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ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods


The goal for this thread is to create a database for amps that we either own or have worked with and can give personalized help to people looking for a specific sound, like a compliment to the review thread. If you need help finding a certain amp sound type or are trying to match a certain artist post here and we'll try to help.

In my situation I am looking for a 2x12 combo amp, tube based, for under $1300 that has a great over driven warm distortion sound right out of the package without the need for effect units. From personal experience, what would be a good recommendation?

My own recommendation for anyone looking for an amp, do whatever you can to not cut corners by getting an amp that is better than a small practice amp but not good enough to gig with - the bargain bin half stacks by Raven, Crate, and Randall all fall under this category and just suck money that you could save up for an Orange, Mesa, Black Star, etc.

Let's get this thread huge

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gvonpaul
Jan 21, 2005
Goober

ruinedhero posted:

In my situation I am looking for a 2x12 combo amp, tube based, for under $1300 that has a great over driven warm distortion sound right out of the package without the need for effect units. From personal experience, what would be a good recommendation?

Vox AC30. Fat chimy cleans and warm dynamic overdrive. There is also a hand wired AC15 for about the same price.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

gvonpaul posted:

Vox AC30. Fat chimy cleans and warm dynamic overdrive. There is also a hand wired AC15 for about the same price.

I found it for the cheapest here
http://www.guitartrader.com/!sL05tIViHXAT1nSHjo2s6A!/VOX-AC30CC2-30-Watt-2x12-Custom-Classic-Combo-Amp-s

Every other place wanted over $1400. I'll log this for a test drive tomorrow when I go to all my local shops to check out their amps. Thanks for the recommendation.

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master
Mesa used to make a Dual Rectifier combo. Not sure if it's still in production. It was definitely a more modern distortion sound than an AC30 but still sounded really great for a 2x12" combo.

You can change the bias in a Mesa with a switch to accommodate EL34 tubes and give it more of a Marshall JCM 800 sound if that's your thing.

I do love Mesa stuff because it's EXTREMELY well built. The clean channel on the Dual Rectifier stays extremely clean even at loud volumes just like a good Fender. They have another channel on those amps that's kind of a go between the clean and high gain settings too. They're pretty versatile as far as sounds go.

I know you can find the Dual Rectifier heads all day long on the used market for sub 1000. The guitar player in my band picked up a Triple Rectifier head (150W version of the Dual Rectifier) with a flight case about a year ago for 800 bucks!

Hogscraper fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Jul 5, 2010

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

Hogscraper posted:

Mesa Boogie info

Mesa is definitely a brand I am going to be looking into as well. I did find a dual rectifier head around my area used for $900 and I could pair it up with a 2x12 cabinet as well.

iostream.h
Mar 14, 2006
I want your happy place to slap you as it flies by.

ruinedhero posted:

In my situation I am looking for a 2x12 combo amp, tube based, for under $1300 that has a great over driven warm distortion sound right out of the package without the need for effect units. From personal experience, what would be a good recommendation?
What kind of stuff do you play?

That price range, plus the 2x12 requirement pretty much rules out Orange (which as GorillaSalsa will attest to that I'm hopelessly addicted) and the AC30 (I have an AC30 head) has GREAT chimey cleans, but I wouldn't really describe the overdrive as 'warm'. Personally, I think the Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker is one of the best 2x12 combos ever made. I've been keeping my eye out for another one for a while again now, barely missed one at the Sam Ash in Atlanta (for $999) but they DO pop up from time to time. Very rich, thick and creamy overdrive that you could push pretty hard if you wanted to, without it ever getting that Dual Rec brittle edge to it.

Right now my favorite amps for gigging and recording are by FAR Orange. Using a Tiny Terror as a studio/practice rig through a 1x12 (using Vintage 30's in everything but my AC30 cab, which has Blues in it), an AD30 through a 2x12 for higher gain recording/gigging and a Rocker100 through either another 2x12 or (very rarely) a 4x12 for HIGHER gain/outdoor stuff. The AC30 is mostly for studio and/or slide work, anything needing a vintagy/grungy 'round' sound. I'm pondering picking up a Soldano SLO, but honestly, I dunno how much better than the Rocker100 it could possibly be.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

iostream.h posted:

What kind of stuff do you play?


