Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: matteo on April 08, 2012, 05:15:20 PM
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Hey guys. I'm looking for a small tube amp for gigging and come up with a short list. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with any of them. My drummer plays pretty loud so I'm thinking around 30 watts should be enough. We play Rhcp thru to guns n roses, and that's about as heavy as it gets. 2 channels foot switchable is preferable as is a power soak for bedroom practice. A combo would be nice for transport reasons. Here's the list:
Marshall dsl 401 - 40w is good, no power soak though. Also have overheating problems???
Orange dual terror OR thunder 30 or rocker 30?all seem very Similar in spec and sound? No soak but sound awesome!
Engl gigmaster 30- switchable to 5and 1 watt, comes in combo form. Can't find as much info on these though. Sound great.
And of course the black star 20 or 40w. Sound great but no power soak.
Also the Hughes and kettener tubemeister 18w. Sound friggin amazing and switchable to 1 w but the combo only has a 10"inch speaker? 18w loud enough for small Giggs?
Any advice welcomed!!
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Dual Terror is great for what you want.
The Line6 DT 25 is not bad either, less character then the Oranges, but quite versatile and convincing tones.
Btw, 18 watts is usually enough for small gigs, but it depends whether the is amp is miked trough the pa. At small gigs I use sometimes a Blues Junior thru a 2x12cab (for more bass/mids). The drivesound comes from an Emma Reezafratzitz, the solosound from a Suhr Riot-pedal. Works very well.
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I used the DSL401 combo for a few years whilst at college and really didn't like it. I always found it to be a very bland and 'flat' sounding amp. Not bad per-se just nothing great.
I used to gig with an Orange AD30 and a 1x12 cab and that held up fine for gigging. Of the newer Oranges I've tried I really like the TH30 head I used through a greenback loaded 4x12.
I've not tried anything similar to the Blackstars, Engl or H & k (apart from their Switchblade combo; which I hated) so can't comment on any of those.
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From the ones mentioned Id go with the TH30 or the Rocker30. I like my time based FX in the loop, hence Id take the TH30 as the Rocker30 doesn`t have one.
However, if I may add to the list, I would actually go with the Egnater Tweaker 40. Awesome "little" amp!!
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From the ones mentioned Id go with the TH30 or the Rocker30. I like my time based FX in the loop, hence Id take the TH30 as the Rocker30 doesn`t have one.
However, if I may add to the list, I would actually go with the Egnater Tweaker 40. Awesome "little" amp!!
Good call, I forgot about Egnater. I would take the Orange and Egnater over the Engl Gigmaster, which I don't find too impressive.
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Thanks for the input. It seems opinion favours the orange!! I do really like the crunch. No opinions on the h&k or black stars yet? But I like he idea of something different. I'm going check out the egnater videos as well.
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Egnater stuff is well built. the DSL401 does indeed have a notorious problem with part of its filament supply breaking. its a common fault.
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Thanks for the input. It seems opinion favours the orange!! I do really like the crunch. No opinions on the h&k or black stars yet? But I like he idea of something different. I'm going check out the egnater videos as well.
It's always a matter of taste. But to me H&K amps sound flat, Blackstars have brittle highs and no body, get lost in the mix, and Engls have great highgain compressed sound, and sterile cleans, no usable crunch IMO.
As said, this is very personal perception.
So Orange or Egnater for me. Egnater in fact. The renegade is also very nice, but then you're entering 50W+ and there are MANY nice amps in that range. 5150III Mini for example. Marshall JVM ain't too shabby either.
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My gigging amp is a Cornford Roadhouse 30w 1 x 12 combo. Single channel with footswitchable boost. My basic setting is a crunch sound (think Won't get Fooled Again) which cleans up well from the guitar and I use the boost for a bit more volume and as much more gain as I want. It's big for a combo and sounds huge. I tried one of the 30w Oranges at a jam and it sounded very small and boxy. Available from Andertons for Ģ599.
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My gigging amp is a Cornford Roadhouse 30w 1 x 12 combo. Single channel with footswitchable boost. My basic setting is a crunch sound (think Won't get Fooled Again) which cleans up well from the guitar and I use the boost for a bit more volume and as much more gain as I want. It's big for a combo and sounds huge. I tried one of the 30w Oranges at a jam and it sounded very small and boxy. Available from Andertons for Ģ599.
Good call, Cornfords rule!!!
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From the ones you've listed, I'd go for the Dual terror. The master volumes are pretty good (no soak necessary) and 36w is plenty for a pub gig. I have the head as a rehearsal/backup amp and it's a great piece of kit.
I know you fancy a combo, but because the TT head is such a good size I'd go for head/cab if you can.
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I have 2 small amps that sound great, a Cornford Hurricane which really does sounds fantastic even though it's only a single channel amp and I just got another Tiny Terror. The Terror hasn't got the clarity and note definition of the Hurricane but it's a great little amp. The Hurricane has the advantage of an effects loop which is great, and my mate recorded a couple of tracks out of the return which sounded really good. The Hurricane can be set up fairly clean and then kick some pedals in or just use the gain on the amp, it's one of the best drive sounds I've ever heard. However, all said and done, I would check out the Dual Terror and the Roadhouse. I've heard both live and they both sound great and I'm going to get a Dual Terror myself in the not too distant future.
