Ever since i´ve been on this forum I´ve seen numerous threads started by someone who is looking for an amp, but doesn´t give enough information resulting in the standard "what styles do you play, what´s your budget etc." reply´s.

For anyone looking for an amp and wanting some usefull advice on this forum, take these things into account first:

1- What is the MOST you could spend?

2- Is there a more powerful choice just over your budget? If so, save a little more!

3- What type of music are you going to make?

4-Are you prepared for repair bills? If not then DO NOT buy a Vintage unit.

5-Read as many REVIEWS as possible, these are not always as subjective as personal views.

6-TRY stuff out in the store. Your own ears will serve you best.

7- Dont worry about what gear other people have, it does you NO GOOD!!

8-Are you willing to buy 2nd hand/buy on ebay/craigslist etc.?

9-What volume space are you looking for? Bedroom playing? Small/large gigs? Miced/unmiced?

Using the answers to these questions, people on this forum will be able to quickly recommend some amps for you try out.

Just for the heck of it here are some popular amps for beginning players that are often mentioned to guitarists looking for an amp:

Fender hot rod deluxe/deville:
+Can be found roughly around 400$ for the deluxe, somewhat more for the deville.
+Great cleans
+Takes pedals very well
-Overdrive channel isn´t very good.

Peavey classic 20/30/50:
+Can be found for pretty much the same price as the Hot rods
+Great overdrive
+Takes pedals really well
-Doesn´t have the great cleans the hot rod has.

Traynor YCV
+Mostly the same price as the hot rod an classics, sometimes cheaper.
+Great (but different to the fender and peavey) cleans and overdrive
-More difficult to find (especially outside the US)

I hope this post will help people choosing the right amp for them and getting better advice.

Greetings, Scorpius

Ps. Thanks to Synthacon at the Vintagesynth forum for some of the tips.

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My band

My rig:
Cello(fishman cello pickup==>Zoom G2==>Danelectro EQ==>Silverface Fender Bassman==>Custom 2x12" cab, loaded with a g12t-75 and a vintage 30

This is a great post. Webmaster please stick this one!

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Fender AVRI Jazzmaster / Gibson Les Paul Junior => TC Electronic PolyTune => Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah => Mesa/Boogie F-50 | Effects Loop: Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man => Fulltone FB-3

Great thread man! I think this should be stickied and added to by other geeks!
I think members who have used this thread to buy an amp should also post a reply with a mini-review of the amp. Did it live up to your expections?

Laney LC15R: The British company Laney offer a small all valve 15 watt combo with an 8 inch speaker and reverb, running on el84s in the power section. This amp is excellent for capturing vintage sounds during recording and bedroom practice. Because it is only 15watts you can really crank it. At small gigs with a quiet band, it can be mic'd up and run through the PA, but it is by no means a loud amp.

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Call me Tommy

I'll add 2 more amps that are popular with beginners (and pros).

Fender Blues or Pro Jr:

+Around $300 new, cheaper used
+Small, portable
+15 tube watts, great overdrive when cranked
+Sounds even better through another cab
-Requires micing to attain louder cleans
-May need speaker and/or tube replacement for best sound (this is also a concern with the rest of the Hot Rod series)

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rig
rig thread

I know I drove people nuts asking questions, but it helped.? I really wanted to try a Traynor, but nowhere near me had them, so I went to GC and tried out a bunch and bought this and I love the sound. Here is a somewhat detailed review for others:

Well, I have been trying out many amps in the last two months and finally found one that was everything I was looking for. I decided on, or did the amp decide on me? A Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. I know the whole hot rod series is built off of this with some different things added to the circuit, but I found this to be much better that the Hot Rod Deluxe, Deville 2x12, and the Deville 4x10.

Review time:

Clean Channel-this is where this amp shines the most. On low volumes, with Fender’s idea of volume controls being awful, this is really, really clean and makes me want to play all day in the clean channel (with volume around 2-3). When you raise the volume (unfortunately minus trying it out I have been unable to do in fear of neighbors, but I will and write it in this post how the amp did) to around 4 to 5, it starts to get wonderful natural overdrive that is thick, creamy sounding, I cannot wait until I get to crank it more. Reverb on the clean channel is very nice for being non-tube driven; I have found reverb above 8 to be weird and kind of like a very light chorus to it. If you have ever heard Jimmy Eat World’s “The Authority Song� this amp on clean is wonderful to the song and the when you play chords, in general on this amp, you are able to hear so much more detail. Especially when compared to my Marshall MG 30.