I play alternative rock/metal and upon hearing some vox demos I don't think it is what I'm looking for and while I would love orange it is just so far out of my price range right now.

Does anyone have an opinion on BlackStar?

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Blackstar-Venue-Series-HT-Stage-HT60-60W-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=423770

They just came out with this and from the demos online it seems to have the sound I'm looking for plus it won't break my bank account (even is a used one for a little over $700). Everything I've seen so far seems positive on this combo.

Concatenation
Jul 23, 2005

Your human mentality cries out for vengeance and thrives on the violence you say you can hardly endure.
I've played the HT5 combo briefly and if the HT-60 is anything like it it'll be ridiculously awesome. Something about the voicing of the distortion just sounds great to my ears, like I want to bite into it. It won't do ultra heavy gain type stuff on it's own but I doubt you want that anyway.

I'd go for it personally. Either that or an Orange and boost it maybe.

MrWeight
Dec 9, 2006

by Ozma
This thread title is really funny. Thanks for making it. Amplifier Worship is Boris's best album.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods
Concatenation - yea I am pretty much sold on the blackstar amp just from a logistics standpoint as the 15% discount on Guitar Center (:ughh:) for the July sale brings this down to $764 NEW with free shipping if I have to get it from their site. It's one of the only brands actually allowing this coupon to be used. Everything I have heard on it and the price being loving amazing makes it seem like the amp for me.

MrWeight - I'm glad someone got the title :) it is an amazing album and Boris just loving rocks. Just Abondoned Myself off Pink is pure perfection.

Dr. Faustus
Feb 18, 2001

Grimey Drawer

ruinedhero posted:

In my situation I am looking for a 2x12 combo amp, tube based, for under $1300 that has a great over driven warm distortion sound right out of the package without the need for effect units. From personal experience, what would be a good recommendation?

Peavey Classic 50 is available in various configurations. I have the 4x10" and the 1x15".
It does not have the best, punchy clean tone in the world; but it does have plenty of gain out of the box. It has a lot of clarity, and to be frank I think it's basically a Vox circuit.
Put any overdrive pedal in front of it and it sounds amazing. My first thought, upon trying that, was Van Halen 1 for $700. Your mileage may vary.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

Dr. Faustus posted:

Peavey Classic 50 is available in various configurations. I have the 4x10" and the 1x15".
It does not have the best, punchy clean tone in the world; but it does have plenty of gain out of the box. It has a lot of clarity, and to be frank I think it's basically a Vox circuit.
Put any overdrive pedal in front of it and it sounds amazing. My first thought, upon trying that, was Van Halen 1 for $700. Your mileage may vary.

I have an old Peavey ULTRA from the late 90's that has the 4x10 setup and I could never get it to sound how I wanted, I'm sellin it tomorrow on the cheap since the footpedal is missing and you need the loving thing to get to one of the channels. Not trying Peavey anymore.

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master
If you're after those 90s grunge sounds you'll get that tone by playing a super clean amp like a Fender Twin Reverb or Mesa with a stock distortion pedal in front of it like a Boss DS-1/DS-2 or ProCo Rat.

the wizards beard
Apr 15, 2007
Reppin

4 LIFE 4 REAL
My drummer just bought one of these:


We're probably going to try out a bunch of pedals in front of it for high-gain sounds but that power section really does a lot for down-tuned stuff. Fun!

massive spider
Dec 6, 2006

I have a Line 6 Spider Valve, not a day goes by I dont regret buying it.

baka kaba
Jul 19, 2003

PLEASE ASK ME, THE SELF-PROFESSED NO #1 PAUL CATTERMOLE FAN IN THE SOMETHING AWFUL S-CLUB 7 MEGATHREAD, TO NAME A SINGLE SONG BY HIS EXCELLENT NU-METAL SIDE PROJECT, SKUA, AND IF I CAN'T PLEASE TELL ME TO
EAT SHIT

ruinedhero posted:

MrWeight - I'm glad someone got the title :) it is an amazing album and Boris just loving rocks. Just Abondoned Myself off Pink is pure perfection.

