Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Pierre on January 07, 2009, 08:28:43 PM
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The Marshall may be too much for me to afford unfortunately, and there aren't many second hand 2 channels out there.
So mostly it's about the Lionheart (£400 new) vs Rocker 30 (£400 second hand), but the Marshall could also be a contender should I finally sell my Charvel (and at this price it's a wonder it's still there).
What else should I consider in the £400 to £600 range?
No offers please, I've not got the dough just yet (though maybe £400...). It's for in a least a couple of weeks.
Thanks!
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What about the new Blackstar? It's really cheap, but I think it could be a contender. But a Rocker 30, hmm.. I never liked it.
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The HT5? I need an amp with clean headroom and gigging power. 5W is very loud, but not gig loud if most drummers out there play at least as loud as I do :lol: Definitely not a contender. For home use I'd first go for a Vox VT30 for 170 quid I think.
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those all sound very different... if you've only got it narrowed down to those, you haven't really got it narrowed down at all (unless you've tried all 3 and liked different things about them, which can happen).
what type of music do you play?
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I tried the Rocker 30 and loved it.
Never tried the LH. But I had a Laney VC15 which sounded real nice and juicy.
I tried the JVM and loved it. But the price's an issue...
I play a lot of styles, from clean blues to very heavy metal. Hence the Rocker 30. But I also use pedals a lot for my heavier tones. Hence the Lionheart. But I'd be just as happy having all sounds from the amp... Hence the JVM :lol:
If I got the Rocker 30 the clean channel would be set for max headroom, the distortion for medium gain, and I'd use mostly channel two, using the volume knob.
The Lionheart would be set similarly.
The JVM would get 4 different presents, depending on level of gains. But this one is priced out of my likely price range... :(
I chose the Orange and Laney because their wattages are within what I'd like (too loud, but what valve amps aren't nowadays, and I do want to be able to gig) and they're both under £500 if you look hard enough . Twin channels too.
So mostly, any simple enough dual channel heads under 30W would be good for me. The JVM is excellent as it sounds great and would give me all my sounds pretty easily too, but it's a big increase in price (nearly £200 more than a Lionheart..), that being the main issue.
Another option is the Laney GH50L. I could set it for a clean sound, have more headroom than with those amps, it's cheaper, I like Laneys in general and it'd give me the whole clean + light crunch easily... Mhmmm...
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I think you can't really go wrong with the Rocker 30, it's a very good amp for the money and should suit your style well.
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Unfortunately so are the LH20 and the GH50L :lol: It's just never that easy.. :(
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:lol: Well are there any essential features you need? You say you use a lot of pedals- the Orange doesn't have an effects loop if I remember correctly. The Laney does.
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if you are using a lot of pedals do you need 2 chans? would a one chan amp with a good amount of clean headroom do?? very common for guitarists to do this, one of my fav's famously does it.. dave gilmour.
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I don't need an effects loop. My pedals are compressor, light OD, clean boost, metal distortion (if needed), vibe and tuner. Oh and a Muff. The metal pedal is just in case the amp doesn't do clean + heavy (the Rocker 30 does for example, but not the Lionheart or GH50). The ODs and boosts are self explanatory and the Vibe doesn't need a loop, I prefer it in front.
Features: nice clean sound, decent (but I don't need a 200W) amount of headroom, not too loud (breaks up for louder gigs), clean + light OD channel (or more :lol: ) and PREFERABLY EL34s, but that's not a requirement...
The Laney is more of a 1 and a half channels, so yes it'd fit that style and my use of pedas pretty well. It's a lot cheaper second hand than both Orange and Lionheart.
In an ideal world I'd go for the Rocker 30. If the LH had EL34s, I'd go for it as it's cheaper. But the GH50L seems to be a nice compromise, will teach me to use the volume control on the axe more (if I want more gain, as it's a gain + switchable boost, so either clean + light OD or OD + more OD) and probably fit my price range, tone, and style more...
Ok... now all I need to do is figure out exactly how much I have available. Should be a couple of days before I figure this out...
If I wanted a pure clean amp to use with pedals I'd go the cheap route and get a Tiny Terror hehe.. I really liked that one when I played it! It's still an option but I really would like a light/Medium OD in addition to the clean channel, without my pedals.
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from your pedal lineup, id def say 1 chan amp... but thats just me.
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Problem is, it wouldn't be much cheaper, if any, for me to go with one loud clean amp. For instance there's a second hand Matamp C7 out there for £440. I could get the Rocker 30 for this price. Or even a Tiny Terror AND a GH50L... Most heads that fit my price range and features also happen to be twin channels. Won't complain :lol:
I really was looking for an old Fender Bandmaster, Showman or Bassman (blackface), but they're above my price range now.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y300/PierreEmmanuel/100_0199.jpg)
Here's my board, with the Blues Pro back instead of the DS1 (modded) now.
What choice would I have as far as loud-ish single channels out there? Again the GH50L would be in there...
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i like the fender amps.. the blues Jr is what im looking for to run my pedal board into if i move into a small apartment... thats 15w
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I had an L20H up until recently. It's a pretty nice amp, with a lovely clean channel, and nice smooth drive... but it doesn't have a huge amount of headroom, and it doesn't have enough gain. I found the shared EQ a little annoying, and I found it didn't even have enough gain for dirty blues without a pedal. I have a friend who also has a L20H, and he's similarly dissatisfied, for much the same reasons.
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I really was looking for an old Fender Bandmaster, Showman or Bassman (blackface), but they're above my price range now.
hmm, for £400 you could get a Selmer Treble & Bass 50w head, point to point wired, very similar circuit topology to the old Fenders but with EL34s. They're great amps and I really have no idea why they remain 'sleepers' :?
oh, and btw, if you keep your eyes peeled you could most likely get two Selmer T&B heads with your £400 budget. Here's one that is an especially good example of the T&B range, a mkI crocskin head (my fave)...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SELMER-TRUVOICE-TREBLE-N-BASS-50-AMP-HEAD_W0QQitemZ160308678708QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item160308678708&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
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I'm in agreement with Fikealox that the L20H really doesn't have enough clean headroom for gigging.
I'm also in agreement with HTH that you certainly could be looking at an older 70's amp. Something like a Selmer T & B would be great (built like a tank, cheap, perfect !). Pick up a Selmer for £200, get it recapped and checked over by a tech (£100-£150 I'd guess) and you would have an awesome and original amp, which will only appreciate in value.
You could certainly pick up a Marshall JMP 2204 for your budget, although I would also advise you get it recapped, which might push it above your budget.
There's also a superb 2204-modded Wilsic Sound amp (yes, it's mine !) on ebay at the moment (hand-wired, re-capped, fully sorted !), which will last a lifetime and should come in at well within your budget - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=180318465973
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Mhmm I can do the recaps and basic maintenance to an amp myself, which would diminish costs. I'll look into a Treble and Bass. But those are mighty loud and basically really not amps for me as far as my playing style goes, but they could be a fun project for sure. Thanks for the ideas!
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If you're willing to look at older amps, and it seems you are, you could do alot worse thana Carlsbro 50-Top.
I have 1, it's a great clean amp and takes pedals very well. You can get them for a couple of hundred quid generally :)
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got to love the treble and bass...also look out for the Kelly version again P to P...but for less than the Selmer (usually similar design)
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One Carlsbro 50 top on the bay for £500 delivered... Treble and Bass seem to go for over £300 or so as well. Seems going for something modern is still the way to go..
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i don't think the rocker will do very heavy metal...
if you liked the laney vc, then you'll probably like the lionheart, i thought the lionheart just sounded like a "better" vc... it won't really do metal either, though.