Amp Advice

[six_string_sally]

I've been testing out some amps lately. Right now I have a fender 15r and it just ain't cutting it anymore. I'm in love with Fender clean but I really hate the raspy, buzzy distortion. The Marshall's I've tried, I like the OD, but the clean lacks a little. I do not want a modeling amp, or a tube amp (yet, one day yes). So I am going for a good SS 50watt or more for about 400 bucks.

 

I was looking at the Marshall MG50dfx, and the Fender 90 deluxe DSP. I don't care about onboard effects. But I'm wondering since I like Fender clean better should I just get a distortion pedal to get the sound I want and not sacrifice the clean? Or should I just get used to the Marshall clean because I like it's OD?

 

Also any opinions on those two amps are welcome (good or bad) and any other suggestions for an amp that's got bright (not cold) clean, and ballsy OD would be great!

 

I play stuff like Aerosmith, Metallica, Oasis, Poison, classic rock, and mellower stuff that needs bright clean for chord rhythm.

 

Thanks guys!

[Blue Strat]

Have you looked at any Peavey amps? Their solid state amps are very good, and have a nice clean and distortion tone. Another solid state amp to try is a Tech 21 Trademark 60.

[jlh]

Sally,

I second the Tech 21 NYC series. I use a Trademark 60 as my main amp. It is very versatile with a predictable feel and response. The effects loop is excellent as is the reverb.

 

Someone here also mentioned that he uses the Trademark 10 and likes it even better, though I doubt it is quite as versatile. Then there is the 120 too. I have a Mesa Boogie MkII which is an excellent box, but I find that at the volumes that I play and for the ease of packing it around the Tech 21 is the amp I really use.

Jamie

[six_string_sally]

I just downloaded some clips of the Teck 21 Trademark 60 and I think I'm in love. Sounds really great! I'll know for sure when I can test drive one at a store... hopefully my shops have them in stock.

 

Do any of you have any personal .mp3's I can listen too of the 60? I'd love to hear that fender clean in some chords and that dual rect with palm muting and soloing.

 

This might just be my next amp!

[Wickerman]

La La La Carvin SX Phenomenal amps! Best sounding, most accurate tube simulation I've heard. VERY good amps. Very good clean tone, bright and shimmering without getting thin and a dirty channel that comfortable goes from blues to pop punk to metal. It also has some build in effects which are decent enough but the amp itself is wonderful.

 

No, I don't work for Carvin, I'm just INCREDIBLY impressed with their products. Also, because they're sold factory direct instead of through a distributor like the Musician's Friend/Guitar Center conglomerate, you get the gear MUCH cheaper.

 

The other one I'd put right up there is the Roland BC-30/210 Blues Cube. It's a GREAT amp. Spectacular clean. Punchy, tight and warm and a pretty good overdrive channel. Not wonderful but it gets the job done. Also, the two ten inch speakers sound MUCH better (to my ear) than most 1x12 combos.

 

Other good amps in that range are the Fender Blues Jr. Another VERY nice amp, all tube, great tone but somewhat small. Also the Marshall MG50 is okay, but nothing to write home about... The AVT20 is pretty good albeit small...

[roy d]

another vote for Peavey although I'd check out the classic series - the 30 or the Delta Blues. They are great sounding amps and I don't think can be beaten for near the price range... 4 EL84's plus 3 12AX7's sounds great

[six_string_sally]

I've heard a lot of good things about Roland... I don't know why but I always had the impression that they were hokey -- never heard one though. But I'll give them a chance at my next guitar shop visit.

 

I tried the peavey bandits and they did nothing for me. Kind of sterile if you ask me.

 

I have a Carvin magazine and I've been curious about them but... no place to try them out. I'm afraid to buy anything I haven't tried because I did that with my current amp, the fender 15r, and I've never been happy.

 

I will certainly give Roland, and Tech 21 a try though!

More suggestions welcome!

 

Thanks guys!

[six_string_sally]

Originally posted by roy d:

another vote for Peavey although I'd check out the classic series - the 30 or the Delta Blues. They are great sounding amps and I don't think can be beaten for near the price range... 4 EL84's plus 3 12AX7's sounds great

Even though I wasn't looking for all tube, I will give that a shot too, at least it will give me something to compare the others too! Thanks!

[KARL FISHER]

Hooray for bluestrat and roy d!! I play a Peavey Classic 100 head through a 412MS cab. The sound is super! Even with dual humbuckers, I can get crystal cleans out of the clean channel, and fairly dirty distortion out of the lead channel.

BUT..., its atube. Peavey's other amps come in solid state. Prices are great.

 

I recently got a Marshall MG10CD, just for a lightweight practice amp that I could plug headphones into. This also extends the life of my Peavey's tubes!! The Marshal has a good clean tone for the price, and has super distortion ranges. It is small, costs about $70.00, but gets super loud.

