LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

[jackson111]

ok I currently have a blackstar stage 60 which I love the sound of, but it has left me dead on stage twice, and blackstar is not the best on customer service, so I want to make a change. When I first bought my stage 60 I was also looking at the egnater renegade, so I am kinda leaning that way again. what ever amp I get I want to make sure that the company will stand behind it with good customer service. does anyone know how egnater is with their customer service. I would also like to hear any suggestions. my budget is about 1300.00 and below, I play classic rock, southern rock, country, and some hair metal. I have tried mesa boogie but just don't really like their tone, they seem to be great for metal and the have a great clean, but nothing in the middle. i also tend to look for 2 channel amps because i like to use the onboard overdrive instead of pedals. ok weel i appreciate you're help

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

I'd check out either the Carvin Legacy 1 or 3. The Legacy 3 head is about $1000 new, so that would leave you with about $300 for a cab. You could also look at the Carvin V3, the head+cab is about $1100 new.


Generally speaking the more commercial (so basically companies with manufacturers overseas) will have slightly more difficult customer service, just because of the style of customer service (outsourced). I'd look more into Mesa (you might be surprised at what you find), Carvin, etc...

I have a Blackstar as well and the customer service was pretty crappy when I called them to ask about fuses. They're a good company, but the guy I was talking to didn't know jack squat.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Yes, Blackstar is not the easiest company to deal with. I was fortunate to find a local authorized tech. who was great in fixing mine.

When I was considering Egnater, I did not care for their warranty repair network, so I looked elsewhere. I want a repair center that I can drive to and a company that backs them. I prefer NOT to have to send it via the 'brown' gorillas for repair.

IMO, Fender has the BEST warranty repair network of all. They seem to have authorized cntrs. about everywhere, and post-warranty, have their schematics available on-line for anyone to download. B* acted like their product detail was classified as top-secret info.

If you liked the features of the B* HT60, I'd suggest checking out a Fender Supersonic 60.

 

[Mad-Max]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Look into getting the EVH 5150III 50 watt. It's got 3 channels, and just about any tone you'll get from that will be the bees knees. It can do everything.

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Do you want a 60 watter again? I wanted to throw out an Orange rig, for the stuff you are playing. Probably a bit pricey and I honestly have no idea how their costomer service is, it could be that I'm not helping you at all haha.

What guitar are you playing?

 

[toneseeker74]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Look into getting the EVH 5150III 50 watt. It's got 3 channels, and just about any tone you'll get from that will be the bees knees. It can do everything.

For newer multi-channel amps I agree with this. If you wanted to try a multi-amp rig you could score a used Traynor YBA-1 for about $500. This will give you great cleans to plexi/JMP crunch. And they are pretty much bulletproof. With the rest of your money you could get another YBA-1 to mod to JCM800 2204 specs, or a Peavey VTM, Peavey Butcher, Laney AOR, Laney GH 50L, Marshall JCM900 MkIII or SL-X 2500, Carvin X100, Carvin Legacy or many other amps for 80's to 90's gain levels. Plus, if one amp breaks down you have another amp to get you through the gig.

 

[everdrone]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

o I play classic rock, southern rock, country, and some hair metal.

which do you play more? with amps there is always a sacrifice. the high gain amps dont have particularly sparkly country cleans for instance

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Common sense tells me that the bigger the brand name, the more improved customer service is required; I've heard great things about Marshall's customer service for example. Which makes me ask, have you considered any of the classic amps (Fender/Vox/Marshall)?

 

[Mad-Max]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

I'm telling you dude, this will fit ANY bill that you have.



/thread

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Any of the 5150s or a Marshall DSL.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Used DSL 50. Ticks all your boxes.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

I'm telling you dude, this will fit ANY bill that you have.

View attachment 50215

/thread

I thought I read in another thread that only the 100 watt head is a "true" three channel that can be channel switched and has separate controls where the 50 watt shares the EQ on two channels. Not that this is a bad thing if you don't need it because the amp sounds incredible.

