Buying amp suggestions

leethal

I've seen heaps of threads like this and it is amazing how helpful they are. I'd appreciate any advice. Here's some info:

I've been playing for a long time with average gear and its definitely time for me to get good amp: Firstly; im playing regularly with a drummer (a good one too!) secondly I just bought a simply amazing tele. Thirdly my room will be virtually soundproof in 2 weeks! It's wrong to play such a beautiful guitar through a 15w Epiphone throwaway piece! I did used to love that amp though lol.

Luckily dad helped me out with the tele so I have more money than I thought for an amp: About $1800 Australian ($1400 US.) I want something I'll be able to gig with. And although I know little about gear Im definitely inclined towards valve (tube) amps because as I love vintage, bluesy sounds etc.

I am considering something from the Vox Valvetronix range because I have heard they can produce some quality tone and volume for the price. I also love the look of anything in the Marshall line. I would be ensure though of what to do if i just bought a head unit though. I would need advice and It seems like that would be very costly in the end.

I trust you guys way more than salesmen in guitar shops so thanks in advance!

Thorns2010

leethal wrote:

I trust you guys way more than salesmen in guitar shops so thanks in advance!

Although I am a salesman from a guitar shop.....:D

This is what I suggest, although it is a Fender, which you didn't mention.....oops!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Twin-Amp-100Watt-AllTube-Guitar-Amp?sku=480649

enharmonic

You could get an Ampeg V4 for well under $1400...probably 8-900 AUD

leethal

Thorns2010 wrote:

Although I am a salesman from a guitar shop.....:D

This is what I suggest, although it is a Fender, which you didn't mention.....oops!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Twin-Amp-100Watt-AllTube-Guitar-Amp?sku=480649

Lol. Im sure there are a few on the board actually. I should be specific: Im always a little skeptical of non-pearljam-fan-salespeople. I always get the salesman who loves metal and thinks everything i want is lame and so forth. Its much more helpful for me to get advice from people on the same wavelength.

I love the look of this amp actually. I haven't seen any fender amps in shops in my area would you believe! If i can get a similar price to that somewhere in queensland im getting it! 100watts is a bit intense but it is very tempting.

leethal

enharmonic wrote:

You could get an Ampeg V4 for well under $1400...probably 8-900 AUD

Thanks man; ill have a look.

All Those Yesterdays

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-59-Bassman?sku=480726

Get yourself a Fulltone OCD pedal to put in front of it, and you'll have a huge range with that amp.

All Those Yesterdays

leethal wrote:

Lol. Im sure there are a few on the board actually. I should be specific: Im always a little skeptical of non-pearljam-fan-salespeople. I always get the salesman who loves metal and thinks everything i want is lame and so forth. Its much more helpful for me to get advice from people on the same wavelength.

I love the look of this amp actually. I haven't seen any fender amps in shops in my area would you believe! If i can get a similar price to that somewhere in queensland im getting it! 100watts is a bit intense but it is very tempting.

All depends how much head room you want. Really the difference between a 50 watt tube head and a 100 watt tube head is 3 db. That's not a lot.

Pacomc79

volume produced is also tied to the amount and efficiency of your speakers.

If you've got some 96-105db speakers they are going to be loud. Just think about all those "30 watt" old vox AC30's that people love. Many people who own them bought them to record with. Ok that's fine, but you can't do that in a neighborhood when your recording room is very lively with all wood walls. In that application it'd be better to find an AC15 with one celestion blue because you need to get that amps volume up to where it sounds best.

to answer your question I am imagining that you are looking for classic to modern rock tone and you can get this from a ton of different amplifiers.

My personal favorite amp is a fender bassman but unless you plan on adding some pedals it might be a little one dimensional for you (although this is blasphemy and I should thrash you for thinking it):D. I also don't know how much different amps cost in Oz so my recommendations might be too expensive.

The Vox Valvetronix line is excellent. You should be very happy with anything in that range for a while, but modelling gets better each passing day, you might find something better by the next NAMM and most of us end up using only 3 or 4 of the models from any modelling amp anyway. (I use the bassman a lot when I play the valvetronix stuff)

If you have a budget (most of us do) focus on the best clean to pushed clean to barely breaking up to crunch tone you can get. It's much easier to get fantastic distorted tone by building on that which is already great. If you're working with mush it's always going to be mush.

You need to decide primarily on how big and or portable you want this thing to be, what speaker size you prefer, and whether you like closed back or open back cabinets among other things like power tube vs preamp tube distortion; tone shaping; combo vs head and cabinet etc. But we can help quite a bit.

Ask critical questions, is it too fat? to thin? to dark? too bright?

Also don't judge the amp at bedroom levels if you aren't going to play at bedroom levels. Ask for a private room and get the volume to at least 5 (preamp gain at 5 as well or to taste) to fully judge the overall sound of the amp and speakers. You might also try a few effects pedals with it to see how it sounds with extra gain stages in front. Some amps respond very well to having thier preamps pushed hard.

Also finally play the best amps you can get your hands on first. Working your way down this will help you figure out which amps provide the best value of what you like for what you can afford.

Oh and this quest you're on never ends.

All Those Yesterdays

Pacomc79 wrote:

volume produced is also tied to the amount and efficiency of your speakers.

If you've got some 96-105db speakers they are going to be loud. Just think about all those "30 watt" old vox AC30's that people love. Many people who own them bought them to record with. Ok that's fine, but you can't do that in a neighborhood when your recording room is very lively with all wood walls. In that application it'd be better to find an AC15 with one celestion blue because you need to get that amps volume up to where it sounds best.

to answer your question I am imagining that you are looking for classic to modern rock tone and you can get this from a ton of different amplifiers.

