need amp advice

[tlbonehead]

I vote for fixing the Boogie.

[badhabit]

yeah, get the Boogie fixed. If it gets you what you want in terms of sound, then it's a no brainer.

 

As far as combo amps at 1K and under, there are many to choose from. It really depends on what you need from an amp. Most Fenders tube amps are a good pedal platform but some of the overdrive tones are less than. I'd take a DRRI over a Hot-Rod any day, because I just prefer it's overall tone. And the verb is better. The Supersonic 22 looks promising. I played through an Egnater and couldn't get it to sound they way I wanted it to, but I only messed with it for about 15 minutes. The Lonestar is favored by some but again, I couldn't get the tones I was looking for. The Fender Princeton Reverb RI is said to be pretty good. I have a blackfaced 70's model and for tone, it's my favorite amp. But even with a speaker upgrade, the bass is still a bit mushy. I haven't tried the other low to mid priced tube amps like Blackstar, Bugera, Jet City, Laney and so on. I hear many like their Peavy Classic 30's but I cannot get much of fat tone out of one I have used. It just sounds way thin and trebly to me, even EQing the hell out of it.

 

My gigging amp is a FUCHS modded DR and it does pretty much everything I need an amp to do. Great cleans and great overdrive ( it's a FUCHS ). Got it used at a good price. It's fairly light weight, compact and gets as loud as I need it to. The only other amp I'd consider buying at this point would be a Red Plate, but you won't find very many used and new, they're over 2K+.

[BlueStrat]

 

It's $500 at Musicians Friend. The Blackstar is $700 and the Egnater is $900. Neither is particularly expensive as far as amps go. They both run circles around the Fender in sound and in features. If you want to talk cars, I would liken the BJ to a Ford Pinto, and the Blackstar and Egnater to a Honda perhaps. Seriously, the distortion in the Fender is horrible, and compared to the others, its feature set is pretty much non-existent. If you think those two amps are too expensive, there are plenty of other smaller combos out there that are priced at or below the Fender that blow its doors off.

 

 

Well, tone and distortion are subjective, but I used my HRD and Blues Junior for all my tracks on my last CD. Is my distortion horrible to you? It's all amp overdrive, not a pedal in the recording.

 

My local music store is selling a new Junior for $400. But it's not the Blues Jr, it's the Hot Rod Pro series. That''s the one I was thinking of for 400. I tried one out and thought it to be a nice little mp. Amazon has them for the same price-

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Junior-Guitar-Combo-Black/dp/B003YU4J3W/ref=sr_1_7?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1292545043&sr=1-7

 

If my HRD blew up tomorrow, I'd go right out and get another one.

[cooterbrown]

 

One of the best-bang-for-the-buck amps out there is the Peavey Classic 30.

 

 

+1000000 Swap the stock speaker with a V30, add a 1 or 2x12" extension cabinet, change out the power tubes with some JJ EL84's, and that amp is awesome. Loves pedals in front of it, or in the loop, drive it hard...I can't say enough good about the C30.

[GCDEF]

 

Well, tone and distortion are subjective, but I used my HRD and Blues Junior for all my tracks on my last CD. Is my distortion horrible to you? It's all amp overdrive, not a pedal in the recording. My local music store is selling a new Junior for $400. But it's not the Blues Jr, it's the Hot Rod Pro series. That''s the one I was thinking of for 400. I tried one out and thought it to be a nice little mp. Amazon has them for the same price- http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Junior-Guitar-Combo-Black/dp/B003YU4J3W/ref=sr_1_7?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1292545043&sr=1-7 If my HRD blew up tomorrow, I'd go right out and get another one.

 

 

That's a Pro Junior. I haven't heard one, but a lot of people say they sound a lot better than the Blues Junior. I haven't heard your CD. Blues Junior is $499.

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Blues-Junior-Guitar-Combo/dp/B003YU6O5I/ref=pd_sim_sbs_MI_1

[TrickyBoy]

IDK, my favorite, non-boutique amp is the Blues Jr. But then again, I stink and have crappy tone...

