Amp Recommendation

Newbie

Newbie

New member
Hi guys,

I'm planning to get a new amplifier. Need some recommendations and suggestions from fellow SOFTies!

Practice purposes and preferably with some good decent clean/distortion tones. Am living in a HDB so won't wanna crank too loud, but can do if it requires that to "unleash-the-beast"!

I'm not sure if tube amp is needed at home to get a decent sound and for practice purposes, budget wise, anything below 500 is fine. Got my pedalboard so on-board distortion isn't an issue.

Best if it has bass/middle(contour)/treble on the clean channel. So that I can tweak around with my pedalboard for some nice settings.

PS: I've looked ard and thought MG15MSII or the ZW model is not bad but haven't exactly tried the clean yet, not sure how it fairs. Some inputs from fellow SOFTies are much appreciated!

Good clean for the win!

Regards,
Newbie
 
good cleans?

epiphone valve junior! head and cab at 600+ though. get a second hand would be the answer.
its a full tube amp. but only one channel with no eq controls. its just volume. simplicity at its
best! available at swee lee.

well since u prefer one with eq controls, try the blackheart little giant. abit cheaper. but never
tried it for myself though. cant say much. available at yamaha, blackwood.

another one would be vox pathfinder 15r. yours truly is a proud owner. heheh. great cleans at a
much affordable price! solid state though. but who cares! ~190 first hand. ~120 2nd hand. city music
and blackwood

vox ac15cc1? never tried one myself. but its a tube amp, and heard it in youtube. great cleans and old school overdrive.

with onboard distortions and eq?

roland cube x series would be the answer. great distortions onboard. since u have effects on
pedals, im sure the cube 15x would be enough. solidstate at around 300 or so, i think. the x-series
has that power squeezer function. its supposed to enable u to get the max dirt at low volumes!

hope i helped =))

oh wait...newbie joined in 2005? i joined last year. what does that make me?
 
Last edited:
theunknown said:
good cleans?

epiphone valve junior! head and cab at 600+ though. get a second hand would be the answer.
its a full tube amp. but only one channel with no eq controls. its just volume. simplicity at its
best! available at swee lee.

well since u prefer one with eq controls, try the blackheart little giant. abit cheaper. but never
tried it for myself though. cant say much. available at yamaha, blackwood.

another one would be vox pathfinder 15r. yours truly is a proud owner. heheh. great cleans at a
much affordable price! solid state though. but who cares! ~190 first hand. ~120 2nd hand. city music
and blackwood

vox ac15cc1? never tried one myself. but its a tube amp, and heard it in youtube. great cleans and old school overdrive.

with onboard distortions and eq?

roland cube x series would be the answer. great distortions onboard. since u have effects on
pedals, im sure the cube 15x would be enough. solidstate at around 300 or so, i think. the x-series
has that power squeezer function. its supposed to enable u to get the max dirt at low volumes!

hope i helped =))

oh wait...newbie joined in 2005? i joined last year. what does that make me?
Click to expand...

Hi bro,

Lotsa my friend recommended the Epi Valve Jr, only thing is it doesn't have an onboard EQ. Pity!

Never thought of Blackheart but will definitely check them out soon at either shops.

I'm actually looking at preferably, 10" speakers and above. Not sure why but my ears just like the sound coming out of 10" haha.

I used to have a Roland Cube 30watter, not bad but sold it off for other stuff haha.

Thanks bro, very helpful. Lotsa info in your post! Cheers!

PS: I'm the official 'Newbie' mascot in SOFT. :P

Rgds,
Newbie
 
You could try looking for the Orange crush 30R(30watts RMS) List:390SGD.
I got one myself and its great for the price. the cleans are warmer than what i expected on most solid states(what i assume is that only tube amps give them warm cleans).
its a pretty basic amp, 2 channels, clean and overdrive. Got EQ settings, bass, mid and treble. Loaded with a 10" speaker. The overdrive is sweet seriously, crank it up and u hear magic. Comes with onboard reverb as well and thats about it on the amp.
Oh, its got 2 inputs, Low and High so the volume issue can be settled.
Overall its a great practice amp as well as an amp for recording. Just had a session yesterday. Just left the drums to be mixed in. The mixed track will be up on my band's myspace!! xD
Hope this helps man!
Cheers !
 
if you are pedal reliant, getting a tube fundamental tone would serve you well. i find that if you have a tube clean & that preferred distortion pedal, chances are, your tone would be good. it isn't so if you employ tube laden pedals with solid state amps. my current fav pairing:

sound+drive+tube+7+and+metal+end+king.JPG


*Amp: Sound Drive Tube 7
*Pedal: Biyang Metal End King
 
Newbie said:
Wah bro those are 2 6.5" speakers! You own one?
Click to expand...