 

Karl (skynfan)

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by roy d:

another vote for Peavey although I'd check out the classic series - the 30 or the Delta Blues. They are great sounding amps and I don't think can be beaten for near the price range... 4 EL84's plus 3 12AX7's sounds great

I bought one of the Delta Blues (unfortunatly), and have never been happy with the dirty channel. The clean channel is great but the dirty channel sounds too gritty or choppy. Not a smooth distortion. After I built my Marshall JCM 800 clone, the Delta Blues just sits in the closet.

[strat0124]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Originally posted by roy d:

another vote for Peavey although I'd check out the classic series - the 30 or the Delta Blues. They are great sounding amps and I don't think can be beaten for near the price range... 4 EL84's plus 3 12AX7's sounds great

I bought one of the Delta Blues (unfortunatly), and have never been happy with the dirty channel. The clean channel is great but the dirty channel sounds too gritty or choppy. Not a smooth distortion. After I built my Marshall JCM 800 clone, the Delta Blues just sits in the closet.

Wanna sell it? I actually like that amp.

[Wickerman]

As far Carvin goes, don't worry about not being able to try it. For one thing, if you don't like it, there's a free trial period in which you can get a full refund if you don't like it and I've heard of people returning amps and having Carvin pay shipping. Also, they just make incredible products!

 

I forgot about Peavey. The Peavey Classic 30 is also a great amp.

[Dylan]

Originally posted by six_string_sally:

Do any of you have any personal .mp3's I can listen too of the 60?

I've got a version of Little Wing that I did several years ago with the TM 60 here . I was using a Japanese Tele at the time and the amp went straight to ProTools. The original WAVE file sounds much nicer than this MP3, FWIW.

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by Geenard Skeenard:

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Originally posted by roy d:

another vote for Peavey although I'd check out the classic series - the 30 or the Delta Blues. They are great sounding amps and I don't think can be beaten for near the price range... 4 EL84's plus 3 12AX7's sounds great

I bought one of the Delta Blues (unfortunately), and have never been happy with the dirty channel. The clean channel is great but the dirty channel sounds too gritty or choppy. Not a smooth distortion. After I built my Marshall JCM 800 clone, the Delta Blues just sits in the closet.

Wanna sell it? I actually like that amp.

Well, I don't know if you'd want it; it's been modified. It still sounds like crap with the stock 15" speaker. No matter what I do, I always get some nasty overtones when I crank the preamp gain. Another problem is that the traces are starting to come off of the PCB where I've done some soldering. I wish I'd never touched the circuit board, then I could sell it with a clear conscience.

[vintagevibe]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Have you looked at any Peavey amps? Their solid state amps are very good, and have a nice clean and distortion tone. Another solid state amp to try is a Tech 21 Trademark 60.

Ditto on the Peavey solid sate amps. The have a great clean and the best solid state distortion I've ever heard from an amp. I wouldn't say tube distortion is necesssarly better than the Peavey solid state amps - just different. Very creamy and smooth. I wish I still had mine.

[six_string_sally]

Originally posted by Pain in the Glaven:

Originally posted by six_string_sally:

Do any of you have any personal .mp3's I can listen too of the 60?

I've got a version of Little Wing that I did several years ago with the TM 60 here . I was using a Japanese Tele at the time and the amp went straight to ProTools. The original WAVE file sounds much nicer than this MP3, FWIW.

That sounds really good, nice band too. A person from another forum posted some clips of the TM10 and it sounds great too! I've GOT to try one of these out!!!!! ARGGG!! BRING THE WEEKEND ON! lol

[buckeye1014]

I've got to agree withe Wickerman, the Carvin SX is a great amp. I have a SX 100 and really like it. I do wish I had the 2-12" speaker model though. The clean channel is great and the overdrive channel is very versatile. I wonder if it would sound a little better with a closed back. The built in effects are nice, however, I don't like the fact that the reverb is on in conjuncton with the chourus,flanger & delay. Oh,one more thing, this amp is really loud!! Good Luck!

[johndara]

I also have the Tech 21 60watt amp..unbelieveable tone!!!!! You cannot go wrong with this amp. I had a Roland Blues Cube BC60 and traded it toward the Tech 21. A much better amp and like i stated in a previous reply, while playing the Tech 21 you would swear there were tubes burning in that baby,,its that good!!!!

[johndara]

Originally posted by six_string_sally:

I've been testing out some amps lately. Right now I have a fender 15r and it just ain't cutting it anymore. I'm in love with Fender clean but I really hate the raspy, buzzy distortion. The Marshall's I've tried, I like the OD, but the clean lacks a little. I do not want a modeling amp, or a tube amp (yet, one day yes). So I am going for a good SS 50watt or more for about 400 bucks.