I mentally high-fived you when I opened the thread and saw the pic

I don't have any handy amp info though :( Except don't buy a 100W stack if you're going to leave the master volume on 1

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master

baka kaba posted:

I mentally high-fived you when I opened the thread and saw the pic

I don't have any handy amp info though :( Except don't buy a 100W stack if you're going to leave the master volume on 1
I thought the same thing. <3 Boris. I have seen them 3 times now. Amazing show. You can watch faces ripple due to the air pressure from high SPL levels.

Also, 50W is plenty loud. Buy an amp for the tone you like unless part of your tone is loud.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods
Much love to all the Boris fans here!

I pulled the trigger and got the Blackstar combo - the price was just too good to pass up on, the 4th of July coupon let me get everything with tax and warranty (the guitar center :ughh: warranty saved my rear end on gear before and is actually one of the best warranties I've ever used) for $906. Everything I've seen and heard on it made it the only New amp in it's level that was affordable and had the tone I was looking for.

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master

ruinedhero posted:

Much love to all the Boris fans here!

I pulled the trigger and got the Blackstar combo - the price was just too good to pass up on, the 4th of July coupon let me get everything with tax and warranty (the guitar center :ughh: warranty saved my rear end on gear before and is actually one of the best warranties I've ever used) for $906. Everything I've seen and heard on it made it the only New amp in it's level that was affordable and had the tone I was looking for.
You DID audition it before you bought it, right? Write up a review after you've dug into it for a bit.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

Hogscraper posted:

You DID audition it before you bought it, right? Write up a review after you've dug into it for a bit.

There was not a single one to be found on the whole loving east coast as far as guitar center was concerned - had to order it online. I called around every place else, nothin - I tried out some of the other Black Stars a few months ago and they sounded Ace. I'll write a full review in the next few weeks with the amp itself, it's own sounds, how it sounds with pedals like the metal core and tube sceamer, etc. I'll be using my ESP LTD Les Paul with the Active EMG's (81/85) and Ovation acoustic/electric Hybrid with actives as well. If for SOME reason this amp doesn't do it for me, which again after trying the other black stars would be a huge shock, they gave me a no bullshit 30 day return policy. I would be extremely surprised if I had to use it.

an AOL chatroom
Oct 3, 2002

Three Red Lights posted:

I have a Line 6 Spider Valve, not a day goes by I dont regret buying it.

I think the double-negatives cancel each other out and you're saying that every day you regret buying it? I thought those Spider Valve amps got pretty good reviews. I saw a hard rock band gigging with one, and was pretty impressed with the sounds the guitarist was getting with it.

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods
The Spider (spyder?) valve series kicks rear end in a multitude of ways from many owners who I know and have played with but I never owned one.

Three Red Lights in your own words give us a quick review of it and why you love the poo poo outta it.

DEUCE SLUICE
Feb 6, 2004

I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

bisticles posted:

I think the double-negatives cancel each other out and you're saying that every day you regret buying it? I thought those Spider Valve amps got pretty good reviews. I saw a hard rock band gigging with one, and was pretty impressed with the sounds the guitarist was getting with it.

The first generation of SV's were kind of weak, in my opinion, but the MK2's are really fantastic.

massive spider
Dec 6, 2006

bisticles posted:

I think the double-negatives cancel each other out and you're saying that every day you regret buying it? I thought those Spider Valve amps got pretty good reviews. I saw a hard rock band gigging with one, and was pretty impressed with the sounds the guitarist was getting with it.

I mean every day I look at it and think "drat, I wish I hadnt bought a spider valve."

A quick rundown of its pros and cons.

Good:

Its loud.

Some of the hi gain sounds are pretty meaty.

Built in noise gate.

Bad:

The highs are abominable and piercing, turning the presence up above 3 is never advised regardless of your location or intention.

The midrange is crap and boxy and despite the massive volume doesent cut over a band nicely. I really think midrange is the test for a good amp, any amp can sound awesome scooped in your bedroom or on the shop floor but its not until you try to get heard over the band that the differences in quality really show themselves.

