Buying a new amp

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Buying a new amp; Because the other one was taken away :(
Topic Started: Aug 30 2008, 06:51 PM (740 Views)
Metallon	Aug 30 2008, 06:51 PM Post #1
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	I used to play on a 100W Peavey head with a 400W cabinet that belonged to a friend of my drummer, but now he took it back! So we're left without an amp, and I need to shell out more money for the sake of our band! So now I need a new amp - preferably a valve/tube amp, and one that won't do what the last one did: blow the walls and fire us with massive amounts of feedback once the volume is up halfway. I'm currently looking at the Peavey ValveKing 112. It's a relatively cheap and good amp for its price, though at times I'm unsure about the amount of gain/distortion I can get from that amp. I have a thing for Marshall amps, but I haven't tried any Marshall amp besides my own, which is an MG15CD - so it's not a very good Marshall. But I don't know of any Marshall that sounds as good as the VK112 and lying on a similar price range. Are there any other types of amps that might be worth looking into? I play mainly (thrash) metal but also other riff-based rock/metal, and it needs to have good clean sound, and not be a bitch to feedback (you see, we're surrounded by brick/concrete walls). Thanks in advance!
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


monwobobbo	Aug 30 2008, 06:59 PM Post #2
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	BUGERA makes some decent affordable tube amps. they are a new company i tried one of there combo amps and was impressed. i believe one of the people here has a Bugera and likes it.
	and now for something completely different


Bullet	Aug 30 2008, 10:35 PM Post #3
Admin Posts: 1,912 Group: Admin Member #183 Joined: January 13, 2007	In that price range? Valve? You have 3 options.... Peavey Valveking, Orange Tiny Terror and Epiphone Valve Junior I would personally go for the Tiny Terror but that would also involve buying a cab for it so it looks like you can only really go with the other 2. I have owned the Valveking before and it was great, I also play metal/thrash quite alot, it had enough distortion but I used a tubescreamer for even more. I haven't tried an Epiphone amp before so I can't tell you how good they are.



Metallon	Sep 2 2008, 10:39 AM Post #4
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	I could actually stretch beyond that budget. If more bucks means a much better investment, then I would gladly pay the cash. I want an amp that I can play lesser gigs on but most importantly rehearse with. Now we're surrounded by concrete walls so we had feedback issues when we used a Peavey 100W tube head with a 400W cab. So I'm looking for something less than that. The good thing about a head is that you can just take the head and slave any cab to it and the sound won't differ much, assuming the cabs are good. I can't find any shop that sells Bugera here in Sweden What interesting amps I've found that appeal to me are: ENGL Peavey Marshall Mesa Boogie Hughes & Kettnes. I'm still worried about the Peavey not giving me that crushing tone I am after (primarily worried about the gain). Also, I haven't found any ENGL that doesn't cost a month's salary XD
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


phill1883	Sep 2 2008, 09:33 PM Post #5
Member Posts: 37 Group: Members Member #8,740 Joined: August 15, 2008	An engl Screamer is definately worth checking out...to replace my Triamp..i havnt looked back...I gave an account of it in the thread "amp advice please".



monwobobbo	Sep 2 2008, 11:44 PM Post #6
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	just a thought but you could get a combo with the ability to ad on a cab. often a 1x12 is good for practice (at reasonable levels) and then you could run it into a 4x12 for gigs. 3 out of 4 brands you mentioned will cost fairly big bucks but of course in the end would be worth it. have you tried Marshall"s AVT series yet. they are hybrids and may work for you at a cost that will only leave you hungry instead of starving .
	and now for something completely different


