good cheap half stack for metal

Re: good cheap half stack for metal

uhh, save more dude

you can either have a lot of cheap gear or a few select pieces of awesome gear

i reccomend the 2nd one
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

i see where your coming from, and i agree. but there is this band i'd really like to join but they would like me to have a half stack. i got until july to save up money, after that, they'll be looking for another guitarist. i just want it to get in the i'll save up, sell the cheap one, and upgrade. thats my plan. this is the only good heavy metal band around here that plays good. everyone else worries about playing fast and heavy with extremely high gain. its like a person screaming loud and fast and you cannot understand. i personally don't like that. i do not believe thats good music, just noise.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

go used. any 50 or 100 watt halfway decent tube head with an OD pedal for some extra gain/boost (boss super OD, tube screamer, arion tubulator, or digitech bad monkey) and a rocktron hush pedal to quiet it down and basically any 4-12 that you can afford (for now - upgrade the cab later).

heads: peavey valve king, butcher; crate blue voodoo; carvin x100b or master tube; any loud randall head; line 6 flextone I or II; epiphone's new cheap 50W head. maybe even a b52. the hush will be the key otherwise you and the rest of the band will gripe about all the noise when you crank 'em. if you ebay, nab a sovtek.

worse comes to worse: crate power block, a digitech distortion pedal (one of their new ones with the rat, tube screamer, etc. built-in), maybe the hush pedal, and a 4-12.
 
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Re: good cheap half stack for metal

Don't buy gear to get into bands...

Buy gear once you're in and realize what you actually need.

And the necessity for a half-stack is a misnomer. A solid Peavey 5150 combo will keep up.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

If they're gonna give ultimatums like that, maybe you might wanna re-think the situation?

If you've made your choice and decided it's for the best... then go for it!

If you're going to sell it and upgrade, the 5150 will retain its value well.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

I understand the situation completely -- how you look is at least as important as how you sound in a band. Utterly irrespective of the sound, you don't have the wrong-looking amp for the genre in which you're working. If you're putting together a hair-metal band, you don't want a guy with a tweed Deluxe.

Ampeg produced a nice rig like this called the V-50H for Guitar Center by taking the 2xEL34/50W amp out of a Super-Jet Reverb combo and sticking it into a Marshall-style head cab and made matching 4x12" straight and slant-face cabs for it. The amp is bone-simple, a non-master-volume, single-channel tube unit that gets the vintage Brit metal EL34 sound. The cabs are OK, but the drivers are really feeble. At some point everyone replaces them.

But...it's a nice-looking cheap rig for this application, with a known pro brand name on the front. I got the whole thing new for $500 on long sale in Seattle, and you should be able to get one used for that, or less, if you can find one (make sure it has the footswitch, which is critical).

Just a suggestion...
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

that fm head is awsome, I was actually very surprised when i tried one set up for metal. I went in thinking that it would be garbage, but actually sounded better than the dsl next to it imo.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

Avoid the FM to save your life.

If you have to go cheap, get a old randall RG series.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

The RH heads are pretty sick \m/, get a good cab and rule souls with your relentlessly tight sound.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

Bezmotivnik said:
I understand the situation completely -- how you look is at least as important as how you sound in a band.
Click to expand...


I know where you're coming from with this and I'm also a firm believer in using the right gear for the job, but when you phrase it like that it sounds bad.

Emilio, the Ultra 120 is a 10-15 year old amp, which is why you won't find it on Peavey's site. It's what the Triple XXX is based on if you're familiar with that amp. I own the Ultra 60 (same amp, half the wattage) and the high gain channel has a remarkably similar sound to the clips you linked to. Either amp can be had used for about $300, although you really need an EQ pedal for them.

And if these boys are pressuring you into buying a halfstack, they're not really your friends!
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

ill also suggest any used laney amp, even a head (use a 2x12 if you dont need a halfstack) The pro tube series heads are great and cheap, but the combos of the like and the vc series are also amazing for metal.

Personally I dont agree with people saying you need a massive piece like a halfstack for a new band, youre not playing stadiums...yet! But i also agree that good gear is essential, but this does not have to be the most expensive guitar and boutique amplifier.

I must ask what is bad about the fm series?
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

5150, i had one and it served me well. (dont ever use the clean channel. lol)

Randalls kick A$$ too (dimebag comes to mind).

OOH

believe it or not, my Marshall AVTH50 Head, gets that awesome dimebag/ scooped metallica crunch very easily.

but then again, it could be my EMGs or something...

either way...idk.

check crate, you might be surprised.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

For a 4X12 I cannot stress enough how much you will appreciate the quality, and lifetime of a used one for the same money. For example, locally I'm seeing used Marshall 1960s and Mesas in good shape in the $400 to $600 range. Before the holidays I saw a few under $400, but I think that was folks needing instant money. I tried a brand new $500+ Marshall el-crappo model that was a disgrace. Boerhinger and the like will melt in the rain like that witch in The Wizard of Oz. Friends don't let friends buy bad gear. You're on your own for a decent top.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

I have a bud who has the Ultra and it's killer. The requirement for a half-stack shows such immaturity it's a joke. Have them read this forum for a day and let them learn about TONE and image, and not just image. Sure you wanna look good, but do you need a halfstack to look good? What if you get a half-stack that sounds awesome cranked, but like crap at lower levels, but cranked is too loud for the band and you're all that will be heard. Or maybe you hear a combo that is YOUR tone and would fit the band sound perfectly but noooooooo--it's gotta be a half-stack. Since I was 15 I've been in plenty of bands, including one that was signed to a recording contract (never made it to vinyl--damn) and gear was never once mandated. Not for looks anyway. Only for sound. Just my 2 cents, but I'd look for another band or form your own.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

MVI said:
For a 4X12 I cannot stress enough how much you will appreciate the quality, and lifetime of a used one for the same money. For example, locally I'm seeing used Marshall 1960s and Mesas in good shape in the $400 to $600 range. Before the holidays I saw a few under $400, but I think that was folks needing instant money. I tried a brand new $500+ Marshall el-crappo model that was a disgrace. Boerhinger and the like will melt in the rain like that witch in The Wizard of Oz. Friends don't let friends buy bad gear. You're on your own for a decent top.
Click to expand...

+1. A bad cab will make a good head sound.....bad.
 
Re: good cheap half stack for metal

Ultra 120 can be had on ebay for around 250-300 plus shipping. Then grab an Avatar cab or a marshall 4x12. 5150 combo is another viable option. I owned an Ultra 120 and it was great for what it did and I eventually sold it to upgrade, like you're planning on doing.
 
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