Amp Advice for Parents?

[Rich_S]

So, let's assume the young neighborhood kids have started hanging around your house, and efforts to start a band are under way. Obviously, the Walmart First Act practice amp isn't gonna cut it, what with its 4" speaker and power courtesy of a pair of 9-volt batteries (and NO 9-volt adapter jack! WTF?)

Anyway, as the local adult gear guru at your end of the block, what do you suggest to the kid's parents? The details can be tweaked to suit the situation, local availablilty, and the kid's favorite music, but let's stick to two choices of approximately equal cost.

1) Medium-sized modelling amp, say a 1-12 combo, 30 watts or so. The big advantage in my mind is the variety available: the kid gets to find out (approximately) what most of the classic amps sound like (Fender, Marshall, Vox, Rectifier, etc...). The new Line 6 series comes to mind.

2) A small 15-20 watt tube amp, something like a Blues Junior or a small Peavey Classic. Buy used, if neccesary to keep the price down. Throw in a stompbox or two to add some versatility - say a Bad Monkey, SD-1, and/or a DS-1. (Hell, if you buy the kid a DS-1 or SD-1, I'll mod it for nothing.) Here, I believe the advantages are fundmentally better tone, an amp that's repairable if need be, and a rig that's more like what "real" musicians use.

Vote and discuss.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

From my own experiences with my sons, nephew and their friends, very few kids will appreciate the difference between a nice touch sensitive, low powered tone machine and say a line 6 spider or equivilent. Until they find their feet and know what they like and what style they really want to play I'd recommend the modelling amp. This will give them the opportunity to try different styles without the high cost of a nice tube amp plus tube screamer..... then distortion.... metal pedal... death doom ultimate obliteration pedal... then back to amp. My nephew makes his line6 sound pretty darn good too.. Lol...

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

Did you doubt how I would vote?



Perluss Whun to the versatility point. Give them an opportunity to explore a variety of sounds without breaking the bank on gear while they're learning.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

Crate VC 2012 20wt 1x12 it kicks all kinds of arse. Find a nice used one (not sure it is made anymore anyway) and get going. Thank God I sold mine to my bass player so I can use it occassionally.

I used to use it to jam with a full band and embarrased the other guitar player with a far more expensive/impressive amp.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

I think learning on a modelling amp will make a kid appreciate tubes more when s/he gets more experienced.

With the many, many different sounds of different tube amps, I believe one should know as much as possible about what tones one already likes before getting a tube amp.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

line 6 or vox modeler for sure so they can cover all sorts of tones from clean to all out metal and everything in between along with built in FX in one amp that works at both low volume and high volume.

-Mike

 

[tone4days]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

no tubes for noobs is my rule of thumb ... they need dead simple - analog solid state or digital modeling is more than adequate until it can be determined if the interest 'sticks'

do not overlook the roland cubes either ... also, peavy has a reputation for bullet proof for noobs for a reason

one would hope that slightly underpowered amps would a) preserve hearing and b) teach the drummer to hit soft enough to not overpower the amps

craigslist is your friend in this situation - buy used - waste less when the next fad takes their attention elsewhere

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

The Roland Cube 30 is ideal.

It's surprisingly loud and full-sounding for such a small amp. The amp models are pretty impressive, ranging from blackface Fender through crunchy Vox/Marshall to high gain Peavey/Mesa. The reverb and delay are fine, the chorus, flanger and phaser are cheesy but give you the idea. The clean JC120 channel is beautiful and takes pedals really well - sounds awesome with the Bad Monkey! The aux in and phones out are really useful too.

I use mine a lot for practising and learning new songs. My son (16) and his friends use it for band practice and seem to get sounds they like. I don't have to worry about them blowing the output transformer.

I wish I'd had a Cube 30 when I was 13!

 

[serizawa]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

I say just go with the modeler. You'll never know if they're going to stick with it at the early point, so if their tastes become more...expensive, I'd imagine the gear will be, too.

;]

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

Considering the horrible amps I played when I was young, I think today's kids are spoiled with the choices available. Inexpensive tube amps are available, solid-state amps are better than they've ever been, and modeling is an option. Personally, I would have loved to have had just about any of the decent modeling amps on the market now, back then. They give you enough of the flavor of the real thing that you can find out what you like, and the best of them are convincing enough that you could probably go pretty far with them.

 

[SlowGroove]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

I am pretty sure the most 'logical' aswer and probably the most overwhelming one too, will be, "get a modelling amp" . . . for all the reasons that you (the OP) has mentioned, but if MY kid comes one day to me and say, dad, i wanna learn guitar, i would 'prefer' to hand him/her a valve amp from day one. Even if it is a used Ibanez ValBee, that i got used at the pawn shop for $100.00.

http://www.jedistar.com/images/amp/ibanez_valbee.gif - ValBee

Granted, it is only 5Watts into a minute speaker, and will not cut it, when it comes to jamming w the band.
But i would still look into an affordable master-volume valve amp. I seriously would.


My 2cents
James

 

[SlowGroove]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

Crate VC 2012 20wt 1x12 it kicks all kinds of arse. Find a nice used one (not sure it is made anymore anyway) and get going. Thank God I sold mine to my bass player so I can use it occassionally.

I used to use it to jam with a full band and embarrased the other guitar player with a far more expensive/impressive amp.

CRATE amps can take a hell of a knock !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-z_qNNcVz8


I do not know of many other amps that can withstand this abuse !


James

 

[thespricket]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

i said a modeler, mainly because I think a kid should have to learn WHY he needs a tube amp. I got to a point in my playing, with the style I play in, when I realized that for me a modeling amp just wasn't going to cut it anymore and the sound I was really after was inside a tube amp.

also, tube amps require more care than someone who has no idea of what they're doing with them can give.

+1 one crate amps! they're the most "Hit or Miss" amps out there. Luckily I've got a nice older one, and it's a "Hit" for me. Some of their newer tube stuff is quite good too.

 

[Animal]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

The Roland Cube 30 is ideal.

End of thread.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

If they want to be a semi serious band I'd say the second one possibly a Fender Pro Junior I say that because I got one before starting my band and still have it thats like 5 years and only just got a new amp. Modelling amps are good though if the kids havent played many amps much or they want a kinda tone that you can't get from low powered combo's (metal or hardcore punk).

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

A good solid state or modeling amp is the way to go if you're starting out. Versatility is key as is being able to play at low volumes and have it still sound decent. The Roland Cube series is excellent for this, but other amps could make the cut as well.

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

The better Vox modeling amps are nice -- the blue ones with the Neodog speakers. They basically have a ToneLab built into them.

I also like the Berhinger V-Tone amps. They have a more limited form of analog modeling; they rip off a Tech21 SansAmp design. Also, they can't play loud. But for bedroom rockstars, they're great.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

I would get them a good sized modeling amp. They don't really notice the difference anyway. Once they get better they can buy a good sized tube-amp.

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

Good advice. When you're young and poor, you spend a lot of time wishing your Fender amp was a Marshall, or your Marshall amp was a Boogie, or you Boogie was a Vox AC30.

 

[Diego]

Re: Amp Advice for Parents?

A good modeling amp. If I could have had my Cube 60 when I started back in 1997, I'd still keep it now.

When you're starting, you first stick with what you know best, but eventually you start to venture into different sounds and voicings. Having versatility at the twist of a knob is priceless for a beginner.

I wouldn't bother with a tube amp for a beginner.