Amps

domrush

Can anyone reccommend a good guitar combo for in or around 500e?

headphone socket and footswitch are a must really.

I'll be playinn all genres except metal if thats anyhelp?

lalee17

You can't go wrong with a Roland.

spoonbadger

domrush wrote: »

Can anyone reccommend a good guitar combo for in or around 500e?

headphone socket and footswitch are a must really.

I'll be playinn all genres except metal if thats anyhelp?

Ha, footswitch a must you say?.

Is this a footswitch for channel switching, effects, distortion, reverb, boost or just to look at? :P.

For 500 squids i'd recomend a peavey classic 30. Solid 30 watt tube amp, 2 channel, has reverb,footswitchable channels and reverb, good on cleans and overdrive. Will get you most tones except possibly heavy rock, but a solid distortion pedal can make up for that. Dont know about the headphones out though.

Or a peavey valveking, very similiar amp, but less emphasis on "classic" midrangey tones.

It'd help if we knew if you're using it at home or for gigging, in which case what kind of gigs you'll be doing. But those two amps are fairly versatile, and should just about suit you regardless.

Edit: Errr, scratch that. Neither of those have a headphone-out .

rcaz

spoonbadger wrote: »

It'd help if we knew if you're using it at home or for gigging, in which case what kind of gigs you'll be doing. But those two amps are fairly versatile, and should just about suit you regardless.

"Headphone out is a must" = bedroom playing, surely?

I'd say get your Roland on, too. The Cube amps are great. You need to buy a footswitch seperately, mind, but you'd be under your budget still. You could get a big one for the money, too.

spoonbadger

El Pr0n wrote: »

"Headphone out is a must" = bedroom playing, surely?

Might be for bedroom playing *and* gigs or band practice though .

domrush

no will be for bedroom playing almost exclusively

Scoual

hey, you should consider the new blackstar HT-5, Ii has an headphone out and a master volume for each channel, around 300-400

you won't regret it!

domrush

I've heard fender blues jnr is the wayto go? Any expierance anyone?

spoonbadger

Scoual wrote: »

hey, you should consider the new blackstar HT-5, Ii has an headphone out and a master volume for each channel, around 300-400

you won't regret it!

+1 on this, blackstar stuff is very good quality.

domrush wrote: »

I've heard fender blues jnr is the wayto go? Any expierance anyone?

I wasn't overly impressed by them to be honest. Very boring sounding. Cleans aint bad, neither is mild overdrive, but anything passed that aint great. Dont expect any kind of usable distortion (it gets raspy fast!). Doesnt have a headphones out either.

And what did you want the footswitch for exactly?. If this is just bedroom playing i wouldn't put it too high on my list of priorities.

domrush

Thought it might come in handy to be honest :pac:....

I reckon that blackstar is the way to go. Anyone owned one?

spoonbadger

domrush wrote: »

Thought it might come in handy to be honest :pac:....

I reckon that blackstar is the way to go. Anyone owned one?

.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, most amps will have any important features attached to some kind of footswitch .

I think brendansmith around here has a blackstar of some sort, not sure though .

Gear9992

You should give a Roland cube 60 a try, great sound from it, has loads of the usual effects, flanger, reverb, delay, chorus etc.
and even though it dosn't come with a footswitch, there's 3 sockets around the back for the footswitch, for changing the channel, turn on the effects and turn on delay,reverb

Eoin Madsen

domrush wrote: »

I've heard fender blues jnr is the wayto go? Any expierance anyone?

For the money, no, definitely not. It only does one sound, and it gets a little wearing after a while. :pac: I don't recall it having a headphone or line out.

A7X

So which is better do you guys reckon, the blackstar, or the blackheart?

johnboy8

i have the blackstar ht5 head and i am very impressed.the clean channel is great and the overdrive channel is more than i would say any one would nned.headphone out was the main reason i got it,it has a button that changes the sound from a 1*12 to a 4*12.all in all a great amp.

