Which first amp for €400-ish?

seank

Hey. Hoping to get some advice on a first amp purchase. I was looking at a Roland 60W cube in Musician Inc and quite liked the sound (price was in my range too @ €375). Then I saw an add in B&Sell for a Line 6 Flextone II plus for about the same. From reading reviews, there seems to be a bit mixed opinion from absolutely fab to don't touch but I like the idea of being able to download sound patches....

If that wasn't enough, I see there's a Roland VG-5 for €400 on this site as well! Opinions/alternatives welcome!

Cheers,
Sean

Doctor J

There's a guy on the gigsmart forum selling a Fender Roc Pro 1000 for 300 quid. That there is the amp I'd suggest.

Dave

If I had €400 I'd buy a Line 6 Spider II 75 watt.

fitz

I've an all valve Fender Blues Junior amp for sale for €400.

bombidol

it depends really. do you want an amp with loads of effects and stuff built in, or do you want a better built more solid amp. Im not saying anything against, The cubes or Line 6's as i quite like them. but personally id go with the Fender Amp myself

seank

Dave wrote:

If I had €400 I'd buy a Line 6 Spider II 75 watt.

Why the spider over the flextone? Are u saying that a new one is about €400? If so, would a second hand flextone not be better quality given the original €800?

Doctor J wrote:

There's a guy on the gigsmart forum selling a Fender Roc Pro 1000 for 300 quid. That there is the amp I'd suggest.

Had a look at that ad for the roc-pro. 100W would probably blow a hole in the side of my house! Again, why this over what I had in mind? Wattage? 'fender'?

I'm a novice when it comes to solid-state vs tube, pre-amps/heads/cabs/etc hence the whys! I love the older sounds of Hendrix/Cream so i'd ideally like something that I can replicate(!) that sort of sound in 50 years time when I can play properly

Doctor J

The Roc Pro has a solid state clean channel and a tube overdrive channel. It will give you the tone you want, I have one myself, so I can honestly recommend it to you, they're a great little amp. It's small enough to be practical to use at home but you'll be able to gig with it too, should you ever need to.

seank

Thanks Doctor J. I've mailed the guy to see if it's still available. I was looking @ http://www.musicgearreview.com/review-display/111.html and he's talking about replacing valves and so on. Is this something that I should worry about? What kind of a price (€10 or €100) & how often or is it a case of they just go sometimes (maybe from a knock or whatever)?

Dave

seank wrote:

Why the spider over the flextone? Are u saying that a new one is about €400? If so, would a second hand flextone not be better quality given the original €800?

Yeah a new one is a little under €400.

Doctor J

I've had mine for four years (maybe five, I can't honestly remember) haven't had to replace the tube yet, and I got it second hand too. It's not hard to get into the amp, just because it's a combo you have to take the whole panel out, it's a two minute job really. I don't think replacement tubes are that expensive at all. Mine has been trouble free since I got it. The tone is really quite special and it's plenty loud when you want it to be, but it'll still do the practice at home thing. For €300, sweet!

Try it out, when I got mine, I played one chord through it and knew straight away. I still love it to bits. Good luck.

seank

Thanks guys. I'll go for the fender to see if I can get a good deal on it. I'm also looking at a Roland VSA-5 too. This is tough work!

Doctor J

I see you got the Roc Pro. Nice

seank

Yep. Had a crook finger for a while so mulligan put it through it's paces at the weekend. Smashing sound although I haven't got the volume over 4 yet! At €290, it was well worth it.

Doctor J

Cool. What do you think of the clean channel?

seank

I like it. Bright & clear but very warm, if you know what I mean! I suppose the only complaint I have is the volume of the thing. I mean 1 is off and 2 is bloody loud, expecially in my 'studio' ...

John

seank wrote:

I mean 1 is off and 2 is bloody loud, expecially in my 'studio' ...

I know that feeling, our Rock Pro makes it very hard to balance sound when we practice but it sounds nice so who gives a toss

seank

if u see this over dublin west, you'll know i've out the volume to 8