Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

[JeffB]

:yell:

I was at GC today returning my Vox that no longer works, and I tried a ton of combos in my price range and just nothing was really that great...WTF?

I tried a Marshall MG100DFX combo, Valvestate 50 watt combo, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Fender Princeton 650, Behringer GMX212 , Crate GLX 65 watter, Line 6 Spider II 112, and a Line 6 FLextone III....

I walked out with absolutely nothing

I don't know if that speaks well of the Valvetronix sound or poorly of everything else, but I was just really disappointed overall...

The Flextone was overall the best...with the Valvestate and Behringer the runners up.

Perhaps I wasn't tweaking correctly(as I do not know the amp), but I could hardly get any gain at all out of any of the Marshall models on the Flextone III? Are they like the Valvetronix in that the actual volume knob also acts like a gain control too? Or do they need to be cranked period? The Boogie model though was quite good..much better than the Valvetronix rendition, and honestly I wouldn't have a prob with it for my high gain rhythm setting. I just didn't want to spend $550 and then put another 3 or 4 bills into a shortboard to be able to use it live.

The Valvestate was pretty warm, but had a muddy low end. I preferred the MG's distortion to the VS but the overall sound was thin. The Fender Princeton just sounded awful to my ears..very thin... worse than the MG by far. The Behringer's distortion was smooth and pretty warm considering, but it had the recording-lik distant modelling amp sound. Spider II sounded great clean and on the metal setting, but was again thin and digital sounding, especially for palm mutes. Hot Rod Deluxe surprised me...very...hmmm...muddy sounding...not in the gain structure..but the overall sound was kinda dark..maybe a new speaker would help...The Crate was OK for chord work, but had a little top end buzz or fartiness to it when playing single notes.

Doesn't ANYONE make a decent sounding high gain marshall-esque hard rock amp for $450-$600?

HELP!!! :yell:

I may just have to sell myself on a street corner and buy a MESA

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Peavey 5150 = Hot Rodded Marshall with 6L6's. To me, Alex_In_Chains, and every scandinavian metalband ever, at least.

Laney AOR series = JCM800/Plexi for CHEEP! Runs like 200-300 on eBay

Crate Blue Voodoo = Good first tube amp for a high gain addict. Fairly good cleans as far as highgain amps go, and they can be had for dirt cheap on eBay.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

This was copied from a post I made in another thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiber-Optics
Im not saying I would take any crate over a Marshall Im just saying that I would choose my Crate VFX5112 over any jcm2000 anyday of the week. I am not of fan all crates just the VFX5112




I second that. I have one too. They brand them V-series though rather than crate. And if it's good enough for Bo Diddley, Billy Gibbons, and Joe Walsh, it's good enough for me. I hate Crate SS, and the Blue Voodoos, but they really did something special with this amp. Even my buddy who owns a DSL 50 prefers this amp over his and noted it has more gain. The digital effects suck though, but I don't use them. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.crateamps.com/html/series.cfm?sid=2

http://www.crateamps.com/html/news_release.cfm?nid=27

http://www.v-seriesamps.com/vfx5112.html

 

[Jag513]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Having a Hot Rod, I can tell you that the amp is VERY bass-heavy stock. As well, the tubes are horrible. A speaker change would help lose the muddiness, and a change of tubes will make the tone much better. But I love the amp.

The Fender Princeton's worse than the MG"s??? Wow, I thought the only amps as bad as the MG's were the Frontman's. Maybe you didn't tweak it enough.

A decent Marshall-esque hard rock amp for under $600? None that I have tried. And I've tried A LOT of amps under $600.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

i disagree about the bass of the hot rod

i find it has the perfect ammount at bedroom volumes, but the speaker gets more trebly as volume increases

 

[Biu]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

This was copied from a post I made in another thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiber-Optics
Im not saying I would take any crate over a Marshall Im just saying that I would choose my Crate VFX5112 over any jcm2000 anyday of the week. I am not of fan all crates just the VFX5112




I second that. I have one too. They brand them V-series though rather than crate. And if it's good enough for Bo Diddley, Billy Gibbons, and Joe Walsh, it's good enough for me. I hate Crate SS, and the Blue Voodoos, but they really did something special with this amp. Even my buddy who owns a DSL 50 prefers this amp over his and noted it has more gain. The digital effects suck though, but I don't use them. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.crateamps.com/html/series.cfm?sid=2

http://www.crateamps.com/html/news_release.cfm?nid=27

http://www.v-seriesamps.com/vfx5112.html

Doesn't Joe Walsh use a Carvin Bel-Air or something now?


