Electric amp ???'s

[MH3]

I'm thinking of getting my first electric guitar and amp, and I'm on a limited budget (think US $500 - $800 total).  I won't need a lot of volume initially, as I'll be playing 99% at home, but I would like some built-in effects to experiment with, especially delay.  I don't know much about amps, but I have played with a friend's son's Fender G-DEC, and it is a BLAST ( I particularly enjoyed playing around with the reverse delay).  After picking up a Fender brochure Saturday, I've also looked online at their Dynatouch III Bullet and Champ models with digital effects, and the FM15-and -25 with DSP.  Any thoughts on these or any other recommendations would be appreciated.  I'm going to get some type of Strat (see my post in Other Guitar Makers to help with that decisison), and I prefer clean to mildly distorted tone.

Thanks!

PS - I did read parsky1's recent thread on this subject here, and I'll try to check some of those amps out.

[SongMan]

HI,
Check out www.fenderforum.com
You should beable to get more than enough info there.

btw, I have Reverend Goblin amp. you can check that amp at www.reverenddirect.com

[Tycho]

Unfortunately, Reverend has gotten out of the amp business, so new Goblins are a thing of the past.

A great and underrated all-tube amp is the Peavey Classic 30.  They go for about $650 here in Canada, so I imagine you could get one in the US for $450-500.

[dbirchett]

MH3, this topic was discussed in terms of $500 amps earlier. Here is the link although the thread is just a few down from here:

http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=8042.0

I still think the greatest bargain is in the Music Man amps from the '70s. You can get them off of ebay for a veritable bargain price. They were designed by Leo Fender's new company after leaving Fender and Leo was quite involved in the original designs. The first were all tube, the next ones used a solid state preamp but had one tube left in the preamp and stayed with an all tube power amp. The last designs eliminated the remaining tube in the preamp. They are very Fender sounding, (perhaps a bit brighter) and built to last. They have a better build quality than the corresponding Fenders (70s). They also have a neat low power switch which cuts the out put about in half. I got my 65 watt 2-10" speaker amp for $300. Works just fine.

Other suggestions:

Fender Reverb II amps. These were designed for Fender by Paul Rivera and sell for considerably less than the amps they replaced. A Deluxe Reverb II or Princeton Reverb II will sell for $400-550 while their non-II counterparts will probably go for twice that. These are still point to point wiring.

Other Fender tube amps -- there are several later tube amps which sound good but do not have the point to point wiring. They use the old model designations such as "Super" and "Concert" just so everyone can be totally confused.

Fender Princeton Chorus (non-DSP). I don't care if it is solid state, this is a great little amp.

As you can see I have a big bias for Fender amps but there are some other good ones out there. I would recommend:

Peavey Delta Blues. Either in the 1-15" or 2-10" versions. Great amp with tremolo.

Peavey Classic series (30 or 50). Nice amps that you can pick up in your range.

Gibson GA-18RVT, The Falcon. The ones from the early '60s can usually be picked up on ebay for about $3-400 or less and are very close to the Deluxe Reverb in sound. Again, this is a point to point amp.

These give you a few to check out.

[parsky1]

I'm pretty happy with the Vox Amp I went with.  For the price I don't think you can go wrong with all the amp models and build in effects.  I really don't have the money to get an All-tube amp till I get out of school.  I think I am going to add a few effects pedals in addition to my current setup, but for now I'm pretty happy with it.  I bought the VF2 footswitch so I can change channels and turn the FX bypass on and off.

I really like the UK '80s model since it models the Marshall JCM800, I use that model for channel 2 and the AC30TB for my channel 1.

Electric guitar is like taming a beast.  You gotta tweak everything to get that exact sound you want.

[drathbun]

I'd like to put a word in for Traynor tube amps. As these are manufactured in Canada, you probably don't see a lot of them but you get a great tube amp for relatively little money.

Take a look at the Custom Valve 50 and read the reviews:

http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?cat=18&id=318&type=32

I've played through one of these in the shop... great amps!

[Tycho]

I've got the 20w model and I blow hot and cold on it (and that's not just my playing).  I find that it craps out a bit if you crank it and put pedals in front of it, but it sounds quite good without pedals. 

Speaking of Traynor, I also still have the 1972 Traynor Guitar Mate that I got for my 16th birthday.  Some people claim they're as good as Deluxe Reverbs, yet you always see them for sale used in Toronto for about $400 (whereas DRs are always over a grand).  Traynor must have sold thousands of those in Canada in the '70s.

[HangFire]

A lot depends on your playing style. My favorite amp is my Fender Vibrolux, sounds great clean or with a little dirt from my TS-9, top it off with a little verb and I'm good to go;-)

Look for a good used reissue, I think with a little tweaking you can have nice amp priced close to your range. :WNK>

[SR]

 Check out the Kustom amps as well I have the acoustic one and it plays well. Here is a link for one of there electric amps



Also Check out the Vox amps I tried a Taylor T5 through one once and it sounded pretty good.

[Brad166]

Try this link here. It will take you to a little 16 watt all tube amp that will blow you away. Loud as you could want and dripping with tone. Do yourself a favor and check this amp out. And at only $400 bucks you cant loose........




http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=VINTAGE16&CID=GA

[hcole]

I just bought my first electric (MIJ strat) and picked up a fender g-dec.  When I bought it I had the salesman play through it, a vox ad30vt and a roland microcube.  The microcube wasn't loud enough and I think the Vox actually sounded better than the G-DEC but I went with the g-dec for the built in midi tracks.  I think I might be taking the g-dec back for the vox though.  When I go back I'll definately take my guitar so I can play through the differenet amps.

[MH3]

Interestingly, playing my friend's son's cheapo Chinese Washburn electric through his G-DEC is what pushed me over the edge to make the decision to finally buy an electric guitar.  I could literally noodle for hours with the reverse delay effect.  And while I'm sure the drum machine and backing tracks would be an invaluable practice tool, I decided I wanted to get more of a "serious" amp and less of a "gadget".  Plus, scrolling through all the menus of effects and amp models, etc. was a bit annoying to me, like trying to figure out my cellphone while driving - too much stress and dangerous to boot! 

I tried a few amps (but only in one small store - it was all a bit overwhelming to me), and decided to go with the Fender Dynatouch III Champ 300.  It's a 30-watt 2-channel solid-state amp with adjustable DSP effects.  Dynatouch means you get a cleaner sound when you play softer, and progressively more "bite" as you hit the strings harder.  It also has 2 inputs, with one giving a brighter and one a darker tone.  I'm not educated enough on the subject to know how its sound compares to other amps, but I've been able to dial in some tones that I really like.  I particularly like the reverb, delay, and flanger effects.

Being a newbie to the world of electrics (and very impatient, just ask my wonderful wife), I didn't want to wade through eBay looking for a "good deal" on something I couldnt' try first and might not even work right when I got it.  I'm sure later I'll want something bigger and/or better, but for now I'm pleased with my choice, and excited about learning more about how to create with my new sonic tools.