Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: Simulated on 31/07/2007 16:50:35
-
Who makes a nice 50 watt-100 watt guitar amp that is good for the money?
Thanks Music People
-
Do you want a combo or separates? New or used? What kind of sound do you want?
-
I suppose Marshall are the best eh ?..yammy (Yamaha ) do good ones too !!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Amplification
-
Marshall are good. But there are plenty of others worthy of note. It depends how much he wants to pay.
Peavey make good combos http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/104149/number/00486070/cat/257/begin/1/Ecoustic%AE+112+EFX.cfm (http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/104149/number/00486070/cat/257/begin/1/Ecoustic%AE+112+EFX.cfm) and used ones can be picked up pretty cheap. Fender Combos are top notch but they command a good price. I paid over £1200 for my Fender 100w combo 10 years ago.
A good, cheap, head that's well worth a look is the Russian Sovtek http://www.astring.com/sovamps.html (http://www.astring.com/sovamps.html). They're like the old HiWatt 100s (but not quite as good). Just whack a 4x12 cab onto it & you've got a decent rig.
He also needs to take into account where it's going to be used. 1- or 2-speaker combos are good for small venues but for larger halls you need a 4x12 cab (or multiple cabs) to move more air.
Is he going to play lead guitar? If so, he needs an amp with good mid-range without top-end drop-off. Some of the cheaper amps suffer in that respect; high-quality ones have an EQ unit built in. For lead work, a channel swapping foot switch is a real boon. Set 1 channel for rhythm, 1 for lead, and use the foot switch to select as and when required.
Plus it depends what sort of sound he's after. For a good, clean sound a Peavey or Laney http://www.laney.co.uk/show_prod.php?prod=lc50-ii (http://www.laney.co.uk/show_prod.php?prod=lc50-ii) would be good. But for a real gutsy, rock sound, go Marshall, HiWatt or Orange. To get both, he really needs to go up-market; Fender http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=2267400040 (http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=2267400040) or MesaBoogie. MesaBoogie are horrendously expensive. http://www.guitar.com.au/amplifiers/electric/mesa_boogie/F-50.html (http://www.guitar.com.au/amplifiers/electric/mesa_boogie/F-50.html)
http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Rectifier_Series/roadking/roadking.htm (http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Rectifier_Series/roadking/roadking.htm)
A VOX AC30 http://www.voxamps.co.uk/ (http://www.voxamps.co.uk/) gives a fabulous sound but needs a feed to a more powerful, clean amp for larger venues. I had 1 and fed it into a custom-built 200w slave unit.
Another option is to buy a cheap(ish) amp and add an amp emulator. A friend of mine had 1 a couple of years back and it was brilliant. I can't remember what make it was, unfortunately. This is the sort of thing I mean... http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCHGT2 (http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCHGT2)
-
Yeah I just want one that doesn't sound like its distored when its not supposed to be distored. LoL. Yes I've heard alot about Marshall and I ain't going to get the uses out of them. Right now I'm just rocking out in my room. LoL. I play a bunch, but I don't think a Marshall amp will go with me right now. HAHA.
Thanks for the links Neil and Doc! I'll have to check them all out and see what my dad would like to get me. LoL.