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Good combo amp for beginner, looking for doom/fuzzy tone


resevil239

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I'm looking for something very cheap, under $200. I am considering the Orange Crush 20RT, but the 15 is almost $100 cheaper so I'm considering that as well.I've been using my stepdad's fender Frontman 15G which sounds pretty good. From reviews I can tell the 20RT sounds much better, where as the 15 seems to be somewhere in between (though it might just be the quality of the video reviews I was watching). Also I'm not big on the fact that the 15 is only one channel, and it sounds like the distortion isn't quite as heavy as it is on the 20RT. However I'm wondering how fuzzy it can get. I think the Fender sounds pretty good when I set highs to 1, mids to just below 3, and crank the bass and gain. I can't afford pedals or anything so I'm looking to do as much as I can with an amp, another reason the 20RT is really appealing (it has a reverb and built in tuner as a great bonus. There is also an aux input which if I understand how it works means I could experiment with playing samples and wha not through the amp while playing).

 

Also can I get good feedback through this by putting the guitar close to it? Some of the reviewers are playing awfully close and I'm not hearing much, but the Fender gives me some great feedback on the gain channel. I'm also thinking it might be easiest to just see if I can find the same one I've been using, but I like the cool factor and look of the orange, and the extra features the 20RT has so I'm kind of unsure. I also thought perhaps there are other options that would be worth looking into that I'm not aware of. I also want to set it for a black metal ish sound too, so I'm not ONLY concerned about Fuzz. The more versatile the better.

 

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The MG's are good solid amps. Cant beat the prices on they're 30W either.https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MG30CFXd?adpos=1o1&creative=146356081826&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&product_id=MG30CFXd&gclid=CMym4eL4q9QCFY6EaQodeEYEFQ

 

I have two of the 15W versions, an MG and a Valvestate. I'm thinking about selling the two 15W and getting the 30w. A single 15W is barely enough playing with a drummer which is why I bought a second one. Carrying and setting up two amps just to jam a bit of course is more of a hassle even though they are lightweight. Having a 30W SS is the ideal volume and with the master volume there's no problem cutting the volume down for low level practice. The Cleans on these are ideal. You can run the guitar neck with a light touch with cleans set (typical of most Marshall amps) The drive nails the typical Marshall Plexi drive tones of a stack, simply at a smaller footprint. They make a code modeling amp now too which has amp modeling which would give you the full gambit of Marshall tones.

 

I got to try out my buddies 30W Line 6 amp about a week ago. They can be a great option for a player who hasn't built a collection of pedals yet. Once you get past the learning curve of setting up presets they can be a very good amp, very versatile for getting modern amp tones.

My other buddy has one of the large programmable heads with the 4X12 bottom. We jammed last weekend and he recruited me to help him tweak some of his presets. The amp isn't bad but I'm not too sure about his speakers. He has a big scooped sound and a ton of bass. I had him crank the mids and treble up to compensate but I wasn't hearing anything close to what my Marshall could do. Its great for the metal stuff he plays but it wouldn't be a great setup for the stuff I do.

 

Peavey has been making some smaller combos now at lower prices. They're new ones seem to be taking on Line 6.

I did get to hear one of they're small Micro heads last weekend too. Not sure if it was the way the guitarist had the amp set, but dam that thing sounded awful he was constantly getting microphonic feedback and the high gain sounded like white noise. Peaveys have always has sterile highs and way too much of them. Even the older Blackface Studio I amp has too much top end. Mids are voiced in a weird spot that sounds unmusical to me and the bass farts out badly when you crank it. They really got to come up with a better tone stack design.

 

The smaller SS Fender combos, I'm not overly impressed with. I own and have owned several. The clean setting lacks grabutas. Marshall and Vox does a much better job nailing they're tube counterparts when it comes to string touch. The Fenders lack compression. The compression they get in they're tube amps allows for a light string touch. The SS amps get the tone but you got to monkey grip the strings to prevent drop outs. Some compression would fix that. Some added gain in the higher frequencies would be beneficial too. It would reduce some of the sterile ice pick tones they produce. They do a good job on the lows but the mids and highs just aren't right. I've noted this on nearly all of they're SS amps with only a couple of exceptions. One being an 80's SS blackface twin that had a push pull volume for drive tones.

 

Vox as I said does it right. The string touch on they're SS amps is as close as you'll get to a tube version. Problem is they charge triple for amps in the same wattage class. Its justified because they are very good. It surely makes you better as a player to have an amp that reacts with the proper dynamics. So many young musicians lack those dynamics simply because they use cheap amps that cant reproduce them.

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I just got out a quick recording session.

 

I used a Yamaha THR classic. They make one for metal guys too.

 

It's not that loud, but great for practice and not bad for recording. Moms and Dads will love the headphone jack. Aux in to play to backing tracks.

 

The other night I went to down stairs fired up a Fender PRRI and a 50 lb pedal board and placed the Yamaha next to it. I found my tones, reverb and tem. Locking it, to the Yamaha for the session. I did the same for a DR Z amp I have, with the 5 memory buttons.

 

 

Tonight I bring the lil Yamaha, place it on a stool, push memory number one and whalla. We mic-ed the amp up with a really nice condenser and a Sennheiser. Close enough for rock and roll, as they say.

 

 

One thing I don't care for is, if you change any of the tone, fx, or gain knobs it takes it off the memory setting you have. So if you need a touch more bass, you just can't add touch more bass without going back to square one.

 

The price is $299. I have the travel bag too. I got 20% on the package deal through MF.

 

 

This 6 lb mini monster might be worth looking at.

 

 

 

 

[video=youtube;zV6Bfb_ZtNM]

 

[video=youtube;rojSxWMoZcA]

 

[video=youtube;vzKOzppQi6k]

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