Help! My student gets a Ball! (pics) Help him with an amp choice.

[Spudmurphy]

I''d go for a Mesa F series combo. The F50 I have, has great cleans and a fantastic overdrive too.

Get a second hand one - he'll never lose out on it then if he wants to move onto a "stack"

 

[RobW]

Originally Posted by Ahess86 View Post
Why do many people think that buying a nice guitar for a child is spoiling them? This always killed me when I worked in a music store. Parents don't blink at spending money on a piano or a nice band instrument, but they think that buying a child a nice guitar is spoiling them.

I think its excellent, we all know that you're more inspired to play on a better guitar. Wish more parents would be willing to go the distance to get their kids into quality guitars.

I'd second the Carvin V3. Features/sound/quality for the price, its one of the best out there. No built in effects though.

Exactly. Thank you. I was kind of put off by the "he's spoiled" comments. As an educator, I know when kids are spoiled. He is not. This is his second guitar. He has put a lot of time and dedication into playing, and as you said, this new guitar has inspired him to play more and focus on his technique. He takes excellent care of it to say the least.

I'll have to look into the Carvin. I guess we wouldn't be adverse to getting a nice amp with no onboard effects, and then get some kind of Boss board or something. Keep the suggestions flowing...

I agree. If the kid is into it and shows so much potential, then having good gear is only going to inspire and motivate him to keep at it.

I think the general attitude towards this is kind of like the old "back in my day, we had to walk 5 miles to school and back, uphill both ways!" sort of feeling...

That 20w Egnater head might be a good little amp for the kid too...it's been getting rave reviews. Or even the Egnater Tourmaster combo.

 

[Nik_Left_RG]

Exactly. Thank you. I was kind of put off by the "he's spoiled" comments. As an educator, I know when kids are spoiled. He is not.
...

Sorry on Jumpin in on like that Zaarin.. Didnt really mean to.. If you, as a instructor/teacher/mentor feel that he deserves it then no two ways about it..
Excellent for the kid.. ahem*cough*.. I was.. umm...*jealous* *cough*

Looking back at things, I really wish i had better quality stuff when I started up.. Wait a freakin minute ----------- I still dont LMAO... Well.. EB s gonna solve that problem soon..

Anyway.. about the amp.. I still like the Fender Deluxe.. havnt tried many.. but i still r'member this one.. SSsssswweeetttt!!!

Cheers!!

 

[Sweat]

Very cool and congrats to him and his parents for supporting his desire to play, not spoiled those comments are pure BS, anyways amps are a tricky thing everyone has thier thoughts on what works but here goes mine since I have spent 3 years looking for what works for me

Try a Egnater Rebel-20 with the matching Rebel 1x12 cab, single channel but so versatile and then add a Boss GT either 6,8 or 10, can use the Boss into the amp for all sorts of tones or straight into the Rebel and you can dial in alot of great tones, can get it all at GC well under the spending limit and use adiscount coupon to save more.

 

[Beach Radio]

Why do many people think that buying a nice guitar for a child is spoiling them? This always killed me when I worked in a music store.

Yeah - I mean they should buy kids a piece of crap guitar with splinters up & down the warped neck!!!! And they should have to walk up hill in a three feet of snow just to take a lesson!!!!

 

[A.J.]

Sweet! As long as our guitars don't come with a surgeon general's warning and dealers don't get in trouble for selling them to minors I encourage this behavior!

Hook 'em while their young and they'll GAS for years!

 

[mattjazz3]

I think that life isn't fair, and anyone can do what they please becuase the sad truth is, the truth is sad...

 

[guitarman23]

ooooooooooo, its sparkly!!!!!!!!

 

[73h Nils]

I look forward to clips in 5+ years.

 

[Zaarin]

Sorry on Jumpin in on like that Zaarin.. Didnt really mean to.. If you, as a instructor/teacher/mentor feel that he deserves it then no two ways about it..
Excellent for the kid.. ahem*cough*.. I was.. umm...*jealous* *cough*

Looking back at things, I really wish i had better quality stuff when I started up.. Wait a freakin minute ----------- I still dont LMAO... Well.. EB s gonna solve that problem soon..

Anyway.. about the amp.. I still like the Fender Deluxe.. havnt tried many.. but i still r'member this one.. SSsssswweeetttt!!!

Cheers!!

It's cool. His whole family is awesome, and I'm glad that he'll have such nice gear at such an early age. He has definitely put his work into his guitar, he is like my padawan learner. Haha. Certainly wish my parents had cultivated an interest in music at such an early age. I started at 16 and was pretty much self-motivated, playing on craptastic guitars for a while.

We went and played some amps at the local store. He was most impressed by the Line6 Spidervalve head. We did get a chance to play some Mesas as well, but I think the sheer amount of effects that the Line6 had to offer blew him away. I will say that I thought the Mesas were sweet, but I also enjoyed the Line6 as well.

The only problem is the head unit doesn't have a headphone jack... It certainly is an amp that is meant to be played loud, like all 100 watt heads. Is there a way to work around that or should we be looking at a combo unit?

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Combo yeh. You don't need 100w unless u r playing massive gigs.

J

 

[Spudmurphy]

If the boy want's an amp that has effects built in then may I recommend the Vox Valvetronix.
My son has had two of them - A 30 watt which he has now traded up to a 50 watt.

Great amps for the money.

Johnny Dubai has one and I know that he likes it - and bleeb me he's one hell of a player !!

 

[Roubster]

You can always get a tube amp and get a hot plate such as THD and be able to crank the amp but play at bedroom volumes. I think a Peavey JSX would be great, or a Peavey Bandit 112. I just got an older Bandit and it sounds amazing for a solid state amp. And it does get plenty loud, and kicks the crap out of my Line6 buzzy digital nonsense.

 

[dandegeit]

MESA BOOGIE EXPRESS 5;25 with the 12inch speaker!

thats all!

It s in JP's practice rig

DANO

 

[Spudmurphy]

^
but it seems that the lad wants some effects built in ?

 

[Jonny Dubai]

the valvetronix are great amps. Think there may be some new versions coming out soon. Great for bedroom rocking and very versitile but you must get the footswitch too. The basic one is fine and got me through a ton of gigs and rehersals.

ps. Cheers Spud. Have you lost weight.

J

 

[paranoid70]

Buit in effects you say? I love the Fender Cyber Twin. It has 100 presets + a few dozen modeled amps. I gotta say, it is a great amp.

 

[73h Nils]

As much as I am in disagreement with Fender in general, that amp is actually quite impressive. I tried the 15-Watt model at some local music store at random. It was like a Line 6 with more options. Obviously, wasn't as good as a tube amp, but DUH!

I still stand by the Mesa F-30. A ridiculous amount of effects are only fun for when you start out. Then you find what ones you like and you get good rack gear/pedals for each specific one. At least, that's the way it was for me.

 

[Zaarin]

The line6 spidervalve series does not seem to have headphone/stereo out jacks. I am wondering if a Mesa f-50 and perhaps a pod would suit my student. I have found numerous f-50s on eBay, these seem to include a headphone jack.

I just know that if I had had such a huge 100w amp when I was learning with no headphone jack that I would have annoyed my entire family up **** creek.

 

[73h Nils]

Well, the thing is, even a Mesa Express 5:25 on the 5-Watt setting is going to be loud. There's not really a way around it, unless they picked up a THD Hotplate, too. F-50s are Godly, though. If they're a decent price, do NOT hesitate.