mynameisDavid	Sep 3 2008, 12:19 AM Post #7
Member Posts: 1,102 Group: Moderator Member #294 Joined: March 2, 2007	monwobobbo Sep 2 2008, 11:44 PM just a thought but you could get a combo with the ability to ad on a cab. often a 1x12 is good for practice (at reasonable levels) and then you could run it into a 4x12 for gigs. 3 out of 4 brands you mentioned will cost fairly big bucks but of course in the end would be worth it. have you tried Marshall"s AVT series yet. they are hybrids and may work for you at a cost that will only leave you hungry instead of starving . Marshall<Valveking Edited by mynameisDavid, Sep 3 2008, 12:19 AM.
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Metallon	Sep 3 2008, 07:27 AM Post #8
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	monwobobbo Sep 2 2008, 11:44 PM just a thought but you could get a combo with the ability to ad on a cab. often a 1x12 is good for practice (at reasonable levels) and then you could run it into a 4x12 for gigs. 3 out of 4 brands you mentioned will cost fairly big bucks but of course in the end would be worth it. have you tried Marshall"s AVT series yet. they are hybrids and may work for you at a cost that will only leave you hungry instead of starving . Hmm, I could check out the AVT (seems I've missed those and the ValveState series). But I hear the MG's make too much noise to be good. Do you mean that the cab should be 1x12, or the combo? Anyway, everything from ENGL and Mesa/Boogie turned out to be too expensive, so I'm down to either a Marshall Amp, a Hughes & Kettnes or something completely different (still no Bugeras or Oranges anywhere close, and Randalls and VOX-amps aren't my thing, after having tried them). The only thing I can get from Hughes & Kettner is either a 60W combo (blue edition series) or something from the Matrix series. Both are solid-state, though. As for the Peaveys, the ValveKing 112 is just a 50 watt combo version of the ValveKing head + top that we used to play with, and I didn't feel like I got the right sound from it. Maybe I really should consider stretching my budget even further? Edited by Metallon, Sep 3 2008, 07:27 AM.
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


monwobobbo	Sep 3 2008, 10:17 AM Post #9
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	the combo could be a 1x12 or 2x12 and the cab would be a 4x12 is what i meant. the AVT is a valvestate (Adavanced Valvestate Technologiy) the MGs fan is a little noisy however they are solid state. i've managed to get some decent sounds out of my MG100DFX however if you can get better than you should. the AVT has a tube in the pre-amp and a solid state poer section. you may have to up your budget if you want to go all tube and have a decent output wattage. 50watts at least. you also should consider that many amps might need a l;ittle help in the gain/distortion dept. i use a Boss super overdrive or an Ibanez tube screamer to goose the front end with for more zing. i also have a Behringer heavy distortion and a Boss ds-1 which i use for more modern metal sounds while running the amp itself on the clean side.
	and now for something completely different


Metallon	Sep 3 2008, 12:19 PM Post #10
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	I actually looked into used Marshall amps and found some VERY interesting deals. Asides from lots of used Valvestates and used MG-series stuff, I also found a JCM 800 50-watt combo. Then I found some interesting heads: JCM 2000 DSL 100. 100 watt, pretty nice tubes (ECC-84 pre-amp tubes, and EL-34 tubes in the... umm... other part. Don't know the English word). He wants to sell it for almost half of its original price. JCM 900. 50W. Two offers. One is modded and costs x1.25 as much as the non-modded one. The non-modded one is a JCM 900 4500, and comes with EL-34 Svetlana tubes and 4 extra tubes (Electro-Harmonix EL-34). A third non-modded at the same price as the one with the Svetlana tubes has also replaced tubes and is from 1996. JCM 900 4100 from 2001. this JCM 900 is at 100W, unlike the other 900's I found. It's also been modded by possibly the best known modder in Sweden: Tommy Folkesson. For a package price he also wants to sell a Marshall 1960BX cab with three Celestion g-12 65 (from the early 80's) and a Celestion Vintage 30. Remember the other modded JCM 900 ? The package price is twice that amount. I also found a Hughes & Kettner Switchblade top for twice the amount that the JCM 900 4500 costs. Now, to sum it up. Most ValveState/MG100-tops/combos: 2,000-3,000 SEK JCM 800 4010 combo: 4,100 SEK JCM 900 modded: 5,000 SEK JCM 900 4500: 4,000 SEK JCM 900 w/replaced unknown tubes: 4,000 SEK JCM 2000 DSL 100: 6,500 SEK JCM 900 Folkesson-mod: 7,000 SEK - 1960BX cab: 5,500 SEK - PAckage price: 10,000 SEK Switchblade 100: 8,000 SEK I work part-time here and there (mostly weekends) and my income per month will lie between 2,000 SEK and 4,000 SEK, except for this month which will be 12,000 SEK, so I COULD pay some cash and then be poor for a while. Considering I'd have to get a cab if I buy a head, you'd understand that any tube amp head I get means stretching it I'm sure there are some other combos and such out there. I'll keep looking. There's no good guitar shop anywhere close so I can't go try out stuff, either. Sucks =/ BTW thanks for your help EDIT: Found a used (but very expensive) Orange combo. Imagine that! It costs almost as much as the used Switchblade. I think it was 50W or so. Edited by Metallon, Sep 3 2008, 12:39 PM.
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