I'm with DSS, Peavey 5150 is the macho destroyer in the hi-gain department, especially for those on a budget.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Doesn't Joe Walsh use a Carvin Bel-Air or something now?


I'm with DSS, Peavey 5150 is the macho destroyer in the hi-gain department, especially for those on a budget.

We're talking about Joe Walsh here, I'm sure he has one of every amp ever made, with extra money left over to buy every guitar ever made also.

 

[Twitch]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Why not buy a used F-30 on ebay?

Either that or an Ashdown Fallen Angel.

 

[HarrisonDavid]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Dude as far as gigging I don't know about the flextone III. I like that amp it's so versatile and you really can get a lot of different STUFF out of it. Problem is there is so much you can do with it you spend a lot of time just TWEAKING it. LOL. BTW I had a Boss Pedal with the snap in Pedals I had like five or six can't remember, I traded them in for the Board for the Flextone, it's definately worth the trouble as you have like 36 presets you can save to it. Unlimited capabilites.
Anywasy I found on putting the the Amp to Insane and picking the Marshall Plexi Lead 100 or the Brit J. Sounded amazing for balls! Of Course you have the tweak the knobs for your tone liking.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Thanx everyone for the advice. I've been looking into the 5150 but it's just too much power, and I hear the combo's are not so good (and I really need a fairly portable combo).

Guy at GC was playing a Blue Voodo yesterday and it didn't sound too bad, but comes in a head only. The V series are interesting though. May look into that. Does it have an open back or closed cab?

I really would like to get a lower wattage MESA, and a Triple X -40 or Classic 50 is an option too. It does seem there just are not many good high gain amps in that $600 range (new that is).

 

[Davey]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

try an ashdows fallen angel, either a 40 or 60W combo. all tube with V30's stock. i heard they have some reliability issues, but i dont know in what terms.
i have to go out and play them excessively one of these days. but the store they got em sucks pretty much

 

[Fiber-Optics]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Guy at GC was playing a Blue Voodo yesterday and it didn't sound too bad, but comes in a head only. The V series are interesting though. May look into that. Does it have an open back or closed cab?

Open, you can see the speaker from the back. there is a little vent like thing on the top and you can see the tubes.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

try an ashdows fallen angel, either a 40 or 60W combo. all tube with V30's stock. i heard they have some reliability issues, but i dont know in what terms.

I've heard the same thing and it makes me a bit leery of them. I haven't had much luck with most of my guitar purchases in the past few months since I got back into playing. 2 screwy guitars, 1 dead amp . So I'm getting a little gunshy

 

[TechMetalMan]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

Good Med-High Gain Amps For Cheap-
Used: Mesa F-30, Mesa .50+ Caliber, Mesa Subway Rocket Series, Mesa DC series, Peavey Ultra series, Laney AOR Series, Laney GH Series, Laney LC/VC Series (not so much gain as the AOR and GH), Marshall DSL 50, Marshall JCM900, Marshall JCM800

New: Crate V Series, Randall Rg G2 Series

I would really suggest getting something like a Laney AOR or GH amp for the hot rodded marshall sound and just get an avatar 1x12 or 2x12 for now. You could probably do that for under 600 depending on what price the head is.

Check out avatar cabs, reliable, good, and cheap: www.avatarspeakers.com

 

[Jag513]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

i disagree about the bass of the hot rod

i find it has the perfect ammount at bedroom volumes, but the speaker gets more trebly as volume increases

That's weird...I just find it very bassy, as do most of the people I've talked to. An even tone for me has the bass at 4 and treble at 10, with mids around 7 or 8.

*Shrugs* maybe you just have a brighter guitar.

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

The 5150 comes in combo at 60 watts, and is VERY good, as far as I care/am concerned. The Blue Voodoo does come in combo form, 1x12 and 2x12. Just not new. I suggest you buy used.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Played a bunch of amps today....sigh

The 5150 combo would be perfect since the cab is closed and now the prices are reduced @ MF (I can get SamAsh to beat it, then use my SamAsh card and make payments) ...only thing is even with a 60 watter, I need to use my power brake for home, and from looking at the manual, the speakers are not connected by a normal plug/jack. Same with the Classics :sigh: I really need those power tubes breaking up. I could buy a head, then I'd need to buy a cab too, and that kind of defeats the whole purpose..I really want and need a combo.

There's a new (with a few shop scratches and warranty) MESA F30 on ebay right now (or was last night) with a BIN of $700. I'm quite tempted. 30 watts is pretty much all I need and I can still use a brake with the F30 since it has a normal speaker jack/connection. Open back is the only thing keeping me from using BIN.