Need help choosing an amp!

Re: Need help choosing an amp!

Thanks everyone you have all been a big help. I decided that imgoing to save up some more money and get a dsl and an attenuator. If all goes well i should have enough for it by next christmas.
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

Vox can go dirty. You really dont need an attenuator with a dsl. I have the dsl and use a 212. I will rock out on volume 1.5-3. all the time. It can get loud, but if you rock out in a basement, garage, etc no one will hear at those levels. I have band practice in my house weekly, we play real loud, no complaints from neighbors, cant really hear us.
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

Marshall's don't sound very good at extremely low volumes. They are a concert amp. That's where they really shine.
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

fenderguy12 said:
I play things like zeppelin acdc Evh ozzy and metallica
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Given those bands, I'll just throw this out there...how about an Orange Amp, either a tiny terror or perhaps a rocker 30? If you want drive from the amp rather than pedals, they will do better than the Hot Rod, IMO. I own the vox ac15C1, and it excels at the edge of breakup tones, but the low end gets pretty loose when cranked, so it may not do the heavier tones as well as the orange.
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

mwalluk said:
Hey man, when did you sell the DSL? I'm starting to re-like it again. I swear I have a love affair with it.
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I sold it in october and got an egnater tweaker. I plan to get a DSL again someday (or a JCM 800 RI if I can afford it) but for now I need something small and warm. 6v6s seem to be a lil more my thing right now.
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

gibson175 said:
Zep=marshall
ACDC=marshall
EVH=marshall
Ozzy=marshall
Metallica=marshall
all these bands and players at one time or another have defined their sound with marshalls. Sure eddie had a signature peavey model and ozzy has had various guitarists using various gear...but the basic tonal recipie for all these acts you mentioned is the sound of a marshall.

From that info id say look no further than a DSL....perfect for heavy rock styles and a really great crunchy distortion sound. You can get it in a 40watt 1x12 combo if you want small(ish).

Such an amp really is not too loud if you are standing next to a drummer and bassist. The big difference between a 40w amp to a 5w amp is not so much volume, but a bigger bottom end - which is always a good thing. Wattage is not the real indicator of an amps volume....its really more an idicator of headroom (especially bass frequencies). The big difference in volume comes from the efficiency of a given speaker and also it eq curve because our ears are more sensetive to certain frequencies. Speaker size follows a similar vibe....so some 8 inch speakers can sound like its cutting your head off and a 12 can sound soft and warm. Bear in mind that a 4x12 will not necassarily seem loderr than a 1x12 due to the the fact that the 4 speakers are sharing the load rather than multiplying it. As a result you get more speaker headroom. The other thing to take into account is the fact that most 4x12s are closed back whereas most 1x12 combos are open back. Closed back cabs give a nominal 6db increase in bass frequency response.
So you can practice and gig with a 1x12 easily and a 40w amp will be powerful enough to drive bigger cabinets in the future if the need arises.

Modern amps like the dsl etc can get plenty dirty just by using the preamp section whereas amps of old needed to be cranked to get the power tubes saturating. Now a dsl still has the same power section of the old vintage jcms and plexis so it will sound better and fatter the more you wind up the master volume....but with the extra versatility of the modern preamps you can get a pretty good sound at more manageable levels also.

Re; dirt pedals....the dsl doesnt really need any per se....but if you want an even dirtier sound at lower volumes for practice then theres heaps of great ones for cheap (boss sd1 comes to mind or even the ds1). Even the cheapest analog stomp box will most likely eat your digital distortion for breakfast when paired with a nice amp. The other advantage of a pedal like an sd1 is that it will blend with your amps natural tube sound and take you to another level in terms of gain. this is also due to the fact that you can boost the level enough that you are making your preamp tubes distort further. Of course as you turn up the master volume on your amp...the extra gain cascades down thru to the power tubes also. Digital pedals are designed to create all their own dirt on their own and really dont go particularly well with a tube guitar amp in most cases.

So...a dsl with perhaps a nice (optional) od pedal and you have plenty of wicked, rich, responsive and organic sounds at your fingertips...
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Another vote for the DSL. Doesn't even need pedals - but they sure are fun!
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

Coming from a VT you will be spoiled with the variety of drive voicing which is available. Anything from VOX (naturally) Marshall, Fender, Dumble, 5150, Mesa etc. If you go for a tube amp you 'restrict' yourself to one 'voice' if all you get is the amp.

I am in the same boat. I have a VT30 which, whilst nice, I'm considering upgrading to a low wattage tube amp. I have tried:

Vox Nighttrain
Egnator Tweaker
Orange tiny terror
Blackstar HT5
Vox AC15 HH
Hughes & Kettner 2xEL84

Most of these have 1 channel only, and (without manually tweaking the amp a lot) have only 1 sound - but they do that sound very well.

The problem I am having is how to recreate the flexibility of the VT, but without major time taken to re-jig amp settings...

My solution - Out of all the amps I tried, the Blackstar was best voiced for my playing - quite amazing really! I plan to use the drive channel probably for a Marshall-esque tone, then also different voiced drive/fuzz/dirt pedals running thru the clean channel. I already have a couple of them from my previous board, but I have been on the hunt for other good pedals since. This is my list:

Modded Boss super overdrive
Modded Boss Blues driver
Modded Boss Distortion
Ratt distortion
MI Tube Zone
Vox Big Ben
Tortuga Yeti Fuzz

This should get me from 'just driven' blues to metal (which is the range of what I play)
 
Re: Need help choosing an amp!

If you're looking for a Marshall type sound at a lower wattage I would recommend checking out the Blackstar HT-5. Overall I've been very please with my HT-5, especially the overdrive channel. Currently I am looking to get a Vox AC15 because I haven't been as satisfied with the clean/low gain tones from the HT-5 and that tends to be the sound I've been using more recently...but the mid/high gain is pretty sweet!
 
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