Thinking of what to replace amp with when time

FuseG4

FuseG4

Our Neighbor Totoro
I have a bugera v22 and it is ok but the reverb is garbage and the drive channel is just ok and it's an older model and i was thinking as it seems like getting towards time to replace power tubes that tubes are getting limited and expensive.

I was also lamenting my lack of anything to connect guitar to headphones. I have a Linux laptop and didn't really wanna go software amplification.

Was thinking of maybe getting a boss gt-1 and using it with headphones or active bookshelf speakers for a while.
Or maybe a terror stamp but the cab sim on that one seems limiting.

I dunno lately I care less about tone and more about wether I can play well or not... And much of my practice time is after hours when I'm sure my family would prefer me be silent. Is this a good time to switch to modeling?

Was thinking of even maybe going for headrush mx5 but they are little more money. I don't have a lot to spend. And the boss demos ive heard sound like... Very BOSS pedaly but I'm a good way.

Does anyone have experience with those? I was thinking multi fx would be a step up from a headphone bug type thing at least. Otherwise the mustang micro even seems like a useable option.

Anyways what do you guys think and what kinda ampless practice rig would you get if you had limited funds and wanted a range of tones from all genres
 
The Boss consistently gets good reviews. You may also consider the Katana series to use with headphones, too. And you have a regular amp when no one is home.
 
You have a lot of options available. I also wouldn't totally rule out a computer rig in your case. STL Tones (and others) have a nice free try out phase and some great sounding products to test and see if it could work for you. They also have a monthly subscription option for very little money per month. You could always demo something like that for free and if you like it then try it for 30 days and all you are out of the cost of a burger and fries.

Not sure what you want to spend if you bought another amp or tangible product but if care to share I would be happy to throw out some solid suggestions for you. The options available can be daunting and you want to buy right and buy once in this rabbit hole.

Good luck!
 
When I first started playing guitar again 15 years ago, I got a Roland Microcube. You can plug headphones into it and play silently.
And after all these years, the thing still sounds good. And it will run on 6 AA batteries. I used to take mine to the beach.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
Was hoping to keep it in the $200 range but zzounds will give me payments on things so like... Sometimes I stretch the budget and pay over time when things like blems or returns deals pop up.

The micro cube I've heard a lot of demos though and while useable seems a little too bright on a lot of demos. The boss gt-1 has some of that COSM attack sharpness that sounds to me kinda fake vs tube amps but still sounds pleasing regardless.
 
Well, the Microcube only has a 6 1/2" speaker, so yeah, it's a bit bright. But you can run it through a PA and turn the tone on the amp down and it sounds just fine.
 
Demanic said:
Well, the Microcube only has a 6 1/2" speaker, so yeah, it's a bit bright. But you can run it through a PA and turn the tone on the amp down and it sounds just fine.
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Ooh cool I'll look into those more thank you!
edit: not bad but every video I have watched so far on these they seem to never mention using line out and everyone throws a mic on it.

Also
Software alone is a tough route for me to go as I no longer have Windows and it's kinda a project to install stuff and get it working on my laptop.

And, I still haven't come across a boss katana to play in person but I've thought about that road before And I'll be honest the Katana Artist looks like the cool one to own and sounds the best in demos. The 100 sounds pretty cool to me but the 50 sounds like there's something about the cab or speaker or something that makes it sound kinda raspy to me

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I also thought that some of the Zoom and Nux multi effects sounded good for gain and kinda sounded like maybe not the best but when people brought their own IRs with the Nux mg300 it was not bad, it does let you load ir somehow.
Also did not like what I heard from the pod Go
Lol

​​​​The orange terror stamp has less versatility but I've always liked the orange sound and I still have a few dirt pedals
I do like how a tube and dirty boost work together. and so eventually maybe a separate cab sim box and some modulation effects down the road would round that out

I could always still use the bugera as a speaker cab for a while even if the amp fails, it has a 12" eminence reignmaker which is decent.
 
If you can still use your amp as a speaker cab, look at the Joyo Bantamp heads, the Bantamps are small clones of bigger amps, Mesa Dual Rec, Marshall JCM 800, Orange Jim Root model and a bunch more, all can be had for less than $200, think the most expensive is $189.
 
