Question:
-Price Range - What can you afford? (I have around $500 but I'd like to spend a lot less if I could because I want a new guitar as well)
-Necessity - Why do you need it? I use a dinky practice amp right now
Will you be playing out with it? I play in a small church that probably maxes out at 100
If so, what sorts of places are you looking to play? Church
Are you planning to mic the amp? I probably don't need to since our congregation isn't very big
Will you have to rely on just your amp's volume from time to time?Probably most of the time
-Frequency - How often are you going to be playing out? At practice and 2x on Sunday's
-Musical Style - Artists/bands/guitarists are more helpful to list than gneres, it's best to avoid listing genres. I really like Hillsong music and that's what we play most of the time at church. I like stuff from Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Bleach, and Starfield also.
-Current Setup - What amp and guitar do you currently have? I don't actually own my own electric but I've been using a Fender Squier. This is why I want to try not to spend too much on the amp so I can get a nice guitar also.
What sort of effects do you use? None at the moment
What is it about your setup that feels deficient? Haha... everything.
-Experience - How long have you been playing guitar? About 12 years on acoustic. I kinda switching over to electric.
Have you tried out amps already? Which/How many? What did you like/dislike about amps that you've already tried out? I've tried the Vox AD50VT, Vox AC15, and some other ones that I really wasn't paying attention to the name because I was kind of guitar shopping at the same time. I thought the AC15 seemed louder than the AD50VT. I'm so confused with the SS vs Tube war. The reason I was looking at the Vox amps is because that's what one of the lead guitarists (Nigel Hendroff) from Hillsong uses.

-Personal Research - What amps are you interested in? Are you interested in getting a combo setup, or getting a head and cabinet separate? Tube? Solid State? I'd like a combo setup. I'll be carrying the amp back and forth between and home and church a lot so I'm worried about durability with the Tube although it's still not out of the question. I also wouldn't be mad if I ended up with a good Solid State (I'm not, or try not to be, that picky)
-Shopping - Where do you plan on buying from? Do you want to purchase this new, or are you willing to be a little more patient and pick up a used model? I've mostly been look at Guitar Center but I haven't had the chance to go to the smaller stores. I'm also going to look at craigslist and other places for used ones. I'm in San Diego, California so here's a link to the craigslist for SD amps http://sandiego.craigslist.org/searc...y=guitar%20amp
-Timeline - How soon do you need a new amp? Do you already have the money for it, or is this something you're saving towards? I probably going to have to wait until after Christmas, which is fine.
Answer:
Check out the Crate Palomino 15 and 30, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Blues Jr., Carvin Nomad, or perhaps a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
Tubes are just as reliable as solid state amps, if not more. Reason being, if a tube amp stops working, most of the time, it's just a matter of putting a couple new tubes in, easy. If a solid state amp stops working, most of the time something in the amp's busted, and you'll need to take it to a amp tech to fix it.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Rainer. Check out the Crate Palomino 15 and 30, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Blues Jr., Carvin Nomad, or perhaps a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
Tubes are just as reliable as solid state amps, if not more. Reason being, if a tube amp stops working, most of the time, it's just a matter of putting a couple new tubes in, easy. If a solid state amp stops working, most of the time something in the amp's busted, and you'll need to take it to a amp tech to fix it.
Thanks! I feel a little better about tube amps. How easy is it to replace tubes and how much do they usually go for?
Answer:
In your price range all the good amps are going to be tube. The biggest reliability issue that I've ever noticed with amps is the reverbs. I'll second all those amps that Rainer said, though I do have to say that the Peavey Controls confuse me, it's still a nice amp. The only thing is though, with most of these amps you're not gonna have much of a drive channel...
Answer:
Oh man...You're in San Diego! Our craigslist is pretty decent, but you're better off just looking through the musicial instruments section than searching for "guitar amp". Here's a direct link to the section: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/
Right now, here's a good deal:
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/242110840.html
It's definitely in your budget, and the Traynor YCV series is supposed to be outstanding. I also believe that the picture he showed is wrong. The current stock speaker on those amps I think is a Celestion G12M, which is a much more highly regarded speaker than the Rocket50 in the picture.
The price of replacing tubes varies from amp to amp. With something like that Traynor, you're probably talking right around $50 from Eurotubes
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve Oh man...You're in San Diego! Our craigslist is pretty decent, but you're better off just looking through the musicial instruments section than searching for "guitar amp". Here's a direct link to the section: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/
Right now, here's a good deal:
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/242110840.html
It's definitely in your budget, and the Traynor YCV series is supposed to be outstanding. I also believe that the picture he showed is wrong. The current stock speaker on those amps I think is a Celestion G12M, which is a much more highly regarded speaker than the Rocket50 in the picture.
The price of replacing tubes varies from amp to amp. With something like that Traynor, you're probably talking right around $50 from Eurotubes
Now THAT is a good deal.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve Oh man...You're in San Diego! Our craigslist is pretty decent, but you're better off just looking through the musicial instruments section than searching for "guitar amp". Here's a direct link to the section: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/
Right now, here's a good deal:
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/msg/242110840.html
It's definitely in your budget, and the Traynor YCV series is supposed to be outstanding. I also believe that the picture he showed is wrong. The current stock speaker on those amps I think is a Celestion G12M, which is a much more highly regarded speaker than the Rocket50 in the picture.
