Which amp should I get...?

Robbmonster

Recently bought a Squier Telecaster. It's a pretty sweet guitar, and I want to get some opinions on a few amps. I will not be gigging; this is purely for home practice use, maybe with a mind to jamming down the road.

I am looking at spending about $200, and at the store today I played through about 6 amps, and 3 of them made the grade for what I am after.

The ones that didn't were a Montery that was $169. It was just too quiet, too muddy. No definition played clean, and not punchy enough when overdriven. I didn't bother to get the model name. It was maybe 35w.

Another was a Drive, $219, probably about 40w. The overdrive was great, the reverb function was wonderful, but try as I may, I absolutely COULD NOT get a good, defined clean sound. Clean is my no. 1 priority.

The other was a small LTD, didn't see the price. It was maybe 30w. Tone-wise it did nothing for me at all. Too quiet, too muddy, no character.

The ones that DID make the cut... (I wrote down more details about these ones)

Fender Frontman 15G - PR 439 - 38w - $199. This to me was a sweet amp. Very good treble sound, VERY loud, great clean, but not so great overdriven. Wonderful definition from the pups on the Tele I was using, even on overdrive.

Squier SP-10 - PR 367 - 22w - $99. Yes, a Squier. Yes it is small, lacks even the most basic of features, and isn't especially loud, but it seemed designed to be compatible with my guitar. Very good, well-defined clean sound, ordinary overdrive. It seemed like a very good value amp, and that is important to me.

Marshall MG10CD - 40w - $159. Although a higher wattage than the Fender, this amp didn't seem to be anywhere near as loud (by the way, each amp was played with full volume and tone on guitar, amp volume of 5, treble 7, bass 5, and mid (where available) at 5 also). This amp gave a good clean tone, though not as trebly and jangly as the Fender, and gave great overdrive.

I guess what I am asking is which amp presents the best 'value' (price/sound/durability, etc). For mine, the Fender probably leads the way because of the definition of the cleans.

Also, later in the year I will also be buying a Squier Jagmaster, and that guitar will be used through the amp I buy here as well.

Thanks for reading...

edit: seems as though the wattage specs are wrong. I just got the watt readings off the back, but it seems the input differs from the output. I don't even know what a watt is; one of the things in this world that I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about is electronics 😀

Mustang-Pete

Well the Fender is the one I'd go for... Fender make great amps, even their cheaper ones are excellent.

As for why the Fender was louder than the Squier and the Marshall is because the Fender is 15 watts output, whereas the other two are only 10 watts.

The Fender would be your best bet.

Robbmonster

Just been reading reviews on Harmony Central, and the reviews for the Fender are not very inspiring. 5.7/10 for the 15G, compared to 8.8/10 for the Marshall.

Given the Marshall is $40 cheaper, it seems like it might be a better option.

BUT...

When I played the things, I liked the sound of the Fender better. More biting treble, more clarity.

BUT...

I am doubting my own ears, because I don't know ANYTHING about amps - today was the first time I have ever played through one for any significant amount of time - and I feel that there is more to consider than simply the sound.

I'm a bit lost 😀

taylormade

I have a Fender Frontman 25W, it's pretty nice - and a lot of folks have modded them with a different speaker (Rajin Cajun).

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... n+25R/10/1

That said, I'm starting to shop for a Blues Jr. I've played a couple, and it's got a great tube tone/breakup, but it's definitely not a monster.

Robbmonster

Two votes for Fender so far. Interesting.

Reading reviews of the Marshall, most people seem to be praising the way the amp sounds with various effects, the distortion function, and the volume (I found the Fender to be WAY louder).

No one seems to be raving about the sparkling clean tones that can be plucked from it. If I want clean, am I simply barking up the wrong tree looking at a Marshall?

jellybelly

no one has mentioned them yet, so I will make a bold statement and say that a peavey would be better than any of them, pick up a second hand bandit 112 if you can, or I believe the 'envoy' is in your price range. good cleans, impressive gain and a lot of tone options. Easy.

jellybelly

also roland cube amps are greaty and have inbuilt boss effects which are suprisingly good

Mustang-Pete

Robbmonster said: No one seems to be raving about the sparkling clean tones that can be plucked from it. If I want clean, am I simply barking up the wrong tree looking at a Marshall?

new Marshalls have a tendancy to be pretty muddy on clean channels. The Fender would give a much crisper clean response.

Robbmonster

Thanks Pete...

Clean is what I want obviously, and I just remeber the Fender being extremely clear. I remeber at one point I actually noticed how delicately I was picking the strings. Any time I even touched a string I would hear the sound.

It's just the reviews on Harmony Central that are confusing me.

I will be making the decision tomorrow, and I think I will spend some time with the tech at the store and really explore as many tonal options from each amp as I can.

nirvana23freak

frontmen suck, dont get it

Robbmonster

This is why I am torn. It SOUNDED fine, but too many people have been saying how bad they are.

