Which amp? Opinions and advice please :-)

[puppyonacid]

So it's my birthday soon (quite a milestone one), and the family on both sides is asking me what i'd like. Sooooooooo, I'd like an amp. At the mo I have my POD 2.0 plugged into a little speaker here for practise at home. At the rehearsal room I have a F*nd** Dual Showman Head and Marshall 4 x 12.

So I'd like a decent combo. Something thats fairly easy to get around but will really pull the tones out of my JP6. Course I'm a big Petrucci fan so i'm thinking something along the lines of a Mesa Boogie combo. But which?

I know a bit about Mesa Boogie heads but not much. And I'm going for a combo just for the ease of transport really.

Any help, info or advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DrBob]

See it's funny because I'm in a similar position.

The one I'm currently chasing after is a Rivera Clubster 45.

Bit rare compared to the seemingly ubiquitous Boogie but my life what a tone !

The thing is try it in the U.K. but then buy it from a shop in Germany called Thomann.de who'll ship it to you in the U.K. for about £750. a saving of about £250 over what they seem to go for here in Blighty

Come On !!

 

[phatduckk]

yup... very similar boat here too. my birthday's in a few days and one of the things im considering treating myself to is a new guitar amp.

i have no idea what to get either....

 

[puppyonacid]

I'm sure I have heard of those riveras. I may pop over to sound control cos I'm sure I saw one there. Thanks for the advice. ....... keep it coming folks. I wanna hear from you boogsters!

 

[robelinda2]

laney make very nice sounding combo's, try them, you'll be surprised. also the fender devile combo's are great, peavey's vavle king's are great too.

 

[Roxy]

The new Mesa Roadster might be worth investigating (if they're available yet). It will have the Lonestar clean and Roadking lead, but cut back on some of the features.

 

[slukather]

Peavey make some great amps, Valveking, JSX, XXX.

If you go the Mesa route, make sure you try it out at different types of volumes, cause l bought a Mesa not long ago, and l was positive it's the amp l wanted, but was sssooooo wrong.

But l'd recommend trying everything, just plug into everything and just goof around with all kinds of amps, well known amps and unknown amps, and let your ear decide, not the brand on it or what your hero plays.

Scott.

 

[ghunter]

I'll throw a different twist on it...

I'm using a Boss GT-8 into Mesa/Boogie 20:20 power amp into twin 2x12 cabinets (made by Avatar). This sounds really nice and smooth but without too much Mesa tonality added into the equation. This lets the Marshall models in the GT-8 sound like Marshall models and not some sort of hybrid that you'd get if you plugged your POD into a combo with a certain tonal signature.

With that said, if I had to go with one combo it would be a Mesa/Boogie or Vox.

 

[Darth Tater]

Mesa would be a good choice, Soldano a better choice.

But if you don't want to spend Mesa or Soldano money, check into Carvin before you check in to Peavey. Carvin's amps are generally a few notches ahead of Peavey...I think you might like the Legacy.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Try a line 6 amp, you might be surprised.

 

[Roxy]

I love my JSX Combo. Sounds great with all of my guitars.

 

[Smellybum]

MARSHALL -

And a Fender Hot Rod for clean tones......... cheap and boutique tones with little running costs...

If you want a boogie with a big sound and small price tag get a used studio 22

mega amps. - and unlike Mk 4's there' not nailed to the floor!

 

[TimSz]

Roadster!

I was f***ing around on a Mesa Roadster for the past few visits to my local music store; and bought one. It's bloody fantastic. It minimalizes the bedazzle that comes on the Road King; and you end up with a streamlined combo amp that would make Jesus switch companies. (I totally see him as a Fender Tweed kinda guy... very minimalistic )

The clean is totally killer on it, and the distortion is ... Mesa. That's the only way to describe it. On top of that, there's two of each channel. You can have two very different cleans, and two very different overdrive/distortions. It's got a 50/100 watt selector for each channel, because we've all had situations where no matter how much we try, the perfect sounding clean is never equally matched with the perfect distortion. On top of all this, reverb per channel, solo boost; as well as the tube/diode selector.

Finally, each channel can be voiced differently, making a tweed clean to a brit overdrive to a nu-metal distort. It's totally the amp to own. I swear by Mesa, because nothing compares... RIP Blue Angel.

 

[robelinda2]

dang, it sounds freekin great, i must go and try one!!! Sounds perfect for me

 

[brentrocks]

they are a little on the bulky side, but i love my 5150 combo!!!

it just screams!!!! they are all over ebay, usually

 

[Jonny Dubai]

I am with you on the EVH...just so responsive. It would be great if it had 2 eq's for clean and dirt.

That mesa souds great, just what i am looking for....Now how do i re-mortgage my house!


Jonny

 

[candid_x]

One critical question to puppyonacid: What style of music are you playing?

If you’re doing high gain shred work or nu-metal, an amp that uses EL34s or the smaller output EL84s in the power section with give more prominent mids and immediate attack. If you’re playing blues, funk or country, you may find a 6L6 driven amp provides the “sag” to slow down the attack and blossom, giving a breathy feeling to your playing, and also adding more top and bottom end with less mid push.

I’m with Rob on Laneys. Been a huge Laney fan for several years. The GH50 or GH100 covers high gain well, while the LH50 or LC50 combo kicks some blues ass. But this only if you don’t wish to sound like everyone else with Marshall or Mesa.

Which ever amp you choose, if you go the tube route, look into tube replacements. Since I’ve popped for a few NOS 1966 JAN Phillips 12AX7’s, which I use only in the V1 position, life has become much happier! JJ’s across the rest of the chain and in the 6L6 power section does it for me. (I don’t care at all for JJ EL84’s though.)

I had an 18 watt Soldano for awhile; nice Allman Bros groove, but not my tone. Modern Fenders do nothing for me, and most reissues are nothing like the originals, including the new Vox’s.

Have to find your own tone, which means getting out and trying them for yourself.

PS: Speaker and cab choice are also huge factors.

 

[wired]

they are a little on the bulky side, but i love my 5150 combo!!!

it just screams!!!! they are all over ebay, usually

+1 on the 5150 combo. You can get better cleans out of the combo than the head. I've used both for years & have never been dissapointed.

Not the most versatile amps, but great at what they were designed for.

 

[candid_x]

Is the 5150 combo open back or closed?

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Is the 5150 combo open back or closed?

Closed - quite a thump by all accounts!