New amp advice

[itamar101]

Maybe take a look at a Marshall 6100. Great cleans, great crunch channel for anything from 60's rock to 80's rock, and a solo channel that can very easily take you into metal territory. Lots of cool features and tone shaping options too. Great tones and great value IMO, a very overlooked and underrated amp.

I personally think that, along with the JMP, this amp is marshalls greatest creation and if TS could get hold of one it'd be amazing... But they're very hard to get hold of. They do go for quite reasonable prices though.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Maybe take a look at a Marshall 6100. Great cleans, great crunch channel for anything from 60's rock to 80's rock, and a solo channel that can very easily take you into metal territory. Lots of cool features and tone shaping options too. Great tones and great value IMO, a very overlooked and underrated amp.

I personally think that, along with the JMP, this amp is marshalls greatest creation and if TS could get hold of one it'd be amazing... But they're very hard to get hold of. They do go for quite reasonable prices though.

Yeah, I don't see the combos up for sale very often, but when they are, you can usually get one for under $1000. Jim made it very well known that the 6100 was his favorite amp he made, and believed he would never again be able to make something comparable to it. I think the only reason it isn't at star status right now is because it is an anniversary amp, thus made in limited quantities.

[Mr. Air]

I suggest you take a second glance at Egnater. Their HG (high gain) series is comming out soon.

[dave_mc]

Blackstar and Jet City amps have been making a bit of noise over here in the States. Look interesting as well, especially the Jet City amps that are modeled after Soldano. I may see if I can track one down to give it a spin.

some of the blackstars aren't all-tube- the HT series... actually i think i've heard rumours that even the series one isn't technically all-tube either, but it's maybe just one transistor or something, as opposed to the HTs which are about 50:50. Doesn't matter if you like the tone, but it pays to go in with your eyes open.

I picked up a 50 watt jet city head from thomann when they were blowing them out- at the price i paid (£250) it's killer. if you want the high gain thing, though, be careful which model you get- the 50 and 100 watt heads are high gain, but the jca20 and 2x12 50 watt combo aren't (from what i hear- i've only tried mine). the jca22 and 1x12 50 watt combo are high gain. Don't quote me on those model numbers in case i've got them back to front :lol:

Not sure i'd want one for blues, though- they don't really have a clean channel (if mine's anything to go by) and the lead channel is balls to the wall, all the time. :lol:

really liked the bogner ecstacy i tried- but it's super-expensive. Maybe a little less so in the states but i still think they have the rep of being pretty dear. Shiva might be worth a look but might not get heavy enough for you.

[itamar101]

Well... I've just realised...
Take a look at the Orange TH30. Excellent amp, covers grunge, classic rock, metal and blues VERY well just with its distortion channel. The distortion channel is one of the best sounding and most versatile distortion channels I've ever played and many people that I know can vouch for that too. MOUNTAINS of gain on tap but with the gain turned just under half way it does grunge and blues like a dream. Turn up the gain and you get a thick and smooth yet angry metal sound which is also somehow very reminiscent of Gary moores tone in The Loner.

The clean channel is like a Vox ac30 with far more headroom... It's pretty hard to crank it.

[WeAreNotGentlemen]

some of the blackstars aren't all-tube- the HT series... actually i think i've heard rumours that even the series one isn't technically all-tube either, but it's maybe just one transistor or something, as opposed to the HTs which are about 50:50. Doesn't matter if you like the tone, but it pays to go in with your eyes open.

I think this only applies to the HT-5 and not the 20, 40, 60, etc, but I've heard either way. I don't mind if it is some SS parts it sounds good to me.

[kellar]

Great feedback, thanks so much. I did some more searching and am looking at these. Still torn on whether I want the combo or half stack versions:

Egnater Renegade 4x10 Combo (Rebel and Tweaker also look very enticing)
Peavey Valve King and 6505 (heard very mixed reviews on these and loud!)
Jet City JCA 100H
Line 6 DT25 and 50
Blackstar HT50

Also, the Buddha Superdrive looks interesting but I know nothing about the product. Laney also looks very nice but very hard to find in Colorado to try out.

Cleans and blues tones are very important but my current band is leaning on bands like Alice in Chains, Tool, and Kyng. I am tired of buying and amps and want one that is going to satisfy my needs for some time. I have made the mistake of jumping into a purchase before without doing the proper research and have been disappointed every time.

[dave_mc]

I think this only applies to the HT-5 and not the 20, 40, 60, etc, but I've heard either way. I don't mind if it is some SS parts it sounds good to me.

pretty sure it applies to all of them (apart from maybe the 100, and i'd still want to see a schematic of the 100 to be sure it's all-tube). only two 12ax7s (one of which, more or less, would need to be used for the PI for it to be properly considered all-tube) for a pretty high gain amp with multiple channels? I call shenanigans. :lol:

[itamar101]

Great feedback, thanks so much. I did some more searching and am looking at these. Still torn on whether I want the combo or half stack versions:

Egnater Renegade 4x10 Combo (Rebel and Tweaker also look very enticing)
Peavey Valve King and 6505 (heard very mixed reviews on these and loud!)
Jet City JCA 100H
Line 6 DT25 and 50
Blackstar HT50

Also, the Buddha Superdrive looks interesting but I know nothing about the product. Laney also looks very nice but very hard to find in Colorado to try out.

