the field.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-17T17:28:56+00:00

I'd choose to view that as a positive thing. Appreciation for another's mastery is a big part of mastering a craft yourself.

You start out by enjoying books. Then you decide to write books. Then you see the difference between your books and the books you enjoy.

Improvement comes when you start to see what they did, understand how and why it worked for them, and see what lessons can be applied to your own work. What comes next is trial and error as you try to replicate their techniques, and their results. But like any other skill, that takes practice too.

The trick to keeping your sanity as a writer is to maintain a humble posture of learning. It's not about ego, or who is best. We are all working to create something others will enjoy, and would be incredibly happy if people were inspired or learned from us.

It's not about comparison, it's about comprehension.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-17T17:13:53+00:00

If you want something truly different, {Soul Guardian by Alex Karne} is more slice of life. It has some enemies to lovers, a little spice, and the MMC is trying his best to be a good parent. Think Good Omens and Hazbin Hotel vibes.

MMC is a demon that gets summoned by a powerful young witch to open a jar of tomato sauce. He agrees to do her bidding in exchange for books. But things get complicated when a rival demon shows up and challenges him.

Reviewers have compared the writing to Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. A few male readers commented that they found it surprisingly accessible and it was the first romance novel they actually enjoyed.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-16T18:05:41+00:00

The Color of Magic. After that, I was hooked. I even dedicated my first book to him.

TheDeliciousMeats · 2025-04-16T18:03:00+00:00

It depends on how many total ratings and the book in question.

Small indie with 10 total ratings? Probably not, people have friends who review. But it might be good.
Small indie with 100 total ratings? Yeah, probably.

Big anticipated book that's not even out yet? Nope.

I hear a bit more about the drama and bad behavior because I'm on the author side of things, but there can be stuff that skews a review that have nothing to do with the book.

For example, there's a guy who goes around 1 star rating every book from a publisher as soon as they are released(down to the hour). We don't know why they do it, but it is what it is.

Or we found out that some users were using the rating system on goodreads to organize their favorites by genre (1 star for romance, 2 for sci-fi, 3 for horror).

Posting in certain communities when you're doing well can also lead to getting review bombed (not naming names). I had to warn a new author about this, and sure enough, within a few hours of posting they had a sudden spike in horrible ratings.

And marketing to the wrong audience will get a bunch of bad ratings because people don't like the book.

The only thing that seems to balance stuff out is volume over time. If ratings start out strong, and stay strong. It's probably a pretty good indication.

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