BG Music Equipment Thread

[isladar]

I think you know it.

[Zalius]

http://www.rondomusic.com/fg50ce.html

incredibly high value. excellent player, sounder, etc. easily worth the $400-600 you'd pay for something with the same specs and a different name.

[Amiricle]

So I have a Samick electric guitar already, and plan to finally learn how to play it, but need to buy an amp. Any advice on what to look for is greatly appreciated, or will any mid-range priced one do?

[Eckskalibur]

My first amp was this terrible generic amp that I bought at a local music store. It was awful in all aspects. It didn't have distortion and just sounded like a reverb machine.

The next amp I bought was a 100w solid state Marshall combo. Solid states are pretty much trash for recording or anything later on. However, it is definitely what I would recommend. They sound pretty decent for what they cost. But I mean I guess it really depends on how much you want to spend.

Just about all guitarists are brand loyal. I know a ton of people that have Peavey 5150's, a ton of people with Marshall's and a few with Mesa's and all swear by them without giving another brand an option. I'm a pretty big Mesa person myself. But Soldano's, Orange and Marshall are all pretty respectable brands that I've found myself playing quite a bit.

How much are you trying to spend and what are you trying to use it for? There are a lot of options depending on your use.

[Gabai]

It depends on what guitar you have, what style you're mostly going to be playing, what tone you want out of the amp and how much you want to spend. Like it was mentioned in the other guitar thread, best advice is probably go into a shop and drive test the shit out of as many amps as you can, til you find the one that sounds like you. If you don't feel you can play good enough yet to be able to tell (you said you're going to start learning), have someone there test them out for you, most guys who work at those stores can play decently enough that you can listen in until you find something you like.

I myself have played with Marshal, Fender, Soldano, Mesa of all shapes and sizes and still prefer Fender for clean sounds and Mesa for distortions. It's really up to you.

[Boyiee]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...Amp?sku=483552

[Zalius]

peavey vypyr 15w was my first amp. It has a lot of different amp settings to play with, the EQ settings on it are awesome, and it has a pretty fair amount of built in effects for under $120 bucks. If you're looking for a room jammer, it's definitely capable.

I'd recommend solid state for starter too. There's a lot of technical complications with tube amps that make them not so great for beginners.

[Omnipotent]

Fender DG-22SE or regular, great sounding, good looks and low price.

[Guyverarmor]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Peavey-V...93-i1413609.gc

This is the Amp I use along with

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-R...68-i1435871.gc

Sweet sweet love !

[sephir]

For beginners I stand by the Fender 15R. Its rather small but it has a pretty decent sound and can get fairly loud without being too washed out.


If you want something with a little more "pow", I suggest the Marshall MG100 series. I use the DFX, but I think they discontinued that model a year or so ago.

[Amiricle]

Thanks for the help so far. Will be starting with classical / contemporary rock & looking to spend $100-$300. I cant play shit yet so test driving a bunch is kinda moot, but maybe Ill see if I can convince my uncle to come try a bunch out for me.

[Phla]

Get an epiphone valve jr. 5 watt, all tube. Don't get marshall solid state, mgs are trash, when you get into marshall tube amps is where they really shine. Same deal with orange, vox, line 6, etc. all lower end models are trash even for practicing. Tube is the only way to go if you're serious. the valve jr may not look like much but all you need to do is turn up the volume on the amp and roll back the volume on your guitar for real overdrive if you need it. Plus, the wiring is incredibly simple and mods on it are really easy to accomplish later on. Hope this helped.

link: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...Amp?sku=480260

theres also a half stack that is a bit more but worth the investment if you're serious, and still in your price range =)

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...ack?sku=481475

[Phla]

http://www.rondomusic.com/fg50ce.html

incredibly high value. excellent player, sounder, etc. easily worth the $400-600 you'd pay for something with the same specs and a different name.

wooo can't believe i forgot agiles, +1 to this, great quality guitars for low prices

[BerenTebogo]

Marshall

[Moridam]

I'll definitely second the Epiphone Valve Jr., my friend got one a few months ago and I was really impressed by the sound on that thing. Beats the hell out of any of the solid-state crap that populates that price bracket.

[five]

$200 - Marshall MG4 Series MG30FX 30W

this is what i currently use, it's pretty cheap and quite powerful for the price. I also like the mp3 line in/ headphone 1/8 jack that's on it. Fun for when playing covers or if I want to record I could just plug in a 1/8 to 1/8 from the headphones to my line-in on laptop (really cheap way to record but it works lol). Pretty good starter amp

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...ack?sku=501643

[Grey Jorildyn]

Get a nice little Vox. They have really smooth sound and are easy enough to get around too. Something with reverb is really all ya need. I run a LP custom through a Vox Pathfinder 15R for minor jams and I couldn't be happier.

Find a music shop in your area and bring your guitar. Try it through everything they've got in your price range and make a decision that way. Your ear will hear the best amp it wants to, even if it's a $50 pos.

[Dolmen]

Started with an inexpensive Crate amp, and then moved to a Crate Blue Voodoo 120 head + cabinet. Personally, I can't stand solid state amps, nor all of the digital amps, so I stick with only tube amps. Currently I use a Peavey 6505+ head with the Crate cabinet, but I changed the speakers in that. Lately I've been working on building a rack system.

Pretty much if you're just learning how to play, get a cheaper Vox amp and use pedals as you learn to experiment with effects.

[isladar]

Merged and made a new power thread. Ask your gear questions here!

[Amiricle]

Ha wondered what happened to thread. Had to run a search on myself lol.

Thanks a ton for your input and assistance. Decided to go with the epiphone valve jr. Asked a random dude in music store to play on a bunch of different ones using my guitar and liked how that one sounded best. (well there was a $1000+ one that sounded way better, but.....)

Not buying at that store as thier asking price is almost double that guitars.musiciansfriend.com sites so I think I'll just buy it online.