Lood
Hi all, I don't have any idea about guitar amps and there is such an overload available all over the place so that I'm also not considering going through the whole excercise of trying to find the right one by trail & error. :-\
I just fool around at home with a variety of instruments but would like a better sound on my guitars than my 20+ year old PA and speaker system offers.
What make, model, size, good quality, etc, etc amp would be the right one for me to look at? Should I consider a second hand amp or rather not?
I would really appreciate any good advice ?
Matt-White
Hi L,
the best is to tell the guys first
1) how much you want to spend, 2) what type of music you play, 3) exactly what you want to use it for, eg. only for playing at home, or are you going to jam/rehearse with it?
Lood
Sorry, here goes:
While it is not really a "can't do without it", I will probably spend R2-3k.
I just play for fun, at home, along with CD's mostly - an el-cheapo Cort electric guitar. I will probably, later on, also trade my steel and nylon strings for ones with a pick-ups.
So I basically fool around with the electric/ acoustic while I am quite serious regarding the classical stuff. A friend helping and teaching me plays his nylon string through a Marshall and I like the amplified nylon sound.
Gearhead
You might consider trying the Amplug series, start with trying the AC30 model in the shop. This stuff you plug into your guitar jack, it runs on batteries and goes through your headphone. If you're a little self conscious about playing in the store, no one will hear you play this thing. You will like the tone since it's pretty decent, not spend your whole budget and (since it has a line in) you can play along with mp3 player anywhere. Should you need to be heard occasionally you can still plug the headphone output into your PA.
Alternatively, search Gumtree every now and then and if you have questions regarding stuff on offer just ask here on the forum. In the price range you mention there's amps for sale new, but your tone improvement will be less than you would like. Buying second hand will enable you to get better quality and should you decide not to like it after a few months, you can still sell without loosing out too much.
There was a similar question asked about two days ago so it might also be worth your while to read the threads in the amps section.
inflames
I agree with Gearhead on the gumtree thing. You will find some great bargains on gumtree!
I have been searching for 3 years for "The Amp" and have made my mind on the Peavey Vypyr 120.
The bad news is that you need to try out amps and find the one that fits with you.
I understand your budget and "for fun" use, but if the bug bites your are gone forever!
My gal normaly smacks me when I say guitars and amps is like dating girls.
Lood
Thanks for the replies!
I have indeed taken a look on Gumtree and Junkmail. The problem is that I'm not sure what is good value for a certain amount. There are many, many Marshall MG series amps which, according to another thread here is not really good. I saw two Fender Frontman FM212R's that looked like good options :-\
I will stay on Gumtree etc. for a while and see what surfaces. Once I find something that looks worth it I, will post the specs here for the pro's to comment ?
Lood
I had a quick look and saw the following:
Fender Frontman FM212R - R3k
Marshall MG100DFX - R2k
Marshall VS65R - R2,3k
Peavy Bandit 112 Solo Series - R4k
Which is good and what are Behringer amps like? I look some more and post anything elso I find that looks allright to me.
WantzChas
The amps you listed I would go for the Marshall VS65R. I tested a pedal on a Bandit 112 once and wasn't impressed. The Marshall MG is probably the most hated amp ever created (no personal experience, but if a lot of people dislike something it makes you wonder). Don't really have a thing for Fender solidstate amps.
In that price range rather look into Vox Valvetronics and Roland Cube.
Gearhead
To answer your other question: 90% of the Behringer product line is good until you hear the equipment it's supposed to compete with: the Mackie desks are a lot better sounding than the Behringer that looks the same but isn't even half the price, the Marshall Valvestate is a lot better sounding than the Behringer amp of the same wattage etc.
Meanwhile the reason why Behringer sell is the value for money: if you're not going for top end of the scale it's a good buy generally, except maybe for the guitars.
Patience is your best friend while buying second hand. There's always a better deal just beyond the horizon.
