Members hellion_213 Posted May 4, 2017 Members Share Posted May 4, 2017 Well played. I did forget the 15 year old, open mic part of the OP. So....Combo amp - definitely more advisable. I amend to 20w Windsor - $200 or Valveking. Or any of the aforementioned non Stack amps. The on stage experience vs load in/out wouldn't outweigh at 15 methinks.But... Down the road three years, still gigging, gotta go Stack. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted May 5, 2017 Members Share Posted May 5, 2017 That's the thing that surprised me about the Windsor, it had reasonably good reviews, and I have tried other valve peaveys, the classic and the delta blues, and they really are great little amps. But I have had experiences with new amps in shop that were fairly similar, with the Orange AD30 and Rocker 30 into new celestion V30 speakers. The V30 takes a long time to break in properly, and I didn't like both these amps. Later on, I had opportunities to buy an AD30TC combo, and it sounded absolutely amazing with broken in V30s. (I sold it, my single channel AD15 was more practical even if not quite as great) I got to buy a Rocker 30 for peanuts once, knowing I didn't like it from previous trials in shop, and thought I'd flip it and make a few bucks. I tried it at home, with my Orange PPC212 with totally broken in V30s, and the amp is a beast. It stayed home! So I'm totally aware that it can be difficult to judge an amp on an unknown cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 6, 2017 Members Share Posted May 6, 2017 Anybody else notice the OP hasn't posted again? Diajkeene - What did you decide on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 ^ I've noticed and I'm also curious. I may be an exception but I rarely buy gear so I get vicarious thrills hearing about what others buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 One final thought: Has it occurred to you that a 100 Watt half stack is a lot of amp even for a pro? I normally don't see people gigging with much more than a 30 Watt tube amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 Look in my signature and you will see a 6505 - 120w high gain head. Ive gigged with it since 02. It all depends on the genre. I've seen blues shows where there's nothing other than 30w amps, usually micd. Metal shows - guitarist typically has a Half Stack, and its usually 100/120w tube or 200w+ SS. I typically keep the post around 4-4.5 so I'm really not driving the power section hard at all for most shows, depending on how good the soundman is and whether or not there's decent stage monitors, and if not, do I want to hear myself during a crossover. The way I see it, and I've played enough shows in unknown venues to witness poor FOH, or weird scenarios where the house prefers the amps stay offstage and crossfire across the stage or at the back wall, mic'd, to know that you probably won't need all of the amp for most shows, but it's there when you do. Plus, I'm in a Metal Band. Loud is part of it, comes with the territory. Who wants to hear soft metal? And when you're not mic'd up, you better have enough to push to the back wall, or the fence (outside). That's another issue, we carry a PA sometimes if we've heard the house doesn't have monitors or a decent PA, but not always, so that's another reason why it's good to have a little more, and, the reason for my thread on amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 I don't buy a lot of new stuff, I do trade off stuff I'm not using though. I like to see what others are doing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 ''Who wants to hear soft metal?'' Erm, me? Seriously, I get what you're saying and sure, sometimes you need it but the OP says ''I play mostly blues, classic rock and some modern rock.'' No mention of metal. If he gets into that genre or starts playing large venues maybe but for now his needs aren't nearly the same as yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 Understand that completely, but, the Windsor head sounds great at lower volumes, and, for an all-tube head, is about as reasonable as they come. The fact it is almost an Exact clone of questionably one of the greatest amps is a Huge selling point as well. I see what you're saying, but to me it's no different than saying - why do you have a Corvette? The speed limit rarely exceeds 70, so it's just pointless. You really should only have a Cobalt.Edit - I do see the point of the 15 yr old dragging it to school events, open mics, etc. That would suck at 15. For rock/blues he would be well served with combo of some sort - Anything outside of Line 6 or Crate. Believe it or not, I almost mentioned the exact Kustom you did. Pretty impressive lower priced amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 To put it in perspective, my first car was a '63 Rambler. Today I drive a Corolla. I've just never been a Corvette kind of guy.Good to hear about the Windsor though. Typically a tube amp takes a bit before it hits its ''sweet spot'' and a 100 Watt amp in that situation would be a bit loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 I'm a truck guy. Point was just, if we all played at 9-10 100% of the time, no, that's just too much. But, we don't. Most newer tube amps sound good at lower volumes, Great at higher volumes, or amp load. A lot of blues players will use an attenuator to drive the amp to tube distortion at lower volumes, or a TS8 or 9 or similar Overdrive pedal. Personally I don't use OD or Distortion, I rely on the Pre section for all of that. When I played in a blues band, I relied heavily on my TS9 and Muff pedal. I can't think of any guitarist I know that solely relies on the Post knob to drive the amp on its own. That would cause deafness at an early age. Lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 And I know what your point was. The OP did mention using an inexpensive drive pedal so you're probably on the right track, just not the same as mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted May 8, 2017 Members Share Posted May 8, 2017 Oh yeah, I hear you. A poor speaker choice or, as you mentioned, unbroken in v30s can completely destroy confidence in an amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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