Members maltomario Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 By what you've posted in the past, I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't buy one or even recommend one unless you're 100% sure that none of the components have been made in China. touche. it is likely this is made in china. i coudl not find info on the first act website about country of origin though. their FA guitars are made in USA (at least some are) so i am holding out hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 touche. it is likely this is made in china. i coudl not find info on the first act website about country of origin though. their FA guitars are made in USA (at least some are) so i am holding out hope. Man, you took that well. You could have gotten defensive, but you didn't. I respect you even more for that. It really is almost impossible, no matter how one wants to support the issue of human rights, to not feed into the system. The amps look great, though. I wish I had a style that could use them. I'm too idiosyncratic, though (something I'm often not too happy about). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A-20 Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Having just picked one up - I will say that the mid-range First Act stuff is just fine... and a bargain at these prices. As for this amp - I almost picked it up for $700 - well not really. But I wanted to. SS amps have a lot of advantages, not the least of which is total volume control and in this case, ease of use with a sound system. Add to that all the features here and the fact that you have all that control on the floor with the pedal... and I'm wondering why I'm not buying a second one for backup. Probably because of have 5 amps already, plus multi's which plug straight in to a sound system. Before I talk myself out of this purchase... I hope to use it for church worship. Low or no stage volume, easy hands on sound creation, sounds good going straight to the board, might work without any pedals/few pedals. These are of course just hopes and dreams until it arrives, but that's why I'm buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fagmotron 3000 Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 I can't help but laugh at people who are saying that these $100 amps will have no resale value. IT'S ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. You could play the amp for a couple months and give it away and still get your moneys worth. Anywho, I ordered the 75 watt one for practice. It cost a little more than a set of tubes and a bias job, so even if it doesn't sound as good as it did in the NAMM vid, it's still a great deal. Hell, with 75 watts, it's probably even giggable with the single 12in. speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members maltomario Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Man, you took that well. You could have gotten defensive, but you didn't. I respect you even more for that. It really is almost impossible, no matter how one wants to support the issue of human rights, to not feed into the system. The amps look great, though. I wish I had a style that could use them. I'm too idiosyncratic, though (something I'm often not too happy about). Thanks man! I'm now one fan closer to getting my own 'malto appreciation thread'.. at this rate i'm scheduled for.. bdbdbdbdbd july 11th, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Thanks man! I'm now one fan closer to getting my own 'malto appreciation thread'.. at this rate i'm scheduled for.. bdbdbdbdbd july 11th, 2019 You're sure to get one before me. Mine's currently slotted for never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 It's not Christmas yet boys. Be patient. Here's a Youtube of the big amp. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmfjOLAUzQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Do you guys really find Golias to be abrasive and insensitive? I just think she has a dry/droll wit. I've not read anything written by her that wasn't honest or factual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 It's not Christmas yet boys. Be patient. Yup. Retail sales are already in the {censored}ter. Many a deal can be had if one is patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted November 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Do you guys really find Golias to be abrasive and insensitive? I just think she has a dry/droll wit. I've not read anything written by her that wasn't honest or factual. LOL. Thanks, but I don't expect everybody to get me. Light-hearted sarcasm often comes across as mean-spirited tirades when written in text. You can only soften it with smileys so much. In response to Maltomario:I'm not an anti-solid-state bigot by any means. The Roland Jazz Chorus 77 remains one of the best amps ever to pass through my hands. I play tube amps because I'm addicted to the "lead" tones, but I spend a lot of time listening to guitarists who take the stage with nothing but transistors.My point is that there are A LOT of pretty darn good amps in the under-$300 range (those Pignose G40V amps among them), and the vast majority of the people on this forum already have several.I *kind of* get it why some of the people here want to own a dozen nearly-identical stratocasters, but how many "practice amps" could anybody possibly need?Speaking of guitar GAS... I've kind of got my eye on that Paul Westerberg axe as well. I'm not in love with the feel of the neck on it, but it's a bolt-on, so maybe I can swap it out or something. I think it looks pretty cool.On the other hand, my favorite Twin Cities bar (Pi) is on the verge of closing in a week and a half, and we're all passing the hat to keep it open. I might be dropping a few hundred bucks out of my next paycheck for that, so I may have to let the Westerberg bargain slip by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minitruth Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Golias is fine. Much more articulate than most her age today. I just don't need another SS amp. This might be better than the GMX 212I'm using, and I have a Kustom 16w practice amp that sounds decent withsome pedals in front. Sorry, but I'm not buying ANYTHING I don't absolutelyneed these days. Sign 'o the times. The Behringer is loud enough for mostgigs, if not- then the Crate VC-50 2x12 tube amp will be. For me, it's allabout what I'm trying to do. GIG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 you guys crack me up. i see threads of people creaming over cheap SX guitars and the $99 squires, $149 crate amps but amps like this are met with criticism... these amps had street values over $500, and the VA881 model sold around $700 IIRC. i don't get how or why certain cheap items are held on pedestals while others are hated. The crate v-18's et al that were being 'blown out' actually always sell for that price all the time and their MSRP was pulled out of their marketing dept's ass to make it look like a great deal. so you know there are corners cut in the design and construction of those if they can sell for the price they do and still make profit. Markup on consumer