My personal favorite amp is a fender bassman but unless you plan on adding some pedals it might be a little one dimensional for you (although this is blasphemy and I should thrash you for thinking it):D. I also don't know how much different amps cost in Oz so my recommendations might be too expensive.

The Vox Valvetronix line is excellent. You should be very happy with anything in that range for a while, but modelling gets better each passing day, you might find something better by the next NAMM and most of us end up using only 3 or 4 of the models from any modelling amp anyway. (I use the bassman a lot when I play the valvetronix stuff)

If you have a budget (most of us do) focus on the best clean to pushed clean to barely breaking up to crunch tone you can get. It's much easier to get fantastic distorted tone by building on that which is already great. If you're working with mush it's always going to be mush.

You need to decide primarily on how big and or portable you want this thing to be, what speaker size you prefer, and whether you like closed back or open back cabinets among other things like power tube vs preamp tube distortion; tone shaping; combo vs head and cabinet etc. But we can help quite a bit.

Ask critical questions, is it too fat? to thin? to dark? too bright?

Also don't judge the amp at bedroom levels if you aren't going to play at bedroom levels. Ask for a private room and get the volume to at least 5 (preamp gain at 5 as well or to taste) to fully judge the overall sound of the amp and speakers. You might also try a few effects pedals with it to see how it sounds with extra gain stages in front. Some amps respond very well to having thier preamps pushed hard.

Also finally play the best amps you can get your hands on first. Working your way down this will help you figure out which amps provide the best value of what you like for what you can afford.

Oh and this quest you're on never ends.

Paco, you have a lot of patients to type all that out. Very well done as always! I'd just start cutting and pasting this each time you do it.

On another note, I'm more of a fan of heads, then combos. Just because it's easier to transport, and you can go in many different directions with cabinets.

keeponrockin

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Traynor-YCV80Q-Custom-Valve-4x10-Combo-Amp?sku=480962

That's what I run, and couldn't be happier with it. MORE than enough power.

leethal

Pacomc79 wrote:

volume produced is also tied to the amount and efficiency of your speakers.

If you've got some 96-105db speakers they are going to be loud. Just think about all those "30 watt" old vox AC30's that people love. Many people who own them bought them to record with. Ok that's fine, but you can't do that in a neighborhood when your recording room is very lively with all wood walls. In that application it'd be better to find an AC15 with one celestion blue because you need to get that amps volume up to where it sounds best.

to answer your question I am imagining that you are looking for classic to modern rock tone and you can get this from a ton of different amplifiers.

My personal favorite amp is a fender bassman but unless you plan on adding some pedals it might be a little one dimensional for you (although this is blasphemy and I should thrash you for thinking it):D. I also don't know how much different amps cost in Oz so my recommendations might be too expensive.

The Vox Valvetronix line is excellent. You should be very happy with anything in that range for a while, but modelling gets better each passing day, you might find something better by the next NAMM and most of us end up using only 3 or 4 of the models from any modelling amp anyway. (I use the bassman a lot when I play the valvetronix stuff)

If you have a budget (most of us do) focus on the best clean to pushed clean to barely breaking up to crunch tone you can get. It's much easier to get fantastic distorted tone by building on that which is already great. If you're working with mush it's always going to be mush.

You need to decide primarily on how big and or portable you want this thing to be, what speaker size you prefer, and whether you like closed back or open back cabinets among other things like power tube vs preamp tube distortion; tone shaping; combo vs head and cabinet etc. But we can help quite a bit.

Ask critical questions, is it too fat? to thin? to dark? too bright?

Also don't judge the amp at bedroom levels if you aren't going to play at bedroom levels. Ask for a private room and get the volume to at least 5 (preamp gain at 5 as well or to taste) to fully judge the overall sound of the amp and speakers. You might also try a few effects pedals with it to see how it sounds with extra gain stages in front. Some amps respond very well to having thier preamps pushed hard.

Also finally play the best amps you can get your hands on first. Working your way down this will help you figure out which amps provide the best value of what you like for what you can afford.

Oh and this quest you're on never ends.

So helpful; your a legend for typing out that much! Thanks

Thorns2010

leethal wrote:

Lol. Im sure there are a few on the board actually. I should be specific: Im always a little skeptical of non-pearljam-fan-salespeople. I always get the salesman who loves metal and thinks everything i want is lame and so forth. Its much more helpful for me to get advice from people on the same wavelength.

I love the look of this amp actually. I haven't seen any fender amps in shops in my area would you believe! If i can get a similar price to that somewhere in queensland im getting it! 100watts is a bit intense but it is very tempting.

And speaking of being a salesman, one of the piano salesman at my store is from Australia, and he is good friends of a guy from I believe Brisbane who owns some music shops. Although the name escapes me at the moment I can look into it and you should check him out!

harrisonmerwin

I have a Fender Blues Deville 410 Reissue (i used to own a Blues Deluxe 112). I was completely satisified with both amps of the series, and woudl suggest them to anybody looking for something smoothe in the cleans and the gains.

lucylespian

Just reflecting on teh excellent advice from PAco, and thought I might add a little.
Speaker size is VERY important. I just love the sound of a 12" speaker. 10' is probably acceptable, 8" totally sucks !!
Also, this forum is pretty devoted to clean and mildly overdirven sounds, and I also use those for PJ/blues stuff, but don't short change yourself with a good distortion sound, there is so much music where that really comes into play.
I have a Lonestar, but I would be seriously pissed if that was my only amp, cos it just isn't suited to metal or heavy rock. It will do those sounds, but only at huge volume as I push every thing up.