hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

[Xavosh]

or getting an idea of what I should do some heavy research into, I've been doing lots of research but everything has two sides to it, some people say it sucks and some people say it rocks. so, it brings me here.

I know the general consensus is 'go with your ears' or 'its what you like'. I respect that, but I don't have the luxury of being able to try heaps of amps, it takes a dedicated trip into Melbourne (city), and I'd like to know what stores have what so it's all kinda easy.

I'm really looking for an amp that can do higher gain stuff, I've found a lot of them
my main 'thing' is that i'd like something that is 30-100w but is switchable down to 5 or 1 watt. That way I can practice and do smaller gigs and stuff. I love nice clean tones, and as I said I play a lot of thrash metal stuff but also surf-punk stuff.

If you could recommend any amps from experience or knowledge, I would be very appreciative.

Some more info, I play with single coil guitars and humbuckers
I can save up some money, but really I'm not looking to spend more than 1300 AUD (max, cheaper the better!)
I like my Head/Cab stuff, but i'm open to 2x12 combos
I like experimenting so if know of amps that sound good with particular tubes then please tell me

Thanks!

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

Laney do good amps that have switchable wattages, I think its the Iron heart 60 watt. My friend uses in his metalcore band but its very good (though he uses it as a pre-amp with this Line6 Pod Pro). Affordable as well (don't know how much it'd be in Aus Dollars but UK GBP its around £500)

EVH do a good high gain amp, but I don't know if you can switch the wattage. 6505+ are great too but for 120 watts its far too loud for bedroom practice haha. I have one and I love it however can't play it in the house.

Others would be Blackstar and Orange heads but I'm not a fan of them personally. Blackstars are unreliable as the other guitarist in the band I mentioned above has one and its broken twice!

Hope this helps!

 

[probo_squad_henry]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

Peavey valveking? Throw a tube screamer out front and you'll get a great thrash tone, and it should be able to do lower gain stuff easily

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

People think they need to switch their wattage around but my 120w Matamp sounds better to me in the bedroom than any 5-15w amp I've tried...

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

People think they need to switch their wattage around but my 120w Matamp sounds better to me in the bedroom than any 5-15w amp I've tried...

+1. You might be surprised at how well a big amp can work out at low volumes. I used to play a 100W Marshall tube head through a 4x12 cab in a small apartment. No noise complaints that I know of. No secret; it was a master-volume amp with preamp gain. (It also had Marshall's Virtual Power Reduction, but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference to me.)

What has made a bigger difference is the power scaling in the Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister amps. That will get the power tubes breaking up at tolerable volumes. Their 5W and 1W setting are very useful; they do a lot more than just make the amp quieter. The sound of those amps might be something you'd be into.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

People think they need to switch their wattage around but my 120w Matamp sounds better to me in the bedroom than any 5-15w amp I've tried...

Totally agree, especially for rock tones. Big amps have a BIG sound... and that's not just volume. It's more about headroom and "girth" of the tone. Most small-wattage amps just don't sound very big.

Having said that... my new Sweetwater edition Fender DRRI sounds pretty huge with the Friedman BE-OD pedal into it. Every bit as thumpy as my Smallbox 50-watt head into the matching 2x12 sealed-back cab. So I'm somewhat revising my opinion on writing-off small amps as being small sounding.

 

[Matt42]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

Some small amps sound small. Some small amps sound HUGE!

Next time I'm in Billings with my gear (probably around Christmas/New Year), you'd be welcome to try my 41st Amps Bayonet. It's a small amp that can sound absolutely huge, especially with humbuckers.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: hey guys, i'd like some help with choosing my next amp!

Some small amps sound small. Some small amps sound HUGE!

Next time I'm in Billings with my gear (probably around Christmas/New Year), you'd be welcome to try my 41st Amps Bayonet. It's a small amp that can sound absolutely huge, especially with humbuckers.

Sounds great Matt. I'm definitely curious about those amps. If I could have tried one out in person, I might already own one.