Recommend a decent Guitar Combo Amp?

[dealmaker]

Guys,

Looking for a decent Combo amplifier - for electric 6 string use - mainly blues, rock, Clapton and some metal!

Want a good all rounder that two of us can use simultaneously - and won't limit in future. There is just so MUCH choice out there and so many brands/products - I have no hope of trying them all. So was thinking of the safe bet and going for either Marshall, Fender, or Mesa Boogie - budget up to £1500 or so.

Anyone got any recommendations so I can narrow things down a bit?

Thanks!

[dern]

Wouldn't you get more flexibility by going for two seperate combos?

[dealmaker]

dern said:

Wouldn't you get more flexibility by going for two seperate combos?

Probably but have space availability and Wife Acceptance Factors to be considered!

[gingerpaul]

I was going to recommend something like the Line 6 modelling amps if you want the most flexibility but then I saw your budget! Are you likely to use it playing live anywhere? If not there's no point getting a 50W valve amp because even with an attenuator hooked up to drop the volume you won't get the overdriven sounds that you will want for rock and blues stuff. I'll post back in 5 when I've had look around but I think that the Orange Tiny Terror is meant to be good, and Cornford do a good practice amp. I don't think either of those is particular flexible though.

Edited to add I've just realised I've slightly misunderstood. You want 2 guitars playing in one amp. I have this facility on my old Fender solid state amp and it was rubbish because it muddled the sound up of both guitars and they sounded too similar to be any use.

Edited by gingerpaul on Tuesday 4th November 11:18

[dern]

dealmaker said:

dern said:

Wouldn't you get more flexibility by going for two seperate combos?

Probably but have space availability and Wife Acceptance Factors to be considered!

I think I'd still get two, stack them on top of each other... if there's anyway you can make that acceptable (or possibly pretend that it's one amp ).

gp is right though, I have a 50w valve amp that I bought 20 years ago and it sounds lovely when cranked but it isn't possible to do that in the house without hearing loss. Happily is sounds nice enough for practice at low volumes too.

[dealmaker]

You see...thats why I like posting on here...some really useful advice.

I do want to get the "overdriven" soud without having to blow the windows out - so I guess I need something that will allow this at a reduced volume - maybe I overstaed the need for the two guitars - that will be a very occasional occurence - so maybe just think about the best combo that has maximum flexibility??

[gingerpaul]

The Mesa Boogie Lonestar might do it. You can switch the amp down to 5W. It's a big old amp though.

The Orange Tiny Terror is smaller and can be switched down to 7W.

The Cornford Harlequin is a 6W amp and they've got a great reputation.

The Cornford Carrera goes up to 8W.

I'd still be tempted to look at the Line 6 Spider 3 range for the flexibility they offer with their amp modelling, and you'll be way under budget.

A Marshall Vintage Modern might be worth looking at, but I don't think you can get the amp power down like you can with the others I've listed. It is a Marshall though.

I quite like the Fender Blues Junior too, but it's 15W so too powerful for home use really.

Finally I'd look at the Laney Lionheart range. They're great for the money.

All of these really assume that you can get 2 amps though. I think you'll be disappointed with the sound you will get from an amp with two guitars plugged into it. The Mesa aside you can afford to get two of any of the amps I've listed above.

[gingerpaul]

dealmaker said:

You see...thats why I like posting on here...some really useful advice.

I do want to get the "overdriven" soud without having to blow the windows out - so I guess I need something that will allow this at a reduced volume - maybe I overstaed the need for the two guitars - that will be a very occasional occurence - so maybe just think about the best combo that has maximum flexibility??

On that basis I'd look at the Tiny Terror, the Cornfords and the Lionhearts. the Lionhearts are the softest of those. I would hazard a guess that the Orange would be the most aggressive, but really you'd have to try them to see what you prefer.

Have a go with a 50W 2x12 combo while you're at the shop though so you get an idea of how hard you have to drive them to get anything interesting sound-wise. I've got an old silver anniversary 50W Marshall combo with a Marshall Powerbrake to allow me to drive the amp harder and it's still so noisy that you can't hear yourself shout when it's set up to drive the valves hard!

[dern]

I'd quite like a 5w valve amp but they're still pretty loud for me as essentially I only get to play after the kids have gone to bed. Because of that I have a v-amp2 desktop modeller for practice in to which I plug in headphones. If I didn't have that then I'd be looking at a 5w jobbie. When I bought my fender recently I tried it out through a 5w laney lionheart which I though sounded pretty good but had to keep the noise down a bit. Alternatively you could get a small 5w amp like a Epiphone Valve Junior which is a full valve amp that I've heard good things about that would only set you back £100 and you could hide it pretty easily and use it when noise is an issue. Then you could splash out on a nice combo for when everyone else it out

[dealmaker]

Thanks Guys! excellent advice! Got a Marshall thing going on though!

Surely Marshall MUST make something that can get the traditional Marshall sound without having to have the doors blown off??