Seziertisch

Another alternative would be to get a Vox Amplug for playing at home and a proper amp for gigging.

spoonbadger

Seziertisch wrote: »

Another alternative would be to get a Vox Amplug for playing at home and a proper amp for gigging.

An amplug doesnt compare to a real amp though, even at low volumes.

Hows about some kind of line6 pod and a keyboard/transparent amplifier (something like a fender frontman)?. Covers all bases .

Seziertisch

spoonbadger wrote: »

An amplug doesnt compare to a real amp though, even at low volumes.

Hows about some kind of line6 pod and a keyboard/transparent amplifier (something like a fender frontman)?. Covers all bases .

... nor does a POD or indeed any sort of headphone amp. Presumably, if someone is looking for a headphone amp, they want to be able to play making the minimum of noise. For this purpose (and presuming they don't require a raft of effects etc. built in, and don't mind limiting their sonic palette) the Vox Amplug is the most affordable/portable solution on the market, as well as sounding quite good all things considered.

Also, no (non-tube) modelling amp comes close to replacing the performance and sound of a decent tube amp. I know of engineers (both live and studio) who groan inwardly when someone turns up with a Line 6 or equivalent.

A7X

Seziertisch wrote: »

... nor does a POD or indeed any sort of headphone amp. Presumably, if someone is looking for a headphone amp, they want to be able to play making the minimum of noise. For this purpose (and presuming they don't require a raft of effects etc. built in, and don't mind limiting their sonic palette) the Vox Amplug is the most affordable/portable solution on the market, as well as sounding quite good all things considered.

Also, no (non-tube) modelling amp comes close to replacing the performance and sound of a decent tube amp. I know of engineers (both live and studio) who groan inwardly when someone turns up with a Line 6 or equivalent.

I agree. I hate line 6 amps or any type of modelling amp. They really are just best for messing around with sounds and for playing on your own.

Burning Eclipse

A7X wrote: »

I agree. I hate line 6 amps or any type of modelling amp. They really are just best for messing around with sounds and for playing on your own.

I have a Flextone III XL w/ Shortboard. Lots of effects, decent variety of sounds and options, built in chromatic tuner and wah pedal. I used it for gigging for a few years; play it at home now as I'm no longer in a band.

I recently bought a new Telecaster and tried it out through a Blackstar in the shop, the jealousy was instant. The tone out of it blew me away! I don't think there's any person who would rate a modelling amp side by side with a tube amp. Apples and oranges really...

Edit to include: It was an Artisan 30 for the record... I still dream about it

Welease

A7X wrote: »

So which is better do you guys reckon, the blackstar, or the blackheart?

Both are very nice amps.. The blackheart is single channel with no overdrive (3w or 5w).. Great sound though.
IIRC the blackheart bh5h is about 1/2 the price of the blackstar also..

Personally i loved the sound of the Blackstar overdrive.. So would have gotten that if they had made a 4ohm model.. I own a Blackheart, for the price it is an excellent amp, and I wouldn't part with it.

Eoin Madsen

spoonbadger wrote: »

An amplug doesnt compare to a real amp though, even at low volumes.

Hows about some kind of line6 pod and a keyboard/transparent amplifier (something like a fender frontman)?. Covers all bases .

Amp modelling algorithims are basically the same, whether on a PC or in a outboard processor like a Pod. Running through an amp speaker rather than PC speakers is the biggest difference there really.

Lurcher

I'd say the HT-5 as well, unless you really need to avoid tube hassles every few years (no big deal) Otherwise the newish Roland Cube 80 has what you need and big enough for gigs if fortune leads you that way.

mattfender

Scoual wrote: »

hey, you should consider the new blackstar HT-5, Ii has an headphone out and a master volume for each channel, around 300-400

you won't regret it!

+1 amp and a half. Savage tone from such a small amp!:pac: