amp advice needed

[avdekan]

hi
I need advice on what kind of amp to get.
I build guitars as a hobby and was thinking of going pro.
now. the thing is that I am a graduate student (2nd year) and have a (good) job at a piano restoration workshop, in which I got the boss's premission to set up a guitar building workstaion  :D .
I don't have a lot of spare time, so my thaught was to build guitars part time untill I can free myself to do it exclusively, meanwhile building myself a name and reputation.

and now I need an amp for the guitars to be heard through!
My budget is a bit limited and I am undecided about wether I should get a cheap tube amp (blackheart little giant / epiphone valve jr.) which is full of character but is very specific in terms of style and sound, or a jack of all trades kind of amp (line 6 maybe) that can acommodate itself for many a style but do none of them exeptionally well.
another option is a very transpearent solidstate amp that will be a good reference for guitars in general.
the guitars I intend to build will varry in style so I will need something that can handle it all.

bottom line: I need something that will sound impressive, but will hold true to the guitar tone. good clean sound is the most important thing (I think). the versatility issue is important but in the end can be addressed with pedals.

what style of an amp would you be happy to play through when going to a custom shop to try guitars with?
any specific suggestions are welcome as well.

many thanks, Binya

[tomjackson]

Hi Binya,

I think it has to be valve.  What is your budget?

Thanks
Tom

[maverickf1jockey]

Something very simple with limited controls (Power amp Vol, Tone and Preamp Vol are all that is necessary IMO) that is valve powered will be the best starting point to test out the guitars.

This is on several grounds;

*It is very easy and quick to find a good sound as amplifiers with EQs need hours of work to get just right.
*It is simple to maintain and cheap to do so.
*It is not a major investment.

For this I would recommend the Orange Tiny Terror or a 15W Marshall clone, which can be gotten at a reasonable price from the right people (though I would avoid buying the TT combo from anyone but a registered dealer because there was a large heist on a shipment of that product and I wouldn't want to accidentally receive one illicitly, cutting out the people who worked very hard to design and manufacture it.).

These should have enough gain and volume to please most people testing your stuff and should give a good impression.

[Twinfan]

My suggestion would be a valve amp too, something that will let your guitar shine through.  A solid state/modeller isn't the best for this in my opinion as they can sopund very 'processed'.

The Tiny Terror combo is a good choice, and reasonably priced.  Plus it looks cool  :)

My suggestion would be some sort of Fender though, for their classic all-round valve tone.  The Blues Deluxe and Blues DeVille sound pretty nice to my ears and they're very reasonably priced (£480ish and £750ish respectively).  Ignore the Hot Rods, they're too fizzy and over-gained.

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?section=amplifiers&subcat=hotrod

The 4x10 DeVille is like a Bassman with gain controls - very flexible and a superb all rounder.  My Tele sounded fantastic though one.  They seem to be harder to find though, but they're worth hunting down.

Another great option would be the Blackstar Artisan 15, but they're pricey.

How much are you looking to spend???

[HTH AMPS]

I'd get a small Boogie combo - one of those 25w 1x12 combos they recently brought out.  That will cover all bases and let your guitar's tone shine through.

The Rivera chubster combos are great little amps too and should be on your list - again, very versatile.

You want something that will pretty much cover jazz, blues, rock and metal.

[noodleplugerine]

I may be biased, but the Engl Screamer has both value and versatility, while being small enough to sit in a workshop. You can find them second hand for £500 quite easily.

[avdekan]

thanks for all the replys.
I see your point about the valve amps. the problem is that I live in Israel and amps cost almost twice as much as in europe or the states + not a lot of stuff gets here  .
my top budget is 3000 NIS (which is about 800$) but I'd like to spend less than that if possible.
space is an issue (otherwise I would have brought my own amp tho the workshop) so I need either a 1x12 combo or a mini head + 1x12 cab.
I tried a rivera (chubster I think) which was over my budget and I didnt think the hi gain chunnel was worth the extra money.
orange TT will consume my entire budget ant leave nothing for the cab, and for a mesa I will have to sell  a kidney  :lol: .
I tried a blackheart little giant and thaught the cleans were good, and i'd have enough money left for a OD and reverb pedals. I'm leaning toward that option at the moment (unless someone stop me).
any thaughts?

[dave_mc]

if your budget's low, what about a valveking? it doesn't do anything amazingly well, but it does do a wide range of tones. would be worth considering, at least.

[Twinfan]

I would buy the best amp you can if you want to show off your guitars.  That, to me, says no pedals.

What type of guitars are you making?  Any particular style e.g. Jazz or Metal?  That may help narrow things down to a slightly more specialised amplifier....

[avdekan]

at the moment I am making / planning on making a metal weapon of mass distruction, shredders' guitar, 8 string multiscale and a hollowbody p90 thingy. no amp in my budget can handle all of the above 

[Twinfan]

Hmmm.  Tricky.

Maybe the Blackheart is the best option?

[WezV]

this is the exact reason i brought my matamp little rock.  shame they dont do them anymore but the orange  TT would be the closest competitor.  i originally wanted a minimat but the guys at matamp persuaded me to have a LR because of its extra versatility over the MM,   'but i want a red one' was my answer ;)

anyway, definately worth getting valve for this. get the best you can afford!

you should show the guitar builds at some point too!!

[avdekan]

I just called this guy who selles a Traynor ycv20wr (15 watt tube combo) within my budget limit  :D .
what do you guys think?

[WezV]

i would be tempted!

[FELINEGUITARS]

the Traynor sounds good - really good to be fair
You basically want something that will sound good with both a fender and a Marshall type sound
You could try a pod/vox modeller into a clean valve  section
Or just go for a line 6 spider or a roland cube
Or the fender blues thingy / Peavey classic 30