What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these days?

[Monsta-Tone]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

The 2 amps on my list are a bit more, but can be had in that range if they are slightly used.

Express Plus 5:50 combo
PRS H Combo

My son has an Orange Dark Terror that makes as much distortion as my Rivera. It's the coolest 3 knob amp I have ever seen.

I think I look at amps differently than most people. I have to look inside it before I will own it. If it's poorly laid out or looks like a mother to fix, I just don't want it.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Let's keep it in the range of "mid-priced" here as the OP put it, $500-$1000. Several of the amps listed are pushing over the $1000 price range which really starts moving into a different level of amp. I mean, a Fender Twin as a "mid-level" amp? The only way they fit in this price range is if you hunt around for a used one. New those suckers are close to $1500.

Funny, no one has mentioned Peavey or Traynor yet. The Peavey Classic Series are quietly regarded as some of the best value workhorse amps around. Also American made and compete right in the Fender Hot Rod series territory. Guys I've spoken to who actually use them on a regular basis love them.

Traynor also makes some excellent workhorse combos that are priced right around the same range. On the used market, the YCV series are a ridiculous value. Their warranty alone should speak to the quality and the fact that they stand behind their products - 5 years and the first 2 years carry an "even if you break it" guarantee. They're also Canadian made. My buddy has a YCV20 that he picked up used for under $300 like 4 years ago. He gigs with it almost exclusively now and it has never once given so much as a hiccup in terms of problems. I see YCV40's going used for around $400 on a regular basis.

[ItsaBass]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Traynor also makes some excellent workhorse combos that are priced right around the same range. On the used market, the YCV series are a ridiculous value. Their warranty alone should speak to the quality and the fact that they stand behind their products - 5 years and the first 2 years carry an "even if you break it" guarantee. They're also Canadian made. My buddy has a YCV20 that he picked up used for under $300 like 4 years ago. He gigs with it almost exclusively now and it has never once given so much as a hiccup in terms of problems. I see YCV40's going used for around $400 on a regular basis.

I haven't tried the new Traynors, but the old ones are great – some of my favorite all-time amps for the money. I feel like a fool for selling my '73 YGM-3 (basically a Deluxe Reverb clone).

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

I haven't tried the new Traynors, but the old ones are great – some of my favorite all-time amps for the money. I feel like a fool for selling my '73 YGM-3 (basically a Deluxe Reverb clone).

This episode of How It's Made was shot at the Traynor factory.

[some_dude]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these days?

The best $1000 amp is a used $2000 amp.

[briggleman]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

There's so much good stuff for so stupidly cheap right now that it's not even worth picking one as the "best."

Jet City? Egnater? Fender? Marshall? Orange? Blackstar? Boogie? They've all got something for every sound in almost every price range.

It used to be, amp shopping was like going to a bar full of nasty women and hoping to find a supermodel. Now it's like being on 'the Bachelor.'

Agree, 100% with the above. My personal choice falls to Blackstar (many offerings for under a $1,000) or Mesa in the Express line (just a little over the $1K mark you set). The Blackstar has the ability to let you alter the voicing and can really be set to grind with the best of them. Mesa is just sweet to my ears. I have the Mesa Express 5:25 1x12 and I am still in love after 3 years of small club gigs and bedroom playing. OH, yea, try this, run a Mesa Throttle body pedal into a Mesa Express or Lonestar.....OMG!

Brad

[ItsaBass]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Agree, 100% with the above. My personal choice falls to Blackstar (many offerings for under a $1,000) or Mesa in the Express line (just a little over the $1K mark you set). The Blackstar has the ability to let you alter the voicing and can really be set to grind with the best of them. Mesa is just sweet to my ears. I have the Mesa Express 5:25 1x12 and I am still in love after 3 years of small club gigs and bedroom playing. OH, yea, try this, run a Mesa Throttle body pedal into a Mesa Express or Lonestar.....OMG!

Brad

Not long ago, I shopped for a smallish 20-40W combo (channel-switching preferred) for nearly a year. From the beginning, the Express 5:25 (which I tried in the actual Boogie shop – bless them for having a huge chunk of their product line in stock) was clearly the right amp for what I wanted. But I didn't want to spend that much, so I kept looking.

Some things were "good," like Egnaters, Blackstars, and reissue Fenders. I even liked the Haze 40's tone. But, short of the RI Fenders, very few of the tones from these amps were "great" to me. And those that did have great sounds would pretty much just get that one great sound. Plus they had shared E.Q. 99 percent of the time, and all seemed to have quality/durablity that would be compromised by a good, healthy fart being cut in the room. (The Fenders seemed the most solid, but even they felt kind of chintzy to me.)

Finally, I got fed up. The long search period had actually increased my budget, so I custom ordered the Mesa. I ordered the old 5:25, but unknown to me, it happened to be right before the Plus was announced. I never heard about the Plus until I opened the box and saw one in there! Good on them for giving me the Plus; it's upgrades are quite significant, yet it gives up nothing that the "Non-Plus" model had.

My only regret is that I did not wait a few weeks longer before buying. If I had, I would have seen the Plus line come out, and I would have got the 5:50 Plus instead, just for its 25W class A mode. I'd also have ended up with 6L6's, which probably would have been better, as my EL84's keep shorting.

Anyhow, I'm with you on the 5:25. Not only incredible sounding, but versatile as all get out. At $1,300 new, and under $750 used), it's the amp that showed me just how bad the sub-$1,000 amp field is (in general).