The volume settings make no sense. Patch volume is pretty much independant of master volume and all every patch defaults to max meaning that if you accidentally switch to the wrong patch or want to tweak amps on stage you will go deaf. The master volume is ungodly loud at 3 and tops out volume wise about 5 wheraupon it just gets more distorted but in the mushy feedbacky way not in that pleasant overdriven amp way.

The response just feels wrong. Stupidly I noticed this right from the moment I demoed it against the other amps in the store but thought it wasnt that big a deal and the versitility would make up for it. A year later its become utterly maddening. Tell harmony central this and they'll direct you towards a mod shop that puts another tube in the input stage, yeah thanks.

Anybody walking into the room at the design stage should have seen at first glance that the plastic knobs are destined to break. For me they lasted until the second gig.

No marshall style moderate hi gain mode. I thought JCM800s had to be on every modelling amp by law? It just goes straight from over twangy blues crunch into dual rectifier without any stops in between (they fixed this in the mark 2)

The effects suck and arent upgradable (they fixed this in the mark 2)

Most of the problems I have with it they fixed in the mark 2 an amp is not a loving iPod it should not be going obsolete six months after you buy it jesus christ.

massive spider fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Jul 7, 2010

DEUCE SLUICE
Feb 6, 2004

I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.


I want the new SuperSonic 22 SO BAD. I really dug the old SuperSonic but 60w is too much for what I need.

Twlight
Feb 18, 2005

I brag about getting free drinks from my boss to make myself feel superior
Fun Shoe
im thinking about buying an amp, I use to have an AC15 which blew up on me but it was a bit too loud for apartment use. I use a lot of pedals and would like to keep it tube. I'd like to spend <1000 on it and don't care about going used. I play mostly rock, nothing too high gain and I have an affinity for all things Radiohead anyone have any recommendations?

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

Three Red Lights posted:

drat you Spider, drat you to hell.

Thank you SO much for posting this - again from what I've heard from owners and heard it sounded ok but I don't remember seeing it maybe more than once or twice in all the bands I've seen live. I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with it, but your pain has probably been felt by everyone in this thread.

I bought a Marshall JCM 2000 half stack a decade ago and was extremely disappointed with it's limitations. It was pretty much Marshall sound or nothing and did not play friendly with any overdrive or distortion effects I used. Others love the sound, but it just felt so limited to me. It sounds like for you the Spider is the jack of all trades but the master of none which is a common complaint for the amps that have a shitload of features/emulators.

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master

ruinedhero posted:

Thank you SO much for posting this - again from what I've heard from owners and heard it sounded ok but I don't remember seeing it maybe more than once or twice in all the bands I've seen live. I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with it, but your pain has probably been felt by everyone in this thread.

I bought a Marshall JCM 2000 half stack a decade ago and was extremely disappointed with it's limitations. It was pretty much Marshall sound or nothing and did not play friendly with any overdrive or distortion effects I used. Others love the sound, but it just felt so limited to me. It sounds like for you the Spider is the jack of all trades but the master of none which is a common complaint for the amps that have a shitload of features/emulators.
My guitar player has a JCM 2000 and I love the hell out of that thing but you're right about it not really sounding right with any pedals. The clean stage in that amp is supposed to be based on a Plexi Lead 100 and I don't think those play well with many pedals either. It doesn't sound bad with a fuzz box but that's about it.

Back to Line 6 stuff... I have owned several of their products in the past and I always refer to the as the great equalizer meaning, no matter what guitar you plug into it it always sounds the same. Nice if all you own are lovely instruments. Terrible if you own something really great.

Ferrous Wheel
Aug 18, 2007

"This is not only a security risk but we occasionally get pigeons roosting in the space as a result."
I bought a Peavey ValeKing 112 in my senior year of high school, before I knew poo poo about poo poo.

I still think it's a drat fine amp- I use it for clean (afropop, funk, "indie", fake jazz) chords and leads, and usually get my dirt from a pedal- in my case a Butler "Real Tube" :jerkbag: Overdrive. The on board distortion is okay but a bit overzealous for me. I can get it to break up naturally on the clean channel but only at stupid loud (for me) volume.

