Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Dave_the_rave on February 18, 2008, 12:15:07 PM
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Howdy fellow BKP'ers! Got the typical amp question here: I'm looking to get a new amp head+cab, looking to get a good, high gain but decent tone metal sound, with a bit of range. Sort of Painkiller era Judas Priest, through to something more modern like Children of Bodom, and preferably with a nice enough clean to it.
Here's the challenge - my budget is about £600-700. It would be for say, at maximum big pub and club gigs, as well as my own personal amusement :P
Any thoughts?
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Laney GH-50L used and a used 2x12 or 4x12 cab.
Do get a good cab, it has a big impact, so I would split the investment almost 400 Head, 3-400 cab.
This is just one of many routes you could take though.
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hmmm Laney...well, ive not had much experience with Laney, would a Laney really fill those kind of requirements? They seema bit less....i dont know, 'gain heavy' then perhaps some other amps. i dont know really, any opinions guys on that Laney or another amp?
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Second hand Peavey 5150 for the head
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If you can find a second hand JCM800 that be the best sound, with either a 4x12 or 2x12 depending on your funds. If you can find a cheap cab, and know someone who can make a head cab, the Ceriatone JCM 800 clone in the 50W 2204 version is not a bad price.
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listening to the Lanel ghl50, some of the tone some of the guys are getting on youtube is pretty good i have to admit, listening to the peavey now - never been a huge fan of peaveys, maybe thats cus ive only played little diddy ones, any other suggestions?
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the peavey 5150 is a cracking amp! 8)
I use a JCM800 they're the dogs bollox!
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5150 combo is about 800 on thomann if I remember right.
Other than that - Engl Screamer will do you proud.
Edit: Just realised that you don't seem to know about 5150s, and the posts here don't quite cover what they're about...
Let me put it this way - the 5150 has arguably the best metal distortion of any amp EVER.
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GH50L with a boost to tighten up the bass will do metal no problems.
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sounds like the GH50L is a good idea - tone wise i do use a line6 Uber Metal pedal so a bass boost etc isnt too much of a problem, but if the distortion is good enough for me without all the better. what about a cab, any recommendations of make - i was tihnking something like a simple Marshall cab of some description
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The only thing with the GH is that if you need a proper clean sound you wont really get it if you have the amp set up for distortion, it being a single channel amp. I rarely use clean though and when I do I like it to have a bit of dirt in it anyway so its not a problem for me. I wouldnt use the uber metal with it, all you need is a tubescreamer style pedal like an sd1 or something, with the gain all the way down, volume all the way up and tone to taste.
I'm using a Tube-Town 2x12 with G12H speakers and it sounds really good, only cost about £250 all in. You can have custom tolex etc - www.tube-town.net
I personally wouldnt get a cheap Marshall cab, my mate has one of the old valvestate 4x12s and my 2x12 sounds much bigger and better :)
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+1 on the Laney, it's got PLENTY of gain, though you may want a tubescreamer-type OD to tighten it up for the more modern stuff.
I had Twinfan's old GH50L for a while, and it was a very very nice sounding amp.
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I agree with everything said about the GH50L but would like to add that if you want a really clean clean you could get a VH100R. Mine puts many Fenders to shame on the clean channel tons of headroom and has a nice chime to the sound.
Framus cab with vintage 30s from thomann is a very good deal at under £200 from Thomann if they still sell them.
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Let me put it this way - the 5150 has arguably the best metal distortion of any amp EVER.
steady on, now... :?
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Let me put it this way - the 5150 has arguably the best metal distortion of any amp EVER.
You could say that...
...or you could say they sound like cr@p
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i wouldn't go that far either. they're good for high gain, but i wouldn't say they're the best. and in europe they're relatively expensive. :)
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Let me put it this way - the 5150 has arguably the best metal distortion of any amp EVER.
You could say that...
...or you could say they sound like cr@p
:lol: love these posts indy....
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ok then, if the laneys not that good, for the same budget any other ideas? bear in mind im more in mind to buy a more expensive amp and a smaller cab and update the cab later on down the line
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+1 on the Laney, it's got PLENTY of gain, though you may want a tubescreamer-type OD to tighten it up for the more modern stuff.
