Best amp for covers band

[DeadandBuried]

So this year I'm looking to get into a function/covers band. Guitars-wise I have a good range of guitars to cover most styles, the classic mix of a Strat, a Tele and a Les Paul.

However being the owner of a Peavey 6505+ its not most versatile amp to be gigging with in a covers band. Used to own a Marshall JCM2000 that I sold 3 years ago (wish I didn't now).

So what do you guys suggest? Is a half-stack really necessary for a function band? Could I get away with a 40 combo for example?

Marshall seem to cover most rock tones and also other styles. Or would I want a more modern sounding amp?

[PFDarkside]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Personally, I think you can cover a lot of ground with a fat, clean tube amp (Fender Pro Reverb or Super Reverb, etc.), a Tube Screamer, Marshall-in-a-box and maybe a third pedal to taste (Fuzz, Vox style, Klone, Distortion, etc.) based on your needs.

Something I like about clean amp + pedals is that you can turn up/down based on the venue.

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Best amp for covers band

A half stack is hardly necessary for anything short of large stages and or metal. If you're talking casual gigs 20-40 watts of clean tube power like PFDS said should be plenty. Put a few flavors of stomp dirt in front and a few time based effects in front or in the fx loop and you're good to go. I'd add that the PA is just as if not more important than your stage rig. Don't skimp there and get somebody to run it and treat them like an equal member of the band and expect the same dedication.

[ehdwuld]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Does the 6505 not do cleans?

[GilmourD]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Incidentally, my buddy Cory of Nine Circles used gig with a 5150-II (the 6505+ before the rename) doing the covers thing. He was in a band called Captain Obvious and a band called Pushin' Daisys. They covered the Top 40 rock type stuff from the '70s, '80s, '90s, and 2000s.

His main guitars were the silver PRS and the Strat with the DiMarzio Ugly (green X2N) here, as well as a few more PRS's.



That and an overdrive gave him plenty of usable tones for covers.

[DeadandBuried]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Does the 6505 not do cleans?

It does, but I'd rather get amp distortion than get it from pedals. So a 2 channel amp with a good clean and a good dirty would be ideal. If I want crunch I can roll back the volume knob on the guitar.

The Marshall DSL40c combo has caught my eye, seems like a good shout. Anyone tried one?

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Best amp for covers band

The Marshall DSL40c combo has caught my eye, seems like a good shout. Anyone tried one?

That is what I was going suggest provided a it has a speaker upgrade. As you know, the DSL40 has four gain modes from clean to high gain, switchable between two on the fly, plus it takes pedals if you need it to. It's more portable than a 1/2 stack too. Has Reverb. I'm not real big on the DSL series even though I play Marshalls for the most part. But it is a good tool for this application.

A second good option for this application is a Fender Supersonic combo with a Vintage 30.

A third option could be a Peavy Classic series.

[chadd]

Re: Best amp for covers band

If you like getting your distortion from an amp, I would prefer to have more than two channels for a wide ranging cover band. That said, it probably isn't going to matter as much as the image you put forth if you are going to focus on corporate events and that type of thing.

[Securb]

Re: Best amp for covers band

The DSL40 or a Deluxe Reverb would be my suggestion, maybe a Roland Cube. For function gigs you want something you can load in easy and get out fast. A lot of function halls tend to be above something or below something. it is not typically in my experience a roll your amp through the door situation. A combo and a multi stomp should be all you need.

[Myaccount876]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Fender Blues Deville. It's a 2x12 combo that is very versatile - sounds great clean and with dirt. It doesn't do Deluxe Reverb cleans, but it sounds great and covers a lot of ground, while being loud enough and portable enough.

[DeadandBuried]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Defo looking out on ebay and stuff for a DSL40. I believe it has 4 "channels" or sounds I think, clean/crunch and lead 1/2. And it can be used with choruses/delays/etc.

Good point on portability as I'm not a huge fan of lugging my half stack around in my originals band as it is!

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Tonal versatility in the guitar in a cover band is a nice dream, but the reality is that unless the bass and drum tones are also as versatile, you're better off with a middle-of-the-road ballpark tonal setup, getting variety from guitar swaps alone. I can't imagine someone nailing the tone to Panama on the guitar with the drum tone from Another One Bites The Dust and the bass tone from Smooth Operator.

Get something that does the cleans you want, as that's the thing not all amps can do, and use pedals (including tone-shaping EQ) to get the various dirts.

[DeadandBuried]

Re: Best amp for covers band

I have a couple of overdrive pedals, the Wampler Triple Wreck and Boss SD-1. Used to own the Blues Driver too and wish I didn't sell that.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Just a 1x12 combo that does a good clean, and either a couple of pedals or if the amp has extra channels then you are laughing. Don't worry about replicating the sounds on all the records, cos your singer, bassist and drummer wont be able to anyway.

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Best amp for covers band

Are you dead set on a tube amp? For a cover band situation, I think you could do well with this into this.