The times are changing.....

[Ian Price]

For me at least anyway. Since selling my high(ish) end guitars I have got a lovely Baja (with BG flat 50s). It's a seriously good guitar for the money and is much better than some of the American standards I have played.

Since getting the Baja we have had the unexpected news of twins coming in May. This means that I'll need to be careful with money and will have to sell the Martamp on (there was a half assed attempt in seconds out a few weeks ago).

Once the Martamp (and maybe my pedals) goes and Christmas comes I've got a budget of about £400 to buy a small amp (so I can still play with my mates) and a silent practice unit (for obvious reasons).

The amps I have in mind are in this ball park - Laney Cub (Andy, cheers for the previous advice on this - this switchable output on these is a great addition), Vox (valvetronix) or Fender super/vibro champ. To save a bit I'll be looking for second hand. Does anyone on here have experience of the Fender or Vox models I've noted?

The silent practice units I have in mind are either a Vox tonelab (Andy - again, thanks for the advice) or a Line 6 Pod HD - the looper function sounds like a good idea to me. Only problem is that I'm not likely to find a second hand one for a while and that I've not really been that impressed with some Line 6 stuff in the past. I've heard good things about them though. Any experience of them on here?

The real budget silent practice kit is the Vox AC30 headphone amp thing. Some of the sound clips on youtube sound decent(ish).

Fairly long post (for me at least) so any comments on some of the kit above would be appreciated!

[Transcend]

I have experience with the old Toneports and the podxt live

they all sound the same pretty much and its all in the way the player tweaks the settings.

I recently played the podHD and x3live

and to be honest again they dont sound much different to the old models just have a few extra amp/cab sims or so it seemed.

The vox tonelab is great as is the line6 stuff.

I would say i probably prefer the line6 stuff for the quiet use as they have direct usb facilities which also make recording quietly far easier and higher quality

[Mr. Air]

Big congrats on the upcomming twins!  :D

[roland_rat]

Congrats on the twin too. Long term think of all that extra guitar geer you could buy for the twins and then use yourself!

[hunter]

with the 15% off on Orange at soundslive, I'd be very tempted to get a thunder 30. Played one at Musikmesse and it's awesome!

[Ian Price]

Cheers Hunter - I'm sure it's a great amp. A little beyond my price point though and also not great for playing in the house!

[hunter]

with the discount it's 450, so almost there, and it sounds great at low levels. I would rather get a proper amp than spend half the budget on a tonelab ...

[ToneMonkey]

I really like my Valvetronix.  I know that the models don't sound exactly like the real thing, but for home playing I think it's great for the money.  I did have the 30 Watt so I could use the attenuator, but my bro half inched it and left me with his 15 Watt model (which I'm selling due to lack of space).  Opinions on them are mixed but the amp can easily out perform my playing ability, so it's good enough for me.

Funny you should mention the Amplug (AC 30 version), that's what I'm going to replace the Valvetronix with as well as the little speaker cab for it.  Tiny house and baby means the amp has got to go..... sound familiar Ian?

[Ian Price]

with the discount it's 450, so almost there, and it sounds great at low levels. I would rather get a proper amp than spend half the budget on a tonelab ...

Yeah - still above budget though. I know it's not much above but like I said earlier, I need to be really, really careful with the £'s. I need to think of practicality as well - my music room is going to be the bedoom for our new arrivals.

Funny you should mention the Amplug (AC 30 version), that's what I'm going to replace the Valvetronix with as well as the little speaker cab for it.  Tiny house and baby means the amp has got to go..... sound familiar Ian?

Sounds very familiar to me! In 5 or so years I'll be just about able to get some nicer gear.

[Spitfire]

i picked up a peavey classic 30 combo for £250 the other week, if you could find one of them it would be a good punt

[Telerocker]

Maybe a used Tiny Terror or Blues Junior.

[MDV]

I dont think, from what I recall of your playing style(s) at the meet you would be unhappy with a valvetronix or a tonelab. I've always been impressed with the clean, rock and breakup sounds out of them (and always been unimpressed with the metal sounds)

What you make of that in the context if the sort of style you know I play I dont know :lol:

[ToneMonkey]

Got to say that I only really use the old Fender and Vox stuff on the Valvetronix.  Don't really use the Heavy Metal models.

Ian - I used to have a music room and office until the nipper arrived.  Only finished it a month before we found out she was pregnant, so my brand new custom made desk had to ripped out  :( Bloody kids  :lol:

[tomjackson]

Congratulations on the Twins Ian! 

Amp wise I really liked the Vibro Champ XD I had.  They don't have a headphone out but are good at getting decent sounds at low levels.  The effects are okay, the Reverb is nice and the others not bad.

[mikeluke]

Thought about an HT-5? You can pick them up for under £200 on Evil Bay...