Question:
We have needed a new amp at my church for a while. Today I was told that we have about 500 dollars to spend on a new amp and we want to get it this week. This doesn't give me a whole lot of time, but that's ok, I think.
A good friend of mine's Dad owns a guitar shop and I'm going to ask her if she can get me a good deal. At the moment, I've got it down to two different amp, a Kustom one and an Ashton one. The Ashton one is a valve amp, but only 30 watts. My church isn't enormous, but it's pretty big. I think 30 watts will be plenty as we mic everything anyway. The Kustom one is 65 watts and solid state. It also has some onboard effects.
Here are the links on that website.
http://www.guitar.com.au/amplifiers/...shton/vp30.htm
http://www.guitar.com.au/amplifiers/...5dfxcombo.html
Of course, I may go in and try them and decide on something completely different. But basically I just want an amp that will sound pretty decent with anyone's guitar. Anyway, can I get some advice on these amps or a possible alternative? Please note that these are Australian prices and that the church won't be interested in buying something secondhand, because that's how they are.
Answer:
I definitely recommend you try them out. I don't know much about Ashton, but I do know that while Kustom makes a decent tube amp, their SS amps tend to be a bit on the mediocre side.
With the Ashton, if it's a well constructed amp, you'll find that 30W is going to give you plenty of volume, enough to drive your sound guy nuts in some situations.
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Ashton seems to be an Aussy brand.. I can't find any reviews.
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Yeah, they are Australian.
The other thing I'm considering is a Spider. Probably a 30 watt.
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Remember that tube amps are generally louder than SS amps. IOW, 30 tube watts would be louder than 30 SS watts.
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What are you looking for in an amp? A good clean? Is onboard OD/DS necesary?
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If it's an electric guitar amp, try out the Kustom Coupe '32 (Or is it the '32 Coupe?). I tried out the '72, and it was amazing! It was able to make a MIM Strat, which sounds horrible through my HRD, sound stunning at low volumes! Definitely something I'd check out .
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Kustom is a really good brand in general. Even their practice amps sound good. I've never played through an Ashton. But Fender makes some great amps too. Check out their Frontman series.
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Originally Posted by nbfan Kustom is a really good brand in general. Even their practice amps sound good. I've never played through an Ashton. But Fender makes some great amps too. Check out their Frontman series.
UGH... I hate their SS line... Kustom... I'm not a fan of their tube line, but they have one of the worst SS lines that I know of.
Answer:
Originally Posted by ibanez_dude What are you looking for in an amp? A good clean? Is onboard OD/DS necesary?
Pretty necessary. It's not absolutely essential if I find something really sweet for $500 without it, but I'm not the only person who will use the amp and some of our guitarists don't have distortion pedals.
Basically, I want something that sounds reasonable for church music and youth group music (the guys who play guitar Sunday mornings generally play their own amps or acoustic guitars) with a few options (some reverb would be awesome, onboard effects even better).
I'm really leaning towards the Spider at the moment. I've used one before and I think it's versatile enough to suit everyone's needs.
Answer:
I would urge you not to get the spider, I know you're thinking that onboard effects are good now, but they just aren't quality effects. I think a good tube amp would be a good bet, and 30 watts is MORE than enough power. I gig with an 18 watter, and I still wish it was even lower powered than that.
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What 18 watter is that?
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Originally Posted by telecasting What 18 watter is that? It's a burriss Bts-18C
Basically an 18 watt ac-30 type amp; really great tone
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I've heard that Kustom is mediocre, but I've never played one, so take what you will from my comment with a grain of salt. What I have played is a Spider: first, you need to buy the floorboard to access those onboard effects (you don't want to be poking around with one finger between strums do you?) and that is over $200.
Second, the Spider's effects are not as good, nor as numerous nor the amp models as good, as a PODxtl. Maybe the SpiderIII is better, but I don't know. To keep it cheap and include an amp, they had to skimp on the brains and the amp. So they are pretty much viewed as entry level and nothing more. A PODxtl is upper level modeling/floorboard, but not an amp— unless the church wanted to buy one xtl for different people to use and then they could save their own effects and go through the PA. Your sound guy would be happy, but I'm not sure many guitarists would be, especially if they haven't used a POD and aren't into technical 'tweaking.' They may also feel robbed of their 'glory' = hearing one's self through a nice amp.
All that said, a nice tube amp, never heard of Ashton, would be good. Ashton does looks like its on the skimpy side, probably why it's a good price.
BUT, in the end, you really need to play through the amps you are considering!
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Originally Posted by mattbatt What I have played is a Spider: first, you need to buy the floorboard to access those onboard effects (you don't want to be poking around with one finger between strums do you?) and that is over $200 I don't even know of the larger L6 floorboards will work with the Spider amps...I think only the $30 and $100 models are compatible. The more expensive boards ($270 and $400) might work, but have alot of functions that won't.