amp for around 600$ out the door?




Joined: 03/28/24
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Joined: 03/28/24
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01/06/2011 7:26 pm
Hello,

I am a new guitar player and doing the end of chapter 5 of the intro corse.

My little amp plug was superglued on when I bought it from the pawn shop. it is not coming apart.

So I need to buy a new amp. I have about 600$ wanting to get something nice.


I am new so do not know alot but my goal is to have a good clean and distorted sound.

some day will play every ozzy song out there.


so any recomended amps. SO i can have some ideal what to buy?
# 1
RickBlacker
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RickBlacker
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01/06/2011 11:38 pm
Tough question to answer. I will say this. I just bought another Peavey Valveking 100w 1/2 stack. You can pick these up on craigslist rather cheap. I payed $550 for mine and in perfect shape.

They are a good amp and with a little tweaking can be turned into an excellent amp. http://www.peavey.com/products/ValveKing/index.cfm . Not sure you would want a 1/2 stack or not. If not, but you like the tone of the VKs, they do have smaller versions as you can see on that link I just posted.
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# 2
Razbo
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Razbo
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01/10/2011 1:36 pm
Originally Posted by: Graffx
My little amp plug was superglued on when I bought it from the pawn shop. it is not coming apart.
So I need to buy a new amp. I have about 600$ wanting to get something nice.
I am new so do not know alot but my goal is to have a good clean and distorted sound.


Question: Are you getting an amp just because something is glued and stuck on your old one? Or because you want to upgrade? If it's glued & stuck, please provide some details; I'm certain we can save you $600 :)

Otherwise, if it's an upgrade, you will be hard pressed to get both good clean and Ozzy-style overdrive for $600.

First the main question is what do you want to do with it? Practice in a bedroom? With a band in a garaqe? Play gigs? These will determine how much power you will want. Let's assume you want the option of gigging later on, so you want about 30+ Tube watts.

Keep in mind that , if you get a bazillion-watt amp, you really need to be driving it at a bazillian decibels to really get the juice from it. Big is not always better.

Notwithstanding the great deals around such as Rick has mentioned; you also need to define what is "good" to you? I've got a Fender DeVille which has a most awesome clean (I'm a fan of the "Fender clean"). But it has overdrive suited more for certain styles than others).

I have a Jet City JCA50, which has fricken awesome overdrive, but the clean channel is a little dry.

I payed $600 for each of these amps (oddly enough lol). My point being that, in that price range, you will be hard pressed to find an amp that does both jobs well (this is obviously subjective). You may need to invest in a pedal or two to beef up which ever channel is lacking.

I would recommend for you a Jet City JCA20H. It's a 20 Watt single channel amp that I have evaluated and found to be quite versatile. Plenty of power for jamming with drums and full band. Runs for about $400 for the head, and I think the 2x12 cab is about $200. I really liked this little amp.
...so ever since then, I always hang on to the buckle.
# 3
shaniab
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shaniab
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01/21/2011 7:39 pm
Like many of these guys said, it depends on whether you are upgrading or just buysing an amp because of a part not coming off or stuck. If you are upgrading, like to play in a garage band or just for bed room play, I would sugest the Line 6 Spider III or IV 75 watt. They are both great amps at around 400 to 450 dollars. If you want more effects in your amp go for the Spider IV, If you want just the basic with quite afew effects inbetween go for the Spider III.

Try out the amps at the music store, figure out which ones the best for you, then go to ebay!!!! LOL thats how I got my amp and I got like 65% percent off my Spider III. It was originaly supposed to be 400$, I got it for 250$!!! trust me ebay is your friend after you test out the amps. first hand.

Don't buy one straight off of ebay without testing one first in the music stores. You may realize that the amp you bought isn't as great as you thought and may buy another one. Which leads to spending more money that shouldn't be spent.