[BlueStrat]

That's a Pro Junior. I haven't heard one, but a lot of people say they sound a lot better than the Blues Junior. I haven't heard your CD. Blues Junior is $499. http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Blues-J...d_sim_sbs_MI_1

 

 

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[maxnew40]

Fix your boogie amp, it won't cost as much as a new good amp. It sounds like your amp just needs to have the caps replaced and it will will probably sound like new (maybe better due to a broken in speaker).

 

Max

[GCDEF]

**Shameless plug** Well you can, right here! http://www.myspace.com/patcoastband **end shameless plug**

 

Your band and music sound great. Which song and what point in the song would represent a good overdriven sound from the BJ?

[BlueStrat]

 

Your band and music sound great. Which song and what point in the song would represent a good overdriven sound from the BJ?

 

 

Don't Touch My Guitar. All the solos. There are others on that album, but I didn't put them on the myspace page. Some were covers and I didn't want to pay the royalties (ima cheap bastid!)

 

And thanks for the nice words.

[Vermoulian]

It sounds like MartinC has resolved his problem, but, I will throw in a thumbs-up for the Vox Night Train. 15W head, switchable from pentode to triode (approx. half-power, and a different character). Breaks up fairly quickly, but gets good jangle and crunchy tones. I've never even explored what it can do on higher-gain settings. The official Night Train cabinet has, I believe, a Celestion G12M-25 greenback, but I've used mine with an array of different speakers, including a G12H-30, an Alnico Gold, the speaker in some 1940s-vintage projector cabinet, and a couple different 4x12 cabs, and it's sounded good with everything I've run it through.

[ggm1960]

 

I don't have anything against solid state, but do they really sound as good as tubes?

 

 

No, they sound far better. Tube amps are junk, similar to driving a Ford Model T.

[rvschulz]

 

I just spoke with a tech at mesa. Lucky for me they are located an hour from me. He said they fix old ones all the time-quoted me between 175-300. This amp was 1,200 new in the mid 80's. I'm stoked. Who says you can't go home again? When I gigged with this amp, I played a strat and would have the guitar on one or two and get clean rhythm sounds, then turn the guitar up between 7-10 to get awesome lead tones. I never needed pedals. Hardly had to touch the amp............thanks for the advice.

 

 

well ... i was sure that you would throw in the towel, buy a little Fender or Vox and sell this Mesa. Then, i was ready to offer you a disgustingly lowball amount to get it off your hands, maybe even ask you to throw in or split the shipping. of course, you never mentioned if it was a IIA, IIB, IIC, or IIC+ ... not that i was THAT concerned. of course, check out my sig, you might notice what i think sounds good.

 

of course, i'm a bigger guy so lugging around a 80# amp is no big deal. those repairs are normal after 20 years ...

[BlueStrat]

 

No, they sound far better. Tube amps are junk, similar to driving a Ford Model T.

 

 

Ack. Every SS amp I ever played sounded brittle. I have two in my garage collecting dust. The other ones I tried all have the same sterile feel. To each his own, I guess.

[BATCAT]

 

Me too, though I love the sound of my HRD.

 

 

I like the HRD, but I always found that series of amps to be strangely "un-Fenderey." Not bad, in fact I've heard some really nice tones from them, but just not what I normally expect from a Fender.

 

Thoughts?

[BATCAT]

 

Ack. Every SS amp I ever played sounded brittle. I have two in my garage collecting dust. The other ones I tried all have the same sterile feel. To each his own, I guess.

 

 

I find the SS amps I like best are the ones that aren't trying to be tube amps. I love the Jazz Chorus series for what it is. I suppose they might be fairly accused of being "sterile", but I think of it more like an icy beauty. They have such a distinct, pristine sound.

 

My other favorite SS amp is my 15 watt Vox Pathfinder ($99). Seriously, possibly my best band-for-buck purchase ever.

 

Honorable mention to some of those 90s red-knob SS amps, too.

