Guitar amp advice

[Maxf]

I'm learning to play the electric guitar. My amp was a cheapy and really doesn't sound that great (neither does my playing, but I'm hoping with continued practice that can improve), so I'm thinking of buying a new amp.

What are peoples thoughts on 'modelling' amps? All electro-trickery or worth getting, when compared to a more simple amp?

When I bought the cheap amp (virtually given to me with the guitar), the guy in the shop said that while valve amps are great they are no good for bedroom practice sessions - ie they dont really work until turned up reasonably loud. Is this right? Is it worth considering a valve amp?

I'm not a fan of heavy/thrash metal, but like a bit of everything else - rock, blues...

Any ideas? £300ish budget at the moment.

[Stamp]

I would look at Session amps. Get a Sessionette 75 with a single or twin 12". Known as the British Boogie, for all the right reasons. ( David Gilmour loved his! )
Well within your budget, with a single around £100 and a twin around £150 on the bay. Get a carpet one rather than a tolex one and get a foot switch.
You WON'T go wrong.

[Animal]

It's true that valve amps do need to be pushed hard to produce their best, but that doesn't mean they won't sound good at lower volumes.

For £300 quid you're spoilt for choice. The only way to be sure is to go to a decent guitar shop and try a few - it's such a chore but someone has to do it!

I've had my Marshall DSL201 for 10 years (20w valve combo, 1x12" speaker) and it's never put a foot wrong - plenty of gain, good clean tones and very responsive. However, I very, very rarely turn the master volume up above 5 - if you're just practicing at home and noise is a problem then 10w would be ample.

Happy Hunting!

Animal

[andy-xr]

If you'll take used keep an eye on this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marshall-Valvestate-VS65R-Gu...


and this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/80-WATT-MARSHALL-VALVESTATE-...

A stereo chorus Valvestate kept me going for years in the late 90's, I only sold it for a half stack as I wanted 4x10's

[aceofspades]

if you're mainly playing at home, and unless you live alone in a detached house, any decent valve amp is going to be too loud.
low end stuff like the fender champ and peavey classic 20 give a sound that's valve-ish, but the tone is crap, honestly, and they are one trick ponies. you would be bored quickly.

modeling has come on so much in he last 5 years or so that it has got to be taken seriously. the line6 stuff is great: at a gig recently to see one of the players i admire most, i noticed a pod bean direct to the PA, sounded brilliant.

i have this amazing sounding mesa maverick, 35w 4x10 but it's basically a white elephant because i can't use it without shaking the foundations. instead i run a podxt into a clean setting at low volume, i plan to trade the mesa for something like a cornford carrera.

i'd been on the lookout for a handy carry-around amp and tried the roland micro cube just a couple of months ago : it was so good i couldn't leave the shop without it.

99 euros here in ireland, well worth checking out

Edited by aceofspades on Wednesday 7th January 22:40

[rumpelstiltskin]

Line6 Flextone are good amps too.This is the first 'amp modelling' amp i've had.Last amp i had was a Mesa Boogie F50 and i don't miss it!All the sounds that i've wanted in my head for years i can pull out of this amp.Plus you can go to the LINE6 site and download all your favourite guitar player sounds straight into your amp!!

[SteveO...]

Well I have just replaced my Marshall AVT-20 with one of these;

Blackstar HT-5 Combo

It's a really nice sounding, 5 watt, all valve, 2 channel, combo. Still pretty loud, but managable for home use. All in, £250. British company (ex Marshall) although manufactured in the far east. They even do a mini stack for about £350 (head + 2 1x10 cabs).

You don't get digital modelling. What you do get is good basic tone plus a control called ISF which subtley changes the amp's character between US and Brit style sound.

I'm dead made up with mine.

[aceofspades]

rumpelstiltskin said:

Line6 Flextone are good amps too.This is the first 'amp modelling' amp i've had.Last amp i had was a Mesa Boogie F50 and i don't miss it!All the sounds that i've wanted in my head for years i can pull out of this amp.Plus you can go to the LINE6 site and download all your favourite guitar player sounds straight into your amp!!

oh yeah, forgot to mention gearbox, i'm on that too ... not only the tones but tab transcriptions also, excellent resource.
spent 15 years or more totally tied to valves - peavey, marshall, fender, mesa
but i think that modeling is kind of becoming the more realistic proposition for most, it's where digital photography got to by 2003.

done a lot of a/b comparisons on the line6 stuff with various quality guitars too and it can easily get the best out of a good guitar.

(currently using a prs custom 22 stoptail, and a custom shop '60 reissue strat)

[dern]

SteveO... said:

Well I have just replaced my Marshall AVT-20 with one of these;

Blackstar HT-5 Combo

It's a really nice sounding, 5 watt, all valve, 2 channel, combo. Still pretty loud, but managable for home use. All in, £250. British company (ex Marshall) although manufactured in the far east. They even do a mini stack for about £350 (head + 2 1x10 cabs).

You don't get digital modelling. What you do get is good basic tone plus a control called ISF which subtley changes the amp's character between US and Brit style sound.

I'm dead made up with mine.

I really like the look of those. Just out of interest did you play the stack as well as the combo and if so did it sound much different?

I have a 50W 70s park which is lovely but simply too loud for home use.

[SteveO...]

dern said:

SteveO... said:

Well I have just replaced my Marshall AVT-20 with one of these;

Blackstar HT-5 Combo

I really like the look of those. Just out of interest did you play the stack as well as the combo and if so did it sound much different?

