A Few Questions

Raptor

I've played classical guitar for years, but i only started taking a real interest in electric in the last 2. I've come to realise that i havent a clue about guitar equipment, so any help with the following would be much appreciated.

Amps:
I have a Kustom (if it's spelt with a K it has to be cool!) 30 watt amp with in built chorus and reverb, and fairly weak distortion. I'm planning on getting a new amp this summer, and am looking at the marshall avt range. My questions are,

1. Are the avt range good, and are they loud enough for gigging?
2. What price would they be here? (the marshall site gives no rrp)3. Any other amp makes/specific amps worth looking at? (I've heard Mesa Boogie amps are pretty decent, but amazingly expensive)

Foot Pedals:
I'm also thinking about getting a foot pedal, but again havent really a clue bout them. Looking at getting a boss pedal, but any recommendations would be nice.

1. Would the avt range have quality distortion, or is a foot pedal the way to go no matter what the amp? (my amps distortion is a bit farty tbh)
2. Are multi fx pedals worth it, or are they jack of all trades, masters of none?


Miscallaneous:
Singing
1. Is it possible to learn to sing? (sounds like a dumb question, but trying to sing on my own is painful for all involved, and is there any real point looking to learn if you are "not a natural"?)
2. Are there any good singing tutors in cork, and what are the prices of lessons?

Band
1. Are there any good practice venues in cork, all the ones in the sticky are dublin based i think.

Thanks for any and all help

ferdi

as for the amps, i wouldnt know but they seem a large enough step to take if your only playing electric 2 years (unless you have lots of money:D )

here's the thomann's (a german internet music store) list of the marshall avt range german prices

you can bet that they will be alot more expensive if you buy them here.

. Would the avt range have quality distortionQUOTE]

they should do at those prices!! some come with their own little foot switches me thinks.

Are multi fx pedals worth it, or are they jack of all trades, masters of none

i hate them.

Is it possible to learn to sing?

i hope so, i start singing training tomorrow!! although i've been singing for a few years, so i guess i'm "an improver". if you've never sung before, i doubt lessons are the way to go. if you sing at the moment, they'll make you better, Pavarotti has singing lessons every week!!! if its good enough for him....

dont know about cork tutors.

hope that helps

feylya

Ok, amps:
There are hundreds of makes and thousands of models of amps. You're best bet is to go into a local music shop, pick up a guitar, plug it into different amps and see what you think. Everyone's tastes are different so there's no way to say that one amp is beter than another. However good makes (off the top of my head) are:
Marshall
Mesa Boogie
Orange
Hughes&Kettner(sp?)
Cude
Fender
Line 6

As for effects pedals, again it's down to personal taste. Some people swear by seperate stomp boxes, others love multi fx. If you have limited funds (and who doesn't), a multi fx pedal might be a good choice. Again, you should go to a local shop and try some. Some good multi fx pedals:
Zoom 505-2 (Beginners Pedal Really. Have one myself)
Zoom 707
Line 6 Pod/Pod 2/Pod xt
Boss Me50
Digitech

Stomp Boxes:
Ibanez
Electro Harmonix
Boss

If you've any other questions, lemme know.

the fnj

I'm a big fan of the Marshall AVT's a 50 watt one would be loud enough to gig with,

whats your budget like for the new amp?

Giblet

An avt100 will do ya for years to come...
Good effects on it, distortion is good too, but no seperate equalizers for od-1 and od-2

bombidol

What type of music are you looking to play? A second hand marshall is probably your best bet, Im not a fan of built in effects myself, some are ok but i prefer indivual pedals. Hate multieffect boards. For distortion is ALWAYS recomend a ProCo RAT, nicest distortion ever.
http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=76449

Generally anything over 50 Watts is decent enough to gig with as Amps are usually mic'ed up to the PA. Id recommed something in the 80-100 Watt range though, just in case you end up playing somewhere with a crap PA and you are simply playing through your amp, its gotta be loud enough.
Mesa Boogie are extremely expensive in Ireland, well they are expensive almost everywhere but more so here. They are the best money can buy though. Actually the built in distortion on a Rectifier Head is one of the best around.

You can learn to sing, but within limits. from what ive seen. ive known people that have done lessons and they can generally hold a tune, but dont be expecting to just realise you have a huge range.



gar

Oeneus

Whether the amp is good enough for gigging really depends on how loud your drummers kit is. My AVT100 is just barely loud enough for my drummer's kit.

The AVT range are pretty good amps for their price. I'm personally not that fond of it's distortion so I tend to use a Boss DS-1 through it. Although I do use the OD channels for light distortions occassionally.

There's one annoying thing about the AVTs though. The input jack keeps breaking and then gets lost inside the amp. I keep having to constantly take out the preamp to fix it. It's a pain in the arse.

NeMiSiS

An amp for gigging purposes is not for the crowd to hear you..its your monitor..its not your 'projection unit' so to speak.You mic it and send it trough the p.a. 100 watt amp should be sufficent for 99% of gigs

I use an AVT 275 (through a jcm 1960A cab) live,last gig it was ran through a 4.5k rig..running at full whack..was frightning.. I might actully be selling it in 2 - 3 weeks and trading up to a Marshall TSL 100 if yer interested in it pm me.

AVT 275 is a beast of an amp like..150 watt stereo 18 digital effects ( 10 of which are revereb..kinda annoying) great od's ya just have to hear the ****er i suppose,actully if you go into any decent Marshall supplier,theres like a cd demonstarting the AVT range its 12 or so tracks done by one of the dudes from guitar tecniques mag,im guessing they have demo cd's for alot of their newer series ?

Tom

It wasn't me!

Marshall are the best amps you can buy at a half reasonable price. Depends on the sound you want to get out of your amp though. Marshall will do almost anything. I have a G30RCD and it's a brilliant amp for its age. It should be retired, but as far as I'm concerned it'll outclass an MG of the same size(Probably because it has an MG speaker and better range than the MG's). I love it and no matter what I play through it it still sounds great. An AVT275 like NeMiSiS has will cost about 780 euro for a combo and I think it's roughly the same for a head. Or, if you're stoned off your head, buy a Mode 4 and you'll never regret it!:D