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 Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:14 pm
This thread is meant to help you find the right amp and maximize the tone of your current amp.
You can buy as many overpriced guitars as you want, but if you play them through a poor amp, you'll sound awful. You can only sound as good as your amp, and your amp can only sound as good as your speakers.
It's very simple. A $200 guitar through a decent amp will blow away a $2000 guitar through a lesser amp. In my first band that was the case exactly. I had a $200 ec-50 and the other guitarist's dad bought him a $2000 Gibson Les Paul Classic. I played through a $400 amp, he played through a $200 amp and my tone DESTROYED his in every aspect. There was no comparison to be made, my $600 set up sounded MUCH better than his $2400 set up because I spent twice as much on my amp as i did on my guitar.
I now have an ec-1000 and I'm saving for a Mesa Mark IV (which again costs almost exactly twice as much used). Pretty much I've found that you can get all the guitar you need to look cool, play easy, and sound awesome for under a grand as long as you get one with good value, and spending most of your dough in the amp department pays off.
Discuss. Ask. Share. Go!
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:18 pm
I don't get on every day and if I do get on chances are good I won't stop by at this guild, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions about amps or cabs or speakers.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:32 pm
What does everyone think of Orange amps? I own a Rockerverb 50 Combo Im wondering if there are any fellow Orange amp owners on Gaia! Feel free to PM me biggrin
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:38 pm
Orange amps are great. I've got a buddy who's dying for one because he likes their natural sounding overdrive.
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:26 am
I've got a Line6 Spider II. I'm saving up to get a B52 AT212. Anyone ever try those?? What did you think?
You forgot the most important thing. You only sound as good as your hands. You can give a 100 dollar guitar and 50 dollar amp to Zakk Wylde and he'll produce another classic.
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:27 am
Raider83 I've got a Line6 Spider II. I'm saving up to get a B52 AT212. Anyone ever try those?? What did you think? You forgot the most important thing. You only sound as good as your hands. You can give a 100 dollar guitar and 50 dollar amp to Zakk Wylde and he'll produce another classic. I owned a B-52 AT100 half stack with the 100 watt head and AT series 4x12. They look like really great deals untill you get them home dude. I had mine for a week before I took it back. The head weighed like 55 pounds and the cab weighed like 65 and the skin scuffs and tears really easily. The combo probably weighs between 80 and 90 pounds, plus ive heard that because the combos are so top heavy the sides get wobbly after a while, which leads to a flubby rattly and weak cab. The tri-mode deal looks good but leaves the tubes on and they run freakishly hot in that thing. After just an hour the rectifier tube has heated up the chassis so much you can burn your hand on the power switch, which is evidence of a huge design flaw because it's likely to burn itself out and go through tubes very quickly. I hope you know what you're getting into here, because the B-52 AT is as its name says "all tube" which means youll have to turn it up well over halfway before it starts to really sound awesome and when I had mine at 0.5 (1/2!) it was shaking the windows and everybody in the house came in at separate times to tell me to turn it down. I know you probably regret buying the Line 6 Spider (one of the WORST amps I've ever heard) but make sure you don't rush into anything when buying a new amp. If you aren't doing regular gigs, buy something smaller, and even if you are, you'll probably want to keep a decent practice amp in your room like a vox valvetronix, so you can leave that heavy one in your garage or practice space. whatever you do, do NOT buy one new! They go on ebay and craigslist for like 400 bucks all the time because a lot of people realized its not what they wanted, plus if you buy it cheap, you can still probably sell it for as much as you paid if you dont like it, so don't worry about losing returns for buying used. btw, if zakk wylde isnt turning out any more 'classics' on his $15000 setup, i doubt it would change if you gave him a $150 setup. abusing harmonics and fizz only goes so far, and i doubt he would be able to get anywhere close to his sound on the $150 setup because of it.
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:09 am
Gazlowe Raider83 I've got a Line6 Spider II. I'm saving up to get a B52 AT212. Anyone ever try those?? What did you think? You forgot the most important thing. You only sound as good as your hands. You can give a 100 dollar guitar and 50 dollar amp to Zakk Wylde and he'll produce another classic. I owned a B-52 AT100 half stack with the 100 watt head and AT series 4x12. They look like really great deals untill you get them home dude. I had mine for a week before I took it back. The head weighed like 55 pounds and the cab weighed like 65 and the skin scuffs and tears really easily. The combo probably weighs between 80 and 90 pounds, plus ive heard that because the combos are so top heavy the sides get wobbly after a while, which leads to a flubby rattly and weak cab. The tri-mode deal looks good but leaves the tubes on and they run freakishly hot in that thing. After just an hour the rectifier tube has heated up the chassis so much you can burn your hand on the power switch, which is evidence of a huge design flaw because it's likely to burn itself out and go through tubes very quickly. I hope you know what you're getting into here, because the B-52 AT is as its name says "all tube" which means youll have to turn it up well over halfway before it starts to really sound awesome and when I had mine at 0.5 (1/2!) it was shaking the windows and everybody in the house came in at separate times to tell me to turn it down. I know you probably regret buying the Line 6 Spider (one of the WORST amps I've ever heard) but make sure you don't rush into anything when buying a new amp. If you aren't doing regular gigs, buy something smaller, and even if you are, you'll probably want to keep a decent practice amp in your room like a vox valvetronix, so you can leave that heavy one in your garage or practice space. whatever you do, do NOT buy one new! They go on ebay and craigslist for like 400 bucks all the time because a lot of people realized its not what they wanted, plus if you buy it cheap, you can still probably sell it for as much as you paid if you dont like it, so don't worry about losing returns for buying used. btw, if zakk wylde isnt turning out any more 'classics' on his $15000 setup, i doubt it would change if you gave him a $150 setup. abusing harmonics and fizz only goes so far, and i doubt he would be able to get anywhere close to his sound on the $150 setup because of it. +1 on everything said. the b-52 is a horrible amp, and they have horrible quality control. though ive never heard of anyone having the same problem you did, but like is said, quality control doesnt exist at that company. and all line 6 amps are good for are practice amps. if your going to be in a band, whether or not your actually gonna play shows, get a real amp, none of this half a** model stuff.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:58 pm
What are some of you guys' fav amps? What are looking to get next? Dream amp?
