for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

[75lespaul]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

For the same $700 as the Peaveys--which are great amps mind you--You can get a great little tube combo and some good pedals OR you can get the LINE 6 Pod XT used and a small tube amp called the atomic reactor which is designed for use with the pod, which is a modeling preamp, and gives it the warmth of a tube amp. It is pretty loud also at 15 or 18 watts. As you get into recording, you'll really appreciate the POD. It has tons of different amps and cabs, mics, effects etc... let's you play at three in the morning with headphones (or record) and then for band practice, put it through the reactor.

My first "good" amp was an Ampeg reverbrocket with an MXR distortion, analog chorus and analog delay. It was killer. Gonna show my age here--I paid $50 for this amp. Price one now on ebay!

Good luck! :smoker: :cool3: :saeek:

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

My advice is get a good amp. Whether it's a 5150 or an atomic reactor. Mine inspires me to play when I have good tone. Really simple. All that said I think that 85 watts is a TON of wattage.

I'm probably one of the few people whose dad has helped him out with gear. I noodled on his 69 LP (accousticly) and used his ovation. When I graduated HS my parents put a 1000 bucks on a vintage Gibson and I put down 250. I finally had my own guitar. I brought home his twin reverb which had been in storage at my Grandparents. I plugged that 330 in and thought I'd went to heaven. When I went to college (after I'd been playing a year) I got a fender bullet reverb. It didn't sound that great but it was an amp. When I came home on the weekends all I wanted to do was play guitar b/c the twin sounded SO good. I got some pedals and got better quickly because of the amount of time I was putting in. The twin was 2x12's 100 watts. Very loud, and you had to get the volume up to 4 before it sounded good. I got more guitars and improved technique-wise etc. The twin was too big for the dorm so my junior year I took the bullet except for when I took my dad/grandma's vibrochamp. It was 6 watts but all tube, all sweet, and still more than enough for the dorm. I could even practice with it and be heard but 2 to 4 more watts would have really let me cut through. My senior year I took the Vibrochamp alot and then in April I traded the LP custom for my 18 watt Dr. Z. It is loud enough to gig with, jam with, etc. I can't crank it high enough in my apt. to get the dimed crunch I like but I'll survive. I could be heard, prominently, with a bass rig, drummer, and another guitar player with a SS Fender ultimate chorus. All that said if I were you I'd check out the 1x12 peavey XXX. Very heavy and thick.

I guess the point of my rambling is quality of watts not quantity of watts.

Luke

 

[Guitarist]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

I don't know if you should get anything that big, but if a certain piece of equipment can inspire you - it's a done deal, in my book. There are only so many of these Holy Grail pieces of gear, so when I find um, I tend to jump on them.

 

[Bluzboy66]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

i have been playing about a year seriously and i have been taking lessons i would call my self a intermediat player is it apropriat for me to be buying a 5150 EVH 2x12 combo or a XXL 2x12 combo?? there about $700...

That 5150 is a great amp, but it's A LOT of amp.........especially if you're not going to be able to really crank it. Loud amps SOUND great, but can really be intimidating if you're not quite up to speed, and secondly, less-than-inspiring when played at lower levels. I'd suggest a 40 - 60-watter. Look at a couple of the all-tube Marshall combos........

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHDSL401

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHTSL601

Just my 2 cents.

Mike

 

[SheDoesntDoIt4Me]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

A...youll never be happy till you get what you want

B...Youll never be happy till you get what you need

So, your young, youve got your "devil sign" in the air and you gotta have that hi gain 5150, thing is...sittin in your bedroom BLOWING on the volume knob so it will just barely come on without growling in your face or disturbing you parents watching ER...youll be dissapointed. But when you wake up in the middle of the nite to go pee and your little elmo nitelite casts a ray of lite across that 5150 logo youll be thinkin ...."OH yeah, Im BAAAD"

Youll see, everyone learns the hard way....enjoy that 5150!

 

[metallicajs1]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

A...youll never be happy till you get what you want

B...Youll never be happy till you get what you need

So, your young, youve got your "devil sign" in the air and you gotta have that hi gain 5150, thing is...sittin in your bedroom BLOWING on the volume knob so it will just barely come on without growling in your face or disturbing you parents watching ER...youll be dissapointed. But when you wake up in the middle of the nite to go pee and your little elmo nitelite casts a ray of lite across that 5150 logo youll be thinkin ...."OH yeah, Im BAAAD"

Youll see, everyone learns the hard way....enjoy that 5150!

I don't wake up in the middle of the night to go pee pee and i definatly don't have a elmo night lite!

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

I've been playing for almost two decades, and almost 75% as a regularly gigging musician.

A 5150 combo is more amp than a solid 80% of the venues a typical local gigging band will ever play. It's probably at least twice the wattage you really need and an extra speaker on top of it all.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

I'm not sure if you get poweramp distortion with any tube amp at home. You can make the walls shake with about any amp. When people say that wattage doesn't mean so much, it goes the other way too. Look for quality and a sound you like, not the watts.

If you want an amp that sounds like a 5150, nothing else than a 5150 will do it. If you play in your garage, I don't think that it's too much. I think your parents will be more frustrated if you now buy a podxt (even if it's good) or a small combo and in a couple of years you want a new half-stack when you start band training.

Bottom line: If you want a 5150, save your money and don't buy anything in between. You'll propably want to start in a band soon too, and then you may want something bigger than a small bedroom amp. Buying the bedroom amp now and the 5150 later would mean you pay more.

 

[loudriver23]

Re: for older people when is it time to upgrade amps

I would agree with the philiosophy of saving your money and buying what you really WANT. Do not buy anything less, you will only be bummed out sooner than later. Then you will have to sell it for a loss and still pay for the amp you wanted in the first place.
Take it from me, I learned the lesson the hard way, I bought every crappy amp inbetween the little 15w practice amp to my Mesa Mark IV I own now.
Had I just purchased the Mark IV straight away I could have saved about $3000 in repurchasing gear and a lot of headaches of selling gear no one really wants anyways.
That said, play lots of equipment, do your research, be very very sure the 5150 is truly what you want before you pursuade your folks to drop serious coin on this amp.
Good luck and keep ROCKIN!!
Loudriver