Good practice Amp for the Metal Side of Life

[The Rhone]

Hi,

I need a new practice amp. I bought a Krank rev Jnr and it is way too loud, so need something that's not going to fry the neighbours, but still get a resonablely good tone.

Any ideas?

Cheers

 

[stuh84]

Roland Cubes? I always liked them for lower volume stuff. Also, Engl amps seem to retain tone at way lower than TV levels.

 

[budda]

peavey Rage 158 used w/ a JoBo'd DS-1?

 

[DaveCarter]

Line 6 Spider. Insane mode is great for practising metal at low volumes, plus you get headphones output and built in effects.

 

[Salvation]

Hmmm, well you have quite a few options...

As far as high end amps go ENGL's,the Mesa Mark IV, Makos, Splawns keep awesome tone at exceptionally low volumes.
The Peavey 5150s are also great amps that get good tone at low volumes.

If you want versatility for practicing every genre, get a Rivera Chubster/Quiana 1x12 combo and get a good OD. This will give you amazing tone that you will even be able to use for gigs!

Or get an Epiphone Valve Junior or a Blackheart Killer Ant and boost it.

Or just get an attenuator, but choose a good one, cause some add coloration and/or suck tone.

Well that said, those are just a few of the many choices you can make when choosing a practice amplifier

 

[maccayoung]

I think a lot of people use the cubes around these forums. The spider is okay though.

 

[thadood]

What about that one Ibanez amp that's not available in stores here in the states? I'm sure a few of the guys on here know what I'm talking about; someone posted soundclips of it and it's impressive.

 

[COBHC]

IMO i love my small combo amp. Vox AD30VT-XL. Has master volume and wattage knob. So you can push the tubes to full on master volume and turn down the wattage on the back. Find it very useful and you dont lose a ton of tone by changing the wattage. Also has headphone output and footswitch capabilities.

 

[stuh84]

IMO i love my small combo amp. Vox AD30VT-XL. Has master volume and wattage knob. So you can push the tubes to full on master volume and turn down the wattage on the back. Find it very useful and you dont lose a ton of tone by changing the wattage. Also has headphone output and footswitch capabilities.

Don't wanna nitpick (okay, yes I do ), but that would be tube, not tubes. The same will apply, just dont want people confused when they think its gonna have a tube power section when it really only has 1 tube in it, which couldn't provide the full amplification given thats not what 12AX7s are rated for.

 

[Ze Kink]

I love my Roland Micro Cube. I had one earlier too, sold it, regretted it, bought a new one. Best practice amp ever! Also, you can use it with batteries and go play it outside, which is really cool sometimes! I've heard that the Vox AD5 is good too, but I haven't had a chance to try one.

 

[Toshiro]

IMO i love my small combo amp. Vox AD30VT-XL. Has master volume and wattage knob. So you can push the tubes to full on master volume and turn down the wattage on the back. Find it very useful and you dont lose a ton of tone by changing the wattage. Also has headphone output and footswitch capabilities.

Don't wanna nitpick (okay, yes I do ), but that would be tube, not tubes. The same will apply, just dont want people confused when they think its gonna have a tube power section when it really only has 1 tube in it, which couldn't provide the full amplification given thats not what 12AX7s are rated for.

Yeah, it's just a 'mini' power section, probably like one watt, that's amplified through the SS power section of the amp.

Nevertheless, the Vox Valvetronix amps sound killer, and feel far more natural playing through them than Line 6 or Roland, IMO. The XL's have great metal tones.

 

[klutvott]

Ibanez guitars | Amplifier 2008 - TBX15R
I would go with that one. Very good amp for the price. I was both surprised and impressed when i tried it. The parametric mid eq is sweet.