I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

[ModestCargo]

I have a Marshall DSL401, and it's tube amp. Which means it's kind of sucky when it's not loud, or at least at a half decent volume. :smack:

I need a solid state practise amp for my room, my only criteria is it's got to have a decent clean sound, a good overdrive sound and a headphone jack.

I'm planning on going to the shop and playing every little 10-15w amp i can find but for now I'm doing the research. So far it looks like maybe the Roland Cube 15 would fit the bill, or the Vox Pathfinder 15.

The Vox appeals to me because it's not a modeling amp, it's simple, and it has reverb, but the Cube appeals to me because it's a roland and I usually like their stuff, and because my cousin had a Cube 30 and it sounded okay to me. I forget what the OD sounded like though - I only fiddled with it once and he uses a DS-1 in front of it most of the time.

Thoughts? Any of you have really good little practise amps? And please don't say Epiphone Valve Jr. or Tech 21 Trademark. Both are out of my price range and in the case of the Epi, I've already mentioned that I want a SS amp. :banana:

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I was pretty impressed with the Cube 15. I got my brother one for Christmas, and he hasn't had any problems with it. No complaints, except he wants a tube amp. For SS, it sounds pretty decent.

 

[ErikH]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

The Roland Cube 15 is awesome for it's size. I was quite impressed with the sounds that come out of it.

The practice amps I have are a Crate GX-15 from the 90's and a Marshall Lead 12 from the 80's. I love both of 'em. The Crate is 2 channel, good clean sound, good overdrive, has a headphone jack AND a speaker out. The Marshall is one channel, good gain, classic Marshall tone, has a headphone jack as well.

Edit: As far as Epiphones, go, there's the Firefly and Triggerman. Both SS with DSP.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Always been a fan of the smaller Fenders myself. The sounds are real nice at low volume. My practice amp is Fender, but it's bigger than what you're looking for. I tried a bunch of smaller ones years ago and they sounded really good.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Roland Cube or Vox Valvetronix 15 or 30 watters.

 

[vinterland]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I always practice with my MicroCube.

 

[Diego]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Another vote for a Roland Cube 15-30 here. I haven't tested the Vox amps, though.

The overdriven tones in the Cube series are great at most volumes.

HOWEVER... the tones through the headphones SUCK. It says it has a speaker emulation thing... to my ears there's none. So test it extensively before buying it.

Good luck!

 

[Hoss]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

is a "used" tech 21 trademark 10 out of your range?

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Traynor ReverbMate 40 and some kind of effect processor sounds great to me. Mine is a little buzzy, and I don't really care for the distortion on it, but if you work on the clean channel and keep the gain low and use a pedal or processor to get more volume out of the amp, the buzz/hum should be minimal. I haven't used it with headphones, but I have heard that if you use headphones with the amp's chorus on, it'll be really loud and hurt your ears. The amp is only $160 at MF. It's worth checking out.

 

[ModestCargo]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

is a "used" tech 21 trademark 10 out of your range?

Hmm, probably not out of my range, no

I'll have to look for one, thanks for the tip

 

[J Moose]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I went on a huge hunt about two years ago for a solid state practice amp that didn't suck.

Tried EVERYTHING I could find.

Bought one of these;

http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/products.php?mode=prod&id=15

Haven't regretted it.

The lead channel has WAY too much gain for my tastes...I never get it past 9 o'clock or so but in that lower range it's got plenty of dynamics, reacts like a "real" amp should when you dig in or turn the volume down. Was about $150 IIRC.

 

[ModestCargo]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Hmm thanks J Moose. MF has it for 140 usd. This is definitley an option to consider.

It does seem like small SS amps are always directed at beginners.

 

[cellomangler]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I've got to second the Roland Microcube. It also runs forever on rechargeable AA batteries. It's got a great fairly clean Roland Jazz Chorus emulation and plenty of high gain sounds as well. I added an external speaker jack onto mine and recently played a solo jazz gig at a coffee shop where the Microcube was powering an old Jensen 15" speaker cabinet. Sounded awesome... no kidding !
My only complaint -and the same with a lot of amps that give you multiple effects with little control- is that you can't have delay and reverb at the same time. You can have chorus and reverb, but not echo-delay and reverb... so I often use a cheap Arion pedal for delay, which gives me more options anyway.
----And there's a groovy red version that's just being promoted...!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I hate practice amps because 9 times out of 10 they are only good for practicing and most of them even suck for that...however a Marshall Lead 12 is a cool as **** little amp that you'll get a lot of use out of!

 

[ElUnoAstuto]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

Any of the old Peavey's, particularly from '86 to '96, like the special, the bandit, the studio, all high gain MIA workhorses

 

[J Moose]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I hate practice amps because 9 times out of 10 they are only good for practicing and most of them even suck for that...however a Marshall Lead 12 is a cool as **** little amp that you'll get a lot of use out of!

Yah.

IMO, that little H&K I got is even kooler then the Lead 12.

Two channels...'verb...that little amps got ballz to spare & isn't as 'fizzy' as the lead 12 can get. Got way more 'uumph'.

I needed something that I could play in my new (now old) apartment after moving out of a 2000 sq. ft. studio space where we could do whatever the hell we wanted. Plus I wanted something kinda "real" too...something I could record & do other things with like run keys & samplers through.

It came down to the H&K, trying to find an old PV like ElUno mentioned or a Lead 12...but if it's the Lead 12 I wanted an colored mini-stack (red, but whites kosher too) and they're IMPOSSIBLE to find. Besides the H&K has this bitchin' blue lightup panel.

That's worth points!!!

FWIW the H&K is made in Korea. I don't know if that means squat to you or not...but I really don't like buying anything Chinese (besides food) for a multitude of reasons that I'll spare 'ya from.

 

[ModestCargo]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I know the MG marshalls get a lot of bashing but I recall the one my friend had was okay. The distortion sounded vintage, but kind of fuzzy, if I remember correctly.

The reason is I could probably get a used MG15 or MG15R easily, on the cheap.

 

[tenniso]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

vox pathfinder 15R. sounds like an old tube amp. seriously, i cant believe how good it sounds for $120. check out the reviews at harmony central. i love mine, and i've had some nice gear, but this has got to be the most bang for the buck in the practice amp class.

 

[coachc55]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

I was pretty impressed with the Cube 15. I got my brother one for Christmas, and he hasn't had any problems with it. No complaints, except he wants a tube amp. For SS, it sounds pretty decent.

Cube 15 is supposed to be beastly little practice amp.

CoachC

 

[J Moose]

Re: I need a cheapish SS practise amp.

The reason is I could probably get a used MG15 or MG15R easily, on the cheap.

There's a couple three reasons they're cheap.

#1 They sound like poo.

#2 They sound like poo.

#3 Oh yeahh...they sound like poo!

If you've got a 'thing' for Marshall an old Lead 12 or 20 would be a safer bet.