whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

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alright, i've noticed one of the pains in the a** of being in a band...... which is hauling around my gear. and since i have a pretty heavy combo, i would liek to get an amp that i can juat leave at home so i can leave the marshall at the band practice place. i want something that doesn't sound like crap, so thats pretty vague.
i was thinking about the fender blues jr., so i can have nice cleans as well as some nice distortion(it doesn't need to be heavy). or something else.

i dont really ahve alot of money as we speak so i dont have enough to get an expensive one.
so, can you guys help me out here?

-jim

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Behringer V-Amp2!!! Not really an amp, but you might end up liking it so much, you'll run it through your Marshall's power amp. I did...and am getting a tube poweramp ASAP!

 

[Dime59hum]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Either that Vamp, or get a Roland MicroCube. Awesome little amp, and it can get great cleans, an acoustic simulator, and it can get heavy as hell too. I love it, and its my main amp right now. I know you didnt want something that got that heavy, but I just know that your going to want it to get heavy man, we know you. For godssake you SD forum name is \m/(00)\m/!

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Tech 21's "TradeMark 10" is a great deal at about $250. Yeah it's solid state and has only an 8" speaker, but you'd be amazed by the tone this little box puts out. It has 3 amp simulations: Tweed (Fender), British (Marshall) and California (Mesa); plus 3 speaker emulations: U.S. (for Fender or Mesa), U.K. (for Marshall) and flat; plus 3 drive selections: clean, drive & hot. The TradeMark 10 isn't exactly a modelling amp in the sense that you can't select "program #43" and get exactly so-an-so's tone from a Marshall XXX into a 4x12 cab with medium gain - you have to learn how the different controls interact and remember when you find some settings that you really like. My only beef about the amp is the lack of a footswitch - but it's only $250 bucks! http://www.tech21nyc.com/tm10.html

I love my Blues Jr., but frankly you need to have an attentuator to crank it up enough to get good power tube distortion unless you live in the middle of 10 acres or more of woods If I had to choose one to keep, it would be the TradeMark 10 hands down.

There may be a better practice amp out there for the same $$$, and I haven't played everything available. But this is one great little box. I plug mine into a 1x12" cab and get all the volume I'd ever want for practicing. The direct recording out is a cool feature too, and the reverb is way better than the Blues Jr.'s. Having an effects loop is good too.

BTW Black Rose Customs carries Tech 21 products, and John's prices are the best I could find for the TM 10.

Chip

 

[JSS]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

I'd definitely have to suggest a triple rectifier... actually, make that two of those, and also, a Marshall Silver Jubilee Slash edition... and at least a dozen 4X12... hope you have a big home!

 

[Cory_Dylan]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

I'd definitely have to suggest a triple rectifier... actually, make that two of those, and also, a Marshall Silver Jubilee Slash edition... and at least a dozen 4X12... hope you have a big home!

.....?????

anyway, i would get the blues junior off ebay. it doesn't just have decent cleans, it has awesome cleans. it's actually a straight up one channel amp. it does break up nicely if you crank it. for drive you could use a ts-808. that setup would rule!!! it would knock the sh*t out of the avt. that's actually what i might end up doing (fellow avt owner lol)

 

[Young Angus]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

I hear the tech21 stuff is good, but have never tried it myself.

As far as a little amp goes if you just want something to stuff around with at home the new roland cube series, namely the cube30, are good practice amps but their solid state tones may annoy you a bit.

As far as little tube amps go the blues jr. would have lovely cleans and probably okay dirty sounds, but there wouldnt be much versatility in it by itself so you could easily get pedals for it and it would no doubt sound great...at a fraction of the weight you currently lugg around.

 

[presa_tito]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

my new found best friend the atomic 112. Review here http://www.instituteofnoise.com/L6/atomic.asp

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Either that Vamp, or get a Roland MicroCube. Awesome little amp, and it can get great cleans, an acoustic simulator, and it can get heavy as hell too. I love it, and its my main amp right now. I know you didnt want something that got that heavy, but I just know that your going to want it to get heavy man, we know you. For godssake you SD forum name is \m/(00)\m/!

well said! :smack:

when i practice, i dont use heavy distortion. i try to have the most annoying shrill, clean sound you can think of so it shows every bit of my mistakes. i think my playing sucks right now, so i'd like to have my playing alot cleaner so when i ddo put on distortion... it'll be alot cleaner sounding.
thanks for the advice guys, keep em coming!

 

[big_black]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Check out the smaller wattage Vox tube/solid state hybrid amps. I've got a 30w cambridge and the cleans are amazing! Real punchy, came with a celestion. They don't make them anymore, but you can probably find one used for around $150, maybe less. Oh, yeah, two channels too! They made a 1x10 (I have) and a 2x10 (I wish I had). They 1x8 Bulldogs are not bad, but they sound thin.

 

[telerifik]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Check this one out http://www.music123.com/Drive-G15-V-15-Watt-Vintage-Guitar-Combo-i127948.music low price, retro design and killer sound for what it is.

 

[Hellion]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

I'd recommend a Line 6 Spyder, 50 watts, two 10" speakers. Not really loud enough for stage, still gives you stereo and ping pong effects, and there's more low end than you'd imagine. They're still a little light on the bottom end, but hey, it's just practice, right? I've got a 50 watt 112 and it's a screaming little monster. Works just great for those places that can't quite handle my normal rig.

 

[Charvel]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

Behringer V-Amp2!!! Not really an amp, but you might end up liking it so much, you'll run it through your Marshall's power amp. I did...and am getting a tube poweramp ASAP!

Damn straight buddy thast what im running right now, it kinda look cheap considdering my guitar hehe.. .but it works and i love my v-amp 2 its sweet it was only 300 Canadian$ and i canj record good with it

 

[StratTom]

Re: whats a good amp just for practicing at home?

I'd definitely have to suggest a triple rectifier... actually, make that two of those, and also, a Marshall Silver Jubilee Slash edition... and at least a dozen 4X12... hope you have a big home!

HAHAHA :laugh2: