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What kind of guitar amp should I buy?


pcb

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Hello,

 

I'd like some suggestions on a tube guitar amp. I have about $500 to spend.

 

If this helps: I play rock, metal and blues. I use Carvin guitars with Seymour Duncan pickups and Fender tube amps. I am not looking for another Fender, due to reliability problems I've had.

 

I love amps that bring out harmonics and subtle details. A large part of my sound, or what I like, depends on dynamics, the way each note is articulated. Notes should be heard, not buried or muddy, when playing on the bass strings E, A, D.

 

If I could use an analogy of the perfect sound, I'd say it would be a semi-truck crashing in to a glass-truck (yeah, I know it's kind of weird); the thunderous-guttural lows of the crash combined with the textures of breaking glass and twisting metal--a cacophony of sound. However, I only have $500 to spare, is this unrealistic?

 

THANK YOU!!!

-PCB-
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Based on your requirements, a used tube amp from another maker other than Fender could be the ticket...

 

Ampeg, Reverend, Carvin immediately come to mind. Ampeg and Carvin have models that you could even afford new, Reverend probably only used.

 

MY personal favorite amp device is a THD Univalve. It's a single ended, true class A amp that allows you to use a wide range of different tubes by simply swapping them out...

 

It's the most musical thing I've ever bought, and you can often find them used for around $500.

 

It's only a head, so you need a cab or another amp, (it makes a phenominal pre-amp for any normal amp)...

 

I use mine as a pre-amp for my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and it's amazing how many sounds I can get from this... all excellent. From Marshall crunch and growl, to Fender clean and glassy, to Vox like chime, to extreme high gain modern tones... it's all in there with a good set of tubes to swap.

 

Check out the threads here like "the greatest blues tone" and "best pre-amp"... Myles, the moderator and tube guru has written extensively on these.

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum. :wave:

 

guitplayer

I'm still "guitplayer"!

Check out my music if you like...

 

http://www.michaelsaulnier.com

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Try to find a used Carvin MTS 2x12 or Bel Air. I use the Bel Air series for metal. If you have p/ups with moderate output, there's plenty of gain there. If you're using single coils and want some higher gain, you'll prolly want the MTS.
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Marshall DSL-40 or a Marshall DSL-20, (I think that's the model names, :confused: ). They've got EL84 power tubes, and what are supposed to be great Marshall preamps for good distortion tones, and an improved clean channel for great clean tones as well. I think the DSL-40 is slightly more than $500, maybe $650 or so.

 

If you like to crank your amp to get power tube distortion, another good choice would be an Ampeg Jet II. :thu:

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html

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