The joyo have some hit or miss tones in there depending on the model but the meteor actually definitely reminds me of Orange in as good way and in a much different way then the... Slightly more modern terror tone?
the zombie seems to sound ok
Thought the vivo was a little like hot garbage but ymmv
 
Boss Waza Air is the best thing I’ve ever bought for practicing. I have young kids so most of the time I practice I need to be quiet now. It sounds so much more natural than any other headphone solution, it connects fast and easily every time, and here’s the weird thing…. Programming new sounds is a bit of a pain so I loaded my favorite 6 and just make do. Instead of tweaking the OD level or the chorus depth I just play. It’s fantastic.

I’m thinking about the Katana Air next for practice without headphones.
 
I had thought about the waza Air For the stereo projection and such.

I would have to use my Android phone to make presets, I feel like you can use a phone to do that with that right?

Demos do make it sound good. Maybe not ultra realistic but good

But a multi fx while lacking the amp in room feel can be easier to program and sometimes half the price so as you can tell I'm still considering options!
 
For ampless practice (heck, even gigging), I would either recommend the Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+ or Neural DSP. For the Torpedo, you'll probably need your pedals as it only has a clean amp sim (with multiple tube modelling options, but it is aimed as a clean pedal platform an has a crapton of cabs, you can download more either free or for peanuts), but for example the SLO100 suite from Neural is a complete package, I love it.

 
nexion218 said:
For ampless practice (heck, even gigging), I would either recommend the Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+ or Neural DSP. For the Torpedo, you'll probably need your pedals as it only has a clean amp sim (with multiple tube modelling options, but it is aimed as a clean pedal platform an has a crapton of cabs, you can download more either free or for peanuts), but for example the SLO100 suite from Neural is a complete package, I love it.

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Plugins and apps I gotta say could work down the road but I would have to get a Windows 10 key again and repartition and set up to dual boot windows. or get a Mac. which sounds like a pain to be honest.


Interesting though. The cab m+ seems to sound pretty decent with people's preamps or attenuator and amp I feel like maybe if I paired the terror stamp preamp with this I could have a very easy and versatile rig
I would just need some modulation pedals somewhere too
 
Bogner said:
Have you considered the Positive Grid Spark?
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I have not before, now as I look it seems like some people made it sound small and boxy but some people make some of the drive tones sounded pretty good Seems like it has Android capability which is easy. And a bevy of options.
 
FuseG4 said:
Interesting though. The cab m+ seems to sound pretty decent with people's preamps or attenuator and amp I feel like maybe if I paired the terror stamp preamp with this I could have a very easy and versatile rig
I would just need some modulation pedals somewhere too
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The M+ has a pre and poweramp emulation already, albeit a very clean one. For me that was the selling point: I was looking for sg to make decent recordings with using my pedals withough having to blast off the walls and windows of the room when micing an actual cranked amp. But I mainly do br00talz, so a distortion and delay with this basically covers my grounds.
 
FuseG4 said:
I had thought about the waza Air For the stereo projection and such.

I would have to use my Android phone to make presets, I feel like you can use a phone to do that with that right?

Demos do make it sound good. Maybe not ultra realistic but good

But a multi fx while lacking the amp in room feel can be easier to program and sometimes half the price so as you can tell I'm still considering options!
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The two things that I love are the full wireless and “room” reverb algorithm. (When practicing before I’d have a cable to my interface/multifx, a headphone cable and sometimes a cable from my phone) Now the guitar is wireless, the headphones are wireless, my phone with metronome/backing track/drum & bass, etc. is wireless. So fast and easy. The gyro thing is cool but gimmicky, but the algorithm to add room space is amazing. It doesn’t sound like you have two speakers next to your head, it sounds much more realistic than when I was plugged into a POD.

I think Android works with it.

My goal when using it is truly practice. It’s not trying to get the right tones and alma that stuff. I can still use my full rig for that, but I’ve practiced more in the last 9 months than I had the previous four years combined.

It’s a lot of money for a specific thing (can’t even record the output) so I understand. Best of luck with your search!
 
FuseG4 said:
Was hoping to keep it in the $200 range but zzounds will give me payments on things so like... Sometimes I stretch the budget and pay over time when things like blems or returns deals pop up.

The micro cube I've heard a lot of demos though and while useable seems a little too bright on a lot of demos. The boss gt-1 has some of that COSM attack sharpness that sounds to me kinda fake vs tube amps but still sounds pleasing regardless.
Click to expand...

Used Katana head. It has a 6" speaker in it. Can also drive full size cab.
 
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