I have a 50W 70s park which is lovely but simply too loud for home use.

Didn't play the stack. I didn't want to risk "needing" to buy it. If the combo is anything to go by, the stack will be superb.

There are quite a few YouTube vids knocking around that might help you.

[dern]

SteveO... said:

dern said:

SteveO... said:

Well I have just replaced my Marshall AVT-20 with one of these;

Blackstar HT-5 Combo

I really like the look of those. Just out of interest did you play the stack as well as the combo and if so did it sound much different?

I have a 50W 70s park which is lovely but simply too loud for home use.

Didn't play the stack. I didn't want to risk "needing" to buy it. If the combo is anything to go by, the stack will be superb.

Cool, although just looking at the picture moved it in to the 'need' category

[shirt]

i had a fender blues jr, which is a valve amp., and whilst it was only 15W it could indeed be far too loud for the bedroom if you wanted anything other than a clean tone without resorting to effects.

you can fit an attenuator to any amp. though, which acts as a variable speaker load [think dimmer switch] so that you can crank up the volume/drive knobs to dial in some beautiful valve break up, but then crank up the attenuator as well so you can have that tone at a neighbour friendly volume.

weber 'mini-mass' are the better ones as they employ a speaker driver. if you can use a soldering iron you can make a cheap one for a few £ using some jacks and a few resistors, for which you can find tutorials online.

[bigbadbikercats]

dern said:

SteveO... said:

Well I have just replaced my Marshall AVT-20 with one of these;

Blackstar HT-5 Combo

It's a really nice sounding, 5 watt, all valve, 2 channel, combo. Still pretty loud, but managable for home use. All in, £250. British company (ex Marshall) although manufactured in the far east. They even do a mini stack for about £350 (head + 2 1x10 cabs).

You don't get digital modelling. What you do get is good basic tone plus a control called ISF which subtley changes the amp's character between US and Brit style sound.

I'm dead made up with mine.

I really like the look of those. Just out of interest did you play the stack as well as the combo and if so did it sound much different?

I had a play with one in Trevor Durrants recently and really liked it - not having tried/heard the combo I can't really compare but it's certainly a fine sounding amp and (while the "Infinite Shape" business is a bit over hyped in the ads, press release, etc, etc) does a pretty wide range of tones. We also tried plugging it into a 4x12 and that was really impressive - while you certainly wouldn't want it in your bedroom you could run it pretty much flat out in a decent sized space without it being obscenely loud and it really did do the classic "Marshall on 11" thing :-)

If I hadn't already got a Mesa Express 5:25 I could have seen me walking out of the shop with one and being very happy with it - OK, there's no reverb on the Blackstar but with what I'd have saved over the Baby Boogie I could have got something jolly nice to plug into the effects loop and still had lots of change left over to spend on other toys!

--
JG

[dern]

bigbadbikercats said:

OK, there's no reverb on the Blackstar but with what I'd have saved over the Baby Boogie I could have got something jolly nice to plug into the effects loop and still had lots of change left over to spend on other toys!

Yeah, that mesa looks lovely but isn't cheap . I didn't realise that the blackstar didn't have a reverb, I'll be checking out the Laney L5T as well which is a bit more expensive but sounded terrific on the quick go I had on it while try out new guitars.

[Maxf]

Thanks for the replies - thats some shortlist I now have!

I'm going to check out the Line6 Flextone if I can find one to demo (London, so Denmark St I guess). Maybe also the Blackstar, although I think I'm being drawn towards the flexibility of the Flextone.

[collateral]

I have a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT and it's not too bad. Good value for what it is, but TBH I prefer proper tube.

[dilbert]

The really big problem, is that the speaker is a huge part of a "Good Sound", and whatever the amp, it usually doesn't rock until it's working. A little amp is a little amp.

I guess that's why they call it Rock n Roll!

It is hard to find something small that sounds good. It's easier to find something small that's loud. I don't know about things these days, but when I started I bought a transistorised 75W Marshall combo with a single 12" speaker, mainly in ignorance. TBH it's a bit much then and now.

A mate of mine bought a 100Wish Marshall valvestate combo, with two speakers and it still didn't have as much go as my tinny little tranny amp. (His parents still complained)

Perhaps you can find a place/time you can make a proper racket. I'd say that's the best bet of all. Try before you buy is the best bet, although, I just stick headphones direct into the effects these days.

Edited by dilbert on Thursday 8th January 20:54

[gbbird]

Go for a Marshall DSL 401 . Admittendy a bit more than what you wish to pay, but it is a nice amp and more than powerful enough for your purposes

http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/Marshall-DSL401/

g

[aceofspades]

gbbird said:

... and more than powerful enough for your purposes

and here we have the problem with the whole amp market.

here in ireland i can't convince any retailer to stock a few cornfords, they're afraid nobody would take them seriously.

a good quality, all valve amp switchable between say 1 and 5W RMS, is to me the ideal recipe for a home amp.

i would pay mesa money for a quality amp in this range.

[collateral]

aceofspades said:

gbbird said:

... and more than powerful enough for your purposes

and here we have the problem with the whole amp market.

here in ireland i can't convince any retailer to stock a few cornfords, they're afraid nobody would take them seriously.

a good quality, all valve amp switchable between say 1 and 5W RMS, is to me the ideal recipe for a home amp.

i would pay mesa money for a quality amp in this range.

The place down the road had some interesting looking 5w heads when I was in the other day.
Didn't get to play one but they look pretty snazzy - here