 

[Matt42]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

I know you said you aren't really interested in Mesa, but have you checked out the Lonestar or Express amps? I wouldn't consider them metal amps at all, they should be able to hit everything you are going for with ease.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Fender has amazing CS. I don't know about Vox and Marshall, I haven't heard very good things about them. I'd look into Mesa for sure. Probably the Express line.

 

[Mad-Max]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

I thought I read in another thread that only the 100 watt head is a "true" three channel that can be channel switched and has separate controls where the 50 watt shares the EQ on two channels. Not that this is a bad thing if you don't need it because the amp sounds incredible.

Well. Yes, you're right. The second channel shares channel 2 and 3, but essentially, you still have the 3 channels of the 100 watt, just in a smaller package.

 

[jackson111]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Well its funny you suggest the express series out of all the mesa amps it is the only one that I could get the sound I wanted, but they have been discontinued and I haven't found any used. Does the EVH5150 sound similar to the peavey 5150? If so I will probably pass, I played a used one and maybe there was just something wrong with it but the amp was very noisy when you crank the gain, I understand that high gain amps are noisy but the peavey was way too noisy

 

[mdambros]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Does the EVH5150 sound similar to the peavey 5150?

No. It is a completely different amp. I have the 6505 212 combo, which is basically a 5150 in combo form. Some differences between the head and combo like a little less gain in the combo, but close enough to compare the difference between it and the 5150 III.

I've been looking at getting a 5150 III for some time now and recently had a chance to sit down with a 50W and the 100W versions and A/B them. The Green channel is Fender clean, very nice. The Blue channel is the crunch channel. Plenty of gain on here. You can get Eddie's tone on this channel. Cleans up really nice with the guitar's volume control. Your blues and classic rock tones can be found here as well your hair metal. The Red channel is gain Heaven! Super saturated in the best way.

Differences with the 50W and the 100W that I saw was, as was pointed out, the shared EQ for the Green and Blue channel. So if you have the gain turned way down on the Green channel and turned up pretty high on the Blue channel, you get a pretty significant volume jump. If the gain on the Green channel is past noon the volume jump isn't as noticeable. This is not present with the 100W because of the 3 separate EQs. Along with 3 separate EQs you have 3 separate Presence controls for each channel on the 100W. The 50W has a Master Presence for all channels and a Master Resonance for all channels.

The Blue channel on the 50W has more gain than the 100W.

The 50W also has a headphone jack and a MIDI input. Actually some owners have solved the volume jump issue by using MIDI switching to change channels and bumping the volume up on the Green channel in their swathing path.

It's not a noisy amp either.

I preferred the tone of the 50W. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping at the NAMM show tomorrow they unveil a 50W with the volume jump issue solved!

Do yourself a favor and check out the 5150 III.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

you want good customer service ? good quality? Wicked warranty ?

Go with Mesa/Boogie.

 

[Mad-Max]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Well its funny you suggest the express series out of all the mesa amps it is the only one that I could get the sound I wanted, but they have been discontinued and I haven't found any used. Does the EVH5150 sound similar to the peavey 5150? If so I will probably pass, I played a used one and maybe there was just something wrong with it but the amp was very noisy when you crank the gain, I understand that high gain amps are noisy but the peavey was way too noisy

No, the EVH is a different amp entirely. It has a much more tweakable EQ, the gain structure is different than the Peavey, and not only that, but it has Fender cleans.

With the EVH, you have 3 different sounds. With the Peavey, you have a rhythm channel and a lead channel, and that's it. Where as the EVH has a separate clean channel that's amazing, and then it has much more flexible gain options.

Honestly, for what you're looking for, and for the styles that you play, you'd be damned to find a better amp in its price range.

 

[Matt42]

Re: LOOKING FOR A NEW AMP, HELP!!!

Well its funny you suggest the express series out of all the mesa amps it is the only one that I could get the sound I wanted, but they have been discontinued and I haven't found any used. Does the EVH5150 sound similar to the peavey 5150? If so I will probably pass, I played a used one and maybe there was just something wrong with it but the amp was very noisy when you crank the gain, I understand that high gain amps are noisy but the peavey was way too noisy

They aren't really discontinued, they are improved in the Express + line. Better cleans, amongst other improvements. They are really solid amps. I like the Lonestar series a bit more, but they also cost a bit more.