To my ear, the sound is just fine. I keep meaning to replace the speaker, or retube it, but I can't convince myself that either of those things need to be done even after four years or so. The one thing I did do was eventually buy an MXR 10-band EQ and stick that in the effects loop. That had a really pleasing audible result, so it just sits in "always on" mode on top of the amp now. Someday I'll probably throw a Weber in there, or maybe a Jensen neodymium model to cut weight. I'm sure the tubes will eventually die as well and then I'll see how much difference new ones make. I highly recommend the MXR EQ to anyone with any amp by the way; if you don't want to use it conventionally you can always set it up as a clean boost.

I'm of two minds on the whole subject: First, I think many guitarists who are self-described "tone freaks" spend way too much time on pickups and loving cables for gently caress's sake and neglect their amp and settings. Second, I think I'm comparatively easy to please sound-wise. I'm not one of those idiots saying a budget model Crate is "just as good as" an Orange/Marshall/Vox/what have you, I'm just not married to the specific characteristics of any of those. I like Fender cleans, Vox cleans, and Peavey cleans just fine.

Of course being a contemporary music student tends to give people "John Cage Syndrome" where if you hear any loving sound for long enough you start to think it's musically useful. So maybe disregard the above, I dunno.

RailFan92
Nov 4, 2007
Has anyone tried out the new Vox AC15? It's called an AC15C1 and, from what I've read, it sounds a lot better than the previous versions and comes with a Greenback in it. No one seems to have any of these in stock around here yet so all I can go on is Youtube videos. My real desire is for an AC30 but it's far too loud to be practical in my situation.

AC15C1: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-Custom-AC15C1-15W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=423619

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods
Hogscraper - Yea the JCM 2000 was by no means a bad amp, just not what I was after when I changed direction music wise. Your EQ comment about the Line 6 makes sense.


Twilight - The Blackstar tube 2x12 combo I just purchased is in the mail and is less than $1000 and I will be reviewing it here, from what I have heard and read you can get a great brit tone off of it for radiohead type use. I'll go learn a radiohead song over the next week or two, play it on the amp and mic it with a Shure SM 58 I have and post it on here. Can someone give me a really easy radiohead song for guitar lol, creep would be easy I guess, maybe the chorus for There There, eh I'll demo you something on it! :)

Ferrous Wheel - I have really lost much respect for Peavey gear the past few years. While I like the 6505, I've never been able to get a good clean tone the times I demoed it - the metal sound is great but like the Marshall I talked about before, it seems like it is limited to doing one thing really well. The VALVEKING series never impressed me at all when I demoed it.

Also if any bass players want to talk about bass amps, baseheads (:razz:), or whatever - please contribute here. Ampeg is the poo poo, but price wise it goes well over $1000 so I would love to hear good budget setups for bass as well.


Going back to Peavey - I picked up a Peavey BAM! (:thurman: BAM!) 2x12 combo bass amp with effects modeling, and amp modeling, and it was from the early 2000's and was a total piece of loving poo poo that I traded for another lovely (not as lovely though) Kustom guitar amp. The BAM! had 1000 options and they all sucked, just give me one option that works! Horrible amp, I really am tired of Peavey' poo poo.

byob historian
Nov 5, 2008

I'm an animal abusing piece of shit! I deliberately poisoned my dog to death and think it's funny! I'm an irredeemable sack of human shit!

RailFan92 posted:

Has anyone tried out the new Vox AC15? It's called an AC15C1 and, from what I've read, it sounds a lot better than the previous versions and comes with a Greenback in it. No one seems to have any of these in stock around here yet so all I can go on is Youtube videos. My real desire is for an AC30 but it's far too loud to be practical in my situation.

