Amp Suggestions?, I like Metal (LOG, Megadeth, etc). Options

[Sircraigery]

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for suggestions on small metal sounding amps.

I have a couple criteria:
- both a clean and a dirty channel (WITH A SOLO BOOST)
- 12" SPEAKER
- amp < 50W, or switchable
- 6L6 power tubes (for some reason, I like them better than the EL84's)

The absolute top of my budget is $1500, with lesser being better.

I have to admit, I'm sort of leaning towards a ENGL gigmaster & cab, OR a Mesa 5:50+. Any other ideas would be appreciated, since I don't want to miss any. For instance, does anyone in here play a Rivera and have a good recording of it?

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[thefireball]

I like the Peavey Valveking 112. I played on it last week. It's killer for metal!!!

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[Mudbone]

I like the Peavey Valveking 112. I played on it last week. It's killer for metal!!!

I have the Valveking head, and I can say, for the money, its a great amp. I wrote a review on it a while back. I must say though, it is a head, and I do play it through a Marshall 1960A cab, so there is a noticeable difference between that and the cab.

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[thefireball]

I have the Valveking head, and I can say, for the money, its a great amp. I wrote a review on it a while back. I must say though, it is a head, and I do play it through a Marshall 1960A cab, so there is a noticeable difference between that and the cab.

That's cool! The amp I played was combined - head and cab in one. There are so many combos in the world. Glad you found something that works for you. When I pick up my guitar from the shop I will plug it into the amp I played. But I sure would love that 7 string.

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[Mudbone]

That's cool! The amp I played was combined - head and cab in one. There are so many combos in the world. Glad you found something that works for you. When I pick up my guitar from the shop I will plug it into the amp I played. But I sure would love that 7 string.

You'll like that Valveking even more once you play it through a decent cab. Its possible to find a Valveking head for $300 used and Peavey 5150/6505 cab for about $100. Thats a killer halfstack for $400. Thats even less than what many solid state halfstacks cost. Right now I mainly use a Peavey Ultra Plus, which is the predecessor to the 5150/6505. It sounds somewhat similar to the 5150. The Valveking is still a great amp. I like it because its tone cuts through a mix. It also has a great clean channel, better than the Ultra Plus.

This actually leads back to the original post. If you want the best bang for your buck, go with the Ultra Plus. You will not find a better amp for the money. In fact, for high gain tones, it can run with the big boys. The tone on it is simply beastly. The amp isn't that popular because the 5150/6505 overshadows it. Plus it comes from the era when Marshall and Mesa ruled the roost, Peaveys were considered the poor mans Marshall. For many years they actually sold for little money. I got mine for $300 on craigslist about two years ago. They're not easy to find, and the price is going up on them, especially on eBay, but if you keep checking craigslist, I'm sure you can find for roughly the same price I got mine

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[Ben Higgins]

Right now I mainly use a Peavey Ultra Plus, which is the predecessor to the 5150/6505.

I still got my Peavey Ultra. I loved being able to switch being crunch for rhythm and ultra for lead. I felt though, that what I needed was a rhythm channel more like the ultra channel and then something extra for lead which is why I got something else but I guess you could always add a pedal onto it for extra juice. In terms of tone it's a great amp

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[Todd Simpson]

My fave amp is (always has been and always will be) the Mesa Boogie Tripple Rectifier, the ultimate metal amp in my humble opinion. It is above the budget that you mentioned though, but there might be a pretty cool option: the mini Rectifier! It might look like a toy, but it is a serious amp with a killer tone, that sounds pretty much like its big brother, I would risk to say that you can get about 95 % of the sound of a tripple Rectifer with this small one, it is not as loud thoug. But since you mentioned amp<50 watts this might be a nice option. But for sure you should try the amp (or any other option) yourself, with your own guitar. And if you like it, buy exactly the amp that you tried, no "same model" that they have already packed, amps tend to sound pretty different, this might end up in a bad surprise.

Well said! I tried the MINI RECTO in Guitar Center last week and it MELTED FACES. They had it plugged in to a Mini Mesa Cab and I thought it was gonna sound like a hair dryer but nope it was HUGE.

Now that I'm thinking about small amps that reminds me! How about the ORANGE MICRO TERROR! It's only $150 for the head and will power a full size cab of any make.

I'm getting my hands on one next week for a video review so I'll post the results! Here is a pic I took of it at a local music shop. That's an orange combo below it for size comparison.

I still got my Peavey Ultra. I loved being able to switch being crunch for rhythm and ultra for lead. I felt though, that what I needed was a rhythm channel more like the ultra channel and then something extra for lead which is why I got something else but I guess you could always add a pedal onto it for extra juice. In terms of tone it's a great amp

I've got an ANCIENT Peavey Rockmaster rackmount unit that I feel the same way about Ben!! The ULTRA is killer but the rythm channel seems to back off the gain way too much. It has an effects loop for each channel so I used to put a pedal in for more bite. These old things go for a couple hundred bux on ebay which isn't bad for a tube rack preamp.




ALMOST FORGOT! I played a SOLDANO @ Atlanta Discount Music the other day (They usually have more boutique stuff than Guitar Center which is why I love those guys!) and it blew me away. The Depth, the sheer profundity of tone.

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 11 2012, 01:56 AM

[Mudbone]

I've got an ANCIENT Peavey Rockmaster rackmount unit that I feel the same way about! The ULTRA is killer but the rythm channel seems to back off the gain way too much. It has an effects loop for each channel so I used to put a pedal in for more bite. These old things go for a couple hundred bux on ebay which isn't bad for a tube rack preamp.

The Rockmaster is a killer preamp! Its essentially the preamp for the Ultra Plus. The Rockmasters used to go for as little as $50, now like you said its hard to find one less than $200 on eBay.

I agree, the Crunch channel isn't really a gain monster. At first I didn't really like it, because I was trying to play mega metal riffs through it. But then I started playing hard rock style riffs and chords and its purpose made a lot more sense.

Do you do any recording with the Rockmaster? I was thinking of using the Preamp out on the back of the Ultra in conjunction with a cab simulator to do some recording, but I need a more powerful laptop before I do any of that

Have you tried using the Rockmaster with a cab simulator?

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