[cooterbrown]

 

No, they sound far better. Tube amps are junk, similar to driving a Ford Model T.

 

 

Cue Alanis...

[Nijyo]

**Shameless plug** Well you can, right here! http://www.myspace.com/patcoastband **end shameless plug**

 

BlueStrat, I've never actually listened to your stuff.

 

I feel bad now, because I really, really like it. You got something online I can pay for and download?

[Nijyo]

 

BlueStrat, I've never actually listened to your stuff. I feel bad now, because I really, really like it. You got something online I can pay for and download?

 

 

And now after looking around, I see you've got some links to some stuffs, so I'll peruse those listings.

 

Where can I get "A Good Night For the Blues"? Doesn't look like it's on your CD or Amazon listings?

[WynnD]

 

If I was buying an amp today, I get a Fender Blues Jr. It's only 15 watts, but you can mic it up and play any sized venue and I think they sound phenomenal. YMMV

 

 

Worked with some guitarists that use that. It's a very nice sound.

[BlueStrat]

 

And now after looking around, I see you've got some links to some stuffs, so I'll peruse those listings. Where can I get "A Good Night For the Blues"? Doesn't look like it's on your CD or Amazon listings?

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

The song or th album? The album is out of, print, but Iv'e been meaning to upload it to tunecore. Guess I ought to get on it. the only one I have up is the latest one I did a few years ago and none of the covers I put on that record (there are only 3) are on it because I don't want to pay royalty again.

[Dega500]

 

I like farts!

 

 

A FIZZLE SNIFFER?

[ggm1960]

 

Ack. Every SS amp I ever played sounded brittle. I have two in my garage collecting dust. The other ones I tried all have the same sterile feel. To each his own, I guess.

 

 

Yeah, I dunno. Everyone here knows I like to tweak the "tube guys" if they'll let me (it even inspired a song) but I've always been able to dial in great sound from solid state and, more recently, MOSFET guitar amps. Obviously so have many high profile groups like The Beatles, CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 

Now in the past I've tried to minimize my rig and play guitar through a keyboard amp and that just doesn't work without some sort of modeling or EQ in front of the amp. The reason is simple though, guitar amps are designed with limited bandwidth and in most cases you just don't want an exact replica of your guitar's output signal wave appearing at your speakers input.

 

In all fairness, however, I've nearly always gotten great guitar sound from my tube amps as well except for the smaller ones where they distort too quickly for me as the volume goes up.

 

Frankly over the last couple years all my amps have been collecting dust. The last band I had going I was using the Digitech GSP1101 direct to PA and now that I'm on hiatus and only recording I prefer to use Amplitube 3.

[BlueStrat]

 

Yeah, I dunno. Everyone here knows I like to tweak the "tube guys" if they'll let me (it even inspired a song) but I've always been able to dial in great sound from solid state and, more recently, MOSFET guitar amps. Obviously so have many high profile groups like The Beatles, CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now in the past I've tried to minimize my rig and play guitar through a keyboard amp and that just doesn't work without some sort of modeling or EQ in front of the amp. The reason is simple though, guitar amps are designed with limited bandwidth and in most cases you just don't want an exact replica of your guitar's output signal wave appearing at your speakers input. In all fairness, however, I've nearly always gotten great guitar sound from my tube amps as well except for the smaller ones where they distort too quickly for me as the volume goes up. Frankly over the last couple years all my amps have been collecting dust. The last band I had going I was using the Digitech GSP1101 direct to PA and now that I'm on hiatus and only recording I prefer to use Amplitube 3.

 

 

On my second CD, I used a SS Princeton 110 Plus to record a couple of the solos, but live I could never get it to sound good.

[TIMKEYS]

Solid state sounds good for some kinds of music.... today's modelers sound pretty damb good too. I like a tube reverb amp sound be it a modeled sound or the real deal. I really like solid state Powered speakers for keyboards since all the output of a modern keyboard is a modeled sound ,, so the cleaner you can reproduce it the better.