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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 21, 2009 13:36:03 GMT -5
Hey everybody.
I'm looking for a solid tube amp. Not a solid state/tube amp but a solid, well built tube amp. I'm looking for one that is between 35 and 100 watts and has one speaker. I'm in college so i can't bring my amp and cab so I'm looking for something (probably a Randall or Peavey) thats good for metal but sounds halfway decent clean. If anyone has any prior experiences or used amps that they don't want I'd gladly accept the insight and offers.
Thanks!
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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 21, 2009 13:42:51 GMT -5
Oh and by metal I mean this kind of metal
or
....and not Van Halen
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Post by sydsbluesky on Oct 21, 2009 16:43:15 GMT -5
Peavy valveking?
Hrm... I know that my favorite metal amp is probably... peavy 6505+. XXX ain't bad, either.
If it doesn't NEED to be a COMBO, then I'd probably go with a 50 watt Krank Rev. Jr. It comes in a mini stack. That's sorta like a combo, right?
That's a lotta wattage for a dorm room, dood. The Rev. Jr. Also comes in a 20 watt!
Also available is the Rev. Jr. Pro, which has a foot switch. Check it out on MF.
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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 21, 2009 23:04:42 GMT -5
I live in a house with a few other guys, but my neighbors (its an upper and a lower) don't like it when we play using our normal amps.
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Post by JohnH on Oct 22, 2009 4:28:32 GMT -5
vF - theres a few Marshall options that are worth considering. My best amp is a DSL401 - a 40W all tube 1x12 that has a really warm clear clean channel that breaks up nicely with some gain, and also takes pedals very well, plus it has two very punchy overdrive channels. It gets very loud but it also works very well at low volume. Out of production now, but common second hand. Theres also the new Haze series, a 40W 1x12 combo, and a 15W head with 1x12 cabs - great reviews of their sound but I havent played one.
For dorm use but also good for the loudest gigs, and ridiculously portable, I can recommend a Crate Powerblock. Its not tube, but it really does a good job of sounding like one and its smaller than a lunchbox (its a head, so add a 1x12 cab). Even though it can put out 150W, it can be turned right down to a whisper if needed.
John
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gs790
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by gs790 on Oct 22, 2009 11:23:04 GMT -5
Can't take? Or Can't Use?
If it's the latter, a power attenuator might be a more affordable solution.
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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 22, 2009 12:55:58 GMT -5
Both, there isn't enough froom in the house for three stacks so we all are trying to use combos. I'm the only one that doesnt have a combo.
I've looked at some Line6, Peavey and Randall amps but not Marshall, yet. Thanks for the suggestions thus far!
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Post by sumgai on Oct 22, 2009 19:58:04 GMT -5
Me? I'd throw all those BS amps on CL, and procure a POD and a headphone distribution amplifier. One POD for each player (the drummer is out trying to earn some lunch money by delivering pizzas anyway, so he's out of the picture), and one set of phones for each player, and you're all set - no more worries about cop-calling angry neighbors! ;D A distribution amp is really a mixer-in-reverse. It takes an incoming signal and sends it out to however many output jacks at the same time. The number of jacks increases the cost, 4 is nominal, and I've seen as many as 16. (Must be a helluva party!) The more costly ones will also have a mixer built in, so that each player (headphone wearer) can adjust the volume for each input to suit his/her own needs. That might be overkill, but if you want/need it, it's out there. PODs can be had cheap, unless you're a keep-up-with-the-Jones type.  All three of you can get into this for way less than you'd get for your stack. Of course, that leaves you with what to do on stage...... What I've seen so far that rocked my socks was a band that took that same rig right to the stage, and plugged the POD outputs into the house PA. They then used the stage monitors and FOH speakers for everything. (The drummer had to "make do", of course.) Lore has it that many guitar players in the audience bitched about it being "not real", and so the next time they played, they rented some small amps, and put mics in front of them. No one guessed that the amps were dummies, and the PODs were still doing the job!! HTH sumgai |
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Post by newey on Oct 22, 2009 20:43:35 GMT -5
That's what Ashcatlt's been doing: guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sounds&action=display&thread=4319Only they're using Behringer V-Amps instead of the Pods. The V-amps can be had even cheaper than the Pod, although don't ask me which is better, I've yet to use either one. Although, when I was in college, a decent sized practice combo was the rule in the dorms. No one complained much about the noise, since every room had a stereo going, or another guitarist with his own amp! I had a Univox Hollow body (still do . . ) and a 10 watt Harmony SS, the kind with the red racing stripe down the grill cloth. Guy across the hall from me had a cherry SG with a 100-watt Acoustic head and a 1X12 cab- so I was no threat in the noise department! |
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Post by sydsbluesky on Oct 22, 2009 20:53:52 GMT -5
The new Marshall Haze sounds like farts.
I played one when I was looking at my new Blackstar, and it sounded quite bad. I never liked the DSLs, either. Good for crunch, but for metal... naaaaa they just don't cut it for me... If I were going to go for a metal amp Marshall would be one of my last choices, ESPECIALLY with the very large pennies they make you use to pay.
Like I've said before... I'm a Marshall man, but very rarely use them for metal, and I NEVER use Marshall OD channels on any amp that costs less than 1500 bucks for a head. I use the gain on the clean channel to go crunch, and then use pedals for the rest.
Randall makes a damn good amp.
Oh, and practicing with headphones is leeiikk totally lame, Gai!
I've alway found it very hard to to jam with those... great for solo stuff, but with more than one person - especially with more than one guitar - it gets super messy in there.
What is your budget?
Hiwatt makes a nice hi-gain amp in the 2500 range.
