Amp advice

[Xenos0176]

I've been playing guitar for 6 years now but i still don't know a whole lot about amps. I have a
Crate FlexWave Series FW120HS 120W Half-Stack

, but the head keeps breaking and i have to send it in to get it fixed again. I paid $500 for the stack, i'm considering getting a new head or a new half stack. My friend said buying a tube head would be a good idea, but i'm only finding 100W heads for like $900 and 15W heads for $500. what is going on here? I don't have the biggest budget, probably getting something used would by the best but im not sure what, how big and how much it'll cost

 

[Mettle209]

These are some questions that may help narrow down your search:

1. Your maximum budget amount?
2. What you plan to do with your amp? Do you plan to gig (bedroom, small, medium, large and/or stadium venues)?
3. What type of tone (Marshall midrange crunch, Mesa scooped mid metal, EVH, maybe somewhere in between, or all of the above and more, etc.) are you after and what type of music you mainly play?
4. Do you prefer versatiliy in an amp or just a one trick pony that does what you want it to do well? One channel, two channel, three channel, or more? Depending on your needs?

My Advice:

1. Used (in good working order) All Tube Head
2. Used 2x12 Cabinet (Good for any size venue without the weight and size of a 4x12)
3. Give it a few years or so and when you truly know what you reallly really want, you can buy new if possible. Keep in mind that new gears will deppreciate (there are exceptions) and you will normally not get your full or not even 3/4 investment back.
4. Check the amps that your favorite band uses. If they have the tone you like, go for it and get one if possible. Otherwise, you will always find yuorself not fully satisfied with anything else.
5. Trade for gears (+/-) cash if you can. Don't waste your money and stock up on a thousand amps that you do not play or need.

 

[Trendkill]

^^^^^^ EXCELLENT advice. Btw if youre doing hard rock of any kind Id suggest picking up an Orange. Just got a Rocker 30 and DAMN do those things do rock perfect. Plus you can pick up a used Tiny Terror for around 400. Pick up a decent imported Orange 2x12 for 500 and youve got a killer sounding economic rig for under 1k.

 

[Albionic]

as you are on a budget perhaps a used 5150?
obviously there is also bugera wich are good amps and very cheap. but if you buy a 5150 and decide you want to change as long as you look after it it will be worth what you paid for it.you can use it with the crate cab till you can afford to change it.

 

[ryan9896]

if you've been playing a crate, then i would say ANYTHING you buy would probably be an improvement. honestly, i was very close to buying a particular head (that i didn't need) because it is extremely cheap, reliable, LOUD, and CrUsHiNg!!!! and that amp is...........(drumroll)............Ibanez TBX150H!!!!! these things have great reviews, it's solid state so you can save yourself from being thrown to the wolves with a tube head. cuz tubes can be a pain in the ass, especially if your buying used, cuz you never know what that amp has been through before you bought it. this ibanez is selling on eBay for about $150. i think that's the amp for you. a friend of mine just bought an orange tiny terror and his band was laughing at him during their first practice with it cux it was not loud enough. this ibanez is LOUD, and if you use active pickups you get plenty of headroom with it before it starts breaking up.

 

[Lucas_061287]

I'll go ahead and whore my beloved Bugera 333XL (modeled after a Peavey JSX). Phenominal tones are capable, plenty reliable, and affordable. The heads go for around $550 new, got mine for $350 used but like new. This damn thing is SWEET. I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't have such great tone (I was going to save for an ENGL... one day dammit lol). And it is plenty loud with the Carvin 4x12 cab, but the tone doesn't degrade at higher volumes.

 

[Xenos0176]

For right now, i wanna spend only a few hundred dollars on a new amp head, prob idealy around $300 and not much more than $500.

I'd like to be able to play gigs with it, small or medium shows, probly not large. I'm looking to be able to get a nice cutting or a punching heavy guitar tone as i'm playing tunings like drop B, A and the occasional G id like to have a nice low end sound out of the amp for metal as the kind of music i'd like to play.

If possible it'd be nice to have a two channel amp for maybe some lighter distortion or clean tones, the amp i have now has a clean, distortion, overdrive, and effects channels but i could probably do well without those even tho they are nice.

Right now as my money is tight i'm not looking for a new cabinet until i start making more and can afford to invest in better gear.

