SS practice amp help (edit: VOX Pathfinder 15r in da house)

[elijen]

Hi everyone!
I don't post that often, but I consider the BKP forum regulars a highly knowledgeable bunch, soooo I thought to ask for some help. I am planning to get a small solid state combo for my birthday (early October). For some reason, my mind is set on getting an amp from a European manufacturer. Kind of silly since everything is made in the far east. After combing the internet, it seems it boils down to either Crush 20 or H&K EB 15R. They are both around 150 Euros, which fits my budget, have a headphone out (my requirement) and have a decent sounding clean and crunch. That's all I really need. A practice amp for bedroom use primarily. I might use the amp for very occasional recording (in a studio), if my friend's AC30 and JCM800 are not at my disposal. We are talking rough demos here, I don't expect miracles from a small solid state. It might also be used for jamming with friends, but that's also apartment setting.

Now, Orange CR20 is fairly new, so there aren't many reviews around. H&K Edition Blue has been out for ages, but reviews are really scarce, like it's some exotic piece of electronics. At the moment I am leaning towards H&K due to reverb feature, but it's not something I can't do without. I can't find either one in my town, so there's no way I can try them. Shops are full of modelling amps from every known manufacturer, but a small SS amp seems to be extinct.

I'll be making my purchase through Thomann, so I'll be buying unseen. If anyone has any experience with the aforementioned amps, I would be grateful if you could share. Also, if other small solid states come to mind, do tell :)

[richard]

I have a Blackstar ID 15 for practice. Slightly under £200 with a 10" speaker. Lots of features for the price and you can create your own amps by combining the various pre-amp types and power stages. I've got mine set up for a couple of Marshall type sounds and it's great fun for low volume practice. Lots of decent effects as well. It can kick out a very surprising amount of noise if you crank it.

[Telerocker]

Fender Mustang II? Lots of options/sounds.

[elijen]

Thanks for the input guys!

@richard Blackstar is a bit out of the price range. It looks cool though. I am intrigued by those "valve" options. Is the preamp software easy to use or is it too option-packed?

@Telerocker A friend of mine has the bigger version. Sounds are absolutely terrible. Cleans are great, but crunch is either fizzy or fuzzy. I've listened to some youtube vids and my guess is he's got a faulty unit. But I like your suggestion. I might reconsider modelling options

[Telerocker]

The Roland Cubes have quite good distorted sounds.

[richard]

Hi Elijen. The Blackstar has 6 pre-amp and 6 power amp options selectable at the turn of a knob. The pre-amps go from very clean to high gain with some very nice crunch options in between. Piece of cake to use. You can plug into your computer for deeper editing options but personally I don't bother. I've just listened to demos of the Orange and the H & K and they both sound good although I preferred the Orange.

[elijen]

@Telerocker... Cube does sound interesting. I had MicroCube way back when. Awful little box. I did make my first guitar steps on it, so there were some nice memories. I would imagine an 8 inch version would sound completely different. Has Roland made any changes to the circuit? I mean since they rebranded them a couple of years ago.

@richard... I have to admit, I've changed my mind about Orange. After listening to 20RT clips (there's simply more of those), I believe I would be quite happy with it. After all, I could say I finally own an Orange :) I'm still weighing my options, though.

[richard]

I've listened to some more demos of the Orange and I'm really impressed. This one in particular where they demonstrate the range of gain from about 5:19. I'd be inclined to save a little more for the reverb version. I don't use reverb at gigs but, for home use, a little reverb is REALLY nice and can stop a small amp from sounding too boxy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWldK0--M3k

[elijen]

Yep, I'm getting the black Orange 20RT. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but at some point I do have to make a decision. I love using reverb. Just a hint, say, around 9 o'clock setting. Or even less. It just brings out that dimension in everything. At least for me. So it's 50 euros extra. It won't kill me. On the plus side, I can take my guitar, a cable and 20RT on a vacation and have a very usable setup. I wanted to change pickups in one of my guitars, hence my budget limitations. But I can postpone that for a while.

I promised myself I will not make a purchase before my birthday. Now I'm so excited, I can't imagine waiting that long. Currently I'm amp-less (not counting my headphone amp) and two weeks seems like a lifetime :)

Thank you for your help, richard and Telerocker, I appreciate it. I know the topic wasn't as sexy as most of the threads here. You really helped me find my "bedroom rig".

[richard]

An Orange amp and you're getting a Black one ? Go on - get yourself an early birthday present, there's a bunch of people out there saying that the world ends in a week's time. Hope you enjoy the amp.

[elijen]

orange Orange would clash with my outfits, black Orange fits nicely :) honestly either one will do just fine

and you are right, the end is nigh so no point waiting (whips out his credit card) 

[Telerocker]

@Telerocker... Cube does sound interesting. I had MicroCube way back when. Awful little box. I did make my first guitar steps on it, so there were some nice memories. I would imagine an 8 inch version would sound completely different. Has Roland made any changes to the circuit? I mean since they rebranded them a couple of years ago.

@richard... I have to admit, I've changed my mind about Orange. After listening to 20RT clips (there's simply more of those), I believe I would be quite happy with it. After all, I could say I finally own an Orange :) I'm still weighing my options, though.

It''s about the speaker. Microcube sounds micro. Get a Cube 40 or something up.

[elijen]

Hi guys! After months of financial difficulties, personal problems  and miscellaneous WTF events, I finally got a nice practice amp.

I decided to allocate some of the funds into my tattoo money jar. That meant the budget for my amp got downsized. And one day, purely by accident, I stumbled upon VOX Pathfinder 15r in a music shop in the middle of nowhere. In mint condition. It's been sitting there since god knows when. Original box and warranty :)

I'm extremely happy with this 100 pounds purchase. Nice cleans. Decent drive. Let me rephrase it, it's VOX-y. So for rock stuff it is good, but for heavier and tighter stuff, pedal is a must. No surprise there. Sorry for stating the obvious. Gets fizzy once you crank up the gain. But can't really complain for that price range.

Headphone output is really good for my needs. I just need it for midnight practice. I get nice sound out of it and my neighbours get a good night sleep.

Don't have any pics, but if you're interested I could take a couple with my phone.

Cheers

Robert

[Telerocker]

Nice catch! Congrats!