I used to own the Vox DA5. The DA10 sounds slightly better. Has cool onboard digital effects. But a tube amp is still the better choice if you intend to play using effects pedals instead.

EDIT: Sorry. I mis-read that you want cool onboard effects for practice. What happened to my eyes...
 
Last edited:
Funny thing about EQ is.. People set it once, and never touch it again..
The VJ has a terrific sound with terrific bottom end, plenty of mids, and a perfect amount of treble.. The EQ is set in a way that it doesn't disappoint, and saves the hassle on finding the "perfect" tone..

And honestly, the BH doesn't have a responsive EQ section.. I can say that it is just for show.. Turning it all the way up or down and the differences heard will be minimal, a difference you can live with..

For tube amplifiers, definitely the VJ or BH are the main contenders.. The AC15 is fussy with pedals.. Do consider a Fender Pro Jr as well if your budget is around the AC15 price..
For solid state, Roland Cubes, Randall RGs, Sound drive, Marshall MG15MSII (Beez modded better) and Vox AD series are the way to go.. Of course, the RGs and ADs sound MUCH MUCH better with their 2x12" versions.. And the Celestion Seventy 80s are killer on them RGs (especially the non-hybrid RGs)..
For hybrid amps, I don't fancy em much.. But, the Marshall AVT (their older ones), Laney LV series aren't so bad..

Hey Sub.. That's a really cool sound drive you got there.. Any comments on it? What's the pricing btw?
 
For 500 u should be able to get yourself a vox advt 50 112.

If u can go for 600+ try the line 6 spider jam. Not cheap but great for practise.
The onboard metronome, sound on sound looping, sounds for single person jamming are all great to have.

Another one u can try is the fender gdec with similar features.

Fender gdec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj2oNv3rp0Q&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO6Cvq1n-i8&feature=related

line 6 spiderjam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TUZ47l8kEI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaKV55pSC5U

Honestly speaking there are nicer sounding amps out there. But nothing beats this 2 amps for practising. I do own the spiderjam, wish i was as creative as the guy on the 2nd vid of the spiderjam heh.
 
@Avidaxis: Thanks bro for the suggestion, any place I can try this little monster? Orange Crush 30R?

@subversion: Hey man, thanks for the inputs. May afterall consider a tube practice amp, still looking around, VJ and BH maybe? (Are there any other low wattage tube practice amps around you might recommend?)

@joshuak: Haha no problems bro, the pedal is serving me well btw! Thanks :D

@Godspeed64: Hmm I'll consider those 2 tube amps for now. Gotta try out the BH first, am reading up some reviews at this moment.

@shioks76: Woah bro, Fender G dec, too cheem for me man! I'm the simpleton type hahaa. Newbie lah :S too many onboard stuff to worry, just wanna plug in and practise! Haha

Nice 2nd video, looping. What pedal is he using any idea?

Thanks so much for the suggestions guys. Super great help. BH really interest me for now, heard a few clips in youtube, but better try it out myself sometime soon. Cheers!
 
The Blackheart and Orange amps can both be tested at yamaha stores. id recommend going to the thomson plaza branch. I had a little situation that more or less pissed me off at the PS branch concerning customer service. =x
 
I see, any idea how much Yamaha are selling the BH + 112 cab? Just wanna see if it is within the budget.

What about EVJ + cab?

@shioks76: Cool man, gotta check this stuff real soon lol.
 
Newbie said:
What about EVJ + cab?
Click to expand...

for the exact list price of the VJ head, refer to the review section 8-) if you refer to the buy/ sell section, then you'll know i'm clearing mine for cheap (head only)...

the VJ 1x12" cab would cost you about $400+/-
 
subversion said:
if you are pedal reliant, getting a tube fundamental tone would serve you well. i find that if you have a tube clean & that preferred distortion pedal, chances are, your tone would be good. it isn't so if you employ tube laden pedals with solid state amps. my current fav pairing:

sound+drive+tube+7+and+metal+end+king.JPG


*Amp: Sound Drive Tube 7
*Pedal: Biyang Metal End King
Click to expand...

Looks great Sub. I've the perfect matching 1x12 for that. Same color! Quick question, what's the impedance of the speaker output of the Tube 7?
 
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