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Looking for a new amp


LedRush
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I last got an amp in 1996...a Fender Princeton Chorus, not a tube. I still suck at guitar, but I like playing and fiddling around, and this amp has been enough for me. I’ve always wanted to get crunchier sounds and thought that a Marshall tube of some sort would be in my future. But recently I’ve seen some ads for amps that have a ton of preloaded tones and sounds, and supposedly modeling amps have come a long way.

 

I don’t gig and I think I’ve only played in public twice in my life. I like being able to get a loud sound at home, but I don’t need a concert level amp.

 

Ignoring value or price, based on quality and versatility, what would your recommendation be?

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I'm a huge Mesa Boogie fan boy. They make amps that have excellent cleans, and crunch up very well, too. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a great amp (best selling amp in the world, actually.) The Fender Blues Jr. is also great. All take pedals really well, too.
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When I played I used Line 6 stuff which at the time was less expensive than many of the other big brand amps and the modeling was pretty good for a solid state amp.

 

That was 15 years ago and I bet its gotten better. Best bet is to probably to go to a shop and play some different amps and see what you think.

Edited by thesweetscience
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When I played I used Line 6 stuff which at the time was less expensive than many of the other big brand amps and the modeling was pretty good for a solid state amp.

 

That was 15 years ago and I bet its gotten better. Best bet is to probably to go to a shop and play some different amps and see what you think.

 

Not many guitar shops in Taiwan...I think I need to buy online what I think will best fit what I want.

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I'm a huge Mesa Boogie fan boy. They make amps that have excellent cleans, and crunch up very well, too. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a great amp (best selling amp in the world, actually.) The Fender Blues Jr. is also great. All take pedals really well, too.

 

I don’t think I’ll be going into the pedals market soon, seeing as I’ve spent 24 years on an amp that can only do chorus or overdrive. I’d like to get an amp that has a lot of different sounds but also sounds good doing it.

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I was checking out the fender site last night and the Fender Champion 100 XL looks pretty nice a lot of pre-built sounds built into it. That might be a little too much for what you're looking for but the price at $450 seems pretty decent. Check out the video on the fender site. Edited by HemiBeers
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I played a Fender Mustang about a year ago and it seemed like a great amp to noodle around on.

 

Any suggestions for the type of Mustang? It’s one of the models that google search lists have recommended.

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I was checking out the fender site last night and the Fender Champion 100 XL looks pretty nice a lot of pre-built sounds built into it. That might be a little too much for what you're looking for but the price at $450 seems pretty decent. Check out the video on the fender site.

 

Thanks, I looked at a YouTube review and it seems interesting. I’ll have to compare it with the Mustang.

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I played a Fender Mustang about a year ago and it seemed like a great amp to noodle around on.

 

Any suggestions for the type of Mustang? It’s one of the models that google search lists have recommended.

 

The one I messed with was a used Mustang II. The newest model in the series looks like it could be pretty sweet.

 

https://www.sweetwat...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Edited by JARG
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The Mustang looks cool but it's a matter of how easy it is to switch from a dirty to clean sound in the middle of a song. that's why I prefer dual Channel amps like the champion

 

The Mustang looks cool but it's a matter of how easy it is to switch from a dirty to clean sound in the middle of a song that's why I prefer dual Channel amps like the champion. But either one looks like a winner.

Edited by HemiBeers
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The Mustang looks cool but it's a matter of how easy it is to switch from a dirty to clean sound in the middle of a song. that's why I prefer dual Channel amps like the champion

 

The Mustang looks cool but it's a matter of how easy it is to switch from a dirty to clean sound in the middle of a song that's why I prefer dual Channel amps like the champion. But either one looks like a winner.

 

If I were shopping for a new amp and still gigging, seamless switching between channels would be a must. These days, though, I'm just doing home recording so that's not a concern for me.

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Line 6 would be my vote, especially considering the versatility for the price. There's also software solutions that are very robust and have outstanding cost/feature ratio. I'm entirely an Amplitube software user now, haven't even owned an amp in a decade or possibly more. For doing stuff at home through the computer it can't be beat.
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The technology associated with this is a bit overwhelming, and as I’m a bad player who has only ever just plugged into an amp and fiddled with dials (other than me briefly using an amp which had a foot pedal to switch between 4 preloaded sounds, none of which I particularly liked), I feel like I lack the vocabulary and knowledge to intelligently make a decision.

 

I would like to change sounds in the middle of a song, so does that mean the Mustang is off the table?

 

I spend 30 minutes searching options, going down this rabbit hole and that, until I get pulled away with no more clarity on how to proceed.

 

What information can I provide to you for you to just choose an amp for me so I don’t have to think for myself?

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The technology associated with this is a bit overwhelming, and as I’m a bad player who has only ever just plugged into an amp and fiddled with dials (other than me briefly using an amp which had a foot pedal to switch between 4 preloaded sounds, none of which I particularly liked), I feel like I lack the vocabulary and knowledge to intelligently make a decision.

 

I would like to change sounds in the middle of a song, so does that mean the Mustang is off the table?

 

I spend 30 minutes searching options, going down this rabbit hole and that, until I get pulled away with no more clarity on how to proceed.

 

What information can I provide to you for you to just choose an amp for me so I don’t have to think for myself?

 

Almost any modeling amp is going to require a pedal to switch channels\tones mid song.