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I know SGmypod (Marc) use to have an orange AD30 I believe & loved it, sounded great in the mix
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I gig Orange dual Terror +2x12 through PA really pleased with it. Had Blackstar HT60 which I liked but moved on as the Orange is way better
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the rocker 30 was a great amp, will say i replaced with MJW orion which is even better
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I've come to the conclusion that the Orange Dark Terror, Thunder 30, the Laboga The Beast and the Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier are the only ones I would consider buying for myself.
Out of these I favor the Mini Rectifier a lot over the others, even though it is a lot more expensive.
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Wow thanks for the replies!! I'm really leaning towards the orange as they seem well rated and really do love the crunch they have on the YouTube vids! I'm going to keep an eye out on eBay for one. But I'm also going to look into the egnater and the cornford as I don't know too much about them. I do have a satchurator which sounds sweet and has a boost so maybe i should consider a single channel as well? How are the cleans on the oranges out of interest? To be honest I won't be using it too clean but it's nice to know :P
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Btw I wold love the Mesa transatlantic but really cannot justify the price! Mesa seem to make awesome gear but you pay through the ass for it! :o
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Sorry guys one more thing. Forgive my ignorance, but what is an FX loop? I have a compresser, fuzz, distortion, chorus and delay which goes between the amp and guitar obviously. I take it it's a different way to get them in the chain? What's the benefit of having a loop?
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I like clean on my rocker 30 was exactly what your guitar sounds like, sounded awful with bad guitars. Shows failing of them
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Sorry guys one more thing. Forgive my ignorance, but what is an FX loop? I have a compresser, fuzz, distortion, chorus and delay which goes between the amp and guitar obviously. I take it it's a different way to get them in the chain? What's the benefit of having a loop?
Not obviously between the guitar and amp if you got a loop mate ;)
The Fx loop is a circuit that allows you to place effects between the gain and the powerstage of the amp, so after the signal recieved itīs input gain from the valves you can further change it before it goes to the powerstage and out of the amp.
There are effects that make sense in the loop and some that donīt. For example an OD in the amp is not really a great thing (you wanne push the front of the amp). Things like a chorus or a delay might be nice there though, EQs also.
It is a matter of taste.
Itīs like playing around with the order of the pedals you already got. Placing the delay or chorus in front or after the distortion will give you very different results. Try it! If I recall for example Edge from U2 does the unusual thing and places his delay after the distortion and got very famous sound with that.
The FX loop is just another option in forming your signal chain.
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This is an excellent demo of the Roadhouse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vYuS-SMKNw
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Marshall ma 50 anyone? There's a cheap one on eBay and they seem to have good reviews? The egnater seems like a quality price of kit but I can't afford a new one and second hand ones seem scarce. I'm looking for a used model around Ģ300-350. There's a few orange rockers about which seem pretty tempting right now?
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would recomend one if I could have more amps
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I recently bought an Orange Thunder 30 after LOTS AND LOTS of looking at different options. I went through about 15 different "star-contenders" and it took me almost 7 months but after trying them all out the Orange Thunder 30 just blew them all away, even the shop owner agreed. And this was against more expensive amps like the ENGL Thunder 50, Marshall Vintage Modern, Carvin V3M and an Egnater Renegade.
The Orange TH30 just sounded amazing and I liked it more than the Rocker 30. It has better cleans and better distortion + a tube FX-Loop. The only thing that the Rocker 30 is better at is crunch tones. And even thats not by much.
I didn't try out any of the Orange Terror series amps though so I can't say anything about those. I will say that I am now the proud owner of an Orange Thunder 30 after a very long but worthwhile wait.
IMO your best bet would be to try them all out though and see what you like best.
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Marshall ma 50 anyone? There's a cheap one on eBay and they seem to have good reviews? The egnater seems like a quality price of kit but I can't afford a new one and second hand ones seem scarce. I'm looking for a used model around Ģ300-350. There's a few orange rockers about which seem pretty tempting right now?
Nah, don't go for it.
The components in cheap marshalls are absolutely shite and the MA50 is especially bad. Very fuzzy distortion and no dynamics. You can get much more for your money.
You can find used Rocker 30 combos rolling around for about Ģ350 every now and again. Those are pretty damn good deals. Much better than the marshalls. IMO Orange amps are the modern day version of what marshall amps used to be :/
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tried a th30 there very nice too
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Marshall ma 50 anyone? There's a cheap one on eBay and they seem to have good reviews? The egnater seems like a quality price of kit but I can't afford a new one and second hand ones seem scarce. I'm looking for a used model around Ģ300-350. There's a few orange rockers about which seem pretty tempting right now?
cr@p amp!
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There is an Egnater head and cab on eBay at the moment. No bids currently, Ģ350.00. Will more than likely sell for more than that but worth keeping an eye on just in case.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Egnater-Tweaker-valve-amp-and-cab-half-stack-/261004354310?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3cc5126306#ht_500wt_1413