That did seem like a little bit of a broad brush statement, but to be fair I think he probably meant the Marshall amps at the price-point he was shopping.
Yes, thanks -- too broad a statement. I was just worried he would head over to guitar center and come out with some gimmicky piece of junk like this:
I stopped by Guitar Center to see what they had, and got to try out a Fender 65 Deluxe reissue with an american strat... I only got to crank it for a few seconds because my 2 yr old daughter was covering her ears, but I was pretty impressed with the tone.... pretty inspiring. It had to be seriously cranked for some good grit. Definitely too loud for bedroom level playing (unless you don't mind the lifeless sound below 4 or 5 on the volume knob).
They also had a used Blackstar HT-5 for $249 and a used blues jr for $429. Oh and used a vox ac15cc1 for $429, so I've gotta go back without my daughter and try em out.
This is making want to buy an amp for myself too. All I have in my personal collection is 50/100 watt heads.
Went back to GC and tried a few amps.... Fender Deluxe definitely came the closest to the SRV tone with pretty much no effort. Blues Jr was lacking bottom, and seemed too bright on the strat's next pickup... vox was kinda boring, but serviceable. They had a used mesa boogie lonestar which was interesting, but almost had too many channels and features... definitely some good tones hiding in there somewhere though.
Next up is a visit to Sound Pure to check out some boutique stuff..... Dr Z, 3rd Power, 65 Amps, etc... maybe they'll have something used.
Played some more amps at GC and SoundPure. All the boutique amps at Soundpure were ridiculously good, but mostly out of the price range. They had an SRV strat for me to test out some amps with, which was nice... The stand out amp was a used Carr Slant V6 for $2000, which was a crazy versatile and beautiful sounding amp at any setting. The 3rd Power amps were really cool too...
And I'm still digging the used Mesa Boogie Lonestar at GC... lots of switches and knobs, but superb tone and flexibility. Apparently the newish version of the Mesa Boogie Express 5 50 w/6L6's does a nice blackface impression too, so that may be a contender if they can push their budget to the $1500 range.
Still considering the Egnater models, but I haven't been able to try them in person, and they seem to have so-so reliability if the internet is to be believed (could just be the stigma of being Chinese made).
Last Edit: May 23, 2015 18:19:47 GMT -6 by mdmitch2
Played some more amps at GC and SoundPure. All the boutique amps at Soundpure were ridiculously good, but mostly out of the price range. They had an SRV strat for me to test out some amps with, which was nice... The stand out amp was a used Carr Slant V6 for $2000, which was a crazy versatile and beautiful sounding amp at any setting. The 3rd Power amps were really cool too...
And I'm still digging the used Mesa Boogie Lonestar at GC... lots of switches and knobs, but superb tone and flexibility. Apparently the newish version of the Mesa Boogie Express 5 50 w/6L6's does a nice blackface impression too, so that may be a contender if they can push their budget to the $1500 range.
Still considering the Egnater models, but I haven't been able to try them in person, and they seem to have so-so reliability if the internet is to be believed (could just be the stigma of being Chinese made).
Just my opinion, but the Lonestar might be a bit advanced for a beginner. All those knobs and stuff can work well for a tweaker, but can cause more damage than good in the wrong hands. From working with a couple cats with them, they don't seem to have a very large sweet spot.
Just my opinion, but the Lonestar might be a bit advanced for a beginner. All those knobs and stuff can work well for a tweaker, but can cause more damage than good in the wrong hands. From working with a couple cats with them, they don't seem to have a very large sweet spot.
That was my first impression too... and I really only got a few minutes with it on in 5 Watt mode before someone at guitar center kindly informed me that I was playing too loud. They also wouldn't come off the $1500 (used) asking price, so not likely going that route.