Bullet	Sep 3 2008, 01:38 PM Post #11
Admin Posts: 1,912 Group: Admin Member #183 Joined: January 13, 2007	After reading more about what you want.... I think you should check out a Peavey 6505 or Marshall DSL100/50 I think you may like one of those And they won't break the bank



Metallon	Sep 3 2008, 02:07 PM Post #12
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	I think I know a music shop where I can try out the 6505. It's a bit to travel (roughly an hour by foot, on a road without a sidewalk, and through a very stinky field - due to farmers). I'm not fond at all of the shop as it's part of a larger business. But from what I've seen, all used 6505's are too expensive. I feel I'm looking for an amp that'll last a long time, but I'm also not really looking at the top-end. While I don't want to sound as a sound-stealer, Van Halen used/uses a 6505 and he's been an inspiration... I'm beginning to feel more confident that I want a top with a cab as tops are easier to transport around. So we'll stick to tops for now. Preferably 50 watts, but 100 watts can work, too. Bullet, what is it about the 6505 and DSL that you think has that will suit me? =)
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


monwobobbo	Sep 3 2008, 10:24 PM Post #13
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	wow an hour walk i take it you don't have wheels then. the 6505 would be a good choice i've tried them and they are good. haven't tried that model of marshall. i believe that either would give you the sound you want and many bands use the peavey around here. if the jcm 800 combo has an out to run into a cab then it might be your best way to go. at least you'd have an amp and then could save for the bottom. you'd be suprised at how loud those little suckers are. if you go the Marshall AVT route then DO NOT get the bottom that they usually pair up with that or the MG series. yeah they are relatively cheap but they SUCK. save for a real marshall cab like the 1960.
	and now for something completely different


Metallon	Sep 22 2008, 08:55 PM Post #14
Member Posts: 56 Group: Members Member #8,784 Joined: August 30, 2008	I just had a very long discussion with my friend, and we decided that I would sacrifice the purchase of a much-wanted EC-400VF. We also decided that we would take a risk. Which means that I'll be buying an amp that by itself is not what I'm looking for - instead, I'll be replacing the tubes and adding an overdrive/gain pedal to give it that extra boost it needs. After all, you can't really play thrash metal with the amp I'm getting, which is a... Marshall JMP 1959! Which, I might add, has been heavily modified - rebuilt, basically - into a 2203. Ohm switches has been replaced by two different inputs (I believe), the pots and some other things have been replaced, and so have the tubes, and the amp has already been biased, and there's an additional gain control added as well as an added master volume I think. It's a very cheap head that I'm sure sounds great (will be trying it this week, hopefully). In the case this turns out to be sold already (it was added 5 days ago), I'll be looking at a equally cheap 2205 with a (much wanted) spring reverb. And, if all else fails, I'll just slap myself and get a DSL 100.
	I express my emotions musically to impress people with music emotionally.


monwobobbo	Sep 22 2008, 10:25 PM Post #15
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	sounds pretty good to me. you could do way worse than that.
	and now for something completely different

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