Amp suggestions

[chris effect]

I've been using a peavey vypyr 30 head with two matching 112 vypyr cabs. I really dig it, but I'm considering going with a more traditional setup (head, 212 cab, and a few MXR pedals ( overdrive for boost, chorus, noise gate, eq and maybe delay) I'm really gassing for an orange but I can't really afford it. I want a high gain head In the 30-50 watt range (valve powered). But I haven't ruled out solid state. Would be paired with 212 cab. Amps I am looking into:

In a perfect world my first choice would be an orange thunderverb 50 or th30 with the ppc 212 cab. But I don't have $1200 much less $2400 for the Tverb. Plus the 750 for the cab.

Randall has some affordable options , diavalo 45, 503h. These are both in the 500 dollar range and are valve amps. Any experience with these? Randall also offers the rg100 that's supposedly similar to what dime used.

Jet city JCA50H. If it can nail the SLO tone it's a Contender.

If I stayed with modeling The blackstar ID series would be my first choice. Specifically the 60 watt head with a 212 cab.


Any suggestions or info would be appreciated! Thanks.


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[dominus]

Re: Amp suggestions

I've got the Blackstar ID60 head. It does the Tube/Valve thing quite well.

I'm actually selling it because I prefer the sound of solid state amps.

 

[chris effect]

Re: Amp suggestions

cool. How well does it do metalcore? Lower tunings etc.. Thanks!

 

[dominus]

Re: Amp suggestions

I tune to Open B, handles it just fine.

 

[T.M.A.]

Re: Amp suggestions

What kind of music do you play? What kind of sound are you looking for? Who do you like? What kind of guitar do you play? I have always loved the sound of Randall amps. Oranges are cool too, but I associate them mostly with the sludgy, stoner, doom thing or the screaming juiciness of that one guy who played them and is famous for the broken head stock...Paul Kosov! Yeah that's it... Anyway, they're just not suited for my applications. Also man, you gotta think, that Thunderverb is going to be LOOOUUD... Not a fan of the jet city blah blah blah... I think I know the perfect amp for you... Look up the Randall RH50t...

 

[T.M.A.]

Re: Amp suggestions

Actually dude, if you "really like" what you have now, you should just stick with that. The ONLY reason you should ever buy new gear (in my opinion) is because your current gear is not facilitating your needs/ vision. There really is no other reason to spend money and accumulate stuff...

 

[karpathion]

Re: Amp suggestions

I'd look away from the Randall RT series. I had a 503 for about a year, and ended up giving it away. It's great for say, thrash, but not much else. The clean channel on those amps suck.

 

[chris effect]

Re: Amp suggestions

What kind of music do you play? What kind of sound are you looking for? Who do you like? What kind of guitar do you play? I have always loved the sound of Randall amps. Oranges are cool too, but I associate them mostly with the sludgy, stoner, doom thing or the screaming juiciness of that one guy who played them and is famous for the broken head stock...Paul Kosov! Yeah that's it... Anyway, they're just not suited for my applications. Also man, you gotta think, that Thunderverb is going to be LOOOUUD... Not a fan of the jet city blah blah blah... I think I know the perfect amp for you... Look up the Randall RH50t...

I play an Ibanez ARZ307 with a Nazgul bridge pickup and Sentient Neck, Looking for a super tight, super saturated chugging, thrashing, grooving amp. lol

Mostly Metal, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Hatebreed, Crowbar (kirk has one of the best tones ever IMO) Gojira, Meshuggah, Chimaira, Killswitch engage, Slayer, the list goes on forever. I play mainly rhythm, but I'm learning some lead stuff.

Maybe 'really dig it" is an over statement. Satisfied is more like it. sometimes I miss having a tube amp & Sometimes I think just want something new with less options. IF I could afford a thundeverb i'd get the 50watt not the 200, haha. I know it would still be super loud.

I've really been digging these Jet City Demos, and they are super affordable. I'll just have to go try some stuff out. Also the Marshall MA series is very affordable, but i'm not sure it would have enough gain. who knows though, i've heard some decent demos of it too.

