Amp choice, thoughts feelings experiences wanted,

[postmanpat]

hi guys.

this is my first post, although i've been reading the forums for a while now, hi and it's nice to meet you all,

first of all i'm currently saving to buy a new amp, i love the both the cleans from mesa's as well as the thick rock distortion,


basically i'm saving to purchase my first gig worthy amp, i'm currently use a little fender blues junior for practicing and my uncles marshall for gigs,

i'm looking for a 50watt or possibly 100watt (switchable), amp,
lately i've been thinking of the lone star classic (2X12), i've heard some beautiful clean tones, but have yet to hear about the distortion channel,

i play anything from u2, to coldplay, to smashing pumpkins to acdc, and the occasional satriani,

i'm after a warm 3D clean channel, and a distortion channel that might sound like any of these songs:

andy timmons - ghost of you (heavier riffs)
smashing pumpkins - zero
foo fighters - everlong
dream theater - stream of consciousness

i guess a pretty thick distortion is what i'm after, thoughts? feelings? suggestions?

i will be driving into the city to test the mesa's out i just wanted to get some feedback first, would the lone star nail this distortion tone? or is a recto more likely (but then the clean channel!),

thanks in advance

 

[ytse_jam]

when you say rock distortion i would suggest the lonestar or the stiletto ace... but if you want to achieve the overdriven rhythm tone of john petrucci on train of thought (which is really heavy) you definitely need a nastier amp, so i'd suggest trying the roadster or the roadking (both have great cleans, about the same of the lonestar), althought they're pretty expensive. I'm not sure but i think JP recorded ToT with a Roadking. Get the newer Road King Series II if you want the best clean tones!

 

[plumptone]

Pat:

Welcome to the board. This is a great place to come for helpful advice.

I doubt either of the Lone Stars will get you into the overdrive you're looking for. They are not slouches, but they are definitely not high gain the way you might typically think of Boogie high gain.

If price is any issue for you, the Roadster and Road King are going to hurt the wallet. If you are going to a music store that has the full Boogie line on display, you are in for a real treat - and I would suggest you try as many as you possibly can. Do not overlook the F series amps though. Even though they are at the low end of the Boogie price list, these are world class amps. I have an F-50, and I can tell you the clean channel is remarkable. Channel 2 will get you awesome crunch tones and you'll get very close to the AC/DC sound with no problem. Channel 2 also has a "contour" feature that gives that channel a pre-set mid scoop and dials in more bass, treble and gain, and it can get REALLY heavy if that's your thing. For the $, my vote goes for the F-50, and you owe it to yourself to at least check the whole F series out.

 

[barneyc4]

I would say Road King II if you have the money, but if your budget is pretty tight go for the F-50. I also own an F-50. Someday ill own the king.

Hey plumptone, nice to see you around here.

 

[plumptone]

hey barney. I lurk here frequently.

There's no doubt that the RKII is a monster - it's all anyone should ever need because when they designed that one they left no stone unturned. It's got more options that I will ever need - that's for sure!

 

[ashjn]

If money is not an issue, then get the Roadking Series 2. Otherwise I would go with the F-50 or F-100

 

[macmax]

I would say Road King II if you have the money, but if your budget is pretty tight go for the F-50. I also own an F-50. Someday ill own the king.

Hey plumptone, nice to see you around here.

i would go with the F series if you want great cleans and rock tones too

 

[Micah]

What do you think of the mmarshall you've been using? Maybe a stilleto is up your alley?? If its not what your looking for try a single rec--BTW with the poweramp volume up and the preamp volume down the cleans are rediculously lush to me-- :wink:

 

[postmanpat]

wow thankyou so much for your input guys,

i just came back from a very unlucky gig, so many things went wrong with the amp that was at the venue,

for starters the pre amp valve i think was fucked (it was a fender chorus i think), so when i tried to play clean it distorted, then when i used my solo boost pedal, the singer accidentally bumped it so i was way way too loud so i quickly turned the volume down on my guitar then my volume pot broke so it just kept spinning but did nothing!

geez, then during our last song during the final big chorus the amp started cutting in and out (there's another guitarist so it was ok), but i had a lead break before the end and it cut out,

the worst thing is this was my last performance with that band and it was also filmed, but hey i guess we live and learn,

sorry for the rant, but at this point i need a good live amp,

at this point i'm kind of thinking, at 19 years, it's hard for me to justify a almost $9,000 dollar amp, although the road king, sounds brilliant and would be perfect for live work, at this stage in my life it's a hell of alot of money, i'm moving out of home next year and saving for college as well as an amp, and living expenses (yikes).

so at the moment i'm still thinking about either the lone star classic or the stiletto ace, or an f-50,

any sound clips of any of those amps (distorted would be great), the idea is to build from a great clean tone, i just found out that in the andy timmons uses both the stiletto and the lonestar classic, and in his song "ghost of you" there's a perfect distorted tone,

anyone know which amp gives this rock tone????
thank for reading my post, sorry if it's long winded

 

[jbird]

My suggestion: Mesa Stiletto Ace! No doubt about it!

 

[postmanpat]

is the stiletto ace, going to give me that thick not over the top recto thump but still a thick rhythem tone?

i've heard the cleans are breath taking and can't wait to test it out next week,