I had Twinfan's old GH50L for a while, and it was a very very nice sounding amp.
Dave, you had a GH50? Why did you sell man? Or did you just sell one of them? rotfl...
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ok then, if the laneys not that good, for the same budget any other ideas?
Who said that!?
The Laney rawks!
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+1 on the Laney, it's got PLENTY of gain, though you may want a tubescreamer-type OD to tighten it up for the more modern stuff.
I had Twinfan's old GH50L for a while, and it was a very very nice sounding amp.
Dave, you had a GH50? Why did you sell man? Or did you just sell one of them? rotfl...
I believe he was using it as a backup until he found another Klipp.
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If i was playing in a metal band the 5150 would be my first choice, over a mesa recto or engl power ball.
Im not saying it's the best thing since sliced bread but it does metal very well, it's one of those amps that needs to have the shite cranked out of it to sound good though.
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i dunno about anyone else, but there are too many daves here (much like the real world, lol). I'm starting to get confused. :lol:
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I love the 5150-II that I have, but both the 5150 and, to a lesser extent, the 5150-II suffer from poor(ish) clean channels. I'm being fairly moderate there ;)
Given that you mentioned you want reasonable cleans, I wouldn't suggest going for a 5150. A 5150-II might do you - I get some reasonable cleans from mine - but they're not "fender" cleans for sure!
The 5150-III might sort you out for that, but it'll be out of your budget and you probably won't find a second hand one yet!
Something like an ENGL Fireball might fit the bill somewhat better, but again you might be stumped on the price...
Roo
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I had Twinfan's old GH50L for a while, and it was a very very nice sounding amp.
Dave, you had a GH50? Why did you sell man? Or did you just sell one of them? rotfl...
I believe he was using it as a backup until he found another Klipp.
Yep, at the time it was a backup to my Klipp until I bought a second for gigging with.
The GH50L is a great amp, especially considering the price it goes for, it was just a bit too modern and gainy for me. I'd chose one over a new Marshall personally. I think it's a very underrated amp. Tom's demos show what great tones you can get out of them.
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OK this is might be a hazardous suggestion but how about a Bugera? They're supposed to be copies of 5150, 5150II, and JSX. Someone on HC was saying that the drive channel is nearly identical and the cleans are better than Peavey's. I don't think they're out yet here but might be worth waiting for.
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The Engl Blackmore is only just outside your budget (by all accounts it has an absolutely face-melting overdrive as well as good rock tones), as is the Marshall TSL60.
Looking at Thomann, there's an Ibanez TN120 Thermion for <£700, no idea what they sound like though. Never heard of the Bugera amps either but the prices seem good...
Does it have to be all valve? If you could live with a hybrid, something like a Line 6 Spider Valve is within your budget.
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Of course there's also the Engl Fireball (2 channels & apparently the clean is half decent) or the Engl Screamer which several people on this forum own - search the Players forum for Nailbomb clips, there have been several where a Screamer was used...
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search the Players forum for Nailbomb clips, there have been several where a Screamer was used...
OK, maybe not several, but here are the two I was thinking of: AndyRV (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4796) & cakehead (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8586)
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Wouldn't that Laney AOR30 in seconds out do the job?
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Wouldn't that Laney AOR30 in seconds out do the job?
He'd have to be quick! I've got two people interested in that amp already. It doesn't do cleans without compromising the drive though, like a JCM800.
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5150 with bias mod. They come stock with a very cold bias (i've heard as low as 25mV on something that should be 45). Its like night and day with that amp.
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maybe i was a little too broad - the cleans per sé arent TOO much of an issue for me, its the overdrive tone that matters the most. i'd prefer an all tube if i can help it, but if theres a really good solution other than the line6 spider im up for suggestions. played with a spider combo before and cant say i enjoyed it that much - im not much of one for modelling. the laney seems like a good choice, any people can think of that sound not bad at lower volumes as well? just out of interest, its not a priority but it would definately be a plus! :D