What amp would suit me best?

AmirH

AmirH

New member
Well, I've been putting money aside since June and so far I've got about 700 bucks. I need to go buy my books for school today which should cost just under a couple hundred, but I've got an interview wednesday for a new job and with that in mind GAS is hitting hard. If I get the job it'll be a couple months until I can afford a choice amp but I think I'd like some opinions on what I should be looking for.

It has to be high gain- and by that I mean enough to play balls to the wall metal. On the other hand I need to get into a kind of marshall crunch territory too because I'd like to use it for recording my little classic rock side project. Cleans are important to me but it doesn't have to have fender cleans- so long as it sounds "good." Good sounding reverb is a plus, but I think more importantly than any of that- I want lead sounds to die for. Seriously, I'm so sick of the Vamp "whine" it's not even funny. The more complex the lead sound the better I say. I don't think I'd be willing to pay more than 1500 with a cab and I'm not adverse to the used market.

Amps I've tried so far at GC include a marshall jcm2000 which I felt sounded too much like my peavey(which is solid state!! wtf) a mesa triple rect which I couldn't get to sound good at all though I've read they require tons of tweaking, a single rect which was the same story, and a xxx which sounded much better but still maybe not good enough. These were all in the amp room so they were plenty loud.

I'm kind of interested in playing through a mesa mark IV but I don't where I could test one. My experiences playing mesas have been pretty bad so far but I've heard very good sounding records with them so I don't know what to think really. I also don't know if that amp has the gain I want, despite the supposed versatillity I've read about.

Give me your opinion!! It's not like I'm in a rush, and if I'm gonna break down and do this I want to explore every option possible.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

Honestly; I think there are two amps for you.

Mesa Rectoverb or Dual Recto, or a Krank.

The Recto's will need tweaking, an OD, and I'd suggest keeping it on the vintage setting! I love that mode of it. Also, the Rectoverb 1x12's go for about 700-800 on eBay, and sound godly!

The Krank will require an OD as well, but I mean...come on. Every amp sounds better with one infront! :D. The amp will do a mean Marshall tone, IMO, but it also handles the Mesa spectrum.

Out of those two, I'd personall go for the krank!
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

I agree with DSS that Krank would be an excellent choice. However, the only problem is that they are significantly more than $1500. I don't think the Rectoverb would suit you at all. Judging from my own personal experiences with the amp, it seemed very fuzzy and roughly defined. However, I didn't have an OD in front.

It's pretty tough to make a suggestion for the given styles because they are so diverse, and your chances of finding all of the four corners of tone in one amplifier for under $1500 is highly unlikely. Instead, think about if you could only have the amplifier do two things (IE sweet cleans, crushing distortion, or awesome lead), and which two you would choose.

From my interpretation, you're describing a Bogner Ecstasy to a 'T', but those are much more expensive. ;)

Good luck with the search!
 
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Re: What amp would suit me best?

I personally think you wouldn't like the Bogner that much. It's actually not that high in gain, and isn't aggressive enough for my tastes.

Kranks can be found for <1400 most of the time; I know Krankguitarist got his Revolution1 for a grand off eBay.

Recto's definitely take some tweaking, and in the end do sound best mixed with other amps.

That said, a 5150 and an amp for cleans might be right up your alley. If I was going for both in one killer amp, though, I'd get the Krank or Dual Rack-tifier, in that order.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

Also, never test anything through a Mesa cabinet that isn't a Traditional Sized 4x12. The Krank cabinets blow, as well.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

Watroba said:
I agree with DSS that Krank would be an excellent choice. However, the only problem is that they are significantly more than $1500. I don't think the Rectoverb would suit you at all. Judging from my own personal experiences with the amp, it seemed very fuzzy and roughly defined. However, I didn't have an OD in front.

It's pretty tough to make a suggestion for the given styles because they are so diverse, and your chances of finding all of the four corners of tone in one amplifier for under $1500 is highly unlikely. Instead, think about if you could only have the amplifier do two things (IE sweet cleans, crushing distortion, or awesome lead), and which two you would choose.

From my interpretation, you're describing a Bogner Ecstasy to a 'T', but those are much more expensive. ;)

Good luck with the search!
Click to expand...

If I had to pick only two I'd sacrifice the clean without a doubt. I get very usable cleans from the bandit, which is the only reason I'm not really willing to part with that amp- since it does nothing else particularly well. Leads are absolutely the most important as that's the thing I've been least happy with for a while now.

Really, versatility is the name of the game. I need a lot of different sounds because I'll basically be using it for recording moreso than anything else. My band doesn't play shows(not enough people, simple as that) and if we did I'd still put a higher priority on my recorded sounds.

The krank as you said seems out of my price range, but maybe I could get lucky with ebay, who knows. The rectifiers I'm somewhat opposed to- I mean, I spent nearly an hour with one and still couldn't get a sound I was very happy with- this being through a mesa 4 x 12 slant. The thing that especially scares me about those is that when I saw cryptopsy their amps(dual rect) sounded just like what I had it sounding like... yuck.

5150 is something to think about, since the prices are right and they are a standard. Has anyone had experience with the mark IV or rectoverbs?- the implied versatility is alluring and a lot of times the tones that catch my ear happen to be mesa. Haha, glad I asked this early- this decision will require a lot of thought.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

Honestly, It depends on what speaker you're running a MKIV through. I absolutely loved it the first time I played it through a mesa 3/4 back 1x12, and hated it through a 4x12 and 2x12 mesa cabinet.

I think that a TS and EMG's infront of a Recto can be a beautiful thing with a nice cabinet; try it with a Marshall cabinet or one of those 3/4 back's. Also, try the vintage mode with the gain near cranked.

But honestly, a 5150 would probably suit you best. The cleans aren't that bad, they're completely useable, and if you have any nice chorus's or delays, it'll make it that much better! You've heard how 5150's sound, nonetheless.

For 700, I'd grab the combo (which has reverb), a Maxon OD808, and a BBE 422A if you feel the need, afterwards.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

The thing that makes me hestitant about a 5150 is I'd really like a nice dark/rich sounding overdriven sound. Think later day Camel. Don't take offense to this or anything but I'm not really big on the way emgs sound for leads. They articulate well but something about the way they're voiced isn't quite right for what I'm after. Hard to top for rhythm though. Just how versatile is the 5150 for lead sounds?

One thing I didn't realize might be an option was a used splawn. Shreder75 pm'd me with some suggestions and that definitely caught my eye. The quickrod clips I've heard= godly.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

A Splawn for sure would kick ass, but are very expensive.

The lead tones on the 5150...Everyone from Soilwork to In Flames to Arch Enemy to Van Halen has used them ;).
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

You might check out a Peavey JSX, if you dug the triple xxx that you played you might really like the jsx, it's a great jack of all trades. It has a nice clean, it can do great rock tones as well and it has no problem getting nice and heavy too. It also has three channels.
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

If it has an out so I can hook it to a cab I actually prefer combo, makes for more versatility in the end.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com...rpage=20&highlight=Traynor YCV50&pagenumber=1

I seriously wouldn't have even thought traynor but the first clip is REALLY close to the Latimer type tone I love so much. How do you suppose it would stack up if I was trying to get a more modern metal rhythm? So far it's got two of the bases covered in my book. For the price I could pick one up in like two weeks too. Haha, maybe I should get it for those sounds and a different amp for the other sounds. It is basically half of my said price limit and I could haev it soon :32:
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

If we're forgetting the whole clean thing, a used Soldano Astroverb?
 
Re: What amp would suit me best?

Trust me that Traynor kicks serious arse. A friend of mine bought one and I got to play though it.
 
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