Amp choices please help

[335]

Hello

I am looking at these amps:

Small
Vox Night Train, Orange Tiny Terror, Fender Princeton Reverb

Big
Marshall JVM 210H, Marshall VM, Mesa Electodyne, Mesa Stiletto Ace

I play all kinds of music. I will be playing a lot of stuff like Cure, Lush, Janes Addiction, Metallica, AC/DC,

Which would be good to get? Should I go with the smaller amps?

Help

 

[pzaxtl]

Re: Amp choices please help

Well... What will you be using the amp for? Do you gig, or just play at home? Based on that criteria alone, you can eliminate half the choices you've presented.

 

[335]

Re: Amp choices please help

Hello

It would be for both.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Amp choices please help

All I can say is that I dig my night train but it is a particular flavour of amp and may not be everyone's cup of tea.

That said I bet you could get it to do some metallica with a pedal, and with the right guitar/pickups. I don't play metal though, so take that opinion for what it's worth. It's not a "do everything" amp. But...

For british classic rock, it's got jangly cleans, mild bluesy dirt, and crunch. it sounds good throughout it's entire range of volume through the VOX Greenback. I do wish it had reverb.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Amp choices please help

Of the amps mentioned above the only one I've tried is the Marshall vintage modern and I can't recommend it has it does not sound very nice when you get the drive going, to my ears it sounds plain horrid. I'd actually say that a DSL or a TSL would be more what you're looking for tone wise if you are going to go done the Marshall route.
General advice would be go for a 50/60w head and a 2x12 cab. for me it's the most flexible package and can be used almost anywhere and still compete with even the loudest of drummers.

Have you considered an Engl? The screamer is a top little amp.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Amp choices please help

You're going to have to narrow it down a little better than that if you want some responses that will get the ball rolling.

all those amps are good, but since you've only given a ballpark description, its hard to nail it down.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Amp choices please help

IMHO, nothing can sound better than a BIG amp with BIG cabs at LOUD volume (a Marshall's 1959HW with full stack, cranked, by example).


[*]Mesa-Boogie F30 (30W): expensive (in Europe) but very versatile amp. 2 channels with 3 modes each. 5W class A switch. Loud, nice cleans and stunning high gain disto. Not so nice in crunch, to my taste. It sounds like having a blanket over the cab but cut the mixes really nice and is a workhorse. Probably better paired with a 2x12 cab that can bring some openess and brightness to the sound. EL84.

This is what I do, but with the newer Express series, with a 2x12 rect cab.

It's hard to say because we don't know much about what kind of venues you plan to play, or your band setting, but the goal is always to find the amp that you can push at it's max, within your setting.

With this said, you can always go with the philosophy that over a certain level, you would go into a PA anyways.

With all of that said, depending on cash, I would hit up something with a fair amount of power, preferably with a wattage switch. With the kind of music you play, you will want a certain amount of gain on tap.

What is your budget, if you don't mind me asking? It would be easier to make suggestions with this variable in mind.