Needing a new amp on budget

[berni907]

Been lookin at a few. i'm needing between 75 watt and 100 watt on a pretty low budget. i'm needin something with a decent lead channel for solo's/metal rhythms.

ideas?

[Paul_Victory]

what to you is a low budget?

to some people 500 is low for an amp other 100/200 is low

you looking for a combo or a head?

[Soda Jerk]

You can't really say what wattage you need as wattage means very little where valve amps are concerned. 30-50 watt valve amps are more than enough for small venues. Larger venues will mic them up. It depends on the amp. A single channel 30 watt amp will be as loud as a 4 channel 100watt amp, roughly.

[berni907]

Check out Peavy Valvekings

they are meant to be entry level valve amps, can get some really good prices on them and they do the job quite nicely.

John, just been checking them out. they don't look too bad. i'm gonna see if rnb have any and try one out. you are getting rep!

Also, now that i think about it. would i be well off getting a line6 spider 1 2 or 3? they look like pretty good all rounders... but i dunno. played one once and it seemed too fiddly. want a kinda simple: "channel 1 - clean, channel 2 - Distortion, treble, mid, bass, reverb" kinda thing if you catch my drift. need something to compliment my Ibanez RG570 with these seymour duncans in.

[berni907]

I'll try 'em both in rnb if they have them. cheers man.

[nikhinton]

I actually have a line6 spider III 120 (2x10) that I wanna sell for about 220 with the footpedal.

It's obviously not a valve amp, but quite versatile for the price. It does high gain stuff pretty well, but not so great for blues etc.

[Sora01]

Hey man

Check my thread

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/equipment/55534-jcm-900-4501-duel-reverb-ibanez-ts9-sale.html

It has liquid solo leads and can do heavy rhythm

Here's a video i done about a year or so ago with it, I guess the song relates to your band name

YouTube - Cover Of Machine head- bite the bullet by me

[Soda Jerk]

An amp isn't going to to 'compliment' your tone. The amp is everything. So, don't get a Line6, whatever you do. An amp that will "do the job" is just not going to cut it in a live atmosphere. A Line6 is a glorified toy that is only really suitable for home use. It just doesn't have the power to be used at a gigging volume, even if it is mic'd up. It doesn't have the presence or the character. Just don't.

If you're on the budget right now, the best thing you can possibly do is keep saving. If you buy something subpar, it's not going to do you any good, and you'll have a hard time shifting it when you want to sell and upgrade.

Avoid Line6 and Valvestate/Hybrid amps. Save up an extra 100 or 200 and get something that will set you for a long time. All a budget amp will do is make you have to save up even longer for something worthwhile.

[Paul_Victory]

An amp isn't going to to 'compliment' your tone. The amp is everything. So, don't get a Line6, whatever you do. An amp that will "do the job" is just not going to cut it in a live atmosphere. A Line6 is a glorified toy that is only really suitable for home use. It just doesn't have the power to be used at a gigging volume, even if it is mic'd up. It doesn't have the presence or the character. Just don't.

If you're on the budget right now, the best thing you can possibly do is keep saving. If you buy something subpar, it's not going to do you any good, and you'll have a hard time shifting it when you want to sell and upgrade.

Avoid Line6 and Valvestate/Hybrid amps. Save up an extra 100 or 200 and get something that will set you for a long time. All a budget amp will do is make you have to save up even longer for something worthwhile.

well said

i couldnt agree more

[nikhinton]

While I dont completely disagree with you and prefer valve amps i think you're being a bit ott. If they were really that bad they wouldldn't get consistently good write ups. Like I said for high gain stuff solid state/digital amps can do the job pretty well (dimebag always did alright). if you want cleans/vintage then i think thats when valve amps come into their own.

For high gain my line6 sounds as good as my dsl100 and peavey 5150 ever did.

[Soda Jerk]

While I dont completely disagree with you and prefer valve amps i think you're being a bit ott. If they were really that bad they wouldldn't get consistently good write ups. Like I said for high gain stuff solid state/digital amps can do the job pretty well (dimebag always did alright). if you want cleans/vintage then i think thats when valve amps come into their own.

