What amplifier should i buy?
bandagedhand
Posts: 25
Im lookin for some suggestions.
At the moment im just using a 15 watt marshall practice amp.
What does everyone think?
How high up the chain should I upgrade?
At the moment im just using a 15 watt marshall practice amp.
What does everyone think?
How high up the chain should I upgrade?
i wish i was a messenger and all the news was good (the guitar riff in the background)
Post edited by Unknown User on
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what's your price range?
How much can you spend?
What do you desire in the amplifier?
If you have only played a little while and aren't sure you are gonna stick with then stick to the low end. If you really love it you might as well spend a bit more and get it over with rather than slowly going along the upgrade path which loses you money every trade in.
Although the marshall hdfx100 head might be a cheap head with alot of power, you should consider where and when you would to use this power. I just bought a 12 watt tube amp which might be as loud as a 50 watt solid state(just a guess). This amp is more than loud enough for playing with a band and practicing. A 100W head would be overkill (and obviously very cool) for most people on this board I think. Also take into consideration factors like transportability. You can't take a 100Watt head and 4x12 Cabinet to a friends house to jam for a couple hours right?
These are some really cool medium sized amps I was considering when I recently bought an amp.
Fender hot rod deluxe-very clean amp, maybe to loud still? Not to big 1x12
Mesa f-30- very versatile amp, very loud, critically acclaimed
fender vibro champ-can only be had on ebay, 6 tube watts so great for recording and practising.
Apparently Vox also makes very nice low end tube amps.
All these amps are in the 600$ range other than the champ which is 200-500 on ebay depending on condition. That may seem like a lot of money, but all of them (other than the champ) would be good for all applications for life basically.
I just got my first tube amp and solid state amps sound so dead and not lively to me now. I would recommend a tube amp cause you will wan't one eventually.
If this price range is just way to out there fender makes a couple lower end tube amps with a smnaller price tag. Like under 500$ I am pretty sure. Also very loud.
So there are some things to consier and some options
I miss you already, I miss you all day
I like the Hot Rot series fine I just think it could do without channel switching, and they could maybe add a tube driven tremolo in it's place.
They could also provide a bit better speaker (the 12" webber designed for the tweed twin is absolutely smucking perfect) Re-tube it with the new groove tubes they also put in the new tweed twin and maybe give it the laquered tweed treatment. It's a great amp for the money.
The only fender amps I really detest and hate with a passion are the Dyna touch series.
The tone chart reads like this
Dynatouch/
\Fabulous QualityTone.
I guess I'm on of the odballs in the speaker category. I kinda like it. I'm not saying it's necessarily the best speaker, there certaily are others out there that sound awsome in this amp, I've heard a few, but there's just somthing about the Eminence that I like. If I had two of these amps I would change the speaker in one but would want the other orginal. Does that make sense? Some of the things that probably should make it not good in this amp I find endearing for some reason. Maybe I should just stop sniffing glue, I don't know.
I would also suggest retubing with JJ's instead of Groove Tubes. That's what I did anyway. Eurotubes.com
Oh I'm all with you on the Tesla's and so is Dr. Z among damn near everyone else.
Fender I believe either has a contract with GT or outright owns them now and use GT's in all thier amps so now that there are really good ones that they use (go to a guitar store and play the new 58 Twin or new 59 lacquered tweed bassman and you'll see what I mean) I don't like to wank much in stores but I couldn't put down a Trussart Steel Deville into the new bassman talk about blues........oh for a reverb tank and an Tube Tape Echo and an unlimited bank account.
Eminence speakers aren't bad by any means, I just personally don't prefer the character. It's a bit to bright for my liking. That amp on the whole even stock is very nice though.
Hmm that amp sounds familiar. A fender with 1 channel and and a tremolo effect....
rhymes with... bribro flamp
I miss you already, I miss you all day
http://www.electrosonicamplifiers.com/index.htm
I'm wanting one of these. I'll one day order a glossy electric blue 4x10 cab for my Orange.
http://www.victoriaamp.com/victoriette&victorilux.htm
2 6L6's into 3x10". A single ceramic Celestion with two alnico Jensens.
