Amps

Hopefully you're talking about purely a practice amp, neither of those suckers have a chance of getting you over the drums.

Assuming that...

I prefer the Marshalls, they seem a little clearer to me. The trump to this decision is buying a 25-50 watt anything. Once you get in that range, you'll be more jam capable, and you might have yourself an amp that you aren't going to need to replace anytime soon.

Traditional wisdom indicates that a great spring reverb is going to sound better than a digital but decide with your ears... unless you have to decide with your wallet. :x

Yes when i get an amp, it will be for home use only. I will probably get the marshall one, but i also like the fender one. Just askin for your opinion. :D

Neither one. If it is just for home usage:

Roland Microcube (try it!)
Zoom Fire15
Line6 Spider 15W
Behringer GM(X)110 (X=with effects, a bit more expansive)

Also, if you have a decent set of speakers at home, try one of teh following:

Digitech RP50
Zoom 505II
Behringer (X) V-amp (X is smaller, cheaper version)

All these options are pretty much around the same price as the Fender, and by far more fun to play around with. Just my humble opinion ofcourse.

I agree, I'm not a fan of the Marshall or Fender (or Crate) practice amps, unless you consider an old tubed Champ or a new Pro Junior a practice amp. Arjen's suggestions will give you a broader selection of somewhat better sounds. Whatever you do, don't dump a lot of money into a cheap practice amp to get a lot of features. I do like the Behringers for their advantages for recording and the Microcube for it's portability.
But, any will do for a practice amp, just don't waste a lot of time trying to get a good sound out of one. Put it on clean and use it to practice and hear your mistakes. The Fender will probably give you the better clean, so I guess I might lean toward that one of the two you asked about. When you know what you're doing, and your ear has developed, start looking for a real amp.
Or just buy the Pro Junior (often cheaper from eBay, but I would try one out, some sound better than others), or an old Champ, they are great amps for which you will find a use the rest of your life.

Well I am in a similar situation. I have a 10watt practice amp. I am looking to upgrade to an amp with more tone ranges. This amp will be practice only, no gigs. But I would like to turn it up loud when I can. So basically my criteria would be: tone ranges, sounds great on low and high volumes, $300 price range. That is more than I spent on my guitar, is that normal?

Well I am in a similar situation. I have a 10watt practice amp. I am looking to upgrade to an amp with more tone ranges. This amp will be practice only, no gigs. But I would like to turn it up loud when I can. So basically my criteria would be: tone ranges, sounds great on low and high volumes, $300 price range. That is more than I spent on my guitar, is that normal?

Actually, that would probably be the smarter choice in your situation. Assuming you could only buy one or the other; you could get better tone enhancements out of a better amp than a better guitar. Say you went out and bought a standard Strat, or a used Epi LP. You plug those into your little 10 watt practice amp and they won't sound too good. If you plug your starter guitar into a small quality tube amp it'll sound pretty damn good. At least better than buying a new axe vs. amp.

But don't just take my word for it. Go out and try stuff both ways and decide where you could get the most benefit.

:( what about the vox valvetronix amps? arent they good?

Nice reply Metaellihead, I noticed you said small quality tube amp. Aren't tube amps really expensive? If you know of any good small quality tube amps, please point me in the right direction. I also heard that tube amps are a headache to maintain, is that true too?

Tube amps aren't really a headache to maintain unless you overbias the tubes and are constantly having to replace them. But generally you aren't going to need to replace tubes very often if they're properly set-up. The tone advantages vs solid state makes up for having to replace the tubes every few years.

You might wanna look into the Fender Hot Rod series. They're pretty well regarded.

Pro Jr.: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/480861/
Blues Jr.: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/480512/
Hot Rod Deluxe: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/480510/

So you might wanna save up a bit more money, maybe 100 dollars more and look around for a small tube amp. You could definately get a used Hot Rod Deluxe for 350-400. Of course, you should also look around at other brands and try them out. Those amps above just come off the top of my head. You have a decent budget for a good tube amp, build it up a little more and use it.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search?so=asc&sc=price&c=6271&page=1&so=asc&sc=price

You can get used Pro Jr. 's for $200 with a high frequency (check out your local Daddy's Junky Music, if you have one, or eBay.)and they're "only" $300 new. Used Blues Jr.'s seem a bit harder to come by... maybe more people are able to find a sound they like on an amp with a Master knob?
The Pro Jr. will have only a few tones to choose from without an overdrive or distortion pedal. The Blues Jr. will have a few more thanks to the Master distorting the preamp tube. I think the basic tone of the Pro might be a bit sweeter, but it depends on your taste. Either way, we're talking classic rock and blues tones here. Pedals can change the tone dramatically, but you'll still have that Fender sound as your base.
These amps will also get quite loud.
A good tube amp shouldn't require much maintenance, tubes can last 4 decades with a pile of luck, but tubes are pretty cheap. Old point to point wired amps, from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, can be easily repaired by any amp tech, unlike modern amps that have printed circuit boards, so will last longer than we will.

I researched the fender pro jr. amp and have decided not to get one. I am looking for an amp that can produce heavier tones. I'm a fan of the marshall tone, but don't know what models are good. I like the sound of Metallica, any recommendations?

I LOVE my little basic no-effects all-tube Electar Tube 10, on which I've replaced the stock cheap woofer with a Jensen Mod speaker. Can't beat it for blues. Paid $120 for it a few years ago, but they run on sales as low as $100 from time to time. Unfortunately, MusicYo (the only dealer for these) has been out of them since last spring. There's a notice on there now that they expect new ones by June 2, 2005.

This cheap little amp's impeccably constructed. It's interesting to note that Gibson owns the name (MusicYo's their outlet store for their secondary brands), and that whenever the specs on the Electar tube amps get changed, a year or so later a Gibson amp comes out at a much higher price with a fancier cabinet and different speakers, but the same amp specs. They're Gibson's Korean amp builder's trial run models, I think.

(The name dates back to the 1930s when Epiphone brought out their first electric guitars and amps under the Electar name. Nathan Daniel, founder of Danelectro, started off building Electar amps for Epiphone in his garage after school in 1934.)

http://www.musicyo.com/product_specs.asp?pf_id=300

Well, if I was on limited funds (which I always am :D ), I would go for an amp like the Alesis Wildfire 60.

Alesis Wildfire 60W Amp

1) 60 Watts solid-state- The big advantage with solid-state amps is that you can get a cranked sound even at low bedroom practice volumes levels. But 60 watts is loud enough to easily get over drums. You could play a small or medium sized venue with this amp. At large clubs or a big crowd you could mic it. It also has a line-out to run directly into a mixer.

2) Many effects- You will be able to get modern high-gain distortion, nice clean, slightly overdriven for blues, and just about any effect with this amp.

3) Versatile- As said before, you can use this amp for practice, gigs, or even recording. It has a lot of options.

3) Great reviews- This amp gets some of the highest ratings I've ever seen for an amp in this price range.

4) Great price- I want to buy one of these amps. How can you lose? Some pedals cost more than this amp.

Now this amp needs a few things to be complete. Alesis offers a channel up/down footswitch/ expression pedal for $50. That would be a nice addition to the amp.

Anyway, Argen gave you some good options. He's pretty knowledgeable about these amps. But I would include this on the list as well.

What about the beringher vintager AC112? It's got a tube, AX12X7 (or something like that) , its 60 watts, and it has effects like the Alelsis. O Yeah, it's 50 bucks cheaper. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/480684/