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Posted by: Dave Sterling May 16 2011, 02:40 AM

I'm wanting a great bedroom amp, I was thinking of the Mustang V, but it may be overkill, I don't mind spending extra for a Mustang V as compared to a Mustang III, but I'm thinking a Mustang III may be all I need. I only need it for a small room at low volumes. $600 is about my limit. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I also want to use it for recording, I'll probably get a POD HD desktop soon for recording, any suggestions for recording equipment are welcome, I'm thinking of about $1K total for an amp and home recording (guitar only) through a computer.

Thank you,
DSterling

Posted by: Azzaboi May 16 2011, 08:17 AM

The issue with most amps, is turning them down too much and having distortion makes them sound crap.

If getting the HD, get a tube amp, maybe...

Line 6 - DT50 is the best I know of for that, so far from what I've heard, but pricey. Works with your Pod HD and auto-adjusts settings is pretty sweet to get the best tone for every tone you use. Still sounds great under low volumes as it's half digital and half tube.

Vox - AD60VTX. Another solid-state preamp and valve poweramp so great at loud and low volumes, which would be pretty good and a lot cheaper.

Blackstar HT1, like the big brother award-winning HT-5 valve amp sound but compressed to be quieter, without any loss of quality. Awesome sounding but not enough for gigging. The big bro HT-5 however is too loud for bedroom!

The Mustang III should also be good for the bedroom, with great sounds at reasonable volume too, plus could be used for gigging levels.

Note: Confusion about Watts, 1 Watt is actually about a 1/3 of 50 Watts in volume, around a jackhammer's volume level. 0.3 Watts is a Trumpet level. When 1,000 Watts would be Siren volume.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 16 2011, 06:09 PM

Where are you from mate? Amp's prices differ from country to country. Perhaps if you tell me roughly your location, I can give you more detailed answer along with prices and stores.

Posted by: Dave Sterling May 17 2011, 04:36 AM

QUOTE (Azzaboi @ May 16 2011, 08:17 AM)

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ May 16 2011, 06:09 PM)

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 17 2011, 05:50 AM

Very Well Said AZZABOI! Also, great point on the LINE 6 AMP. If you are getting a POD HD, and plan to record via USB, you can actually skip the amp entirely during recording as the HD will do speaker emulation. If you plan to put a Microphone on the amp, that brings more variables in to the equation. Then you need to look at one or more decent Microphones, stands, xlr cables, etc. The easy way to go is a SHURE SM57 and a nice Boom Mic Stand with a decently long xlr cable. This will only run about $150 U.S.

How do you plan on recording?

QUOTE (Dave Sterling @ May 16 2011, 10:36 PM)

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 17 2011, 05:50 AM

System appears to be duplicating my posts. Could be user error

Posted by: Fran May 17 2011, 09:45 AM

That HT-1 seems like a tasty amp. As usual with low att amps they tend to use those crappy 8'' speakers... good thing there's a head version!
http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht-1/ht-1rh.html

I'd love to try it. I bet it would still be too loud for apartment use, at least my ac4 is, even in 1 Watt mode.

Posted by: Gilmore May 17 2011, 01:29 PM

I have been looking for a decent amp for home practice, because I get tired of using the computer, and want some real amp feel. I think you can´t get an amp that sounds great að bedroom level. They all sound LOUD no matter how low the wattage is.

I bought Vox DA5, that is a 5w modeling amp. It is very very loud, and i can play it on 3 or 4 with the attinuator set on 1/4w, and that is still loud enough to bother the neighbours. And the amp sounds crap too....hehe.

I would just stick to Guitar Rig or something like that at home.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 17 2011, 04:13 PM

I can suggest two interesting amps under 600$, first one is Fender Blues Junior 15Watter NOS


second one is Blackstar Venue HT20 amp


Fender is more vintage style amp with sweet breakup, shimmering cleans and nice reverb. Blackstart is more modern, darker sounding amp with clear cleans and tight hard rock ovedrive.


As for interfaces, it depends what you want to do with them. If your goal is to create complete songs, then you might wanna invest in a good audio card and some software guitar modellers. POD HD could be a good choice, but I'm not sure how it behaves as an audio card.

Posted by: Dave Sterling May 19 2011, 07:19 AM

I like the Blackstar HT 20 and will be looking at that. I decided to get a Boss EBand JS-8, has a lot of good reviews online and I think this is just what I'm looking for at the moment until I decide on an amp.

I canceled my order for the new POD HD500 Bean, because I'm thinking of the AXE-FX II which is supposed to be coming out later this month, still thinking, not sure if I want to spend so much, but I'm considering it, I'll be posting about it to see what folks here at GMC will say.

Dave

Posted by: maharzan May 19 2011, 08:12 AM

Its like this.. You buy a 600$ amp and after few months, you will get fed of its sound and try another amp and the GAS goes on and on getting you to spend more and more at the end. So, I would say, save, and buy the AXE FX II. I am sure you won't look back to any amps after that. Best thing about it is, you don't have to worry about volume levels in your bedroom and if you gig, you can take it out to any monitor system and jam with it. If you record, thats another plus!!

I have been saving to buy an ULTRA but now the II has come out and I am so excited for that extra mile these guys have added to the AXEFX brand.

Posted by: zen May 19 2011, 09:03 AM

Lot of great advice here already.

Buy whatever decent you can afford and build it up from there.
Don't wait for THE ultimate device out there. By the time it is released, it would've been outdated. And most of them are great "bang for buck" for people who really know how to use them or are willing to spend the time required to learn it. Otherwise it is just a waste of money. There is no magic tone out there. Make the best of whatever you can afford and focus on practising. Improve your gear with time and as you prove your dedication to the instrument over the years.

Ignore all of the above, if you have a shit load of money to blow