As far as it goes, though, I'd also recommend the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (or the DeVilles, which are just bigger versions of the same amp). The other options in that price range are a Traynor or a Peavey Classic-series (Classic 30, Classic 50, Delta Blues, DB 210).
http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=32&cat=18
http://www.peavey.com/products/shop_online/browse.cfm/action/final/wc/1A1B223/fam/TA/c/3/classic.cfm
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38076&item=3768357372&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
The Peavey Classic amps were their answer to the Fender Hot Rod and Blues series of amplifiers. They're virtually the same features, all-tube, pretty loud. I've never been happy with the distortion channels on any of these amps, but a TubeScreamer or other stompbox will get you great tone through the clean channel. The Classic 20 is a single-channel amp, so it would need a separate overdrive/distortion, anyways.
More options:
Fender Pro Junior
Fender Blues Junior
Fender Champ (older tube, NOT new solid-state or DSP)
Fender Vibro Champ
Fender Deluxe Reverb
My biggest thing here is that you don't need walls-of-sound half-stacks. Any tube amp with at least 20 watts is good enough for any gig; more than 60 is superfluous. And that's assuming you want an amp to gig/jam with, not just a bedroom amp. If you want a good practice amp, 5-15 watts is plenty. A single 10" speaker is probably too small for gigs, but a single or two 12" or two or more 10" speakers, that's plenty. Keep in mind that Neil Young plays 25,000-seat shows with a Deluxe Reverb, 22 watts and one 12" speaker. I play a 12-watt Fender MusicMaster Bass amp with a single 12" for small shows and a 45-watt Sovtek Mig 50 through a 4x10" cabinet for big shows. I also have a 6-watt Fender Vibro Champ through a 8" speaker for my bedroom amp (and recording) and a 50-watt Marshall combo amp with a single 12" (that I'm ready to sell
i'll give you all a bit more info about what i want/need...
ive been playing for about 3 years now but have never had lessons.
i'll probably be gigging within the next few months.
i know that i definantly want a tube amp.
i have a Boss DS-2 Pedal so i guess i can use that if the amp i get doesnt have a suitable drive channel.
i want to spend up to $1000 Australian, which i think is about $US700 right now, but equipment seems to be more expensive over here.
i really want to get an amp that i wont need to replace.
how come marshalls havent really come up? are their combos not very good? eg the TSL401 or whatever they are...
let me know if any more info is required...
Interesting question... I think this place is not really filled with Marshall fans. Not much hardrockers here I guess, more laidback blues people. I had a Marshall Valvestate 8080 when I started posting here. Now I have a Fender Deluxe 85 (transistor) and a Fender Champ (tube). And these guys are all to blame for that.
Marshall is a company I just don't seem to mention a lot. Clearly all of us are influenced by the sound of Marshall Amps. Maybe I am just biased a slight bit against them.
The DSL 401 is a fine combo, I just feel there are other amps like the Mesa Boogie F-30 that are better values for the money.
I was in love for a time with the Marshall TSL 100 and a Tall Vintage cab with 4 12" greenbacks. however the nearly 3,000 I needed for this wasn't feaseable and try convincing yoru neighbors that having a 100 watt tube amp is "cool".
I honestly am not huge on any marshall combo save maybe a "bluesbreaker"
Marshalls are meant to be head and cabinet in my opinion, not combos. So if you're only looking to spend 700 bucks there are other amps that will better suit you for the money.
At 700 bucks you can probably buy a used DSL 50 Watt head and some kind of thrashed cabinet. It kind of depends on what gain structure you need and the tone you desire.
you can also get a similar crunch tone by cascading a couple of tubescreamers and maybe a Rat or some other distortion into the front end of a Fender 59 Bassman.
For marshall sound on the cheap, check out Sovtek.
If you had all the money in the world to spend and you were looking for the Marshall sound, you'd probably buy a Bogner instead.
Mesa Boogie is probably better for the higher gain stuff anyhow.
Marshall is just a company that has been around for so long they are guilty in places of skimping and trading on their name.....exactly like Fender, and Gibson.
They aren't bad though. For the most part Marshall is the industry standard. Perhaps the reason I don't mention them more often is that I feel they are overpriced.
Play them all, then decide.
I don't know much about the Traynor, never heard one, but I'd say the peavy classics and the hotrods are both good choices. I'd lean towards the hotrods, to me they outpace the peavy's, but I'm a fender man. In my opinion nobody does clean like fender, and that's important to me.
They have a big one (maybe 50watts tube) at my local music shop and I am always impressed by it.
I miss you already, I miss you all day
mccreadyisgod what are your reasons for using the Fender Musicmaster 12. I want a small wattage amp with a 12" speaker, so I was just curious.