Amp suggestion

cheechi

New member
I want suggestions of a guitar amp for friends to use at my house. I'm a bassist. I have 4 heads, 2 combos and a cab, and plans to get more as price & availability happen. No issues there.

I have two guitar combos, a Laney Cub 12r all tube, and some solid state 10" I forget who made. Nothing wrong with either but I'd like to buy one good guitar amp for when people come to visit. Not quite to say it's a 'studio' but it would also make my music room more complete having something more to go with all the bass stuff.

So being a bassist, part of me wants to find an Ampeg guitar head or combo. Or Peavey, but specifically USA made. My Combo 300 and Mark VIII both being from the USA made era. I have a V4, that is technically a guitar head, but at this house it's a bass amp at least until I can get a real SVT.

Basically, I don't care if it's tube or SS so long as most everyone would know what it is right from the start. The Laney has a very Marshalley crunch to it so I don't want another in the Marshall sound family. Do the Windsor, 6505, or Peavey 5150 have that same kind of sound? I don't want to stray too far from the beaten path on this. Find something everyone is familiar with so they can dial in and get to playing without constantly tweaking it. I don't mind head or combo, but since I already have a 15w 1x12 combo, it would have to be a big enough combo to make it worth adding like a Twin Reverb or something. Don't need more volume necessarily, but what would be the point of another amp in the same lower wattage category. I'm thinking a 50-100W head would round things out but again coming from a relatively ignorant starting point.

I'm avoiding Crate, Line 6, and other low end or stuff without a proven reputation. I'm not looking for some original vintage whatever. I need something a tech is always going to be familiar with and be able to repair should a need come up. It doesn't have to be super pedal friendly, the SS 10" combo can do that job if needed. If I get just a head, I would ideally be getting a 412 cab for it but I don't need something that's going to sound thin and weak if I give it a smaller cab or a lower volume either.

I don't care about the price, as in I won't be putting thousands into this, but it doesn't have to be super cheap. I plan to have a list of stuff to be looking for in pawn shops, classifieds etc and buy it when I find a decent amp for a decent price.

Thanks.
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Peavey Bandit(I'm a Silver Stripe fan), tube screamer, and Danelectro Fish and Chips eq. Sub $200 and will pretty much do whatever.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Amp suggestion

You mentioned that you already have a Laney that covers a Marshall crunch for you, and that you want something different in this new amp. What exactly do you have in mind?
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Vintagr Fender Bassman head and a good guitar cab. I've used mine for guitar and bass for more than 15 years now. Or just get a guitar cab and use the V4 when the Laney doesn't cut it.
 
Re: Amp suggestion

You mentioned that you already have a Laney that covers a Marshall crunch for you, and that you want something different in this new amp. What exactly do you have in mind?
Well I don't know how many different 'voices' there really are out there. I mean Marshall, Vox, Fender, Mesa, Hiwatt, what else? I don't know what kind of overlap any of those have to each other, or if they're really unique at all. Barring the real boutique stuff, I know some of the basics but I couldn't pick out most of the rest unless I already know it was recorded that way. Just that the Marshall is a very distinct sound, but that may also be that a lot of the sounds I know, I know they came out of Marshalls.

SRV played Fender Bassmans. Maybe that's a good idea, but then I'd need to get a 'real' Bassman bass amp. That's on the short list. How close does the Mustang come to that classic Fender sound?

The Bandit, is that a 212? What does it resemble, if it sounds like anything at all?
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Oh my
I think you may be in the mood for a Carvin
The cleans are chimey and Fenderish

The drive channels sound like a Fender with a DS-1
So not so much Marshall-y
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Bandits are 112, but the Special 212 has the same amp I think.

They sort of sound like Bandits... That's part of the reason I use an EQ pedal with mine. You can get Fender-ish cleans and with a tube screamer (or a cheap clone like a Bad Monkey) you can push it into crunch. It's SS so not magical by any means but, especially if it's just a jam amp, it does pretty much anything fairly well. Certainly passable, and in some cases they'll surprise you.

One man's opinion, of course, so take it with a grain of salt.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Amp suggestion

You mentioned some PV models.. The Windsor was a cool amp. Simple . It was kinda Marshally sounding. The 6505 would be different, and is a cool amp.. But don't believe they are built in the US anymore.. Sadly, PV has moved a lot of stuff offshore.
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Thanks guys. That's what I was thinking about the Windsor. I'll keep an eye out for the Bandit.

Is the AC15 basically half of an AC30 or is there a greater difference?

As far as Carvin. I like the idea of Carvin, but theory and practice aren't always the same. I have a BX250 head and BRX 10.4 cab, and an LB75 and I love them all. However I don't know their history well enough and they don't get so much love when the conversation comes up about reliable amps. It would take me a lot of research and a hell of a price for me to go after something other than their current gen bass amps. So I won't say totally no, but definitely not a front runner.
 
Re: Amp suggestion

Oh I don't plan to crank it. The 15W is already plenty loud for what I need. From the start this was never a discussion about need, or moderation, or any of that silliness. The friends I play with have lent me gear and if I get something decent and someone needs to borrow it for a gig, or if we get a rehearsal space again, or whatever, then I don't want to wind up buying ANOTHER amp then.

I agree with you though even 50W at full blast is way too much for the room.
 
Back
Top