What about something like this??:

http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/amplification_detail...

description:

2 CHANNELS, 3 VOICINGS PER CHANNEL , 6 MODES, FULL VALVE TONE FROM ECC 83 & EL 34 VALVES, STUDIO QUALITY REVERB, INDEPENDENT EQ PER CHANNEL, 2 EFFECTS LOOPS, PROGRAMMABLE 4 WAY FOOTSWITCH INCLUDED, CONNECTED VIA STANDARD GUITAR CABLE, MIDI COMPATIBLE WITH 128 PATCH SPACES, SILENT RECORDING FACILITY, UK BUILT

Edited by dealmaker on Tuesday 4th November 11:46

[gingerpaul]

The trouble is that in standard fettle you'd have to be playing loud enough for a fairly large pub gig to get that anywhere near the sort of volume you need to get the true valve tone. I have a Marshall Powerbrake for my amp, which spec wise is very similar. That lets me drive the valves hard but to still get roughly the same sound. I'm under no illusions though. I'd get a better sound with a lower wattage amp rather than messing about with things to bodge the sound.

Edited to add I've just realised I've got the full Marshall catalogue around here somewhere from when I got my amp serviced a couple of months ago. I'll see what they have that might do it for you...

Edited by gingerpaul on Tuesday 4th November 11:54

[bigbadbikercats]

dealmaker said:

Guys,

Looking for a decent Combo amplifier - for electric 6 string use - mainly blues, rock, Clapton and some metal!

Want a good all rounder that two of us can use simultaneously - and won't limit in future. There is just so MUCH choice out there and so many brands/products - I have no hope of trying them all. So was thinking of the safe bet and going for either Marshall, Fender, or Mesa Boogie - budget up to £1500 or so.

Anyone got any recommendations so I can narrow things down a bit?

Thanks!

I've got a Mesa Express 5:25 1x10" and it's absolutely brilliant.

It's compact, incredibly versatile (although some owners claim it's a bit short of gain for Metal - I personally find this surprising, as the "burn" mode has more gain than I could ever imagine using...), sounds good at bedroom friendly levels, is unfeasibly loud for its size (I use mine at our local pub jam night and haven't even had to take it off the 5 Watt setting yet!) and very, very, very solid construction. I'd recommend it to anyone, and if it went missing I'd buy another in a heartbeat (although I might go for the 1x12" version).

You're not going to be able to share it, but you'll have £400 of your budget left over for something like (say) a Laney LC15R and that's going to give much better results than trying to share an amp.

--
JG

[gingerpaul]

The Marshall 1974x is the lowest power valve amp in the catalogue. It's 18W, so probably still too powerful for use at home. It sounds like a nice bit of kit though from the description. It's a reissue of a combo from the late 60s and it hand wired point-to-point. Have a look at the Powerbrake and other attenuators though if you really want a big Marshall combo.

[Matthew_Eames]

Tell me about it, I bought a 1970's 2203 head and 4x12 cab for a few gigs that never happend
cant bring myself to sell up, but it's stupidly loud (I wanted a half stack, so i bought one, which was a mistake) although it is master volume so you can have it quiet...but it's not the same

Recently been looking at the Marshall Bluesbreaker combo....in an effort to downsize, it's 45w so still too powerful for just home practice but they are amazing amps, not so good for metal, but you can always get a pedal to do that.

[Bill Carr]

dealmaker said:

Thanks Guys! excellent advice! Got a Marshall thing going on though!

Surely Marshall MUST make something that can get the traditional Marshall sound without having to have the doors blown off??

Try the MG-series - soild state so no valves, but that means you can have it distorted at lower volumes.

Of course, people will tell you that valves are better (and they'd be right) but IMO the MG sounds pretty decent in its own right, and very good for a non-valve amp.

It's pretty pointless having a powerful valve amp if you can't use it at sufficient volume to get the benefits.

[tim the pool man]

Bill Carr said:

dealmaker said:

Thanks Guys! excellent advice! Got a Marshall thing going on though!

Surely Marshall MUST make something that can get the traditional Marshall sound without having to have the doors blown off??

Try the MG-series - soild state so no valves, but that means you can have it distorted at lower volumes.

Of course, people will tell you that valves are better (and they'd be right) but IMO the MG sounds pretty decent in its own right, and very good for a non-valve amp.

It's pretty pointless having a powerful valve amp if you can't use it at sufficient volume to get the benefits.

I once had a Marshall JCM800 combo and you're right, playing it at home at low volume was hopeless, you have to crank them up to get the sound.

Now have a (turns round to look at it and remembers I left it in my mate's rehearsal room... I'm moving in with him this weekend) it's a Marshall MG100DFX IIRC, works much better at home, yet to try it on stage, but will this weekend... but as a temporary bass amp just hope I don't blow it up before I trade it on a proper bass rig now I've decided the switch to 4 fat strings is long term.

[Matthew_Eames]

the MG series are OK....but put next to a proper valve amp they pale in comparison, they just lack the depth of sound and warmness of a proper valve amp

you can get some that use preamp valves (marshall AVT and vox Valvetronix) as a halfway house, but if you can, valves are the way to go

[garycat]

Might be a bit out of your budget but take a listen to the Bad Cat Black Cat

[chevy-stu]

i've got a brand new, unused, in sealed box Marshal JVM 210c combo at a great price... just get a mini line mixer for your two guitars , sorted... !


(2x12, 100watt all valve, very versatile - probably not exactly what you want but it's a good deal)

[Stamp]

garycat said:

Might be a bit out of your budget but take a listen to the Bad Cat Black Cat

Great amps the Bad Cats, but try to find one second hand!!!! Hens teeth, I say, Hens teeth.