What to do, what to do....

Andrew Lamprecht

Andrew Lamprecht

Minion of One
Our family has not been very well off I guess for a couple years, my dad works in staffing and since there are no jobs to staff yeah. :D When the economy was high he was making $110,000 a year, but last year he made around $35,000. Anyway, my dad got a new job last year and he got a bonus... about 50% of his salary. hehe so he gave all the kids a bit of money. That plus some money I have saved up gets me around $1,100.

So now this is where I am at.

I have around $8000 in debt because of school. I've been working on it and got around $900 paid off this year. However, I don't like debt at all. :) I wouldn't mind getting this paid off.

Also, the amp I am using now, has some issues and needs a new speaker. The issues will cost around $100 to fix and a speaker is around $75. So that is $175....

..but..

part of me wants a new amp. :D

I don't know what I am looking for but I definitely need a loud clean amp. I play completely clean quite often and sometimes it's hard to cut through without volume.

Here are my choices I am looking at....

Buy another Yamaha G100 for $150 (about what it would cost to fix the other one,even a bit cheaper) and put the rest towards the debt.

Buy a Music Man HD130 212 for $500 and put $600 towards the debt.

Buy a twin reverb for $600 and put $500 on the debt.

Lab Series amps... $300 or so... rest towards debt

Buy a Boogie MkII (I loved this amp but would the cleans be loud enough?) for $800 and put $300 towards the debt.

Any other suggestions?

I like my yamaha now and part of me just wants to get it fixed but when they are so cheap.... and I can always fix them later... you know....

What do you guys think?
 
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Re: What to do, what to do....

Hi Andrew,

My thoughts for what they're worth. If you're not a particularly well off person (I'm not) then you're going to be in debt on and off for most of your life. Debts can be paid off a bit at a time and this is what most of us do. To have an unusually large sum of money in your possession is not something that happens to folks like us all that often.

Andrew, you do not strike me as a greedy or careless person but, like all of us, you like your music stuff. Strike while the iron's hot - go for the amp you want but make sure it's something you REALLY like and is built well enough to last a good long time.

The words 'loud' and 'clean' are synonymous with the Fender Twin. I had the same Yamaha amp as you and while it was a pretty good amp it can't hold a candle to a Twin.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Don't get an old Boogie Mk anything. While they are not outrageously expensive they are better toys if you have other toys. The cleans will be loud enough all right but not very pleasant. The whole thing will not be very pleasant at low volumes.

A nice, loud, cheap, used amp for cleans is an of the old Music Man stuff. Sure it's only half tube but it's getting the job done.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

uOpt said:
Don't get an old Boogie Mk anything. While they are not outrageously expensive they are better toys if you have other toys. The cleans will be loud enough all right but not very pleasant. The whole thing will not be very pleasant at low volumes.

A nice, loud, cheap, used amp for cleans is an of the old Music Man stuff. Sure it's only half tube but it's getting the job done.
Click to expand...

Problem solving - play at high volumes.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Yeah, I kinda take the opposite view, I say get the Boogie.

That said, debt sucks, and I'm from the school of "if you can't afford it, don't buy it".
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

I certainly won't offer the most popular opinion:

Put it all towards your debt.

or

Take the least out to have a functional amp and put the rest towards debt.

When you get a large chunk of money, it's best to put it towards debt. Getting out of that hole is one of the best feelings in the world.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

lpmarshall said:
I certainly won't offer the most popular opinion:

Put it all towards your debt.

or

Take the least out to have a functional amp and put the rest towards debt.

When you get a large chunk of money, it's best to put it towards debt. Getting out of that hole is one of the best feelings in the world.
Click to expand...

YES!

Every second that you wait to pay off debt, your debt increases. Every time that you add to your debt, you are really stealing money from your own future. Unless you're gigging regularly and the amp is going to be paying for itself, it's not a good investment.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Andrew,

No one can make this decision for you. Unfortunately, this is yours and yours alone.

Are you currently in a band?
Are you currently in or preparing for the studio?
Are you gigging?
Do you have aspirations of joining a band and playing out live in the very near future (within a few months)?

If you answered yes to any of them, then get an amp. However, DO NOT get an amp, just to get one. DO NOT get something cheap that you just plan on using for a lil. If you're going get one, get one that will last. It's not worth getting an amp that you will eventually flip/sell/trade at a loss within less than a year.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Agileguy_101 said:
Problem solving - play at high volumes.
Click to expand...

Early Mesa Mks are absolutely awesome if you can be as loud as it takes for them to sound good. Not much of a question there.

I just don't see that it is a good target for very tight money.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

I'd put the bulk of it towards the debt, get dad something nice for Christmas, and treat yourself to a burger. The longer you hold debt, the less fun you can have as you move along in life.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Good advice from others here. I think you might not be well-served to have two copies of the same amp while your funds are limited. You will still be able to find G100s a few years down the road if you later decide you want another. I wouldn't put my money there right now, but that's just me.

You may not realize it yet, but a Fender Twin is your Holy Grail amp. You could get one on your budget and still have some $$$ left over to put toward debt reduction. I said in another thread that I wish I hadn't waited so long to become a tube snob. You might find this would be a timely investment in your guitar playing ability.

Getting (and staying) out of debt is, of course, key. The money you don't pay in interest will make a huge difference to your finances over time. But it is also important to have ready access to "rainy day" funds. If you have a line of credit available to you then it can make sense to put all your cash into paying off your debt. But if you are talking about student loans and such, you might want to hang onto some of that liquid cash to be able to take care of short-term needs. Nothing sucks like being forced to sell stuff (at a loss) to raise money to fix a car or a leaky roof. It may make more financial sense to pay down your debt at a sustainable rate and just bank the extra money you have.

Only you can decide. But if it were me, I'd probably spend it on a nice Twin Reverb and bank the rest.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

If you play clean, and need loud, you owe it to yourself to at least try a Twin. There is no deep lush clean like a Twin. You'll have it forever and you'll never run out of clean volume.....they are clean, fat and loud. The clean tone from a twin is like others have said, the grail. You already have a ridiculously heavy amp but you look like a big strong kid. Check one out. Reissues can be had pretty cheap. But I suggest a silver face without a master volume if you can find one cheap. They are around, people dump them because they get old like me and can't stand toting them around. From personal experience, I have owned a MK 2c, good amps but for what you describe, it's 100 % Twin!
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

If you NEED an amp for gigs, get an amp. Otherwise it's just a luxury. In times of need, luxuries are the first things to go. $8,000 is not a massive amount of debt, but any debt needs to be paid. The fact that it's not massive means it won't be that hard to pay off. Then there's no conflict as to where the money can go.

Easy money got the economy into the state it's in now. Don't be part of the problem.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Those Music Man amps sound goooood. They're easily as loud and clean as any Twin.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

Put $1000 towards the debt and put $100 in your amp fund. Sell your current amp for parts for $50 and then buy another working amp for $150.
 
Re: What to do, what to do....

You have a Yamaha G100, right? I'd get that fixed and look into getting the speaker rebuilt rather than replacing it. Especially if it's a series I, which it looks like it is. It may not be tube but it a sweet sounding, big, clean amp.

You can spend the rest on beer, bacon and cigarettes.
 
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