Some help buying an electric guitar amp please

Zaph

I'm buying an amp as a Christmas present for my brother, and was given a link to a good site to buy one here. However when I look at it I'm faced with a bewildering array of choices and I've no idea what I'm looking at. Basically I'm looking for a small amp for use at home, and once I can figure out whaat I should be looking for I'll find something within my budget.

First up I have the following choice:
* Combos for electric guitars
* Amplifier heads for guitar
* Guitar cabinets

If, for example, I pick combos, I'm faced with a choice of:

* Solid-state guitar combos
* Tube guitar combos
* Modelling guitar combos
* Hybrid guitar combos

I'd really appreciate a little help if someone has the time.

Eoin Madsen

What kind of music does your brother play? Will he be playing heavy metal riffs, is it all blues, is he all about the clean twang, etc.?

And what kind of guitar does he have?

Basically: solidstate amps use transistors for amplification, valve/tube amps use thermionic valves (glass tubes with electrodes inside). Solidstate technology is newer and can essentially be made cheaper. While most of the "classic" sounds are from various old valve amps. Valve technology is still very much in use, and the vast majority of top end amps are valve amps. Hybrid amps have a mixture of valve and solidstate components in the amplification. Modelling amps are solidstate amps which contain digital processors designed to make them sound like valve amps.

The amplifer itself is separate from the speakers, which is why amps often come as an amplifer box (head) and speaker box (cabinet). When they're combined in one unit, it's called a combo.

I'm going to guess you have a budget in the low hundreds, so from the onset I'm going to say I think you're best looking at modelling combos.

Zaph

That's a great help, thanks Eoin. Yeah, budget is relatively low and it's basically something a little bigger than a practice amp I'm looking for. He's getting back into playing after having his guitar in hibernation for a few years and plays a bit of everything, although fairly unlikely to be playing heavy metal. Not 100% sure as to what sort of guitar he has because he hasn't been playing, but I have a vague recollection of it being a Gibson of some sort.

brendansmith

My recommendation is Blackstar Ht5. But then again it always is

darrenw5094

Something cheap would be Roland Cube 30w.
Do rightly for getting back and has some sound effects in there.

The Blackstar amp is around €400. Great amp for the bedroom, but pricey.

-Chris-

I'm actually looking into an Epiphone Valve Junior head and it seems like great value.

He'll need a cab for it as well, but I'd expect you'll see those around second-hand fairly cheaply.

I like the idea because it's mega-cheap, sounds good and has loads of scope for modding - if I get bored with it it'll only cost me €20-30 to make it "different", rather than hankering after a new amp altogether.

Sklarker

I'd agree with Darrenw5094. You cant go wrong with a Roland Cube! Bought the microcube after I brought my own guitar out of hibernation after 10 years. Since upgraded it to a cube 20x. Great for blues/rock. Crank it up it rocks but has a power sponge button to play quieter but still sound good. Also some effects and amp models

Zaph

Cheers lads, really appreciate all the help.

Eoin Madsen

I'd check out the Roland Cube and Line 6 Spider ranges, in the 30-60 watt area. Any one of those should help give him some different flavours to play with, and will help him get an idea what kind of (expensive) amp he wants to get when he gets more advanced.

Dord

The new Marshall Class 5 looks and sounds very nice! It's about 300quid I think?
It's an all tube combo.

darrenw5094

Dord wrote: »

The new Marshall Class 5 looks and sounds very nice! It's about 300quid I think?
It's an all tube combo.

'All Tube'.....opened another discussion on the 'all tube' thing.....lol
I would think the Marshall class 5 would be sweet, but not very versatile. I would like something like that. Although bang for buck for the bedroom would still be the Roland Cube range.

Alanstrainor

The cube would be a good buy, but there are some damn nice small valve combos out there. The vox AC4TV comes to mind, it is more of a practise amp at only 4watts. But it does get pretty damn loud with that 10" speaker, well loud for a 4watt valve anyway!

_ZeeK_

Cube 30w ftw.
Small enough for practice. Big enough for small-medium venues.
Great tone and has some effects. Versatile. Cheap.

Zaph

Actually he's already very advanced. I should hope so too seeing as he's been playing for the best part of 30 years. He's just looking for something small to use in the house. He has a much bigger Marshall amp in storage, but he'd prefer something a bit more portable at the moment. From talking to my sister in law it seems that he's been specifically looking at Fender, Marshall or Vox amps himself. Anyone got any opinions on the best one of those if I was to get him a modelling combo?

-Chris-

See if you can get some hints from him directly, if he's not a beginner he may be fairly particular about his gear.
I know I'd be disappointed getting a modelling combo and would probably end up returning it or swapping it for something else.
YMMV.

Eoin Madsen

Yeah, what Chris said. If he already has notions, you might be better off just checking with him.

There's a range of digital modelling amps by Vox that are rated fairly highly. Marshall and Fender don't do the modellers so much.

A 30-watt modelling combo would be a bit lighter than a 5-watt valve combo.

Dord

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

A 30-watt modelling combo would be a bit lighter than a 5-watt valve combo.

Not necessarily.

Eoin Madsen

Dord wrote: »

Not necessarily.

There are obviously variables like the number and type of speakers, and the volume and composition of the cabinet. But the transformers for a 5-watt valve amp will be heavier than the transformer and FETs for a 30-watt solidstate amp in most cases.