Your advice on what amp I should buy

The Vault

The Vault

New member
Well, here I am in the market for an amp and I'm really confused about which to settle on. I haven't really started testing any out, but I'm trying to narrow down my choices before I do.

I need something to gig with in bars and small clubs, as well as rehearse with; I was thinking 30/40 watts. I used to own a Marshall DSL2000 50 watt head and run that through a 4x12 cab, but I'm not in the market for another Marshall, especially with that sort of wattage.

So, I was thinking about either a clean Fender amp that I could use crunch and distortion pedals with, or an AC-30RI. But have heard some great things about Hughs/Kettner, and Bogner amps. I'm looking to spend $1000 (maximum) for a used amp.

As for sound, I'm looking for something versatile that crunches nicely with the volume turned up, but that can get a real sweet clean sound. Ideally, I'd like something that can crunch like a Marshall and do clean up like a Fender amp.

My style preferences are hard rock a.k.a Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, Buckley, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, BB King and Eric Clapton, Lenny Kravitz, etc..

As you can tell, I'm into classic rock and blues style riffing!
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

I was thinking that a sweet combo would be a Twin Reverb coupled with Seymour's SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic for crunch
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

Fender Silverface Super or maybe a used Mesa Blue Angel....great clean sounding amps, right around 40 watts and both love OD pedals.
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

Vox Valvetronix (I can hear the groans now). Got a tube amp already? Vox Tonelab SE. I have both the Ad60VTX combo and the Tonelab which I run through on old Univox head into an Earcandy Buzzbomb 4X12 and the sound is outstanding. Marshalls, Fenders, Voxes etc. IMO they HAVE to be run through at least two speakers to reach it's potential. My combo alone vs when I put it through my H&K 4X12 is like night and day.

I've never played through the newer silver grill amps, but there are plenty of posts about them as well. Hit a music store and try them out just to see what you think, but don't use the preprogrammed stuff, build some amps and cabinets yourself.

Good luck with the search man, and have fun doing it.
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

a super reverb is a great work horse amp, nice full robust clean tone.

i tried one of the new cheaper bogners and it was pretty nice for what it was. might be worth checking out
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

fender just came out with a bigger version of their new tube amp/modeler hybrid(40w i think??), a 1x12 they named "deluxe", and it's around $800 new. it's smaller versions with 6v6 tubes are great, with good feel and tone. i can only imagine what the larger version sounds like:scratchch
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

For classic styles, I've always liked the Fender Hot Rod Deville, with 2x12's, not the 4x10 model. It's 60 watts, I believe, but should definitely do the trick around town. What venues in the city are you playing at? I've been doing a few pubs in the Yonge & Eg area with my VK head into an Avatar Vintage 2x12 and it's been dynamite so far.
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

Going on UK prices, a used, mid 1970s AC30 would be a good shout but only if you've got a steady income to keep it running (new valves every now and then etc). I was in your boat a while back and opted for a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe but tbh, the Fender and the Vox are WAY loud. I would look at 15 watts or so if you're going down the all valve route and want to play small clubs and stuff. Maybe try a Laney Lionheart?
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

Jay 77 said:
For classic styles, I've always liked the Fender Hot Rod Deville, with 2x12's, not the 4x10 model. It's 60 watts, I believe, but should definitely do the trick around town. What venues in the city are you playing at? I've been doing a few pubs in the Yonge & Eg area with my VK head into an Avatar Vintage 2x12 and it's been dynamite so far.
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Hey Jay.. You know, all the hot spots like Rivoli, Horseshoe, or Cadillac Lounge and smaller places like Mitsy's Sister or Not My Dog. I noticed that you have Dot On Shaft guitar.. You've got a pic of that beauty? My friend has a hollowbody with soapbar pickups and it looks and sounds sweet.

I listened to your myspace page.. did you record with that HR Deville on those recordings?
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

Used Fender Hot Rod ?

Sounds good with 'buckers if you ask me !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eW2Vm6TQ7E - w humbuckers

For an affordable, and reliable valve amp, this one sounds good to my ears !
And you can always "up-grade" the speakers on a later stage, IF you want to !
What do you think of the pedal'less tone of this clip ?