For high gain my line6 sounds as good as my dsl100 and peavey 5150 ever did.

Dimebag did alright because Dimebag had absolutely terrible tone. You actually listened to a Pantera record? It sounds like a computer. No character. Terrible.

If you are not able to distinguish the difference in tone between a Line6 and a Marshall/Peavey all valve amp, then there is something seriously wrong with your lugs. That's not me being a dick, it really is just stonecold fact. It's not just the crunch of the OD. It's the warmth and the dynamics, as well as the presence of the guitar being about 100 times more audible.

I have no idea who is giving Line6 good writeups, but I assume its someone who doesn't really know what they are talking about or has never pushed one to gig volume. They are unuseable at that level, unless you;re not as anal about tone as me or many other people.

I've had a Line6 Spider. I've heard them being played and played them myself, as well as owning a good valve amp to compare it to. They just don't cut it. They are toys.

[Alkaline]

Dimebag did alright because Dimebag had absolutely terrible tone. You actually listened to a Pantera record? It sounds like a computer. No character. Terrible.

The rest of your post i'll agree with 100% but either you're fucking stupid or you need your lugs tested because there is nothing wrong with the tone of Dimebag's guitar on any of the Pantera records. Live sound totally different kettle of fish, but you are so wrong otherwise.

You're entitled to an opinion of course but this time you're just wrong. Stick to Pet Hates.

[Soda Jerk]

The chugs sound awful. I hate them. They are so blunt. The clipping in his chugging tone is just so digital sounding. Compared to other metal tone it really does fall on its face. Very very trebley too. I personally find it baffling how he has a signature pickups when his tone is so horrible. I have one like, but I got it for very very cheap, and I absolutely hate it.

[Soda Jerk]

Oh, and I've never been wrong. Except once. In 1994.

[Alkaline]

The chugs sound awful. I hate them. They are so blunt. The clipping in his chugging tone is just so digital sounding. Compared to other metal tone it really does fall on its face. Very very trebley too. I personally find it baffling how he has a signature pickups when his tone is so horrible. I have one like, but I got it for very very cheap, and I absolutely hate it.

Errr, no. It certainly does not. It carries a character that sets apart (in a solid and well sculpted way) from the terribly over-fizzy tone of a lot of modern wank. Have you even heard Great Southern Trendkill? The tone on stuff like "Drag The Waters" is fucking marvelous. It is so growly and you can hear pretty much every note.

Oh, and I've never been wrong. Except once. In 1994.

Enjoy being wrong this time because you certainly couldn't be more wrong on this occasion.

[Soda Jerk]

I'm basing it on the two albums I have. The one with Cowboys from Hell on it, and the one with Fucking Hostile on it. Sounds bad. Flat. Rubbish. I'm not denying that alot of this modern metal garbage is horribley fizzy and shite, but comparing it to stuff that was around at the same time, it just sounds terrible to me.

It always tended to be a general consensus that Dimebag had shit tone in guitar discussions that I've seen on the internet.

He also scoops alot of his mids, which instantly equals ballbag tone. No mids means no tone. Just treble and that judjudjud sound.

[Alkaline]

I'm basing it on the two albums I have. The one with Cowboys from Hell on it, and the one with Fucking Hostile on it. Sounds bad. Flat. Rubbish. I'm not denying that alot of this modern metal garbage is horribley fizzy and shite, but comparing it to stuff that was around at the same time, it just sounds terrible to me.

It always tended to be a general consensus that Dimebag had shit tone in guitar discussions that I've seen on the internet.

He also scoops alot of his mids, which instantly equals ballbag tone. No mids means no tone. Just treble and that judjudjud sound.

Well i think it stands up well to all the big metal/thrash players at the same time (Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, Obituary etc). Do you listen to much metal and thrash?

Christ, someone said something on the internet so it must be right.

No, scooping mids does not always mean "ballbag tone". His pinches, dives, arpeggios and cleans were superb across the span of Pantera's albums and i always found his palm mutes to be tight and crisp and added the the rhythm of the songs rather than just sounding dull and fluffy like a lot of other players.