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Post by sumgai on Oct 23, 2009 2:50:35 GMT -5
.....
Oh, and practicing with headphones is leeiikk totally lame, Gai!Smile when you say that, pardner! ;D Truth to tell, I've always thought my hearing wasn't as good as most guys - too much war in The 'Nam, I guess. So I like 'phones 'cause they let me rock out whilst keeping the other half happy. Don't forget the first lesson of The Muse: "The tone comes from inside you baby, not from anything you're attached to." The longer you stay in the music business, the more you're gonna hear this little ditty. I'm here to promise you that one day, you'll wake up believing it. Until then, have fun! sumgai |
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Post by JohnH on Oct 23, 2009 5:30:06 GMT -5
The new Marshall Haze sounds like farts. Okay, well thats a bit of a worry..... I suspect that the problem is dietary. .....so what kind of vegetables do people grow in your area? |
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Post by gumbo on Oct 23, 2009 6:54:00 GMT -5
S-G wrote: "Don't forget the first lesson of The Muse: "The tone comes from inside you baby, not from anything you're attached to." The longer you stay in the music business, the more you're gonna hear this little ditty. I'm here to promise you that one day, you'll wake up believing it. Until then, have fun!" +10 for that.... ...remember when you practice with headphones, you actually hear what EVERYBODY ELSE will be hearing... ...at times, quite useful..  |
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Post by sydsbluesky on Oct 23, 2009 11:58:10 GMT -5
Yeah, yeah... I don't like phones. I'm all for low volume and everything, but phones don't let the instruments frolic and play the way amps do. Try sitting down with two guitars and writing a neo metal harmony line with phones... ugh. Harmony in general doesn't come through in phones like it does with cabs. Don't get me wrong, here. They're very useful for a lot of things, but from what he's saying this group consists of a few guys, and the point of getting this amp is so that they can all jam together, right? A jam isn't a jam without amps! It's more like Jelly... or Marmalade. I don't know about you, but if I crawl out of bed in the morning and hike my groggy a$$ to the fridge and find that I have only marmalade to slop onto my toast, my day is pretty much ruined. When my grandpa was a truck driver for the U.S. Army in WWII, he said they used to just throw 10 pound boxes of Marmalade onto the side of the road because the soldiers didn't eat it. True story! And the Marshall Haze seems to me like Marshall just trying to get into the low wattage game and having no luck. I just plain didn't like it. It lacked both the tube gain I love so dearly and the solid state clean head room. It was muddy, and tweaks to the the EQ knobs were about as obvious as a mouse at a Rat concert. The crunch was decent, but I'd go for valvestate before I went for the Haze. It didn't seem like quality work on the part of Marshall.... Or maybe it eats Raisin Bran for breakfast. One of the two. |
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Post by ashcatlt on Oct 23, 2009 15:50:02 GMT -5
Well, you'd need something to mix the Pods together, whatever you're plugging them into. A simple passive mixer would work fine. You'd control relative levels the same way you would with amps.
Once they're mixed, though, they can be plugged into about any relatively flat (EQ-wise) and clean (distortion-wise) amplification device you can find.
Before we moved my studio into the bass-ment, we sometimes used to plug our mixer into the living room stereo system. Other times, we would run the L to a Peavey keyboard amp and the R to a newfangled Fender "Bassman". I've also used a number of 2.1 computer speaker systems for "live sound" in living rooms, bedrooms, and basements over the years.
I don't really know what is meant by harmonies being somehow strange in headphones, but then I've been recording and practicing through cans for something like 20 years. The thing you don't get from headphones is the acoustic resonance of the guitar body. You know, when the amp shakes the guitar and helps it sustain/feedback? You can get this from a amp simulator and a home stereo, though.
BTW, the drummer doesn't have to sit out, either. Get him to trade in his skins for a V-Drum (or similar) kit and you've got volume control over the entire band! I do this every Monday night, and sometimes on Saturdays. Nobody has complained yet, but I have thought about disguising our (currently hypothetical) PA system as guitar amps.
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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 23, 2009 21:31:06 GMT -5
I was looking at a Mesa F50, some Randall amps or a 6505 combo like bluesky said. I have some budget, around 1000 max. I'd really prefer an amp with some good on board distortion. I don't want to have pedals sitting out and have to move them around when people come over.
I appreciate the suggestions and discussion thus far.
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Post by ijustwannastrat on Oct 23, 2009 22:17:16 GMT -5
I happen to be "amp shopping" (gawking), and two amps I want are a Fender Twin Reverb, and a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. Since you want metal, and the Dual Rectifier is a stack, I would say look at their 5:25 and 5:50 models. I know a local wandering guitarist with what I believe is one, and it makes some pretty good metal sounds. Of course, I have a transistor-type H&K, so I don't have much to compare to...
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Post by vonFrenchie on Oct 25, 2009 2:25:06 GMT -5
The 5:25 and 5:50 are pretty cool. Plus they'll be really good when it comes to the volume factor.
I did see some videos of people tearing it up with Vox Valvetronix amps. I've always been interested in those and I do like to play a lot of bluesy stuff. I think it will come down to trying out three or four amps, so far is the 5:50 and VT50
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All three of you can get into this for way less than you'd get for your stack. Of course, that leaves you with what to do on stage...... What I've seen so far that rocked my socks was a band that took that same rig right to the stage, and plugged the POD outputs into the house PA. They then used the stage monitors and FOH speakers for everything. (The drummer had to "make do", of course.) Lore has it that many guitar players in the audience bitched about it being "not real", and so the next time they played, they rented some small amps, and put mics in front of them. No one guessed that the amps were dummies, and the PODs were still doing the job!! 