James
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

SlowGroove said:
Used Fender Hot Rod ?

Sounds good with 'buckers if you ask me !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eW2Vm6TQ7E - w humbuckers

For an affordable, and reliable valve amp, this one sounds good to my ears !
And you can always "up-grade" the speakers on a later stage, IF you want to !
What do you think of the pedal'less tone of this clip ?


James
Click to expand...

Yea, that was a phat tone ocming out of that amp.. but that '79 LP probably had somethign to do with that too!

Nice one.
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

You had said at first that you wanted something around 30 to 40 watts. Then you said a Twin (which is 80W). A Twin is a great amp, but they are very loud & very clean but take pedals well. I would say that a Super Reverb would be a good choice, but they are going to be more then the $1K you want to spend. Another real good choice would be a Bogner Shiva. When you said in your original post you wanted Fender cleans & Marshall Crunch..... The Shiva immediately came to mind. I have a 1 12" EL 34 combo. One of my goto amps. It has cleans that are similar to a Super Reverb (not a Twin. It breaks up sooner) The Drive is similar to a Marshall but has more bottom & the midrange can be a tad thick. I have one & have been able to dial in a good sound. The drawback to the Shiva is if you buy a used one you may need a special cable for the effects loop. This would depend on how old the amp is. The problem with the loop has been fixed in newer models. Its not a big deal... they have a wiring diagram on how to make the cable yourself on the website. The cable works. I have a Boss CE2 & DD3 running through the loop, then I have a TS9 going straight in. I use the TS9 more like a boost then an OD. But the amp itself does quite a lot. Very versatile and plenty of volume. It also has 3 volume controls, so you should be able to use it fairly well in most environments. I love my Shiva!
 
Re: Your advice on what amp I should buy

The Vault said:
Jay 77 said:
Hey, that's cool you know about DOS. Mike's a great guy and I have two guitars from him at the moment. I think I have pics of them on my personal myspace page if you wanted to see.

Which recordings were you listening to? If they were on my personal page, everything was done with various guitars of mine, using Guitar Rig for the most part. As for the band's page, all the demos were done with my DOS Mellitus into my VK, and a Marshall 30th anniversary 4x12 cab.

As for playing around town, I'd strongly suggest a 2x12 if you can swing it. I used to play the Reverb, Bovine, El Mo, Lee's and such with other bands and I always used a 4x12 and 100w head. Now that I'm playing pubs, the 2x12 is much easier to work with and still sounds great. I used the Hot Rod Deluxe once with my old band, and I found it hard to clear the drums onstage. The Deville is much better for that. If you're not running your cab through a house PA, you'll want 2x12's for sure. Even miked up, a single 12 can be tough to work with, even with a decent monitor setup.

Feel free to pick my brain about anything if it comes up! See ya!
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For those interested in checking them out, here is a link for DOS Guitars. Yea, I used to use the 50watt DSL with 4x12 Cab and it was too much playing in all those places you mentioned. I was never really able to open the tubes up and really let them shine. So, I'm in the market for a 2x12 combo. I'm moving to Windsor in September and many of those bars around there are midsized.

Bludave said:
You had said at first that you wanted something around 30 to 40 watts. Then you said a Twin (which is 80W). A Twin is a great amp, but they are very loud & very clean but take pedals well. I would say that a Super Reverb would be a good choice, but they are going to be more then the $1K you want to spend. Another real good choice would be a Bogner Shiva. When you said in your original post you wanted Fender cleans & Marshall Crunch..... The Shiva immediately came to mind. I have a 1 12" EL 34 combo. One of my goto amps.
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Yea, I know. But some Twin Reverb amps have master volumes, don't they? The main concern I have with high wattage amps is that I always feel that they never really get to 'open' up because, on stage or at rehearsals, ya can't really pump up the volume and open up the tubes past 4~6 (at least with my experience)... hence, why I am looking for something with lower wattage.

I took a listen to those Shiva clips and that is some great tone coming out of there. The demos pickt out those chimey cleans and hard crunch on the gain settings that I'm crazy about.
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