electronics goods is usually ~ 100% range so it is a fair assumption that those crate amps cost about $70-80 to build. A nice quality transformer would cost you more than that. As for solid state sucking, well, if an amp (solid state or tube) is designed well it will sound good. the converse is true also. There are {censored}ty sounding tube amps and {censored}ty sounding SS amps. It just so happens most SS amps are designed for entry level applications and are designed cheaply (because they intend to be sold at a certain price point or included with strat packs or whatever) and hence give SS amps a bad rap. There are alot of high quality SS amps which sound great. The Jazz chorus comes to mind. To design a quality SS amplifier takes design skill and quality parts. not $0.39 transistors from radio shack. btw, these are analog signal path amps, not digital. there is a significant difference. Golias even though many people find your posts abrasive and insensitive, you are entitled to your opinion on these amps. But imagine if you didn't give your gibson guitar (vixen was it?) a chance and listened to all the haters out there? you would have missed out on a fine instrument. I'm fairly confident that these amps are going to be great sounding little amps and for the price i paid it was worth the risk. i intend to use it for practicing / impromptu jam sessions and in that capacity it seems like a perfect miniature version of my live rig (tech21 preamp w/ g-major efx, etc). all analog by the way, just like this amp. I'm also very confident that these amps are not designed by first act. Just like in other industries, they likely outsourced the design and manufacturing of this amp to a company with that in-house technical know-how and manufacturing capacity. Just like ford - you think they build their own car radios w/ blue-tooth, embedded OS, network enabled multi-media functions? no, they buy from microsoft. does that mean ford radio's suck? well it depends on who they have design/build their radio. sorry to rant but i work in the electronics industry (and working on my MSEE) and when i constantly see people posting about how SS amps suck and when some imply that handwired point-to-point tube amps are 'better' it makes me scratch my head. its like people think a circuit on a piece of fiberglass inherently sucks vs wire and solder. on a circuit board you have the ability to control impedance and capacitance between traces, to minimize parasitic effects which yields improvement in performance. with wire put together by smitty after a 3 day bender, you get no such guarantees and as such one amp could vary considerably than the next and solder joint reliability is suspect. provincial thinking.. meh! technological progress.. Well said. And not a knock on the OP at all. This is a good thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The Wester has been cheap before. I'm glad I didn't see it when I ordered the amp. The nuts are universally tight and badly cut on the FA gits. Everything else is fine. Glad I bought them. Even though I usually buy everything with an eye on the resale value. I think I'll be very happy with this amp, and VJr combos are now 199, so.... Damn... I really like those guitars too..... What's a po boy to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Just out of curiousity how did you become so annoying? Was it something you practiced over time or did it just come naturally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 I get the impression the Pignoses were the same: good/great, but not spectacular. I didn't get one, though, so no direct experience here.. I think Golias is correct..... ...but on the Pignose, as I've gotten to know mine I must say I love it. Spectacular amp overall? No, but great, surely. Spectacular at $275 shipped? Emphatically yes. Powerful, rugged, versatile (despite being only 1 channel) and on top of all that it's compact and only weighs about 45 pounds, so it's great to lug to shows. Gigged mine last night....I thought it killed my Marshall and I had more than one person tell me they thought so too. But then, I'm coming to the realization I'm more of a 6L6 guy than a EL34 guy... If you do some extensive reading around the net, it's interesting to find that while the amp is not talked about in the fondest terms here, elsewhere it's raved about by professionals who make good use of them. I think Mr. Kager designed a winner with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Great! It's too bad we are not married because I'd certainly like to wake up to someone like you each morning. Worried about your small size? Maybe you should go.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Oh....and I'll add I play solid state way more than tube...when I'm at home, my Vox DA-5 is hard to beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 32-20-Blues Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Just out of curiousity how did you become so annoying? Was it something you practiced over time or did it just come naturally? And who are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Imagine if you will: Two tables at a neighborhood bar. One occupied by the new douchbag. The other by Golias. Who will you buy a beer for? No, this is not a test. No one wants to talk to the new douchebag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minitruth Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Another brave internet UFC fighter type. Now STFU and go and ACTUALLY get laid. Douchebag. Jrockbridge= Hall of fame memberYou= 20 postsSTFU noob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamdogg Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Oh....and I'll add I play solid state way more than tube...when I'm at home, my Vox DA-5 is hard to beat. Im 100% SS now that the Fender BJR is gone - Micro Cube, an old JC and an old Crate are gettin' it done for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 And who are you? Probably one of the recently bannished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Another brave internet UFC fighter type. Now STFU and go and ACTUALLY get laid. Douchebag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted November 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 Imagine if you will: Two tables at a neighborhood bar. One occupied by the new douchbag. The other by Golias. Who will you buy a beer for? No, this is not a test. No one wants to talk to the new douchebag. Wait... So you're saying that by being slightly less of a douchebag than some new person, I might get FREE BEER!?!?!?Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d_dave_c Posted November 7, 2008 Members Share Posted November 7, 2008 So who here has actually played through these amps? I have - just in a store mind you, but I thought it sounded great. Very responsive and wide range of tones with the different amp models. Nice reverb, too. I don't really need another amp right now, but these are good deals on a good amp. Seems to take pedals well, too: [YOUTUBE]bqmfjOLAUzQ[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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