Spec me Guitar Amp

alexthecheese · 25 Jul 2006 at 17:39

Oh and personally I'd go for a really nice combo than go for the head and cab just because it looks cool/is bigger.

THey're a pain in the ar$e to move about too.

lemonkettaz · 1 Aug 2006 at 00:50

annoyed!¬!!

this flaming amp was supposed to be delivered by last friday...

they obviousl ran out of time because on the citylink website it said they had failed to deliver (timed at 17:50)

and the goods were returning to branch

then the scheduled delivery time was changed to 31/07/06 which was yesterday .... stayed in all day... no delivery...

bloody annoyed... so ill give them a bell today (when i get up as its now 00:50) and see whats happening.

i hate citylink... no offence but i know now of 4times ive had problems with them, why shops/businesses use them i dont know... must be cheap.

alexthecheese · 1 Aug 2006 at 13:38

lemonkettaz said:
annoyed!¬!!

this flaming amp was supposed to be delivered by last friday...

they obviousl ran out of time because on the citylink website it said they had failed to deliver (timed at 17:50)

and the goods were returning to branch

then the scheduled delivery time was changed to 31/07/06 which was yesterday .... stayed in all day... no delivery...

bloody annoyed... so ill give them a bell today (when i get up as its now 00:50) and see whats happening.

i hate citylink... no offence but i know now of 4times ive had problems with them, why shops/businesses use them i dont know... must be cheap.

What was it you went for in the end? The TSL 602?

My next purchase, I hope, will be a Parker NiteFly, or perhaps a Gibbo LP. Or a Marshall like yours.

SidewinderINC · 1 Aug 2006 at 13:39

was the delivery stated as next day? or within a certain time? i'd complain and get my money back on delivery which would be quite a bit i'd imagine!

Locrian · 1 Aug 2006 at 17:07

Very jelous. Im seriously thinking about splashing out on an amp around the same price bracket as well, as i have been without a decent amp for a long time relying on my studio monitors and pod XT.

What was the general opinion for the price bracket £500-£700? The TSL602?

lemonkettaz · 1 Aug 2006 at 23:44

not stated as next day...

but its with city link.. their dirty mits..

was scheduled to be delivered the 27/07

then the 31/08

then today after i was annoyed on the phone at them.. did it come today NO

so i wasted another day in the house waiting for it.

so im phoning them up tomorrow morning to expect it before 12 otherwise i want my £20 delivery back. im at work tomorrow at 10 but can get someone in the house til 1 to wait... after that the house is empty.

so as it was originally supposed to be delivered on the 27th of july im fairly annoyed.

i hate citylink

Andelusion · 2 Aug 2006 at 00:01

Locrian said:
Very jelous. Im seriously thinking about splashing out on an amp around the same price bracket as well, as i have been without a decent amp for a long time relying on my studio monitors and pod XT.

What was the general opinion for the price bracket £500-£700? The TSL602?

Bleah, everyone gets Marshall, for £700 go for a Laney GH50L head and a s/hand Marshall cab

That'd own. (Paul Gilbert uses the GH50L).

Although if you don't need that much power, it'd be overkill, the amp only has one channel though (although it does have a gain boost).

I had a TSL601 for a couple of years, but just couldn't get the type of gain I wanted without a DS-1 infront of it to give it that bite, I was playing a lot of instrumental rock at the time (satch, vai, yawn etc). It was great at the crunchy brit gain tone, but not for saturated heavy gain with plenty of highs.

To be honest, I'd snoop around for a second hand Mesa Boogie F-30, they're £950ish new, but I saw a minty one go for £650 on ebay the other day, these amps will make you wee your pants with glee, if you want to hear some soundclips email me/msn or something.

Locrian · 2 Aug 2006 at 01:02

^^ Thanks for the above Andelusion

The thing is, although i do play allot of vai, satch style stuff im a much more bluesy player than a rocky player. Give me SRV over gilbert any day.

I had a play around with some amps in andertons the other day and was having trouble finding that perfect bluesy tone. The amps that lend themselves to heavily distorted rocking songs seem to rather kill anything you try to do more subtly on the clean channel.

At the end of the day, my pod can create any lead tones i want it to, but what it cant get is the awesome overwhelming feel of a tube amp, a bit of reverb and maybe a TS9 thrown in the mix.

oysterboy · 2 Aug 2006 at 11:40

"I had a play around with some amps in andertons the other day and was having trouble finding that perfect bluesy tone. The amps that lend themselves to heavily distorted rocking songs seem to rather kill anything you try to do more subtly on the clean channel."

Don't get a Marshall - I had 2 in the past and they both broke! I'm pretty anti marshall myself and I picked up a Rivera 30watt combo a few years ago...it's got really nice clean sounds, some pretty extreme distortion (should you want it) on the 2nd channel and all other tones in between. Takes a bit of tinkering to get the best sounds tho. The only annoying thing is that I can't find a footswith over here.....emailed Rivera and it cost £80 cos it's not got a jack input for it.

