Author Topic: Amp choices (Joe style) (Read 19655 times)

sambo · « **on:** October 30, 2006, 09:00:33 PM »

ok, as some of you may know the style of stuff im into is classic to hard rock, sometimes verging on a bit of metal...

clean tones are also essential, a lot of picking of chords goes on, and a fair amount of open chord strumming, so needs to be nice and clean...

ive got a few ideas at the moment, budget is gonna vary, anywhere from £400-800 ish depending on how long i hold on and how much i want something.

so, shortlist:

Orange Rocker 30- just concerned about the capabilities of the clean channel - the very limited EQ options.

Genz Benz El Diablo 60C- only concern is theyre a bit less common than other stuff and therefore havent got many peoples opinions on them.

Laney GH50L- a favourite round here, BUT the one channel is a worry.

lastly- some kind of Randall maybe? not sure where to start in this department though.

any info on any of the amps mentioned or any suitable alternatives is much appreciated,

cheers,

sam.

EDIT: and also, a combo is MUCH preferred, needs to be suitable for practise and small gigs, hence why i was looking at 30 watt-ish valve combos.

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #1 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:07:34 PM »

Matamp and a Homebrew Power Screamer with Fat Boost?

sambo · « **Reply #2 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:12:21 PM »

lol, which matamp? and how much is that gonna bloody cost me? a couple of limbs?

Crazy_Joe · « **Reply #3 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:21:49 PM »

....Laney!!

I thought i would need a clean channel, and i do, but it is possible with the footswitch i think.

sambo · « **Reply #4 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:25:07 PM »

hmmmm im tempted... but its just a bit dodgy... are you gonna get the footswitch?

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #5 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:32:12 PM »

Quote from: sambo

lol, which matamp? and how much is that gonna bloody cost me? a couple of limbs?

Audiotoyz website + whatever takes your fancy in Matamp, or get a Koch = :lol:

sambo · « **Reply #6 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:34:20 PM »

:lol:

but arent Koch's also very expensive lol...

i'll check out the audiotoys thing now... what are kochs like... ?

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #7 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:36:18 PM »

Quote from: sambo

:lol:

but arent Koch's also very expensive lol...

i'll check out the audiotoys thing now... what are kochs like... ?

PMSL! :lol: There ok i suppose

sambo · « **Reply #8 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:37:39 PM »

:D :lol:

lol on a serious note though.... well as serious as people on this forum can be about Koch's lol. was it you that a bought a koch AMP johnny? lol... and if so, whats it like?

dave_mc · « **Reply #9 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:50:56 PM »

you have several options, sam (plus probably a few I've left out! :lol: )

genz benz el-diablo: probably more metal-oriented, though- but it depends what you mean by hard rock. A lot of the modern rockers use rectos. also has half power operation, to get it down to 30 watts. I like it... a lot.

koch studiotone: probably the only koch in your price range... it's good, but not as good as the dearer amps, IMO. only 20 watts too, so it'll probably do gigs just about.

Engl screamer: very nice, I think the el-diablo is better (albeit dearer), though- but I admit I haven't tried them head to head.

Laney GH- don't know much about this one, I haven't tried it.

Laney tt50 combo: if it's like the head, it's really good. Around £670, if you shop around. I'm not sure if it'll compare tonally to something like an el diablo, though.

Mesa f30: sounds quite modern- definitely worth a try though, as I said earlier, lots of modern rockers use rectos or similarly-voiced amps.

Marshall DSL- i'm not a fan, I don't think it compares to the other amps mentioned, but they're ubiquitous, and you might as well try one.

Ashdown fallen angel: ditto marshall.

Randall RG50tc: ditto marshall and ashdown, except not as ubiquitous!

Randall modular series: might be way over budget, but cool the way you can switch modules. problem is, the recto model was cr@p.

Hughes and Kettner edition tube: pretty much ditto the koch studiotone.

Peavey 5150/6505 combo: good metal tones, and hard rock, terrible cleans. peavey are too dear for what they are this side of the atlantic, if you ask me.

Traynor ycv50blue: I haven't actually tried this one, but the other traynors I've tried are nice- but they do tend to vintage.

Matamp: no idea on the models, but they get a great rep. round here, and by and large, the guys round here know their guitar kit, so it's definitely worth looking into.

there's probably something really obvious that I've missed., unfortunately.

EDIT: orange rocker 30 :oops: : I wouldn't worry about the clean channel, it kicks ass. not much in the way of headroom, though. I wasn't overly impressed with the overdrive channel, though- it jumped from almost no pre-amp gain (i.e. struggling to even hit classic rock) to way too much between about 6 and 6.5 on the gain dial. Maybe the one I tried was faulty, though. Assuming it wasn't, some of the other amps are better, in my opinion, unless you just fall in love with the voicing.

sambo · « **Reply #10 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:54:53 PM »

cheers dave,

so going by what you've said... you would say El Diablo is top of the pile?

i personally like playing metal more than anything else for my own use, but band wise it needs to be toned down sometimes a little, not mild overdrive or anything silly lol, just not all out saturated fizz/fuzz type distortion alllll the time...

so as long as the El Diablo can do that, it'll do nicely. and its the one that caught my eye when i first looked at it as well...

dave_mc · « **Reply #11 on:** October 30, 2006, 09:58:13 PM »

going by my totally personal opinion, I'd say, in order:

1: genz benz

2: engl screamer

3: mesa f30/laney tt- maybe even the laney edging it slightly.

but that's totally personal preference, and my reading of what tones you say you want- i may be reading you wrong, for example, and also there may be some aspect of any of the amps which you just can't get along with, which I may not mind. EDIT: and not counting the matamp, which I haven't tried.

luckily, most of those amps are reasonably easy to try in the area that you're in- laney are everywhere, mesa are too, engl are pretty ubiquitous too, and genz benz aren't too bad to find, either.

EDIT: cr@pz0rs, I forgot the vht pittbull super 30 combo. it's more hard rock than metal, but it's a nice amp- it probably sneaks into that third spot, it's about on a par with the mesa/laney. might be a little dear, though.

sambo · « **Reply #12 on:** October 30, 2006, 10:04:46 PM »

excellent, thanks. i know what your saying about it being your opinion and your reading of what im after, and i guess thats where it comes down to me having to go and play some myself.

im gonna have to try an ENGL and a Genz Benz i think, i've been thinking about ENGLs for bloody ages now, and have been interested in Genz Benz a lotttt recently... just gonna have to raise the cash now.

cheers again for the info, really does help.

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #13 on:** October 30, 2006, 10:10:08 PM »

Me buy a Koch? Naah I just went down the guitar shop and pretended to be interested in one. I play a guitar so that's what you do! :lol:

sambo · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2006, 10:11:41 PM »

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

damn who was it then!?!?!

hunter...!? it was hunter wasnt it?