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

I play an Ibanez ARZ307 with a Nazgul bridge pickup and Sentient Neck, Looking for a super tight, super saturated chugging, thrashing, grooving amp. lol

Mostly Metal, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Hatebreed, Crowbar (kirk has one of the best tones ever IMO) Gojira, Meshuggah, Chimaira, Killswitch engage, Slayer, the list goes on forever. I play mainly rhythm, but I'm learning some lead stuff.

Maybe 'really dig it" is an over statement. Satisfied is more like it. sometimes I miss having a tube amp & Sometimes I think just want something new with less options. IF I could afford a thundeverb i'd get the 50watt not the 200, haha. I know it would still be super loud.

I've really been digging these Jet City Demos, and they are super affordable. I'll just have to go try some stuff out. Also the Marshall MA series is very affordable, but i'm not sure it would have enough gain. who knows though, i've heard some decent demos of it too.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I play thru a Dark Terror and it ****ing rules for hard rock heavy rock and high gain

I also recently bought the Randall RD5 and i love the rhythm tones. Not so much the highs tho. Little too fizzy but the delay helps for that.

The Dark Terror def has that British voicing which is perfect for me. I love that crunch

I also bought an Avatar 2x12 which was very afforable. Put a V30 and G12H30 in it

I also have a Krankestein 50w which ****ing rules for high gain. GC usually has em used

 

[T.M.A.]

Re: Amp suggestions

Gear can be tricky and I would suggest not wasting time listening to demos. Everything will sound different in real life and may service your needs differently then it may service someone else's. The guy in the video is eq'ing the amp relative to his guitar, cab, room, pickups etc. The best way to find what you're looking for is to go play a bunch of stuff. It will be an insightful experience and chances are you will know within 5 minutes of playing something whether you want it or not.

It sounds like you don't do much clean work. I have seen some awesome used peavey stuff for real cheap that I think would probably nail the sounds you mentioned (Valveking model). I also happen to think that Randalls have a very pleasing distortion sound... Horses for courses man. Good luck!

 

[chris effect]

Re: Amp suggestions

Yeah I've always been a peavey player. My first amp was a rage 158. Then came a transtube supreme head. Next came a 5150, then the XXX Sold the XXX when the band stopped playing an got vypyr. I wish they made tube head in the 30-50 watt range. I'd jump all over a 50 watt 3120 or XXX II. I could always pulls the two outer tubes but I would also enjoy a physically smaller amp as well.

The K-STEIN happens to be my favorite model on the vypyr. That's something to look into. I'm definitely going to go play as many different amps as I can before making a buy.

You folks have been helpful!


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[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

Gear can be tricky and I would suggest not wasting time listening to demos. Everything will sound different in real life and may service your needs differently then it may service someone else's. The guy in the video is eq'ing the amp relative to his guitar, cab, room, pickups etc. The best way to find what you're looking for is to go play a bunch of stuff. It will be an insightful experience and chances are you will know within 5 minutes of playing something whether you want it or not.

It sounds like you don't do much clean work. I have seen some awesome used peavey stuff for real cheap that I think would probably nail the sounds you mentioned (Valveking model). I also happen to think that Randalls have a very pleasing distortion sound... Horses for courses man. Good luck!

Well said!

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

Yeah I've always been a peavey player. My first amp was a rage 158. Then came a transtube supreme head. Next came a 5150, then the XXX Sold the XXX when the band stopped playing an got vypyr. I wish they made tube head in the 30-50 watt range. I'd jump all over a 50 watt 3120 or XXX II. I could always pulls the two outer tubes but I would also enjoy a physically smaller amp as well.

The K-STEIN happens to be my favorite model on the vypyr. That's something to look into. I'm definitely going to go play as many different amps as I can before making a buy.

You folks have been helpful!


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What wattage do you need? Do you need anything more than 20-30w? Cuz thats ****in loud for a tube amp


When u do go amp testing, make sure to really crank that **** man. Although u prolly already know this

Im lucky, in the bay area, there are a few GC that have demo rooms. Took em long enuff haha

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

Forgot to mention, i play 5 different guitars, one of them is a Nazgul equipt Rg 7321. The guitar itself is entry level 7 string, so decent but not amazing. Nazgul + Randall = percussive rhythms. Very Ola sounding. Ill try n do recordings soon for ya. If u like that sound, they do make a 20w Diavlo and its, i think, $400. I dont remember.