The price of replacing tubes varies from amp to amp. With something like that Traynor, you're probably talking right around $50 from Eurotubes
That's cool, I just noticed that you're from SD too. Thanks for the tip with searching through craiglist. I tried googling the Traynor and didn't really find much on that amp but it looks like a really good deal. From what I've seen, there are a few people online that didn't really care for that particular amp but I guess I would have to go an try it out to see for myself. The only problem is that I don't have enough experience with amps to really know what to look out for while testing it.
Answer:
Originally Posted by sinigang619 That's cool, I just noticed that you're from SD too. Thanks for the tip with searching through craiglist. I tried googling the Traynor and didn't really find much on that amp but it looks like a really good deal. From what I've seen, there are a few people online that didn't really care for that particular but I guess I would have to go an try it out to see. The only problem is that I don't have enough experience with amps to really know what to look out for while testing it.
Look for any obvious cracks. If it has reverb then I'd suggest giving it a tap to make sure it doesn't have a problem. Check to make sure the tubes look alright, you may not be able to tell if they're bad just by looking at them, but you might. And then just listen, if it sounds good to you, then there ya go.
Answer:
Originally Posted by AXguitar Look for any obvious cracks. If it has reverb then I'd suggest giving it a tap to make sure it doesn't have a problem. Check to make sure the tubes look alright, you may not be able to tell if they're bad just by looking at them, but you might. And then just listen, if it sounds good to you, then there ya go.
Cool, thanks again. I'm going to try and contact the guy so I can check it out.
Answer:
Originally Posted by sinigang619 That's cool, I just noticed that you're from SD too. Thanks for the tip with searching through craiglist. I tried googling the Traynor and didn't really find much on that amp but it looks like a really good deal. From what I've seen, there are a few people online that didn't really care for that particular amp but I guess I would have to go an try it out to see for myself. The only problem is that I don't have enough experience with amps to really know what to look out for while testing it. The majority of Harmony-Central reviews are positive. of the 53 reviews there, there's a few negative ones (maybe five?)...they probably caught the duds.
The thing with this amp is at $275 it seems like a fairly low-risk investment. If you buy it and end up not liking it you can probably recover most if not all of your investment by reselling it on craigslist or eBay (this is the beauty of buying used in the first place).
Foremost, you should take an electric guitar with you when you check it out, preferably the one that you will use with the amp. I would use the amp and mess around with it until I found a clean tone and an overdriven tone that I liked. also listen for anything that sounds like it shouldn't be there...like cabinet rattling or other unwanted noise (though be careful...some unwanted noise comes from your guitar, and not from your amp).
Originally Posted by AXguitar Look for any obvious cracks. If it has reverb then I'd suggest giving it a tap to make sure it doesn't have a problem. Check to make sure the tubes look alright, you may not be able to tell if they're bad just by looking at them, but you might. And then just listen, if it sounds good to you, then there ya go. the only problem with reverb tapping is that if your reverb is turned up at all, it should crash a little if the pan is tapped directly. What you really want to listen for isn't reverb crash but whether or not your signal cuts out. if the pan is bag mounted, it shouldn't have any problems.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve The majority of Harmony-Central reviews are positive. of the 53 reviews there, there's a few negative ones (maybe five?)...they probably caught the duds.
The thing with this amp is at $275 it seems like a fairly low-risk investment. If you buy it and end up not liking it you can probably recover most if not all of your investment by reselling it on craigslist or eBay (this is the beauty of buying used in the first place).
Foremost, you should take an electric guitar with you when you check it out, preferably the one that you will use with the amp. I would use the amp and mess around with it until I found a clean tone and an overdriven tone that I liked. also listen for anything that sounds like it shouldn't be there...like cabinet rattling or other unwanted noise (though be careful...some unwanted noise comes from your guitar, and not from your amp).
All very good points which are getting me excited about checking this amp out. The guy has already responded!
the only problem with reverb tapping is that if your reverb is turned up at all, it should crash a little if the pan is tapped directly. What you really want to listen for isn't reverb crash but whether or not your signal cuts out. if the pan is bag mounted, it shouldn't have any problems.
Sorry for being ignorant but I didn't really understand what you meant but I'll make sure to check if the signal cuts out on me.
Answer:
Originally Posted by sinigang619 Sorry for being ignorant but I didn't really understand what you meant but I'll make sure to check if the signal cuts out on me. it's a really rare problem where some reverb tanks aren't mounted well and can cause problems with the signal. On a small amp like this, I'd honestly not be too concerned about it.
a bit off topic, but what church do you play at?
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve it's a really rare problem where some reverb tanks aren't mounted well and can cause problems with the signal. On a small amp like this, I'd honestly not be too concerned about it.
Originally Posted by thesteve a bit off topic, but what church do you play at?
I play at a small church in National City called Ablaze for Jesus. Do you play for any church?
Answer:
Originally Posted by sinigang619 I play at a small church in National City called Ablaze for Jesus. Do you play for any church? I'm at what was the First Southern Baptist Church of San Diego (we're in the process of changing our name to The Fellowship of San Diego) in North Park. I actually live in Chula Vista for the next few weeks, at which point I'll be moving up to University City.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve I'm at what was the First Southern Baptist Church of San Diego (we're in the process of changing our name to The Fellowship of San Diego) in North Park. I actually live in Chula Vista for the next few weeks, at which point I'll be moving up to University City.
Cool! Well, thanks for all the help. Thanks to Everyone! Please feel free to shoot any other suggestions for amps as well because the quest for a new amp isn't finished yet. I'll let you guys know how it goes with looking at the Traynor.