Cleans and blues tones are very important but my current band is leaning on bands like Alice in Chains, Tool, and Kyng. I am tired of buying and amps and want one that is going to satisfy my needs for some time. I have made the mistake of jumping into a purchase before without doing the proper research and have been disappointed every time.

The Valve King is very poor. You'll need to mod the hell out of it to get a nice tone. It also has very little gain on tap. The 6505 is very good... if not a bit generic. But the clean channel is less than inspiring. in my opinion the crunch channel is very impressive... more so than the lead channel which is just there to show off the gain on tap.

The Jet City and Line 6 amps are also very impressive... I've never really liked blackstars... they sound sterile and i find it difficult to buy from a company that claims that their products are something which they are not...

[Dmoney]

I've never really liked blackstars... they sound sterile and i find it difficult to buy from a company that claims that their products are something which they are not...

Can you elaborate? I'm just interested in your opinion.

[itamar101]

I've never really liked blackstars... they sound sterile and i find it difficult to buy from a company that claims that their products are something which they are not...

Can you elaborate? I'm just interested in your opinion.

Sure.
It simply has far less dynamics than some of the tube amps that I've played. It FEELS like a modeler... Sounds far better though. A bit like an EMG.
As far as the "lying about their products" goes... They advertise their HT-Series as All Tube yet it's about 50:50 as someone here has already mentioned...
It's like buying "filmed in the cinema" dvds of a street crook but on a much smaller scale.

[kellar]

Yeah, I just tried out the Peaveys and pretty much scratched them off the list. Way more power than I need in the 6505 and the cleans were not very inspiring. The Valve King took less than 5 minutes of playing on to reach the decision.

The JetCity looks very nice but do the 50 and 100 watt versions carry the gain that I need? I realize I will have to throw a pedal at it for boost but I don't want to fall in blues rock, classic rock territory. Hoping that there is some modern drive in that thing.

Egnater products look great but I havent found one that I can try out. Same with Laney (which is also a bit high on the price end).

Line 6 DT50 looks really promising but I will be honest, all the programming and digital nonsense scares me away.

Interesting to hear about the Blackstar. Reviews seem to be pretty positive.

[Dmoney]

I play amps that the 100watt JC's are based on, and I think they have enough gain to get pretty heavy! You might want a boost if you want to get really metal. I play pretty heavy and that SLO style circuit is my favourite. the JCA100H is based on the Soldano Hot Rod. The JCA20 is like an old Soldano Atomic I think. very different amp.

Itamar.
I've never played a blackstar other than a little HT-5. Fine for a practice amp I thought. I don't think the Series One's have lots of solid state bits in the signal path? I can't really find where on the website they really describe some things at 'all tube'. Though granted, the HT info they don't really mention them being hybrids as such. I don't really have a problem with the use of solid state, depending on how it's used. In some situations I'd probably prefer it to a valve. 

[dave_mc]

i've only tried mine (JCA50H), but mine has absolutely tons of gain. Like... i run the gain at 3 on the overdrive channel (granted i use a boost, a danelectro timmy clone- but before i tried it with the boost i had the gain about 5, it's not like it needs the boost, just i'm so used to using a boost now that i prefer it). The normal channel has enough gain for hard rock/80s metal, lol, let alone the overdrive channel.

the only thing i'd say it, it's not a totally modern type of tone- it's tons of gain, but in a late 80s type of way. But yeah, tons of distortion in there unless there's something wrong with mine.

EDIT: yeah as dmoney says you need to make sure you get the models which are high gain, but as long as you do, it should have enough gain/distortion. Obviously i can't say for sure, but it has enough for me, anyway.

EDIT #2: ^ i don't think the series ones have "loads of solid state stuff" like the HT series does- it's like one transistor or something. But even one means it's not "all-tube". Plus as i said, I haven't seen a schematic, I only heard it in passing from someone on some forum who said he'd seen the schematic and that, while it was a lot more tube than the HT series, it wasn't technically "all-tube" either.

I'm not sure Blackstar has ever described the HT series as "all-tube". However, they strongly imply it is (and iirc there was an official youtube video from blackstar where one of their workers described the ht5 as "all-tube"), they don't correct guitar mags when they review them and say they're all-tube, they say the ht5 is based on their pedals, and their pedals have "pure tube" plastered all over them.

They don't actually flat out say it (that youtube vid notwithstanding), but they strongly imply it to the extent that, in my opinion anyway, they might as well be.

FWIW I agree with you regarding the solid state stuff- it's actually the "right" way to build a hybrid (rather than that valvestate nonsense with like one miserly preamp tube), and the irony is that had they been a bit more upfront about how the thing was designed and made, the forums would probably have been singing their praises. But they didn't so we aren't. :lol:

[Dmoney]

I'd agree with Dave_MC.
The SLO lead circuit has enough gain for most people. I also agree with him saying it's a bit 80's. I feel like it is possible to get away from that though, like I'll scoop the mids or use the presence and depth controls to alter it a lot. I feel like any amp with MORE distortion/gain available isn't for me. Granted, I don't own a jet city, but in theory my amps are similar.

EDIT: Cheers for that! I've heard of people swearing their HT5's are all tube. wrong! Yeah, if they had SS effects loops or maybe even reverb drivers and recovery stages or something I wouldn't care. As long as they are designed correctly. I didn't know about any of those things you just mentioned. Cheers.