What about a used 5150 iii 50w?

Or used mini rectifier?

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Amp suggestions

If you're a heavy dewd, A used Peavey 5150 or 6505 would be perfect. I regularly see them for $500. A Carvin x100b head can be had for less, and it has an awesome pedigree.

You'd probably dig a Carvin V3 or the like. Those are beasts.
Blackstars are supposed to be awesome. Really top notch. The H+K Tubemeister heads are also super great.

I hate to say it, but I'd probably steer clear of Oranges, as they tend to be pretty bare-bones with no loops. The Terrors are really, REALLY sick sounding though. Not sick enough to ignore the other small amps tho.

As far as wattage, don't limit yourself to 50w and above. The magnitudes for perceived loudness per watt is you have to square the wattage for 2x the loudness. A 5 watter is half as loud as a 50 watter, which is half as loud as a 500(!) watter. If you do find an amp you like but need to get it louder, think about upgrading speakers. a more Db efficient speaker = way the hell louder. Like make a 5 watt head unbearable indoors loud.

 

[chadd]

Re: Amp suggestions

I picked up a new Randall 2x12 cab about a year ago and I have been really impressed by the build quality. I can't help on the amp side of things though, those tones aren't my thing. I just wanted to chime in on their construction.

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

If you're a heavy dewd, A used Peavey 5150 or 6505 would be perfect. I regularly see them for $500. A Carvin x100b head can be had for less, and it has an awesome pedigree.

You'd probably dig a Carvin V3 or the like. Those are beasts.
Blackstars are supposed to be awesome. Really top notch. The H+K Tubemeister heads are also super great.

I hate to say it, but I'd probably steer clear of Oranges, as they tend to be pretty bare-bones with no loops. The Terrors are really, REALLY sick sounding though. Not sick enough to ignore the other small amps tho.

As far as wattage, don't limit yourself to 50w and above. The magnitudes for perceived loudness per watt is you have to square the wattage for 2x the loudness. A 5 watter is half as loud as a 50 watter, which is half as loud as a 500(!) watter. If you do find an amp you like but need to get it louder, think about upgrading speakers. a more Db efficient speaker = way the hell louder. Like make a 5 watt head unbearable indoors loud.

I half agree with the statement about Orange amps. I have a tube driven loop and the bare bones aspect is awesome on my head. I really feel that for what u want, you prol shouldnt get an Orange. U seem to be going for a much more modern sound. I dont think Oranges are tight enuff also for what u want. Although the Nazgul is a super compressed PU. To me at least

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: Amp suggestions

I have heardonly good things about the H n K heads. I really need to demo one

Try n play a Randall RD20 if you can dude. Thru V30's

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Amp suggestions

If you're just exploring options, A Bugera may not be a bad idea. They have an Engl-type head, as well as a triple rec style. A fellow forum member didn't have much luck with one today, but he seemed dissatisfied with the clean channel, not the gain.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Amp suggestions

I've got the Blackstar ID60 head. It does the Tube/Valve thing quite well.

I'm actually selling it because I prefer the sound of solid state amps.

+1 for Blackstar. The ID stuff is really cool. They're not real feature-rich like modelers, but they sound darned good and have all the practical features you need. If you go the pure tube route, then HT20 should be loud enough unless you're going to be going medium size gigs, then the HT 40, 45, or 50w models would be appropriate.

Jet City is a contender, but I tend to trust Blackstar stuff more since they have a great factory in Korea. I think the HT and ID series are more well-made than the Jet City stuff. Jet City sounds good for the money and if you like their sound, they would be a good choice.

Laney makes some cool stuff. Their 60w Ironheart I think is in the $600 range and that's a great sounding amp.

You might also want to look into getting a preamp like the Engl e530 or Laney IRT Studio. They cost about $500-600, and you can get an affordable solid state power amp to get gig level volumes. Then later on, to improve your tone and get more volume, you can find a good tube power amp. Rocktron makes a great preamp called the Vudoo and you can find good deals on them from time to time.