SidewinderINC · 2 Aug 2006 at 12:36

if you want a bluesy tone save up and get a cornford Hellcat

actually, what am i saying...

if you want anything - save up and get a Cornford MK50 MK2

riddlermarc · 2 Aug 2006 at 13:42

SidewinderINC said:
if you want anything - save up and get a Cornford MK50 MK2

Is this the one they had/have in the booth in Andertons? If so it's what I used when I tried out a few top-spec Ibaneii the other month.. lovely sound, some real nice overdrive going on

SidewinderINC · 2 Aug 2006 at 13:43

yes, its the brand new one that costs £1999.99

got 2 channels with a gain boost and secondary master volume.

turn the gain up full and hear it go!

it was either that or the Hellcat - had a white controll panel on it?

Locrian · 2 Aug 2006 at 15:10

I just did something very silly

I've gone and put a deposit on a brand new Mesa Boogie Lonestar, pushing me £1000 over budget. I couldn't help it! I took my guitar along and it was like straight out of Harry Potter and the wands. I am one very happy, but (soon to be) very poor guy!

SidewinderINC · 2 Aug 2006 at 15:15

we'll want pics and soundclips when you get it

lemonkettaz · 2 Aug 2006 at 16:24

Locrian said:
I just did something very silly I've gone and put a deposit on a brand new Mesa Boogie Lonestar, pushing me £1000 over budget. I couldn't help it! I took my guitar along and it was like straight out of Harry Potter and the wands. I am one very happy, but (soon to be) very poor guy!

congrats!

when are you collecting it? receiving it?

i still havent had mine delivered yet, the past 2 days they say its coming.. it hasnt. lol now they say its coming tomorrow... i smell something.

its great though when you ar elooking at something... looking at your budget... then saying... ah, to hell with money!

Locrian · 2 Aug 2006 at 17:28

lemonkettaz said:
congrats!

when are you collecting it? receiving it?

i still havent had mine delivered yet, the past 2 days they say its coming.. it hasnt. lol now they say its coming tomorrow... i smell something.

its great though when you ar elooking at something... looking at your budget... then saying... ah, to hell with money!

Collection, in about a week or so. Of course there will be pics and clips to follow

SexyGreyFox · 2 Aug 2006 at 18:25

Locrian said:
I just did something very silly I've gone and put a deposit on a brand new Mesa Boogie Lonestar, pushing me £1000 over budget. I couldn't help it! I took my guitar along and it was like straight out of Harry Potter and the wands. I am one very happy, but (soon to be) very poor guy!

Oooh I have another story and you going to say "not dmpoole again with his know all attitude". I accept that Mesa Boogie have probably come on leaps and bounds but this is concerning the very first amp they made in the early 80's.

My mate had saved £1600 and dreamed of owning this new amp. We made our way to Wishers in Derby who only had one and we had to be quick. We walked in and the Mesa Boogie was placed on a stand in the middle of the shop and other musos were gawping at it. My mate flashed his wad and asked to try it so he got out his Strat and plugged it in. Over the next hour we had everybody and his dog trying to get a decent sound out of this amp until he finally gave in. He then walked into a back room where all the other amps were and sat down disappointed. After 5 minutes contemplating that his dream toy wasn't going to cut the mustard he turned round and saw a 30 watt valve combo and plugged his guitar in. Straight away it gave him the sound he was after and it only cost £250 and he saved £1350. (can't remember what make it was either)

Andelusion · 2 Aug 2006 at 19:20

Locrian said:
I just did something very silly I've gone and put a deposit on a brand new Mesa Boogie Lonestar, pushing me £1000 over budget. I couldn't help it! I took my guitar along and it was like straight out of Harry Potter and the wands. I am one very happy, but (soon to be) very poor guy!

rofl, awesome!

EDIT: Aye Mesas are notoriously difficult to get a good sound out of, but when you do, :cool:

Particularly the Mark series, with the 'hardest' being the Mark IV apparently, the F series I suggested is one of the most basic Mesas you can get in terms of twiddly knobs and buttons and seems to always sound awesome.

Andy Timmons uses the Lonestar now (used to use a Laney VH100R) and he can get some great cleans out of it, Peturcci also has a Lonestar head for his live clean tones.

Locrian · 3 Aug 2006 at 10:05

dmpoole said:
Oooh I have another story and you going to say "not dmpoole again with his know all attitude". I accept that Mesa Boogie have probably come on leaps and bounds but this is concerning the very first amp they made in the early 80's.

...

I can appreciate what you are saying dmpoole; that because something is expensive that doesnt mean that it is good. For instance, why buy a signiture series guitar when a cheaper one will do the job. I didnt go for this amp because it was expensive however, i got it because i played it and loved it. I could have gone elsewhere and got it cheaper as well but i prefere buying expensive equipment from a local retailer, incase there are any problems

Sure, maybe something cheaper could do the job just as well, however its very very rare that i plug into an amp with no stomp boxes or anything and have a sound there and then that i love. Also my first ever amp was a MG30, and when that fell appart after 6 months i devloped a moderate distaste for marshall.

(Funny story; the sales guy was trying to sell me a different amp the make of which i am unfamiliar with, I asked him if it was just a sales pitch, to which he replied 'No, i've got 3 at home'. :rolleyes:

So definately a sales pitch then

)

alexthecheese · 3 Aug 2006 at 13:16

Well as long as you enjoy and dont wince to much when you see your bank statement all is good.

Defo pics and if poss clips are required though...!