Help Buying A New Amp |
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Help Buying A New Amp |
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Mar 12 2007, 11:32 PM |
Hey everyone! For quite a while now i have owned a very small 30W Yamaha F20 amp. Its not the best but was quite a good choice for me as i was a mere beginer. Now its time for me to get myself a new one On stage im usually forced to use rented amps or sometiems ones that i borrow. Im not the most experienced in the Amplification area and would really appreciate some advice. I need a good quality clean tone as well as good levels of noise. The effects i'm not too worried about cause i got a POD XTL which i've messed about with quite a bit to get a couple tones im in love with. Oh yeah i forgot the price range! hehe my limit atm is around $750 - 900 Im looking for either a combo amp or a half cab. (or even a full cab if its in my price range ) any advice is very appreciated Thanks, C.J The POD will sound best through a totally clean amp like a keyboard or PA amp - you shouldn't really look at getting a standard guitar AMP at all - I'm not sure what is a good keboard AMP in your price range though ... -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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Mar 13 2007, 02:49 PM |
I've never been looking for that clean tone myself and never looked at Fender amps but I accompanied a friend who used to play country once when he was getting an amp. They started up a tube fender in the store and gdamn.... the clean channel was so sweet I can still remember it like it was yesterday! (and it was not yesterday)
So definitly Fender, in my opinion, valve, 12" speaker(s). I can't recall the model he got but if I can guess on a couple of amps that would be good. And we're talking tube watts here so don't compare it with your Yamaha... i would have guessed F20 was 20 W... and it's a solidstate amp, right? Fender Blues Deluxe combo 40W Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40W Fender hot rod deville 60W (popular amp) ...any of these would fit your budget. Then there's a reissue of the '65 Blackface but I guess that's too expensive. -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Mar 13 2007, 04:54 PM |
Thanks alot Mike! I just checked the yamaha once more and it says 30W on the speaker itself. I guess the inbuilt head could be 20W. Ive had a look at a couple fenders before and well they were really nice. theres a really nice combo amp i saw once but i just cant remember its Model. Im gonna hav a look at those amps as soon as i get a chance. Thanks again mike. Any more? I'm sure the Fender is a sweet Amp, but even the clean channel would probably mess up the Pod tones - there are output options you can use on the pod to set it up for this kind of amp, but the forums generally agree that they don't work too well - I would suggest that you try any Amp you are thinking of getting with the POD or you may be disappointed. Of course it may sound awesome, then you have all the Pod options plus the Fender drive channel as well which would be cool :-) Alternatively, if you really dig the fender tone (or any other Amp you try for that matter) you can just turn off the pod AMP and CAB modeling and use it for the effects only. This post has been edited by Andrew Cockburn: Mar 13 2007, 04:54 PM -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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Mar 13 2007, 05:54 PM |
Look at Carvin, I suggest the Vintage Belair. $700. Read reviews on them. I think you will be sold if you do your research.
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Mar 13 2007, 06:20 PM |
I will correct myself, forget about the Fenders, the POD XTL sounds like a thing you'd plug into a PA. Just forget an amp, I belive Andrew is right there. It's a mismatch.
Personally I think that when playing live these multi effects deliver a plastic sound. Played with headphones or for recording in a studio, great, can't make a POD vs a real amp apart. But if your intention is to play live, go for a valve amp! So for rehearsing with a band or playing live a POD can never replace a valve amp. And if you're looking for an amp to run without the POD my first choice wouldn't be Fender either. -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Mar 13 2007, 07:25 PM |
I was thinking of doing just that. I didnt really wanna end up regretting it. May i ask you which forums you reffered to when you said "but the forums generally agree that they don't work too well"? maybe i can check them out for suggestions too : Thanks andrew! Still open for suggestions Line6 have forums for the pod - I think that's where I picked up the info. FWIW, I have decided that if I ever need to gig I'll go with a Bheringer 300W keyboard Amp - clean un characterful tone is the key here! Mike: Im stil thinknign about this one thign. Will a POD XTL sound better through and amp, a PA system (direct) or of i mic an amp? (bit confused) Ive only tried it with a solid state amp so far and once with a PA system( the PA system wasn't too great on its own). Got a couple gigs coming up and was wondering what may be the best to get the tone out of. The POD sounds amazing on headphones. You're definitely right about that. It doesn sound quite as good with the solid state Yamaha i got but its stil better than any of the other pedals i've used. Is the POD XTL just not meant to be played through an amp in your openion? Any valve amps you have in mind i can check out? Cheers The POD is ok to play through any AMP as long as it is clean - my point is that any guitar amp as awesome as it is on its own, is intended to add character to your tone (even on the clean channel, as the speakers also impart character). This is usually exactly what you want. With a POD though, it is overkill as the tone comes from the modeling. In theory, you could put the pod straight through the PA if it is up to it quality wise, or use your own clean Amp. PAs and keyboard AMPS are both designed to be neutral sounding, guitar amps aren't . Micing an amp is also a little pointless as you do this to capture the tone of an Amp you like, then feed it through the PA. With the POD you cut out the middleman, as you don't need the amp for tone just for loudness, and the PA gives you that. Now, I'll caveat all of this by saying that this is in theory only - I have no experience using my POD live, just in a studio setting, so I will defer to anyone that has used a POD in a live setting. -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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Mar 13 2007, 08:40 PM |
Wow! That really helped me out. I really wanna go put your theory into action and see if its true. It does make a lotta sence. Im gonna look to find myself a good keyboard amp i can try this out on. Got over a month till my next live gig so i should be able to know by then. But i don't think i'l be buying anythign until i know for bout how to make my POD sound best. Ill check the Line6 Forums too. Thanks alot andrew! and everyone else! Cheers Hey, let me know how it turns out, because after you buy an Amp You'll be ahead of me and I'll be learning from you - I'd love to hear what you try and what you think - maybe I'll even have to eat my words if you try a tube amp and it sounds great -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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