AC15C1: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-Custom-AC15C1-15W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=423619

dammit, im not supposed to want guitar stuff anymore

Hogscraper
Nov 6, 2004

Audio master
For those who are curious the JCM 2000 is based off of two amps. The clean/crunch channel is based off of the Plexi Super Lead 100 and the high gain channel sounds pretty much the same as a JCM 800 with a high gain mod. If you crank the gain you sound like Kerry King, if you back the gain down you sound like Slash. The clean/crunch channel is not very clean at all even with the gain turned way down.

If you have or are thinking about getting a JCM 2000 I highly recommend pairing it with a good graphic EQ in the effects loop.

IMO the only thing that's really lacking in the 50W amp my friend has is the ability to EQ the channels separately. You have one bass/mid/treble control for three channels.

Ferrous Wheel
Aug 18, 2007

"This is not only a security risk but we occasionally get pigeons roosting in the space as a result."

ruinedhero posted:

Ferrous Wheel - I have really lost much respect for Peavey gear the past few years. While I like the 6505, I've never been able to get a good clean tone the times I demoed it - the metal sound is great but like the Marshall I talked about before, it seems like it is limited to doing one thing really well. The VALVEKING series never impressed me at all when I demoed it.

Most people agree that the 112 is the best of the VK line. Verdict seems to be that the 100 watt head is only okay and the 212 is poo poo. If the 112 wasn't to your taste then there's not much I can say to defend it-- it's worked fine for my needs thus far. I like the cleans just fine and I use my OD pedal for whatever dirt I need. I do like the cleans on the Classic 30 a little better and I really want one of those but until I find one for super cheap I'm sticking with what I have. Again, I think my attitude toward the Valveking is largely shaped by the fact that I never wanted "Fender cleans" or "Marshall crunch" out of it. Still don't in fact. Those who do should absolutely steer clear.

ruinedhero posted:

Going back to Peavey - I picked up a Peavey BAM! (:thurman: BAM!) 2x12 combo bass amp with effects modeling, and amp modeling, and it was from the early 2000's and was a total piece of loving poo poo that I traded for another lovely (not as lovely though) Kustom guitar amp. The BAM! had 1000 options and they all sucked, just give me one option that works! Horrible amp, I really am tired of Peavey' poo poo.

Peavey makes a ton of stuff like that and I don't know why. The Classic 30 and 50 are great amps in their various configurations, as is the Delta Blues. I always liked the old Mark series solid state bass amps too- lots of practice spaces in Vancouver have them and I always manage to get a decent (and loud) sound out of them no matter how beat to poo poo they are. And I love the old cabs that you sometimes find with those amps- usually a 1x18" plus 2x10" or something in one big-rear end box. I had two Classic chorus 2x12 combos until they were stolen (got them together for super cheap). Used them as backup amps for whatever needed to be loud; the chorus was as intense as could be and the assorted 80s reverbs were silly but kind of fun. Clean was Roland-ish, distortion utterly unusable.

And on the other hand there are the Rage, Bandit, and TransTube amps which are terrible, and awful anomalous stuff like the bass amp you described. It's a very mixed bag but I don't think it's a matter of their overall selection going downhill as much as a matter of them always having made both poo poo gear and great gear. Though the proportion has likely shifted for the worse; their guitars in particular come to mind as being much worse on average now than they used to be.

Professor Science
Mar 8, 2006
diplodocus + mortarboard = party
I am completely crazy about my Orange AD30TC. Blackstar HT5 is still a perfectly sensible practice amp, but it can't hold a candle to how good the AD30 sounds.

glennnyc
Sep 20, 2001
I got a peavey classic 50 2x12 a few months ago for next to nothing, because it had problems. It makes a high pitched squeal if you turn up the gain channel (not nice harmonic squeal). So, I replaced the tubes with some JJs, but the problem remains. Could it just be a cap that needs to be replaced? I guess I could take it somewhere to get it fixed up but in a way that defeats the purpose of super cheap 2x12.