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:35 am
Thanks for the input gents. I have heard about the tri getting the faceplate extremely hot, but I thought I'd counter that with a fan, but it sounds like that wouldn't do me much good anyhow. I loved how it sounded at gutiar center and especially loved how you could switch between the tubes. I don't do alot of gigging but I do record. Also the Line6 is great! I don't know why people dont like it. I love the thing. Granted it is modeling and some models arent as good as the real ones but the distorted tone that I get from it is good to me. I just wish it had a presence control. so heres a question for ya. If you had the B52 at one time that means you must've liked the sound of it. What other amps sound like the B52(tri)? Something else I could look at. And forget the Vox amps. I'm not into those.
On Zakk Wylde, true he goes to the extreme with someof the stuff. some like it some dont. but he does alot of clean stuff too and that stuff it great. his blues stuff i mean.
dream amp: Krankenstein, Peavey 6505+, or the new Randalls.
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:08 am
well tube all the way...if you wanting a tear through steel walls sound ....also a decent humbucker never hurt.....effects petals...are for people who cant make those effects on there own....all great guitarist make their own sound....the mixers and machines are used if you are or playing for people on illegal substances....choose what you want according to the sound you want. mrgreen
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:49 am
To be honest, I'm quite satisfied with my Line 6, but it's a Spider Valve. The tubes make the amp wail, and the sound is SO three-dimensional. Plus, they give the amp a world of expression, (Playing quieter gives a cleaner sound without losing too much volume) which has really taken my playing to a new level. It's something I never had with my Peavey XXL. This is probably one case where the gear I had was really holding me back. If I'd bought a tube amp years ago it would have let me learn to be much more expressive. Here's a Pic (Because I can't get enough!) http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/078/8/6/Amp_by_hylianhero27.jpg
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:26 pm
Inflection well tube all the way...if you wanting a tear through steel walls sound ....also a decent humbucker never hurt.....effects petals...are for people who cant make those effects on there own....all great guitarist make their own sound....the mixers and machines are used if you are or playing for people on illegal substances....choose what you want according to the sound you want. mrgreen i like to keep a delay handy because youve got to admit that would be tough to duplicate by hand and i love some of the rythms you can get with them especially with a mild overdrive and they make leads shine. i almost bought a tremolo pedal for stutter... but decided it would be much cheaper to just use my pickup selector and volume knobs. sounded so awesome. then i broke my toggle. now i do it by hand and its slightly less awsome :[
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:34 pm
Raider83 Thanks for the input gents. I have heard about the tri getting the faceplate extremely hot, but I thought I'd counter that with a fan, but it sounds like that wouldn't do me much good anyhow. I loved how it sounded at gutiar center and especially loved how you could switch between the tubes. I don't do alot of gigging but I do record. Also the Line6 is great! I don't know why people dont like it. I love the thing. Granted it is modeling and some models arent as good as the real ones but the distorted tone that I get from it is good to me. I just wish it had a presence control. so heres a question for ya. If you had the B52 at one time that means you must've liked the sound of it. What other amps sound like the B52(tri)? Something else I could look at. And forget the Vox amps. I'm not into those. On Zakk Wylde, true he goes to the extreme with someof the stuff. some like it some dont. but he does alot of clean stuff too and that stuff it great. his blues stuff i mean. dream amp: Krankenstein, Peavey 6505+, or the new Randalls. people dont like line 6 because they sound digital and fake and they dont respond as well to playing nuances (the good thing about that though is that the line 6 amps hide a lot of playing flaws, get a bogner and youll be amazed how much youll have to step it up and tighten up your playing) ive heard the b-52s are supposed to be rip-offs of mesa rectifier series amps, but the mesa amps sound so much better i dont know if you can say theyre even close. mesa rectifiers need to be up really loud for the best results, but the stiletto and mark series are heaven! peavey 5150/6505 (theyre the same thing, just one is endorsed by van halen) are actually affordable. I've seen a 6505+ half stack go for $950 used and in mint condition! if i were you, I'd save up an extra hundred or two and just buy your dream amp! it really isnt as far off as you think.
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:28 pm
anyone have any experiance with a carvin v3? i'm planning on getting a job just so i can buy that half stack, and then quit the job. lol kirk hammett style lol
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:12 pm
Gazlowe Orange amps are great. I've got a buddy who's dying for one because he likes their natural sounding overdrive. The overdrive is great and can get so heavy just perfect! I really dislike Line 6 they are just awful in my opinion but I know some people like them, my friend said his Line 6 spider was better then my Marshall Plexi so you know some people think they are the greatest no matter how wrong they are mrgreen (that was very tongue in cheek)
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Reply