Drive Channel-I was a little disappointed here, but after reading a review of this amp on Harmony Central, I think I now know why. One guy wrote to never crank the drive on this amp (may be in general for tube amps, but this is my first and I did not know) and use the master volume to control the volume, but to crank the master volume and use drive for volume. I am at school and will not be able to check this out for like a week and a half, so I cannot wait to do. With this said, I still found the drive channel to be really decent for a Fender, in general. I play a lot of Jimmy Eat World (who use Marshall and Orange heads) and can get almost ever tone, except for the acoustic, but it is close. This is really a versatile channel and when I follow the advice about the drive and MV, I expect to be ridiculously good.

Cosmetics-how can you go wrong with tweed? This is as beautiful looking as the tone is beautiful to my ears.

Now, I have not played too many tube amps, but I have played a few, some at great lengths (hour +), but I still find this amp for the price to be awesome, I paid $630. The stock tubes to me, so far, are very decent, but I am thinking about getting some new ones from the Tube Store and keeping these as back ups. If anyone has this amp and has retubed it, or has any advice on good sounding tubes (this has 3x12ax7’s and 2 6l6’s by the way)please leave me a post about suggestions. More specifically odd sets of preamps for the different positions that can make it sound better or possibly make the clean breakup a little earlier for low volume playing it would be appreciated.

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SeNzU, Why not Epiphone...

My Rig
Epiphone Dot VS
Epiphone Les Paul Custom VS
Fender Blues Deluxe
Epiphone 1X12 ext. cab with a Greenback

bumping this, because i think it should be stickied

also question for thefobia, does that laney have quiet a bit of gain to it?

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Rig:
Fender P-Bass>Boss TU-2 Tuner>Digitech Bass Synth Wah>Electro Harmonix English Muff'n>Gallien Kruger 1001Rb into a Peavey 8X10

Gas:
Sanford & Sonny Bluebeard or similar intense big muff bass fuzz

my personal answers (even though i already have an amp that i love):

i think about $500 or so should get you a very good amp.



by all means... do this! if it's $500 and your perfect amp is $600. make it happen! you'll be happier in the end.

very good point ... i mean, a marshall stack looks cool... but it might not be for you. you'd be surprised what you can do with a Fender Twin Reverb.

vintage is nice. often overrated. and exactly, repair bills can be rough.

also, see how some of your favorite bands are using the amps that they have. a lot of times you'll be surprised what sort of sound a band gets out of a particular amp.

i admit ... i don't this enough. but it's very valuable.

right, find out what works for you. again, you'd be surprised at what you can pull off with a Fender Twin or another sort of combo.

if you search right... you won't get burned. i've purchased all my amps through eBay and i have not had a problem. you just have to be careful.

absolutely.

if you have a large amp and you play in the bedroom... you will certainly be frustrated.

vice versa. small amp, big space.




good work. this post is sticked. stuck. whatever. haha.

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| Joe | Blog: PetBearSounds.com | Twitter: @PetBearSounds | Facebook |
| Songwriter, song singer, guitar player, music lover, blogger, Guitar Geek moderator. |

Thx for stickying! Hope it will help some people.

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My band

My rig:
Cello(fishman cello pickup==>Zoom G2==>Danelectro EQ==>Silverface Fender Bassman==>Custom 2x12" cab, loaded with a g12t-75 and a vintage 30

Wow! Your intentions are good I'm sure but those are 2 amps you want to stay way away from!!!
I've owned both of these amps and let me tell you what the real deal is.

The Peavy Classic 50 simply put is loud but harsh. Neither channel has any appealing qualities to speak of and when not playing the fan is too loud to tolerate. Mostly, this amp burns up the tubes like you wouldn't believe and for a first time buyer this is not something you want to deal with.

As for the Deville, the clean is great but that's all. Drive channel sucks and the boost is a joke. These days, no matter what you play you should be looking for more from an amp.

Now let me give you some advice on finding the right amp...