 

I was looking at the Marshall MG50dfx, and the Fender 90 deluxe DSP. I don't care about onboard effects. But I'm wondering since I like Fender clean better should I just get a distortion pedal to get the sound I want and not sacrifice the clean? Or should I just get used to the Marshall clean because I like it's OD?

 

Also any opinions on those two amps are welcome (good or bad) and any other suggestions for an amp that's got bright (not cold) clean, and ballsy OD would be great!

 

I play stuff like Aerosmith, Metallica, Oasis, Poison, classic rock, and mellower stuff that needs bright clean for chord rhythm.

 

Thanks guys!

[jlh]

So Sally, its the weekend any luck?

Jamie

[Rim]

If it's not too late, check out Marshall's AVT series. The dirty channel is what you'd expect but the clean channel may surprise you. You should be able to find an AVT model in your price range.

[Tedster]

One thing I'll add...

 

Before you buy an amp...it's really helpful if you can swing something to try it out. I mean REALLY try it out. If you're a serious purchaser, money in hand (which I'm sure you are) I would really try to talk them into letting you try it for a weekend or something, if you put down a deposit or something. I'm not sure how many places will do something like this, but it might be worth asking. I've had several amps sound great in the store, but they just lack something when you get 'em on the gig.

 

Worth a thought and a try, anyway.

[Curly Dan]

the secret woid is ... "beer"!

[six_string_sally]

Hey guys! I finally got a chance to kick around some amps. Had to hit three stores though. I tried out the Tech 21 TM60 and it was pretty cool, a bit expensive though, but overall I liked the sounds you can get out of it. Not sure I can get into the EQing of it though. It's a bit annoying.

 

Also messed with the Marshall MG series, blah. lol I dunno they're as boring as the Fender solid states.

 

So one of the employees talked me into trying out a Crate GLX 212 and I was pretty surprised with it. I thought it would sound like sterilized computer default noises, but it sounded pretty good, nice fat bottom heavy sounds. But I'm gonna wait for their shipment of 65s to come in and put that to the test.

 

I think the most eye-opening Amps I tried was a Fender all tube um... cyber deluxe?, it was yellow and used... not sure of the name but it sounded AMAZING! Then I saw a Mesa F50 (used) sitting in the corner and THAT sounded even more amazing! I totally get the whole "tube thing" now, unfortunately... can't afford one, or the tube upkeep. :\ Right now anyway. Maybe later.

 

So, one more shot here with the Crate GLX65. If it does it for me, great! If not... I might just have to wait for a new line of SS amps to come along, or wait even longer for that pure tube sound.

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by six_string_sally:

I think the most eye-opening Amps I tried was a Fender all tube um... cyber deluxe?, it was yellow and used... not sure of the name but it sounded AMAZING! Then I saw a Mesa F50 (used) sitting in the corner and THAT sounded even more amazing! I totally get the whole "tube thing" now, unfortunately... can't afford one, or the tube upkeep. :\ Right now anyway. Maybe later.

That might have been a Fender Tweed Deluxe. The Cyber Deluxe is brand new and black, and all digital solid state. The Tweed Deluxe would be fairly small with a single 12" speaker and 5 tubes. It would also have the yellow covering (actualy yellow and brown striped, called "Golden Tweed").

 

Tube amps aren't really all that much trouble. A good set of tubes can last several years if they're not getting banged around. If you get a cathode biased amp you don't have to worry about setting the bias whenever you change the power tubes.

[tahitijack]

Sally, Please try the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Street price is about $550. I could run a few paragraphs but suggest you check the Fender Forum (Amps 1985 to current) for reviews and comments. Most, like me, are very statisfied. I play blues and '70's classic rock. It works for me and my Strat.

[robfletch68]

I also give a vote for Peavey.Those Classic amps have awesome tone, and Peaveys last forever.I've owned Marshalls before and had nothing but trouble with them.

 

Another thing to consider....if you're worried about tube maintenence,try to find an antique radio collector. A lot of the tubes used in those tend to be the same as the ones found in guitar amps. I used to know a guy who collected and repaired radios.He used to find tubes dirt cheap.I got him to change the tubes in my Marshall once and it sounded better than the day it came from the store....at a qutrter of the cost.

[jlh]

Thanks for the update. I know what you mean about the eq. on the Tech 21, it took me quite a while to learn to dial in the sounds I want. For a simple amp those interactive controls take quite a bit of study. Read the manual, tweak, listen, repeat. Eventually it does get intuitive but you have to learn that some are at "zero" when in the 12 o'clock position and some at 7 o'clock. I agree they are too expensive too. But I still love the little bugger.

Jamie