SwedeRacer
Aug 2, 2004
^^ Surprising - probably a blown cap, transformer, any random small piece, etc. Take it to a tech and for 100 dollars you'll probably never have a problem again.

ruinedhero posted:


Going back to Peavey - I picked up a Peavey BAM! (:thurman: BAM!) 2x12 combo bass amp with effects modeling, and amp modeling, and it was from the early 2000's and was a total piece of loving poo poo that I traded for another lovely (not as lovely though) Kustom guitar amp. The BAM! had 1000 options and they all sucked, just give me one option that works! Horrible amp, I really am tired of Peavey' poo poo.
The Peavey classic 30/50 line is pretty much universally loved for its quality, ruggedness and affordability. You could find one on craigslist for 350-500, which is of course the way to go - only saps buy new.

For my money, however, 2x12 combos suck. They weigh way too much and are just a general pain. If you're carrying an amp that heavy anyway you'll be making 2+ trips with all your gear, so why not just go with head/cab option? It will only cost more the first time you buy that cab and find your desired speaker, but as long as you buy used you play for free (cause you can always resell for the exact same price).

edit: with this in mind please do yourself a favor and pick up a cab and a Fuchs lucky 7 (1000 new but surprisingly only half that used on eBay). Loud enough for any gig (though you'll want to mic it) and will go from clean to omfg vintage rock in the twist of a volume knob. There. I just saved you 500 dollars of your total.

SwedeRacer fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jul 7, 2010

ruinedhero
Jun 6, 2010

We are only serving our Gods

Professor Science posted:

I am completely crazy about my Orange AD30TC. Blackstar HT5 is still a perfectly sensible practice amp, but it can't hold a candle to how good the AD30 sounds.

I would kill for an Orange, I really mean it because I would have to find small bugs and animals to eat because the extra $1400 (2,249.00 new :wotwot:) I'd spend on the Orange would break my bank big time. Amazing amps and I bet you are crazy about that marvel. I'm going to be using the Blackstar for pretty much everything for the time being.

Also, can we please leave out amp vs. amp arguments when there is more than a grand price difference between the two? It's just silly to compare Orange to a budget Blackstar, comparing it to Mesa or Bogner would be more appropriate because their price ranges tend to be well over $1500.

Edit - I need the 2x12 for space purposes and that I want one piece of equipment covered for warranty. Having a half stack just killed my Altima, I don't have a van and it could only really carry that and a guitar. the 2x12 can fit in easily. Also I've never heard of Fuchs, looks good though.

ruinedhero fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Jul 7, 2010

iostream.h
Mar 14, 2006
I want your happy place to slap you as it flies by.

ruinedhero posted:

Ferrous Wheel - I have really lost much respect for Peavey gear the past few years. While I like the 6505, I've never been able to get a good clean tone the times I demoed it - the metal sound is great but like the Marshall I talked about before, it seems like it is limited to doing one thing really well.
I acquired a 6534+ in a trade a while back (I've offered it up for trade in the other thread, just to see what pops up) and they really went a long way towards fixing the issues with the 6505/5150 line with that one. The cleans are WAY better and the distortion has a lot more variance with an eq section that actually DOES poo poo on this amp.

I like it well enough, my Rocker100 just covers enough ground that I don't really have any need to keep it and overall I like the harmonic richness of the Rocker a lot more.

With the 6534+ you REALLY have to spend some time dialing knobs with ALL your guitars and pedals, it's a very responsive head, for good and bad.

Professor Science posted:

I am completely crazy about my Orange AD30TC.
gently caress yes. I've been semi-tempted over one of those since getting my AD30 head, how heavy is it? Have you compared it's sound to a sealed cab? I just wonder about it being semi-open if that added any 'woof' at higher volume.

iostream.h fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jul 7, 2010

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Schlieren
Jan 7, 2005

LEZZZZZZZZZBIAN CRUSH
If it turns out the speakers are old and need to be replaced in my amp, what should I get?

It's a MusicMan 212 HD 130. I play bass out of it as well as guitar; guitar for practice, gigs and recording, and the bass for recording purposes only (and it sounds fantastic in this regard by the way).

Some sort of Webers would be nice, but I'm thinking that's a little bit pricey for an amp worth about $500 or so, especially considering I just threw $300 into it for tubes, biasing, and a crapload of other work, and it's still a bit too noisy to justify a lot more.

Something from here or some place with similar pricing would be nice, but I don't know anything about something this specific...

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