Go to Ebay, gear page or wherever and look for these names- VHT- Mesa Boogie - Soldano- ENGL- and so on. Wait and find one that' s beat right to hell, and I mean torn, scratched, ripped and even burned and buy it cheap. For example, not too long ago I saw a VHT 50-CL head go for $630. It looked like it fell of the back of a truck but this amp sleighs most amps on the market. And most important, you can dail up any sound for any style with one amp. If you look at the Edge's rig it's full of beat up amps. Point being it doesn't have to look good to sound good.

So sell all your crap, put in some overtime and save enough to buy something worth having. J.B.

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If you're always thinking about what to say you're probably not listening!

Finally got some pics!
AMPS
24 Custom
SE Standard Camo

GEAR: VHT C-100-CL Pittbull Classic 2x12 w/eq , VHT 2x12 Fatbottom , VHT Horizontal 2x12, Mesa Boogie Road King + custom made 6x12(by me), PRS 24 Custom w/EMG 81's, PRS SE Standard Camo w/EMG 85's, PRS SE Soapbar II and a whole smash of pedals......I never use

I think your advice is good, but more so if you play heavier. The only Mesa I really like that can have great cleans and has nice drive is the lonestar series, but that is me. Every amp sounds different to different people. Take me, I bought the Blues Deluxe. I do not really play any blues, but now I am starting to a little, but the amp has nice warm cleans that at louder volumes had wonderful overdrive, Hot Rods prolly do, but I have not played one that loud. As for Drive, I can play anything I want on it as long as it is not super heavy, but with a dirt box I bet it couldd. The amps you listed are good, but not for everyone.

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SeNzU, Why not Epiphone...

My Rig
Epiphone Dot VS
Epiphone Les Paul Custom VS
Fender Blues Deluxe
Epiphone 1X12 ext. cab with a Greenback

Ampeg Super Rocket 2x12 Reverb Tremolo Combo:
+ Bright cleans
+ Nice distortion for mild Rock, Jazz, and Blues
+ Reverb (Termolo if you use it)
- Not made for Metal (unless with a stong OD)
- Around $1000 to $1500
- Pretty big and heavey

Nice thread.................. However, I seriously doubt it will stop all of the "Need your advise on an amp" threads.............

Heh he heh.

(Hope it does of course, but seriously doubt it.)

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Your friendly neighborhood guitar grandpa.............


1992 Fender Twin Reverb (Reissue 85W), 1997 Mesa Dual Rectifier Solo Head (100W), 2002 Marshall 1960A 4X12 Cab, Morley A/B switch, THD Hot Plate, Vintage Pro-Co Rat distortion (Used on Fender Twin), Holy Grail Reverb (Used on the Mesa), MXR 90 Phase, Ibanez Chorus, IbanezTube Screamer TS-9, Budda Bud Wah, Boss Chromatic Tuner, Boss Digital Delay, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus , Tortex picks, Blue Steel Strings 9's and 11's, Guitars: 1999 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Cherryburst), Early 90's Gibson SG Standard (Black), Late 80's Ibanez E/X Black & White Pickguard (humbucker, single coil, humbucker. whammy), 2000 Ibanez Electric Acoustic, 80's Hunk of crap Fender Acoustic, Brand Spanking New Martin HD-28 Acoustic.

+ Ungodly cleans
+ All tube
+ Natural sounding tremolo and vibrato
+ Takes pedals well
+ Only $1100 for the last amp you'll ever need
+/- ****ING LOUD

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Geeked Rig
Rickenbacker 360 Fireglo

Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS (Montego Black & Rosewood)

Boss TU-2 Tuner -> Vox V847 Wah -> MXR Distortion + -> Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi -> Boss DD-3 -> Lexicon Vortex (Custom footswitch and Roland EV-5) ->

Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue

Would a Peavey 6505 combo be too loud for a bedroom? its not really small or anything.

Realize I'm joining this discussion late (as usual! HA) but I would personally suggest a Roland Jazz Chorus, which was what I started out on. Okay, no tubes...but:

a) relatively cheap, aftermarket
b) sounds pretty good, especially cleaned up/ w/ chorus. realize the distortion option is utterly useless, but it faithfully reproduces a good overdrive/distortion pedal/unit.
c) is built like a tank.

Just a thought. And there are a TON of them out there. Whenever I need a clean sound, I drag out the ole' JC...

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Cheers!
Joe Black

Current bullpen:

Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany
Noel Gallagher Supernova (2)
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Zakk Wylde MXR OD
Boss TU2
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Budda Superdrive 30 & 2x12 cab