New gear ideas?

[schecter58]

Recently sold my Blacktar HT-20 and have yet to replace it and am looking at some possibilities.

I mainly jam along to songs at home but I do jam fairly regularly, not at super loud volumes (electronic drum kit, guitar, bass vocals). I will need something that can do the classic rock sound with but also do metal. On the metal side I play a lot of Maiden, Metallica, Mastodon, Death, etc.

I currently have a 1x12 cab and a pedal board with a tuner, tubescreamer, chorus and delay.

I am looking for suggestions on an amp for < 1000 CAD. This can be a lunchbox head, modeler with small poweramp, etc. I am leaning towards getting a Brent Hinds terror and also picking up a Revv G3 pedal to run into the clean channel for the tighter higher gain sound. Though maybe the Orange amp will handle what I throw at it with my existing pedals.

 

[cwhitey2]

I guess my first question is what didn't you like/what wasn't it doing for you?

The Orange mini heads are fantastic by the way.

 

[wheelsdeal]

EVH 5150 lbx...Laney IRT...to name a few.No need for a distortion pedal with those,they do mid to high gain really well.

 

[Bentaycanada]

With your tubescreamer the following small Orange amps will handle metal with ease: Micro Dark, Tiny Terror, Dark Terror, Rocker Terror.

 

[schecter58]

I guess my first question is what didn't you like/what wasn't it doing for you?

The Orange mini heads are fantastic by the way.

The Blackstar was a solid amp, it just didn't do any particular sound well. It also took up a lot of space and weighed a lot for being a 20 watt tube head, this was only a minor inconvenience of course.

 

[cwhitey2]

My drummer has a micro dark and it's fantastic...and it should be loud enough for your purposes. Plus it only weighs like 3 lbs at most.

 

[Adieu]

MT15 or other PRS
Or Laney

 

[DarthV]

Used 5150III 50w head.

 

[Werecow]

Used 5150III 50w head.

I'd go with this also. The 50W actually sounds better at ultra low volumes than the LBX, and it's actually the best REALLY low volume amp i've ever used. The LBX mark 2 version in particular has this horrible "AM radio" effect when at extremely low volumes, you have to turn it up to actually quite uncomfortably loud bedroom level to get it to a proper tone. The LBX 1 is better than the 2 in that regard. But the 50W EVH III is better for incredibly low volumes than the LBX's and the PRS MT15 (that amp gets loud too fast for really late-night sound volumes).

The only downside is that it's a chunky boi compared to actual lunchbox heads, though definitely nothing close to a full-size head. It's still the ultimate practice amp to me though.

 

[BigViolin]

If you are going 5153 definitely go for the 50, it's just so much more amp for the money vs the lunchbox.

The Randall RD20H can be found cheap and are great little amps. That's what I would choose for around $350 used. The next step up IME would be the PRS MT15.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

PRS MT15 - beast of an amp

 

[Necky379]

I thought this was ideas for new gear. Like something that doesn’t exist that should. Oh well, mid-test at work on my phone, I’m going to make a thread!

In response to the original post, how about a 5150MH, 808 clone and a used Pork Loin?


Edit: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/gear-that-you-wish-existed.260928/

Been done I see

 

[schecter58]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I think I'm going to look at a Orange Rocker Terror, PRS MT 15 or a 5150 III 50 watt. To be honest I never really considered the 50 watt 5150, but it sounds like it might be a good choice, especially if it handles low volumes well. Only issue may be re-tubing the thing

 

[LeftOurEyes]

Only issue may be re-tubing the thing

Why would re-tubing it be an issue? The 5150 III 50w only has one more preamp tube than the MT15 does. Between those choices I think the EVH 5150 III is the best option. The Orange and PRS are good options as well, but don't necessarily excel at metal and rock both as good as the EVH would.

 

[wheelsdeal]

I disagree with the above that the 50w is better in low volume than the LBX...i dont know if those statements comes from owning both,but i do owned them both and i can tell you the LBX is better at home use.It just lacks the high end fizziness the 50w has when you are not cranking the hell out of it and it just performs better on reasonable volume.

I've had several full heads and their small counterparts and that is the only lunchbox amp that i can attest being equal or even better in certain applications than the full head...the crunch channel on the LBX boosted with an 808 is one of the best sounds i've ever had and since then i've sold the 50w and kept the LBX.

The 50w will give you more volume,more low end (from the already massive low end) and a dedicated clean channel.If you dont need those just get the LBX.

 

[gunch]

I hate the Hinds terror but would definitely fuck with a OR-15

 

[Boofchuck]

I also suggest a 5150 50w. The 6l6 version is probably the better choice, the blue channel on the el34 version is a little flubby and weird, still useable though. They're pretty big and heavy still. If you want something lightweight the Orange Micro dark is awesome, and way cheaper. The only disadvantage to the Micro Dark is it only has one channel, but it does have an effects loop.

 

[0rimus]

I owned the 50w 6L6 non-dual concentric EVH 5153 and the LBX 2 in tandem for about 6 months.

Using the same exact cab and guitar etc. Etc. Stock tubes in both... I ended up selling the 50w lol. No remorse whatsoever either.

As a boosted blue channel kinda guy I think the LBX 2 absolutely crushed the 50w in pretty much every way. Sounded better low volume. Better clean channel. Sounded better loud. Tighter, faster and less harsh blue channel; that from my understanding is like a compromise between the blue and red found on the bigger heads. Definitely more gain on tap than the 50w blue.

I buy and sell gear constantly and that LBX2 is #1 on my lists of regrets selling, even over my Randall V2.

Idunno, maybe I'm just crazy. Don't consider myself an EL84 guy either.
*shrug*

 

[Shoeless_jose]

I'd get the 20 Watt Marshall DSL head still leaves you money for a super modern pedal as well if you can't get all the flavours you want outof the Marshall and tube screamer set up

 

[chopeth]

I also recommend going for the 5153 50w. The lunchbox (mine was the II) is terrible for low volumes, I couldn't make it sound well, just a giant ball of fizz. I can play the 50 watter while the others are sleeping at home and it keeps a killer tone