amp suggestions

in_my_hands

hey everyone, my amp is starting to die so this gives me a good reason to upgrade and get a new one.

Im looking for a three channel amp (1 clean, 2 drives) preferrably all tube. can be a head or combo doesnt matter, but loud enough for gigging.

other than the obvious mesa triple rec etc

any suggestions?

sttawke

Budget? Unlimited?

I'd say you don't need three channels. With a really good amp, you could control drive levels from your volume knob. The new Vox AC30's made in China are excellent amps, I'd recommend you give one a spin as soon as you can.

Fran

Could depend on what sounds youre looking for? Fender for clean, Marshall for dirt imo. Lots of other choices of course like Peavey, Randall, HiWatt, etc.

vic108

What kinda music do you play?

Do you use alot of pedals?

What's your budget?

Combo, half-stack, or full stack?

What size gigs do you play?

Any of your gigs outside?

Do you gig using a mixing board and decent PA?

Spitfire

Yeah we need more details. I can vouch for the AC30 classics for clean and driven - best amp I've owned.

in_my_hands

in answer to vic108

the music my band plays is kinda post grunge metal but i would like it to be a versatile amp. i dont use many pedals, just a boss tuner and ehx clone chorus. my budget is 1000 max really. that is for a half stack ideally. the size of our gigs varies but there getting bigger. no gigs outside yet. and yeh we generally gig with that kind of equipment too.

yeh i agree i was a bit vague, but i have no idea where to start on amps.

cheers guys

Fran

Stacks look cool but if you have limited transport they are'nt a good idea, it also becomes a real pain carrying them around. A good 50w valve combo is loud enough for most venues (anything bigger and you will be mic'd up through the PA anyway) and easily transportable.

I have a Marshall JCM 2000 40w and it does cover a lot of sounds.. and i have played some fairly big venues with it. You can pick them up new for around 450 pounds i'm pretty sure.

Depending on how 'grungey' you want your sound you may find yourself buying a EHX Big Muff or Fuzz Face at some point whatever amp you choose. Fuzz sounds are usually difficult to achieve with any amps preamp section. So for the sake of an extra 50 pound on a pedal you will easily achieve the sound you want.

sttawke

in_my_hands said: the music my band plays is kinda post grunge metal

LOL

vic108

I'm more of a combo man myself.

At the most, a 1/2 stack.

Sure, a full stack is fun but it's a load

to carry and it's too loud.

And most of the time, 50 watts is enough.

Believe it or not, the VOX VALTRONIX is a decent amp

to get. The 50 watter is what I'm looking at to replace

a 30 watter I gave away recently. The cleans were great

but on the clean settings, the 30 wasn't quite loud enough.

Try one and see for yourself.

matte30is

Get a used JCM 800.

Lyman17

in_my_hands said: hey everyone, my amp is starting to die so this gives me a good reason to upgrade and get a new one.
Im looking for a three channel amp (1 clean, 2 drives) preferrably all tube. can be a head or combo doesnt matter, but loud enough for gigging.
other than the obvious mesa triple rec etc
any suggestions?

Fender Twin. It has a Clean, light ovedrive and distortion channel as well as a killer reverb. The Clean channel cannot be rivaled by any in my humble opinion. It is 100 watts but has a switch on the back that will let you kill it down to 25 watts.

It is definitely a gig worthy am as well as a VERY good recording amp.

You can get them used for 700-800 bucks.

-Lyman17

Pedro

vic108 said: Believe it or not, the VOX VALTRONIX is a decent amp
to get. The 50 watter is what I'm looking at to replace
a 30 watter I gave away recently. The cleans were great
but on the clean settings, the 30 wasn't quite loud enough.
Try one and see for yourself.

Definitely not for me - played thru a vox valvtronix a few times in rehearsals and I hate it. I always thought i didn't like marshalls but used a valvestate recently and was surprised at how nice the clean sound was. Funny old world

StevieK

If your price range is unlimited check out a Bogner Shiva 2x12 combo. It has a Clean Channel that sounds like a twin reverb and dirty channel that rivals most Marshalls.

Fran

vic108 said: Believe it or not, the VOX VALTRONIX is a decent amp
to get. The 50 watter is what I'm looking at to replace
a 30 watter I gave away recently. The cleans were great
but on the clean settings, the 30 wasn't quite loud enough.
Try one and see for yourself.

Valvestates a pretty good imo. Should be as cheap as chips nowadays as well.

Fran

Matt said: 5150
never ever ever had a problem with it until i blew it up on my birthday show

ROFL! That had me truly pis sing my pants with laughter. 😆

BanditGuitarist1

i dunno how this ended but i hope it ended with an orange amp 😆

tragictravisty

he means a fender bassman 😉

BanditGuitarist1

how about a mixture of them all An Orange Ubershmen 😆 Fender Cleans, Orange Looks, Bogner High-Gain.... I think i creamed my pants 😆

harrison

BanditGuitarist1 said: how about a mixture of them all An Orange Ubershmen 😆 Fender Cleans, Orange Looks, Bogner High-Gain.... I think i creamed my pants 😆

you just effectively said that the reason you like orange is because of their looks by not including their sound in this mixture amp 😈

BanditGuitarist1

BanditGuitarist1 said: how about a mixture of them all An Orange Ubershmen 😆 Fender Cleans, Orange Looks, Bogner High-Gain.... I think i creamed my pants 😆

Well your right, so I shall redesign the Orange Ubershmen to be a 3 channel amp, which has fender cleans, orange gain state, and the bogner high-gain stage, with orange tolex covering. I think thats the Orange amp of my dreams...what more could you ask for...classic orange gain amazing cleans and screaming high-gain...i think i need a job at Orange ASAP