I KNOW I will get greater durability out of the Marshall - and even if I don't it has a 5-year warranty - but what does durability mean if I don't like the sound I am getting out of it.

Of course if the Frontman is as bad as it's reputation suggests, I will be enjoying the tone for about 6 months before I go bolting to the store to buy a Marshall anyway.

The Marshall is the safe option - reliability at the expence of sound.

The Fender is a gamble - I get a preferable sound, but lose reliability.

BanditGuitarist1

the entire MG marshall line is totally UNRELIABLE! Do not think for a second that just because its Marshall means its the same as buying a superlead in terms of reliability! They are made from cheap asian components are will break in a matter of a few months to a year I can almost gaurantee that! I had a Marshall MG100HDFX it was fine for two months then went bonkers! Dont go marshall solid state! Buy an epiphone valve jr!

Mustang-Pete

Now that is an incredibly good idea...

an even better one might be the Fender Blues Junior. All crispy valve lovelyness in a Fender! what more could you want?

Robbmonster

Unfortunately at the store I frequent, my options are very limited, not helped in the least by my totally crummy budget (about USD$200, which may sound okay until you factor in importing costs, et al).

There were a grand total of 4 amps available for $200 or less; 2 Marshall's, a Squier, and a Fender Frontman.

I ended up buying the Marshall for $159, and got a 5-year warranty.

And after a bit more fiddling around with it, I was able to get some favourable sounds from it.

Thanks everyone who posted, and I will probably be posting again soon enough when it breaks down and I come whining back.

Everyone has permission to say "I told you so" once. 😀

Robbmonster

update for those who care:

Marshall is going well. Slight hum when switched on, but I can live with that.

Surprisingly little pup noise from my Squire Tele, except for a small grounding hum that I need to look at.

Plucking some good sound from the amp, but we are still honeymooning, still getting to know what each of us want from the other, what we like and don't like, and how we like to be treated.

The overdrive function isn't as punchy as I would have hoped for, but I only use it when I'm mucking around anyway, so no biggie!

purr

peavey classic 30

bob

Surely the classic 30 is out of his price range?

You've got the amp now so it doesn't really matter, but never trust the reviews on harmony central for anything. The numbers simply don't mean a thing. Read a few by all means, you might even find out some things you didn't know about it before, but never take the scores to be an accurate guide to quality.

Robbmonster

bob said: Surely the classic 30 is out of his price range?
You've got the amp now so it doesn't really matter, but never trust the reviews on harmony central for anything. The numbers simply don't mean a thing. Read a few by all means, you might even find out some things you didn't know about it before, but never take the scores to be an accurate guide to quality.

Thanks Bob for the advice.

I'm always careful on Harmony Central and try to read as many reviews as I can. I have learned not to trust ignorant low ratings, like people expecting a Squier Strat to be the same as a '62 Fender. Or people who get stroppy because their guitar isn't ready to play straight out of the box.

The Marshall amp is working well, so I think I did the right thing. I'm actually managing to get the sounds I want out of it. The overdrive function isn't much, but I don't really care.

I'm reading about Squier Affinity Strats at the moment, having read about 100 of the 255 reviews available. I know the only way to make an informed decision is to use what you intend to buy, but sometimes the option isn't really available, and I tend to trust the opinions of people who know more than I do 😀

bob

You're best off posting places like this. At the very least you'll be familiar with some of the regular posters and can get a bit of context from their opinion from that. You'll also have a bit of an idea of how long they've been playing and how good their other gear is.

Harmony central has a lot of reviews like this

"I've owned the original Gibson Les Paul (the one they actually made for the man himself) and a 1934 strat. I play through Jimi's amp and this squier beginner pack is better than them all. If it were stolen I would hunt the theif down and kill them!! It's also built like a tank because I think I saw some metal on it somewhere." and then 10's all round.

The main problem is people post as soon as they get new gear and are still in the 'honeymoon' period. Ask a married man how attractive his wife is when they're in the car from the wedding chapel to the airport and you'll get an awfully different response to if you ask him when they're both 45 and she's told him he's not allowed to go to the pub because he has to paint the fence.

You'll also hear a lot of talk about squiers being a mixed bag and every review will tell you that they played 400 of them in the shop, and they picked out the only good one and it's better than an American fender. Most of that comes down to the setup of the guitar. These things are generally quite consistent, especially when they haven't been played very much.

Really all I'm saying is take reviews from people you don't know with a pinch of salt. Read a few for things you have tried yourself and see how they match up to your own opinions, and get ready to spot the cliches.

On a similar note, most reviews from guitar magazines are quite useless. They frequently review products that they advertise. I don't think boss would be sending them very much money to print a bad review of a pedal when 4 pages ago was a two page advert for the same product.

Try and put it into context, and be especially beware of the honeymoon period.

Fran

Wise words.