Question:
I am about to purchase my first amp. The guitar I'm getting is a Schecter C1 Exotic. Mom wants me to get an amp that I will grow into rather than one that I'm going to grow out of. She is allowing about $400.00 to invest in the amp and any accessories that I need for it.
I know absolutely nothing about amps. I'll mainly be playing for church... but then again, it's a big church.
Suggestions, please?
Answer:
Well, what are you looking for? What styles are you looking at? The amp is a tone shaper and it is more important of the pair in terms of what your final sound will sound like.
Style? Mostly clean? Distortion?
You'll probably want to look into getting a tube amp; in that price range, you can get some nice stuff.
As far as wattage goes, you don't usually have to worry about that too much. Anything from 15w-50w would be a typical range. Buy for the tone; not on how much power it has.
Answer:
I've been using my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe at church...you can find them used for about $400.
Answer:
I would look into a Peavey classic 50 or 30, i feel (personally) that they offer a nicer sounding overdrive than the hot rod series. However the Fender Blues Junior would be an excellent choice.
In all honesty it is all about personal touch and feel out of these amps, as they are all around the same quality level, so you need to get out and play them
Answer:
Moderate distortion amps include the Fender Hot Rods, Peavey Classic 30 (or Classic 50), Traynor Valve amps (which have more distorting power then the Fenders and the like). If you want heavier hard rock/metal tones, Yamaha T50C, Marshall DSL or TSL combos, Peavey Ultras, Bravos, and Triumphs, should be up your lane.
So, style of music?
Answer:
tube amps have the best sound and tone by far but i would suggest solidstate over tube for the simple reason tube amps need to be played and not carried around alot. if your going to be toting the amp around and playing a few times a week solid state is your best bet. fyi
Answer:
Originally Posted by Rocket tube amps have the best sound and tone by far but i would suggest solidstate over tube for the simple reason tube amps need to be played and not carried around alot. if your going to be toting the amp around and playing a few times a week solid state is your best bet. fyi
I'd call those points rather trivial in the face of the advantages of tubes. A well taken care of tube amp will last many, many years... Sure, you can't drop it or handle too roughly, but amps are typically very durable. Tube/tube socket damage could occur from drops, but other than that, it would mostly be manufacturing/design issues that just as easily affect SS amps.
So... any updates mtlmouth?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Rocket tube amps have the best sound and tone by far but i would suggest solidstate over tube for the simple reason tube amps need to be played and not carried around alot. if your going to be toting the amp around and playing a few times a week solid state is your best bet. fyi
Not true at all. I lug my Hot Rod Deluxe (40 tube watts) around 2 or 3 times a week. I've been careful not to bump it about or set it down too hard, and it's been great.
-Nick
Answer:
points well taken - i love tube amps don't get me wrong - they are better than SS amps.
but i keep reading [being careful or taken care of] and that is the point i was trying to get across. we all try to be careful with any and all of our gear. i have just heard alot about tube amps in that manner and thought that the original thread maker should be aware of it. having tube amps means caring extra tubes along with you just like having extra patch chords and picks etc...and you shouldn't be turning it off and on alot - it's not good for them-their made to play and play.....but my choice [my 2 cents] is still with the solid state amps and a good pedalboard array.
Answer:
For 400 dollars you can get a nice solid state combo. Crate has some nice ones to offer. Tube amps are usually a little more expensive. I started out on Crate solid state amps before moving on to my love with Peavey tube amps.
Answer:
Originally Posted by guitarguy For 400 dollars you can get a nice solid state combo. Crate has some nice ones to offer. Tube amps are usually a little more expensive. I started out on Crate solid state amps before moving on to my love with Peavey tube amps. the newer Crate combos are very mediocre as far as SS is concerned.
and i've never carried extra tubes...
Answer:
In 28 years of playing tube amps and performing thousands and thousands of gigs with them, I think I've had a tube fail twice.
My suggestion for the amp with the most for the least: Peavey Classic 30. 30 watts, all tube, 12" speaker, 2 channels, PLENTY loud enough for most applications.
Around $400-425 brand new.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Rocket points well taken - i love tube amps don't get me wrong - they are better than SS amps.
but i keep reading [being careful or taken care of] and that is the point i was trying to get across. we all try to be careful with any and all of our gear. i have just heard alot about tube amps in that manner and thought that the original thread maker should be aware of it. having tube amps means caring extra tubes along with you just like having extra patch chords and picks etc...and you shouldn't be turning it off and on alot - it's not good for them-their made to play and play.....but my choice [my 2 cents] is still with the solid state amps and a good pedalboard array.
I've never found the need to carry extra tubes, but it's not a bad idea. They really don't break easy. My HR Deluxe got bumped around really bad in the back of a vehicle once. I was sure I must have ruined the tubes (which are 5 years old), but the only issue was one was coming slightly out of it's socket. I just pushed it back in, no problem. It's been great since.
I'm personally anti-pedal board, because I think more than a couple effects just gets so complicated, when a just as good if not better sound can be gotten just by plugging direct into a good tube amp.
Anyway. Taylor, congrats on your guitar. We still don't know what style you play, though. As long as it's not too over the top, I'd reccomend a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, or maybe new Blues Jr. The Peavey classic 30 is also a good option, and Traynors are great as well.
-Nick
Answer:
I do carry extra tubes, but usually it's not for a functionality (i.e. the amp won't work period) reason. It's mainly because if I notice that one of the preamp tubes has gone microphonic (gotten noisy) on me, I like to have a known good backup to plug into the bad one's spot. I also carry around a fresh matched pair of power tubes. All told, I probably have about $20 in tube "inventory" in my guitar bag at any given time.
But generally, as long as you set the amp down like a basket of eggs instead of a basket of rocks, you can take a tube amp lots of places and not suffer too many consequences.
Nate
Answer:
My opinion, if you have a friend you you trust that knows about guitars and amps, offer to buy him/her lunch and spend an afternoon at the local music store.
Some things you want to pay attention to:
* Get an amp no less than 30 watts. 50 watts should be your target.
* Get an headphone-out jack so you can practice in your bedroom and not disturb your family.
* 1 12 inch speaker generally is better than a 10 inch speaker. 2 10's are better than 1 12. What you want is more speaker area pushing more air. That's where your loudness comes from.
* LEARN THIS!!!!! a 100 watt amp is NOT twice as loud as a 50 watt amp! It's only slightly louder. You want speakers pushing air!!! so don't get caught up in the "more wattage is better" trap. You don't need anything louder than about 50-60 watts tops! because when you're on stage, your amp will get mic'ed anyway.
* You're a female, and you have to be responsible for your own gear. So, resist buying that used Crate full stack! Who's gonna be lugging all that gear around?
* Tubes are better than solid state, but tubes cost more money, and tube amps are heavier because of that honkin' output transformer. Contrary to many opinions, tubes *aren't* necessary.
* modelling amps are good. I *strongly* recommend you look into these.
Some amps to look at that could meet your needs:
Line6 Spider II
Peavey transtube amps
Vox AD50VT
Roland Cube 50
Marshall MG50
Used Peavey classic 30 or Classic 50
This list is not all-inclusive, just some to get you started.