The Ultimate Practice Amp?

[eldi]

I've used a Korg ToneWorks amp modeler plugged into computer speakers (Altec Lansings w/ sub) for use as a practice amp before, & it got the job done.

 

[alejandro]

Re: practice amp scheme. I'm a Mesa owner, and I want to inject some "differences" into my available tone landscape.


1. Orange Crush 30R, $200
-- it's solid-state, made by Orange, and it has a 12" speaker.

Why: There are some rave reviews of their solid-state Crush series. I'd rather take a top-quality 30 watt solid-state combo to a jam session than a 100 watt Mesa head and 4x12 cabinet.

Why: Weight, Replaceability, Quality of Construction and Reputation of Tone. We all know s**t happens, and I would rather it happen to something like this.



2. BOSS pedals, with high quality cables (Mogami, Canare)

Why: BOSS reliability, BOSS tone quality (the base standard), and Flavor.
Better is to use modified (Humphrey, Vodka, Moho, Whizzer, Allums, Keeley, Analogman, Garmopat) Metal Zone, Distortion, or Overdrives (Blues and/or Super), on the Orange clean channel. You can then dial-in something sweet, something new, and something jammable and recordable.


I love the simplicity of something like this. It isn't ultra-swank, and it isn't ultra-cheap either. It's an efficient middle. So far, I dig it. I

 

[LesCarr]

Is that Crush $200 new, what dose it weigh tone wise will it get jazz clean?
and I will safely asume effects frendly
I've been using a Fender Blues Jr Point with Point Mod and a few extras, nice for practice, I don't Gig or even Jam yet, I need to catch on just about everything, I just need clear tone right now and some mild distortion and overdriven tubes ya just just cant beat tube tone especialy for blues, but this like is all subjective.
I've looked at "Polytone" Mini-brute II and "JazzKat" Blues-Kat model small lite and powerful solid state these are very nice but price is in the $600 range.
I'll check out your suggestion

 

[postmanpat]

epiphone valve junior
fender blues junior (that's my practice amp of course)
fender "g dec"

g dec info

The 15-watt G-DEC has as much digital power as our Cyber-Series amps, so practice along with onboard MIDI drum loops and bass lines in many styles and speeds, create your own guitar loops with the Internal Phrase Sampler, stream MIDI files from your PC and use the auxiliary input and filters to zero in on different instruments in any song from your mp3 or CD player. It's a blast!

 

[sgtbaker]

Peavey Classic 30: Four EL84s and three 12AX7s and a 12" Blue Marvel speaker. Only $540

http://www.themusicden.com/showproduct.aspx?productid=230392&affiliateid=10057

 

[dante]

I went through the same dilemna, tried about a hundred tiny tube amps over the span of a couple weekends. Here's what I liked:

Orange Tiny Terror (7-15 watt head)
Epiphone Valve Junior (5 watt head, or combo...but the combo speaker sux)
Vox AC 15 (15 watt combo)
Torres Boogie Mite (7-15 watt head)

I ended up buying a Torres, because I found one online in my area. These all sounded great, but the Torres had more tweaking capabilities (like a pull-bright feature for each of the eq knobs!) They all sound like a Fender Deville (which I just sold) all cranked up. The only difference is you can still talk over the incredible tone.

Happy shopping!

 

[t0aj15]

Hey guys! So, I'm in the market for a a practice amp. My main, and live rig is complete, and when I have the opportunitty to crank up, my Mesa will still be my amp of choice! But, at low volumes, the amp doesn't have very much life to it....figures, it's a 100 watt tube amp.....Not to mention hauling it around can be quite the pain. So, I'm looking for a small combo. Peak Wattage doesn't really matter, as it will never compete with a drummer. The most it will do is playing with another guitarist. Budget is being kept open...I'll save if I have to, but also keep it within reason. Tone, I need clean and overdrive....not too heavy, but it needs to be able to get into hard rock/high gain territory...no metal, but some agression in the playing. So, tube, solid state, whatever...I need good tone in a mobile package, that I can acheive without pushing it too much. I'd like 2 footswitchable channels, but will settle for one channel if it fits the criteria. Obviously, the Valvetronix and Cube come to mind. The new Peavey combo (the really little tube one....I think it's a JSX actually) also looks very intriguing....All opinions are welcome! Thanks guys!

I agree with SoCalSteve you should check out the Traynor YCV-50 Blue:
http://www.traynoramps.com/products.asp?type=1&cat=18&id=318

 

[ursinus]

I am a dyed in the wool Mesa man, but a used Carvin Nomad might be the ultimate practice amp. I recently repaired one and was amazed at the tone you get for the buck.... Yes, it has two channels...

 

[CoG]

ditto for the Valvestate Marshalls. I have a 30 watt, and it sounds pretty nice up to "way louder than you'd want in an apartment." (It's weird, basically the lower the volume, the better it sounds.)

Up side: Light, nice looking, 2 channels with 2 modes in each, good reverb and chorus, fx loop, really nice clean tones and enough gain for rock and classic metal rhythm. You could probably play with a drummer, if he's not a total ape, using the clean/crunch channel. Also, valvestates are usually super cheap used, I have seen them around Cdn$150-200. You can sometimes find "busted" ones that just need the pots cleaned (see below) and they're even cheaper.

Down side: the high-gain channel doesn't sound very good loud, and at higher volume the thing vibrates if you have a lot of bottom end going on (mine's fine for standard tuning but pretty useless for CGCDAF.) The original pots get scratchy/dropouts really bad.

 

[motogod]

VOX DA5

 

[Charlie]

As far as practicing @ home @ very low volumes or through headphones is concerned I am a really big fan of the Line 6 stuff. I've been using the Toneport to practice w/ headphones for quite a while now and I'm really happy with it. You can get the 15 watt spider for 100 bucks and it has a bunch of different tones + built in FX.

 

[RyanDM]

I picked up the Orange Crush 15R a few weeks ago. It's the best little practice amp I have ever owned. It really has that Orange flavor even being a solid state amp. It also records really well!

 

[ThunderMonkey]

Hey bro, I would try the Peavey route, just for the simplicity. Transtube or EVEN better an older Bandit 112. I had one back in the day as well as most of my high school buddies just to jam ideas with, super portable. Those things ROCK at low volume and can crank up pretty loud.

Peavey Bandit 112 ! :wink:

\t/\m/

 

[THTH]

Early to mid seventies silverface fender champ - only 6 watts cheap and use a OD or distortion pedal. Good for cleans if you're into recording too.

 

[jbird]

ZVex Nano into your 4/12!

:shock: 8) :twisted:

 

[jbird]

Oh wait, what am I thinking?

Of course! A VHT Pitbull Super Thirty!

8) :twisted:

 

[eltrain858]

crate vintage club sounds good at low volumes.

i will always stick by my trusty 1980's Marshall 5205 Reverb 12. its a sick sounding solid state amp, and i prefer it hands down to the newer VS series. hard to find (and probably not worth the search) but a sweet practice amp

 

[Russ]

There was a 6V6 loaded small combo like that also. Marshall only made a limited # of them. That was Marshall's only 6V6 amp ever. It is rare and becoming pricey but it is a great little amp. I can't remember the model # offhand but it is known as a great practice and small gig amp. I want to say it was the (Studio 15?). It's been a while since I have even thought about those.

 

[phyrexia]

Fender G-Dec, because it has all the toys you'd want plus MIDI file transfers with your computer for even more backing tracks.

 

[Gear-Monkey]

I hear very good things about the Roland Cube.