His tone was abrasive. Metal is an abrasive genre sound-wise. The cap fits.

[Soda Jerk]

Yes. I was all about metal up until a year or so ago when it just slipped off my radar, and it was overtaken by quieter stuff. It was Thrash and Doom mostly. Not really much in the way of power or groove metal or whatever, unless its that kind of Staccato type stuff, like Helmet. I really don't think his tone compares. I've never heard them live so I can't comment on that, but on the 2 records I have, it's just too dull and trebley. I don't like scooped mids in any form, and I know I'm not the only one by a long stretch. They just instantly suck out what I like about guitar tone.

You dig it. I don't. Good hustle.

Now, let this chap buy a Line6 so he can think its good and then hate is life for the bad decision he made. Unless a wasp in a megaphone is his tone of tones.

[Alkaline]

You dig it. I don't. Good hustle.

Now, let this chap buy a Line6 so he can think its good and then hate is life for the bad decision he made. Unless a wasp in a megaphone is his tone of tones.

Aye, totally.

The chap should not buy a Line6 unless he only wants it for dicking about ideas-wise at home. They are nice for trying stuff out at home purely for their flexibility and depth modeling-wise (i don't always feel like whipping out all my pedals at home) but they are shit in all other circumstances. Like you say, even mic'd up they don't cut the mustard.

[Soda Jerk]

I used to use one at band practice a for a while a few years ago. I liked knowing that I wasn't burning out my valves, and that it probably wouldn't mind being switched on and constantly used for 5 hours. It was audible. That's all that mattered in that situation. I had to use one at a gig once whilst my amp was being revalved and serviced though. I actually felt embarassed. I cringed throughout our whole set, wishing I'd have shelled out the 15 or 20 quid to hire a decent amp from the practice rooms down the road for one night.

Bad times. Never again.

[Dan G]

Mr Original Spies... I agree with pretty much everything you said here, but would definitely point anyone in the direction of Pantera's 'Slaughtered' for one of the most ridiculously heavy/good guitar tones ever.

Don't by a Line 6 Spider Berni... Their digital modelling for recording isn't bad, but Line 6 amps aren't worth it. Fizzier than a dropped bottle of coke full of bees and mentos.

A Marshall JCM2000 DSL50 is a good start for rock, or a Peavey valveking for something a little heavier.

[The Milner]

Ciaran from kenetic used to used one of those spider thingys and we never had an issue with live sound or when we recorded with it, right enough when he bought his valve amp it did sound better but i wouldnt say there was any issue live when he used the line 6.

[triggs]

buy my marshall dsl 401 combo, 320 mint condition Marshall DSL401 Combo Amp (GAK)

[stuartmaxwell]

so much about tone is in the player, their technique, rythmn, type of plectrum et al THEN comes the amp.

You can put utter shite into a cracking amp and it won't sound that good, this is a fact. You can have a brilliant player who ticks all of the boxes who can make a Marshall MG100FX sound amazing. Remember Olli from Meet me in st louis? He used a line 6 head and made it sound fantastic. The bassist from Acoustic Ladyland could make a carlsboro house amp sound great, APB / Hot Club making Hartke 3500 sound incredible.

My technique pure sucks, therefore I like nice amps as it is far less forgiving than a shitey amp which lures you into thinking you can play guitar.

I remember playing with a Crate head last year in an improv thing with Scotty Blessed as I blew my TOP50 during the soundcheck. It was fucking awful, couldn't hear a thing (nae use in improv lulz and I dont like monitors), when I did hear things it mangled the overdrive and i couldnt differentiate notes etc etc I actually wanted to kill myself.

my point is

if you are a good player, fuck it go for it.

if you are shite, buy a nice amp and your playing will improve.

i am picking up my top50 this weekend and it is going to sound amazing. yes.

[stuartmaxwell]

I actually have a line6 spider III 120 (2x10) that I wanna sell for about 220 with the footpedal.