HELP ME!!! new amp please.

[craig_mccann]

So of course most of you will have seen my thread about the HT5 and how i was looking at a 6505+ combo, and everyone is saying tht its gonna be cr@p for home volumes, so...

Recommend me an amp for home playing thats beter than my Cube, has a great metal tone for stuff like BFMV, A7X, Disturbed, Metallica n Megadeth.

I'd prefer it to sound good at low volumes, ie not an amp that HAS to be loud to sound decent. I dont really care too much about cleans but it must be at 2 channels. But the distortion is more important than cleans to me but the cleans should at least be usable.

Open to combos and heads/cabs. Budget of around lets say 500 pounds for now. Remember Im in Scotland too so thngs like Kranks aint too accessible around here, try to suggest something that doesnt need shipped from overseas.

[BigK]

As I said in the other thread get a used ENGL Thunder or Screamer combo off of Ebay sound Good at low volumes and pretty awesome at High volumes. They are also Very versatile; great fenderish cleans, marshall-esque crunch and the classic Engl high-gain.

[craig_mccann]

I'd rather not buy an amp off of ebay, if i was buying used i'd rather be able to play it first, to make sure its working well n to see if i like it. I wouldnt have a returns option if it was used. So preferrably new or something from gumtree edinburgh lol

EDIT: and also, the Engls are 50 watts, correct me if im wrong but that isnt going to sound much better than the 60 watt 6505+ combo is it? and you all said that the 60 watts was too much.

[Dr. Stein]

50 watts at anywhere near full volume is indeed massively too loud for bedroom use. In theory, around twice the volume of a 5 watt amp (HT5) through the same speakers. The point here is that some amps sound better when turned down low than others. There's very little in the way of low output valve metal amps (especially 2 channel...) around, so you're pretty much looking at a larger valve amp or a modeller like your cube.

I've heard few bad words about cubes, though I've never actually used one, which makes me think you might have some problems on such a tight budget - you'll almost definitely have to bite the bullet and buy used. I haven't been in any Edinburgh guitar shops for about a year so I don't really know what's available to you. Best option might be to go and try out some new amps, find one you like and shop around on ebay and the like for it. The engls are probably not a bad bet, and there's somewhere that stocks engl I think. Guitarguitar?

[craig_mccann]

Yeah i kinda figured, all low wattage valves are pretty much useless for metal unless you start buying EQ pedals and boost pedals or whatever else. And i wasn't talking about turning an amp up full anyway lol.

Does anyone have a 6505+? if you do could you please post me a clip of your amp at low levels so i can see what its like?

Yeah Guitarguitar had Engl Screamers but are now out of stock and dont know when they will be back in. They do have some Thunder Reverb combos though, for 650 pounds i think. Would these do the metal tones i'd need for those bands better than the Peavey?

[LazyNinja]

£500?

Mesa DC5 if you can find one.

Laney VC50 boosted is great and can be had for as litle as £300.

Line 6 Spider Valve is meant to be good for high gain stuff too that'll be within your budget. Or get a POD X3 Live and a keyboard amp.

[Prawnik]

My advice is to be wary of Ebay but not scared. (Where I live, Ebay is almost the only way to go.)

If you can buy something used and intriguing for reasonable money, go ahead. If you don't like it, then sell it on and you will come out about even. I usually even make a little money on these transactions.

At the same time, do your homework (otherwise you will not know what questions to ask), check seller feedback, and avoid anything with obvious issues or priced too good to be true.

If anything is at all fishy, then walk away.

[craig_mccann]

OK so lets say i increase the budget slightly to around 700. Which amps are gonna give me a good metal tone for Bullet and A7X without having to be turned up to major volumes? I've seen Bugera's recommended alot but those are all 120W im sure so they would be out the question.

Will the Engl 50watt combos sound better than the Spider Valve and the 6505+ combo for lower volumes?

[MDV]

The bottom line is that there is no valve amp that sounds good for metal at low volumes. Or at least doesnt sound like a pale shadow of what it can or should sound like.

You are NEVER going to get the tones you want from a sub 500 quid sub 30 watt valve amp at bedroom volume.

EVER.

Some will be better than others, though, and what you need to do is go into guitar shops and play anything you can.

Starting with a thunder, because its your best bet.

Also, overdrive them (stick a boost infront on top of the amp distortion).

And then realise that your pod is still probably the best thing, or one of the best things out there for low volume metal at home.

[craig_mccann]

I think i should say that i never said it has to be a Valve amp, you have told me that no valve amp will sound good for bedroom playing so could you recommend a good SS amp then? I've heard the Vetta is about 1 of the best SS amps but it's just too expensive. The only reason the amps i've mentioned were valves was because thats the amps that people have recommended before.

And also, i don't own the POD anymore, returned it within the first week as i wanted the Epi LP instead.

[MDV]

Yeah, the Cube!

Seriously, its about as good as its gonna get for low vol metal-at-home playing. That or one of its competition; vypyrs, Vox VT-XL (my favourite), spyder 4 (none of the others, the 4 is at least tollerable).

If you can get hold of a flextone, if they still make them, they are pretty good, from memory. So are tech 21s little modelling/SS amps. But I dont think youre going to get a night and day difference off any of them against the cube.

[MDV]

Did I say pod in my post before last? i meant cube. Pods suck. Cubes dont.

[craig_mccann]

Ahwell was worth a try, think il go try a few at low volumes in the shop n see what they're like, or maybe hold off for a while n try a new Blackstar HT-20 once they're released.