Spec me Guitar Amp

[lemonkettaz]

i know its sounds vain... but i dont know... it had paint and all sorts on it ..

maybe im silly

see the metal sound i only want occasionally.... its mainly clean and slightly overdriven i play around.... i have a boss md2 for some extra "metal"... what about the deville and the pedal for the metal? (didnt mean that to rhyme)

 

[georges]

Peavey Classic 50?

Lovely cleans, Nice overdrive sounds, and pedal it up for metal.


Ignore the HC reviews, check out their forums for more sound advice.

 

[Chronos-X]

I run an original Marshall valvestate which I'm very happy with

 

[starscream]

see the metal sound i only want occasionally.... its mainly clean and slightly overdriven i play around.... i have a boss md2 for some extra "metal"... what about the deville and the pedal for the metal? (didnt mean that to rhyme)

Yep that would work fine. As I said in the other thread, you might want to look at a Deluxe and a 2X12 extension cabinet which would be around the same as a DeVille.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Heres the best advice I can give you -

Lets say in Stoke On Trent and surrounding areas there are 40 gigging bands who comprise of members around the 40+ age group. All these guitarists have been gigging since they were teenagers doing pub rock (AC/DC, Dire Straits, Deep Purple, Bad Company etc). Every single one of them have obviously been through many pieces of equipment over the years and I'll wager my Les Paul that if theres a total of about 60 guitarists then 55 of them have got Marshalls.

During the 80's everybody was using Peaveys in the area for some reason and virtually every one was blowing up. I remember in 1987 at the British Music Fair my lead guitarist having a right argument with the Peavey stand in front of everybody trying to get to the bottom of their crap amps. I went to see the same lead guitarist about a month ago in his band and after all these years he's ended up with a Marshall and 4x12 cab and now reckons he's got the sound he's always wanted.

And another thing - if there are 100 guitarists (including bassists) in these local old experienced bands then I can guarantee that not one of them uses wireless either.

Go for Marshall - its what you'll end up with when you're older anyway.

 

[Pez]

Heres the best advice I can give you -

Lets say in Stoke On Trent and surrounding areas there are 40 gigging bands who comprise of members around the 40+ age group. All these guitarists have been gigging since they were teenagers doing pub rock (AC/DC, Dire Straits, Deep Purple, Bad Company etc). Every single one of them have obviously been through many pieces of equipment over the years and I'll wager my Les Paul that if theres a total of about 60 guitarists then 55 of them have got Marshalls.

During the 80's everybody was using Peaveys in the area for some reason and virtually every one was blowing up. I remember in 1987 at the British Music Fair my lead guitarist having a right argument with the Peavey stand in front of everybody trying to get to the bottom of their crap amps. I went to see the same lead guitarist about a month ago in his band and after all these years he's ended up with a Marshall and 4x12 cab and now reckons he's got the sound he's always wanted.

And another thing - if there are 100 guitarists (including bassists) in these local old experienced bands then I can guarantee that not one of them uses wireless either.

Go for Marshall - its what you'll end up with when you're older anyway.

While I agree with your sentiments, you really need to get off this 'I play in a pub band, thus i know everything' soapbox. I understand you have gigged for a fair old while, but you play in a pub band, like many of the rest of us here . No offense intended, I've wanted to say it for a while.

Fair enough, some Marshalls are nice, but they are not everyones cup of tea. I much prefer the Peavey Classic amps, the cleans have more depth, and the overdrive is smoother. I'd rather a classic 30 with a celestion speaker than a Marshall.

The only Marshall that ever did anything for me was the JCM800, and prehaps the JTM series.

I'd honestly go with the likes of Laney/Peavey or Fender, and not buy a marshall because of the stupid badge on the front

 

[Chronos-X]

And I use wireless and its alright - and I've A/B tested it with cable.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

While I agree with your sentiments, you really need to get off this 'I play in a pub band, thus i know everything' soapbox. I understand you have gigged for a fair old while, but you play in a pub band, like many of the rest of us here . No offense intended, I've wanted to say it for a while.

I've not always been in just a pub band, that is what I do now.
I've been professional all over the world and worked in recording studios and for PA companies. If you don't want to listen to me on my soapbox then fair enough but I'll guarantee that you'll come around just like I did with my peers. I was given the same advice and told them to bugger off when I was younger because I knew best.
You realise that the older guys talk sense because they've been there and now I'm an older guy.
If you want to close your ears then fine but I will always pass on the best advice I can give to you younger ones because after 36 years of gigging, recording and mixing bands I've seen a lot of things.
Call me a big head and know-all but I've never given crap advice on here.
Take it or leave it but please don't think 'I'm just in a pub band'.
By your age I had played in France, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and worked for 2 PA companies and one professional recording studio.

 

[Docaroo]

@ dmpoole - no offense intended but you can't just say one massive sweeping comment claiming that everyone will end up using Marshall so just buy one now anyway??? That's just soo wrong....

I personally can't STAND Marshall amps - I will swear right now that the only Marshall amp I would even think of looking at buying would be the JMP-1 preamp.