( I have had a Spider III for 3 years now, they are really durrable, trust me. I have accidently dropped it like 4 or 5 times and it still runs as good as the day I bought it.)
# 4
rfreitas1848
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rfreitas1848
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01/21/2011 8:51 pm
No Spiders!!!!! I'm sorry in advance, but those amps sound so digital and lack any emotion at all. It might be cool at first, with all the effects, and the million sound banks but it will hurt you in the long run. My advice is to get a decent tube amp and then take your time building up from there by adding pedals.
Zappa's the man.
# 5
horsezens
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horsezens
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01/30/2011 9:47 pm
The best sounding amp is one that is all tube. You just can't fudge good clean tone. A Class A or A/B tube amp will also break up nicely and give you natural compression and sustain. Great tube amp buys can be found with Crate (palomino group), BlackStar, Carvin & Traynor for example. Find the clean you want and add pedals to give you everything from basic distortion to metal.
# 6
2gross4u
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2gross4u
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02/21/2011 11:37 pm
This is a tough question to answer, actually. It really comes down to personal taste and what you will be using the amp for (as this will determine your output needs). There are pros and cons for both Tube Amps and Solid State Amps (and you will most likely hear them all on a post like this). Your only real limitation is the amount of money you can spend-there are a ton of choices in this price range. You're not going to get a high end Marshall for that money (you could get a "MG" half-stack for that $600) or you could pick up a Peavey Windsor Half Stack (all tube 100watts, 4X12 cabinet) right now on sale at Musician's Friend for $499.99. You might look into a Bugera (all tube amp heads) Model 1960 or Model 1990 (150watts and 120watts respectively), you could pick from the Peavey "Viper" line of (Combo) amps with trans-tube technology or into the Vox line of amps with the "ValveTronix" technology. The Roland Cube 80XL is a nice little amp with alot of functionality (80watts, one 12" speaker with a number of output options) for around $350-(Sweetwater has some "DEMO" models available right now for $309). The NEW line of Fender Mustang amps (anywhere from 20watts to 150watts and very reasonably priced)-these are "modeling" amps with a little bit more, especially in the way of effects and "presets" and come packaged with recording software etc. These are nice amps. Just about every manufacturer out there makes a 60 to 80 watt amp in the $299 price point.
You're going to hear all kinds of "guff" from people about any and all "specific" amps mentioned in this post. What you really need to do is go to a nearby "Guitar Center" or "Sam Ash" store-someplace that has a wide variety of amps on hand (or in stock) and sit down and play through the ones that interest you until you find the one that YOU like and never mind what everybody else says. Good Luck! Testing and buying new equipment is just another fun part of being a player.
You're more than likely to get a LOT of "feedback" from people regarding the Peavey Windsor and the Bugeras, but believe me, these are perfectly fine amps and you CAN dial in nearly any and every tone you'll ever want or need-you just have to take the time to dial in the sound that you are after. People can recommend all the $600 amp heads in the world, but if that doesn't leave you with enough money to but a speaker cab then what good is it?
# 7
dougjt
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dougjt
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02/22/2011 3:59 pm
Testing and buying new equipment is just another fun part of being a player.
I concur, I don't really need anything right now but I still stop at guitar stores and play all their stuff if I'm out just goofing off on the weekends.
# 8
Jerry Dylan
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Jerry Dylan
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02/27/2011 6:28 pm
i got a bugera V22 combo for 350 dollars (United States) it is like tone heaven. All tube and you can definetely get ozzy sounds from it. Check out my review of it here under Gear Reviews.
# 9
3rd String
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3rd String
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02/27/2011 8:01 pm
I've been playing a long time and have used a number of amplifiers. It seems to me like they all vary a bit in what you can get out of them for the particular sound you want. I play some of everything as far as music styles and have found that my old Acoustic G60-212 and my Crate VTX-200S give me pretty much whatever I want to achieve sound-wise. You'll have to look hard for an Acoustic, though - they went out of business a number of years ago (or were bought out by somebody; I forget which!).

I found any amplifier I ever owned by going to the music store and trying them out individually. Then you can get the "flavor" for what each one is all about and discover the merits - or drawbacks - of each. If I had any other recommendation, it would be this: Any guitar player is only as good as his Axe, so get a REALLY Good One! You will be surprised how different that the various guitars sound when played through the same amplifier, too.

Anyway, get your Guitar(s) of Choice (Spare No Expense - Trust Me on this!) and go visit a big music store where they carry many different makes & models of amps. Get one of the store pros to help you out and I feel certain that you will come up with the right combination for your needs.

By the way, my little harem of guitars consists of a Vantage VS-600, a Fender Strat with a maple neck (all single-coil pickups), a Les Paul-style guitar that I built myself and a brand-new Fernandes Revolver Pro 81. I got the Acoustic amp and the VS-600 guitar as a matched set back in 1981. They rocked together then and they still rock together now! Believe me, I am more than happy! :-)
# 10
hairbndrckr
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hairbndrckr
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02/28/2011 6:18 am
I am going to second the Bugera route, except I am going to suggest the 333xl 2-12 combo. You should be able to walk out of the store at about 500+tax. It's an all-tube 3 channel MONSTER of an amp. Sparkling clean channel, nice overdrive, and then a monster lead channel. The power tubes are interchangable too, (but I wouldn't suggest doing it yourself without knowing what you are doing).
It's also got a built in noise gate and digital reverb. OH did I mention it's 120 watts of ALL TUBE MAYHEM????? I bought one of the first ones to come off the line, and it's been worth every penny of what I paid. Countless gigs, and never let me down yet. It's actually a Soldano SLO-100 clone, so you get the nice gritty Marshall sound also.

It comes packed with EL34 tubes and you can change to the 6L6's for more of modern rock sound.
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# 11
G1619T
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G1619T
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03/17/2011 1:44 pm
Howdy,
Yep, I'm from SRV country. If your serious about getting an amp then save and get what you want. A tube amp will produce the tones you'll want. Solid state amps can sound clean and add some distortion up front with pre-drive etc. Or you can add a pedal. But, when you start to crank out the tones the solid state amps have a nasty habit of clipping rather badly, and sharply, at distortion level volumes while most tube amps, with the output transformer and speakers, create a more compressed and smother overdrive sound before breaking up. Pre-amp distortion (gain, or drive) and output stage distortion are different animals and you can only attain good control over this with a tube amp. Some Master Volume tube amps control the signal before the output tubes, others after. This and other types of controls are what tube amps are all about. Better control of your tone. Start with a low power tube amp like a Peavy Windsor combo (you can switch the output tube without re-biasing). It is rated at 15 watts but you can change the power output and complete tone by switching tubes. Mine works great. Remember, what you hear, volume, is measured in decibels (db) and is not linear. So the sound level of 100 watt amp v. 50 watt is only 3 db. The sound of a normal conversation.
Regards All.
# 12
JoaquinCastillo
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JoaquinCastillo
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03/28/2011 5:09 pm
Originally Posted by: horsezensThe best sounding amp is one that is all tube. You just can't fudge good clean tone. A Class A or A/B tube amp will also break up nicely and give you natural compression and sustain. Great tube amp buys can be found with Crate (palomino group), BlackStar, Carvin & Traynor for example. Find the clean you want and add pedals to give you everything from basic distortion to metal.

Tube amps are definitely the way to go. Go on ebay I´m sure you can find something in that price range that´s decent! The Yamaha T100C is around that price range and it´s tube galore!!
# 13

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