 

Some off the newer modeling amp's have hundreds of preprogrammed channels that you can pick from so you might not have to tweak the sound so much unless you are really looking for something unique.

 

Did you watch the video on the mustang? The guy demonstrates how it works and the 100 watt version of that amp comes with a floor switch. Not bad for $500. Line 6 probably has something similar in a similar price range. Which one is better, I cannot say but I doubt you would go wrong with either.

Edited by thesweetscience
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My Fender amp is having increasing problems and I decided to get the Positive Grid Spark practice amp (they deliver to Taiwan for free whereas I cannot order a Fender, Marshall, or Mesa Boogie myself...I have to go through someone). Any suggestions for a tube amp? Maverick, which Mesa Boogie would you recommend?
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My Fender amp is having increasing problems and I decided to get the Positive Grid Spark practice amp (they deliver to Taiwan for free whereas I cannot order a Fender, Marshall, or Mesa Boogie myself...I have to go through someone). Any suggestions for a tube amp? Maverick, which Mesa Boogie would you recommend?

 

Hey, I just saw this. Let me read back through the thread and get a better idea of what your looking for.

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My Fender amp is having increasing problems and I decided to get the Positive Grid Spark practice amp (they deliver to Taiwan for free whereas I cannot order a Fender, Marshall, or Mesa Boogie myself...I have to go through someone). Any suggestions for a tube amp? Maverick, which Mesa Boogie would you recommend?

 

Ok, so you want something that is versatile, that can crunch up, etc.

 

I have two Mesa Boogies: a Lonestar Classic and a Lonestar Special. You can go to Mesa's website to see the specs on the two, and what the differences are. I'll tell you a little about what they have in common.

 

They are both two channel amps. Channel 1 is for clean tones to slightly dirty, edge of breakup. Channel 2 picks up where Channel one leaves off on the clean side. But flipping an mini toggle switch from Clean to Gain and the amp goes from light crunch to full on hard rock overdrive. The amps have tube driven reverb tanks that adjustable according to channel. And they have a Solo boost that is controlled by a foot switch that also switches channels. So you can easily go from clean to dirty with the foot switch. the Solo boost comes after the preamp stage, so it really is just a boost in volume.If you put a boost or overdrive pedal in front of the amp, two channels can become four.

 

Each amp is multi watt. And each amp has a global volume control, so you can dial in each channel the way to want it, set the levels on each, and the use the Output to control the over all volume.

 

I was playing a Gibson ES-335 through the Lonestar Classic a couple of days ago, blasting Anthem for some reason, and it just sounded great. I wasn't anywhere near maxing out the gain the amp has (although Alex didn't use that much gain in the studio,) but I was in the All The World's A Stage tone ballpark.

 

Whatever you do, I highly recommend getting a 1x12 combo for either kind. My Classic is a 2x12 and prohibitively heavy (but the do come with casters, so it is easy to roll around.)

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. And if you really want to get wild, the Mark V's are out there, too. :LOL:

Edited by Maverick
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Just my 2 cents. If you want to get some new sounds look into getting a used Line 6 pod HD500 or 500x. Then you can just use the amp you have and get all the sounds you want and also have the ability to plug into the computer directly. I use the pod HD with an FBV floor board and I find it very versatile.
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Lots of options really.

 

1. If you strictly want an modeling amp: The Boss Katana is a great small amp that has 4 main sounds (acoustic, clean, crunch and brown sound) along with some effects built in. It can get loud if you want. The Yamaha TH series also touts a great reputation and size. I think currently amp-wise, those are some good options.

 

2. If you're open to a different approach with modeling: Look into something like a Line 6 HX Stomp pedal (which has all the effecs, amps, preamps and cabs built in) and use that into a powered flat response speaker (like a QSC K8). You can have a Vox, Fender, Marshall, Hiwatt, etc with the amp models which sound great and all the effects with a manageable volume level in the speaker

 

3. If you are into a smaller tube amp that is a Marshall so you can have that tube you wanted: Marshall DSL20CR. Has a great clean channel and dirt channels. 1x12, 20 watts, low and high gain mode, emulated output for softer play / recording. Use that with some multi-effect or a chorus pedal (if you need some effects) and call it a day.

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My Positive Grid Spark arrived today and I haven’t got much work done because I am in love. I appreciate all the feedback that people have given me, but as soon as you start talking about names and gear and settings, I get lost. When I’ve done research I am just overwhelmed and stop looking out of frustration. The Spark is super small and light, but gets very loud to my ears...certainly more than enough for what I need at home. The great thing is in how many sounds and effects it has. If I’m playing Fly By Night, I just type it into the tone cloud, click a button, and I get someone’s idea of what the song’s guitar should sound like. I can go in to each aspect of the sound and change the settings to get it closer to what I want. I have no idea how accurate these tools are, but I’ve learned more about the gear used to create tones today than I’ve ever known before.

 

I’m obviously in the honeymoon stage of this relationship, and I’m sure there are other amps that do this type of stuff, but this thing seems like it was built for me. I can play along to my entire song catalog (plus YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify), get tabs on the fly based on what it hears, and it all happens fast without me having to understand a damn thing about why it works. At some point I’m sure I’ll be back in the market for more “authentic” sounds, but right now I’m just having fun learning and playing.

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