There's no way I'd buy a Marshall, they don't fit my style, I don't like the distortion sounds, and they are overpriced, over used and over rated!

And it doesn't matter that I play Metal music, even thought Marshall's are useless for that genre...

 

[SidewinderINC]

spec me a metal amp then docaroo

Black Label Society & Zakk wylde are metal through and through - they all use marshalls

 

[SexyGreyFox]

@ dmpoole - no offense intended but you can't just say one massive sweeping comment claiming that everyone will end up using Marshall so just buy one now anyway??? That's just soo wrong....

I admit that was ******* but if you read my post I did say that at least five have other makes and they are more the guys who are playing the softer stuff and need a great clear sound. I know three that use Fenders, one with a Laney and one with a Line 6 (which is poo). One guy goes through a Line6 Live pedal straight into the PA and that sounds awesome.

 

[starscream]

Surely there is no right or wrong answer as sound and tone are subjective, not objective. Personally I think that a proper les paul > JCM valve stack is right up there, but that doesn't mean it is for everyone.

For my own personal sound, I've managed to use a full Crate Blue Voodoo stack - http://www.crateamps.com/html/product.cfm?pid=2 which blew away anything I've every played through before. Hopefully I'll be able to afford one in the UK (They are quite hard to come by)

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Lets start again -

All three amps that you want to look at are going to be comparable. In fact, all amps by all manufacturers around the same price are going to be comparable. You should be able to plug your guitar into all these comparable amps and get a great tone by messing around a little. It may be that the Vox or Fender doesn't give a great metal tone but you know with a £50 pedal that can be sorted. Virtually all tones can be sorted out with a suitable pedal in between whatever amp you choose to buy. I can honestly say that working in recording studios since 76 I've never told a guitarist to try another amp for the session. We've got a sound by experimenting a bit more and maybe changing the guitar but thats it.

The major difference has been on stage and you know that when somebody is using Marshall you're on a winner to get a great sound out front but the other manufacturers needed tweaking a bit. It is a personal thing but after years of mic'ing bands up including the likes of (blowing my own trumpet) and a 1000 others then anybody without a Marshall used to bring a frown from me. OK, we're going back to the late 70's/early 80's and times change.

Since 1970 I've had a million guitars and only about 4 years ago I had my first Gibson Les Paul Standard. I kick myself every time I pick it up that I didn't have one in 1970 but it took me 32 years to see the light. I'm still learning and its nice to see that my old mates are learning even though they've been around longer than me.

Go into the shop and ask the shop 'expert' to take you through the amp of your choice because thats what they're there for. They'll find sounds on these amps that others haven't because most of them are geeks and mess with amps like people on here overclock processors. And I'll say this over and over - get the geek to play the guitar while you stand as far back as possible in the shop. Most amps sound good from 3 foot away but not all sound good from 30 foot away.

Dave the know all pub musician.

 

[Chronos-X]

Yeah. What I will say for assessing an amps "tone" is that they all have very unique EQs. I've had two Marshalls, and setting the same bass/middle/treble/gain on each won't get you the same sound. However, they both will be able to get the same sounds by using different settings, so you just have to experiment till you find it.

I've also discovered recently that using the OD2 overdrive at home on the valvestate is fine, but the classic overdrive needs to be used live or otherwise the sound I get is a paper-thin, trebly mess.

 

[Docaroo]

spec me a metal amp then docaroo

Black Label Society & Zakk wylde are metal through and through - they all use marshalls

well I don't know what budget you would want but I guess this list should start you off well:

Mesa Boogie

• Dual Rectifier

Hughes & Kettner

• Switchblade
• Warp X

ENGL

• Powerball
• Invader 150

Peavey

• Triple XXX
• Joe Satriani Signature JSX

Randall

• XL Series - V2 or T2
• MTS Series

Carvin

• V3
• Legacy

That should get you started I can be more specific if you want a particular metal sound/genre

 

[SidewinderINC]

really want to get that hatebreed sound, give me any hints? quite like the sound of Viking Skull, slayer and judas priest too.

 

[MrMoon]

im in the market for a new amp, had my heart set on a line6 spider II but loads of people said get a marshall, but I am un sure of which marshall to get had demos of a few but they are so close I cant make my mind up.

 

[lemonkettaz]

have you played a line 6 spider 2?

i was recommended one a while back... but didnt bother after reading reviews on it...doesnt seem my cup of tea

 

[MrMoon]

have you played a line 6 spider 2?

i was recommended one a while back... but didnt bother after reading reviews on it...doesnt seem my cup of tea

yeah I played it but I dont reckon I will get the range of sounds as its almost like preset sounds and there isnt a lot of variation, just seemed very digital, have been looking at the marshall AVT and MG series but am unsure of which to go for

 

[lemonkettaz]

give them a whirl.

ive played an avt marshall before.. was ok..didnt like the clean tone very much. thats me though

ive played nothing though thats compared to the tsl 602 marshall. but i havent played through many type of amps.

never played an mg series.... but dont think ill be impressed wth them now. they are solid states arent they?