[Mr 9finger]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Well, my question was a plural one. I wasn't asking which amp was the best one out of the lot. Since the market is basically flooded with mid priced/low wattage amps out there now, there have got to be some that are a cut above the rest. Just to get some discussion going mainly.

I've got a Mini Rectifier and a 5:25 Express+ on my shopping list.

[TSE]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

I just don't like the fact that Bugera are blatantly stealing designs from other companies. I mean for chrissakes, they hardly even rename them. I don't support Bugera as a company and I don't like that other people see no problem supporting them. If you save up a bit more money, you can get a much nicer amp and have a clear conscience.

Thank you.

[TSE]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

It's not really any different than Jim Marshall fiddling with the Fender Bassman or Randall Smith tinkering w/ an SLO to get to the Dual Rectifier. This stuff has been going on in this industry since day 1.

Those guys actually did something different with the Fender and Marshall designs thus propelling the industry forward and offering a broader selection for guitar players. Bugera is just directly ripping amp companies off and mass marketing to make money from someone else's ideas. Which it's why myself and others dislike the company business ethic. And the fact that they sell products with shoddy workmanship. If you were a touring guitarist would you bring your 5150s or your 6260s?

[Matt42]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Not long ago, I shopped for a smallish 20-40W combo (channel-switching preferred) for nearly a year. From the beginning, the Express 5:25 (which I tried in the actual Boogie shop – bless them for having a huge chunk of their product line in stock) was clearly the right amp for what I wanted. But I didn't want to spend that much, so I kept looking.

Some things were "good," like Egnaters, Blackstars, and reissue Fenders. I even liked the Haze 40's tone. But, short of the RI Fenders, very few of the tones from these amps were "great" to me. And those that did have great sounds would pretty much just get that one great sound. Plus they had shared E.Q. 99 percent of the time, and all seemed to have quality/durablity that would be compromised by a good, healthy fart being cut in the room. (The Fenders seemed the most solid, but even they felt kind of chintzy to me.)

Finally, I got fed up. The long search period had actually increased my budget, so I custom ordered the Mesa. I ordered the old 5:25, but unknown to me, it happened to be right before the Plus was announced. I never heard about the Plus until I opened the box and saw one in there! Good on them for giving me the Plus; it's upgrades are quite significant, yet it gives up nothing that the "Non-Plus" model had.

My only regret is that I did not wait a few weeks longer before buying. If I had, I would have seen the Plus line come out, and I would have got the 5:50 Plus instead, just for its 25W class A mode. I'd also have ended up with 6L6's, which probably would have been better, as my EL84's keep shorting.

Anyhow, I'm with you on the 5:25. Not only incredible sounding, but versatile as all get out. At $1,300 new, and under $750 used), it's the amp that showed me just how bad the sub-$1,000 amp field is (in general).

I'm in a similar boat, looking for a 20-40 watt amp to gig small clubs with, and the Express +'s were on my list, until I tried a 5:50 + and hated it. The cleans were very glassy and sharp, it didn't sound at all like I'd imagined having played a 5:25 (regular) and really liking it. How are the cleans on the 5:25 +? Do you have trouble dialing them in?

At the moment I'm torn between the Super Sonic 22 and the Lonestar Special (used on both, of course).

[King IzzO)))]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

I can't really help, I like my amps, so I haven't really looked for a long time. I did really like the JCA22H I messed around with, and I still really want one, but I'm doing just fine with the 250ML as my home/practice amp for now. I have a hard time believing that thing can be topped in that price range though.

[agentzero12]

What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these

I had a traynor 4x10 combo. It was great. I'd still be using it but I had it pop something on the board and start smoking. At the time I wasn't smart enough to try and repair it so I threw away the head unit in it. But I kept the cab and still use it. Has celestion tube 10s. They sound great.

[Mr 9finger]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

Those guys actually did something different with the Fender and Marshall designs thus propelling the industry forward and offering a broader selection for guitar players. Bugera is just directly ripping amp companies off and mass marketing to make money from someone else's ideas. Which it's why myself and others dislike the company business ethic. And the fact that they sell products with shoddy workmanship. If you were a touring guitarist would you bring your 5150s or your 6260s?

Hey dude, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I've never seen or tried to do a part to part match between the schematics, nor am I going to try. You're defending Jim Marshall because of his name or his prestige in the industry and I get that and there's nothing wrong with it. But apples to apples, the first Marshall amps were slightly modded Fender Bassmans. And I mean SLIGHTLY. Period.

So do you feel the same about all these boutique tube screamer pedals? Half of these pedals are either outright copies or might have a few cap or resistor values changed, but not nearly enough for me not say they're not copying the design someone else came up with.

Behringer gives people with less money options they wouldn't normally have. I'm completely fine with that. Even their quality control has improved quite a bit so even better. Would I take one on stage? No, I've played both and don't find either to my liking.

[jimman]

Re: What do you guys think the best current production "Mid Priced" amps are these da

For a mid priced amp I really like the Marshall DSLs (older ones, I have not tried the new ones). I remember playing it for the first time and realizing I could get the exact sound I wanted that was in my head. I realize that there are other amps htat would be regarded as better, but for the sound I was going for that amp suited me perfectly. I traded it for a 6505 when I was going through a real metal phase and thought hte 6505 would do what I wanted better. Big mistake.

The JCA22h is a killer amp too. The Orange Dark Terror does its own thing pretty well too. Lots of good amps out there these days.