 

[Xenos0176]

I was interested in getting orange equipment because my favorite band uses them, but the only thing i could afford is a 15W tiny terror head and i don't know if that is worth buying or not or if it would mix well, be loud enough, all those things with a 120W cabinet

 

[Phlegethon]

going to add another vote for the ibanez tbx. it's cheap, reliable (no tubes), and because the distortion channel has two very potent tools which make it a pseudo modelling amp. and at 150 watts, it's going to have enough power for basically any gig you could do

the x mode which shifts the midrange peak of the distortion channel as well as being able to adjust what midrange the regular mid control affects can give you a lot of power over how you sound. the midrange is what affects a guitar's voice the most, and being able to sculpt both how much or little mids as well as the frequencies of mid being bumped/scooped can make life very easy for you.

a randall combo that's approximately the same power would also work well, as would a decent modelling amp with a reasonable amount of power (a roland cube 80X or similar) would also work wonders. I'm a bit of an exception as I prefer SS/modelling gear over tubes though ... but IMO dealing with the issues that a SS/modelling amp has (perceived lack of feel is an eq problem that can be sorted by tweaking/eq pedal) is easier than dealing with tubes (maintenance is more expensive, tubes can blow, changing tubes can affect your amp's voice, they're bloody heavy)

 

[Dead Undead]

6505

 

[Ishan]

Cheapo good sounding and loud = My rig
Get a good tube preamp with a SS power amp and you'll be set. Mine is rocktron Piranha with a Marshall 8008 (2x80w, good souding and loud).

 

[Xenos0176]

Cheapo good sounding and loud = My rig
Get a good tube preamp with a SS power amp and you'll be set. Mine is rocktron Piranha with a Marshall 8008 (2x80w, good souding and loud).

how much was ur set up?

 

[Xenos0176]

going to add another vote for the ibanez tbx. it's cheap, reliable (no tubes), and because the distortion channel has two very potent tools which make it a pseudo modelling amp. and at 150 watts, it's going to have enough power for basically any gig you could do

the x mode which shifts the midrange peak of the distortion channel as well as being able to adjust what midrange the regular mid control affects can give you a lot of power over how you sound. the midrange is what affects a guitar's voice the most, and being able to sculpt both how much or little mids as well as the frequencies of mid being bumped/scooped can make life very easy for you.

a randall combo that's approximately the same power would also work well, as would a decent modelling amp with a reasonable amount of power (a roland cube 80X or similar) would also work wonders. I'm a bit of an exception as I prefer SS/modelling gear over tubes though ... but IMO dealing with the issues that a SS/modelling amp has (perceived lack of feel is an eq problem that can be sorted by tweaking/eq pedal) is easier than dealing with tubes (maintenance is more expensive, tubes can blow, changing tubes can affect your amp's voice, they're bloody heavy)

Do you know where i could find one for cheap maybe? like is used a good idea with the ibanez head or should i go new?

 

[ryan9896]

i believe the ibanez head new goes about 300, but i would have no issue buying a used one in good working order. 150 bucks is well worth it for that ibanez. i read one review where this kid was jamming in a room with a dual rec, marshall jcm800, and an ibanez TBX150, and everyone was salivating over how much better the tone of the ibanez was over the other 2. now, i'm not saying i would prefer the ibanez over the other 2, but for the money and for the great tones thing can throw, i think it speaks for itself. read up some reviews and forums about it, you will see what i am talking about. and if you pair it with a decent cab/speakers, you will be good to go. i think the marshall/rocktron rackmount pairing mentioned above would be over your mentioned budget.

 

[Xenos0176]

alright, is ebay a good place to look for a used ibanez head? or should i go looking at other music sites?

 

[drenz]

alright, is ebay a good place to look for a used ibanez head? or should i go looking at other music sites?

have a quick look at the gear for sale section of this forum, you may find something you like that's quite close to where you live.
i highly recommend that whatever you may be interested in, trying it out as much as possible before purchasing. whether it be the actual one, or one from a music shop, or a friends, the idea is just to try it out first.
amps may look good on paper figuratively, but they may be totally different than you expect, so buying things that like that without testing them is kind of a stab in the dark
i would HIGHLY recommend bugera amps for any beginner guitar player, or somebody on a tight budget, they are the best sounding heads you will find in terms of price

 

[ryan9896]

there is two of them on ebay right now....it will be hard for you to find one of these to try out before buying, and for $150 used, it's worth a try, and because it's used, you could sell it for what you paid.

ibanez tbx150 items - Get great deals on Musical Instruments items on eBay.com!

 

[Xenos0176]

have a quick look at the gear for sale section of this forum, you may find something you like that's quite close to where you live.
i highly recommend that whatever you may be interested in, trying it out as much as possible before purchasing. whether it be the actual one, or one from a music shop, or a friends, the idea is just to try it out first.
amps may look good on paper figuratively, but they may be totally different than you expect, so buying things that like that without testing them is kind of a stab in the dark
i would HIGHLY recommend bugera amps for any beginner guitar player, or somebody on a tight budget, they are the best sounding heads you will find in terms of price

What kind of bugera amps would you recomend? I'm only looking for an amp head right now so i dont wanna go spending most likely more than $400 or $500 on a head right now, i paid $500 for a full half stack so i'm trying to keep expenses low right now.

 

[Xenos0176]

the Ibanez tx150h looks like a pretty decent idea in my perspective. Granted i haven't tried it yet, but it does look affordable and very versatile from what i've read about it

 

[caparison_x]

if you're in a band you'll need a 100 head, just by a THD hotplate to lower the volume but retain the tone for practicing