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New guy with a decent budget. Advice needed.

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(@crnainthemaking)
New Member
Joined: 10 years ago
Posts: 1
Topic starter  

Hey everyone,
I am a college student and work close to full time. I have chosen a different career path than racing motocross professionally, which I did for a bit. So I need a new release. With a difficult major in school, I don't have time to work out 5 days a week or race anymore. I can however practice guitar for 1 hour a day.

I have selected a Gibson Studio Deluxe II guitar since it has some versatility to it and is able to match some music I am into. I like bands that range from Everclear and Counting Crows, to Guns N' Roses and Boston, to Nirvana to metal like Parkway Drive and As I Lay Dying.

I saw a brand new amp for sale at my local store. It is an Ampeg GVT52-212. It is on sale for $500 which is a steal! It is 50 watts but can be lowered to 25 watts. It's a tube amp. Think this will be to loud to practice with and play with friends with?

The Ampeg Amp:
http://www.ampeg.com/products/gvt/gvt52-212/

I was also considering a smaller amp (I was thinking about buying both the Ampeg and a small amp to suit practicing better), and have run across several choices. I was leaning towards practice amps more, but if you think a head and cabinet would be more suitable and versatile let me know. I thought electric may be the way to go, but was not sure, since I would be playing at lower volumes.

Combo amps I was looking at were Blackstar HT-5R combo, Roland 40lx or 40gx Cube or a Fender Mustang 2.

I am trying to keep the budget for an amp within $950.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
Famed Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3995
 

One hour a day is much more than I'm practicing lately... Yesterday I was testing a Mustang II. It sounds pretty good to me and better that the Roland (I was testing it, too). Both are good practice amps. Surely they are better investments for you than that tube amp: they have lots of effects and different amp emulations, so you can decide which tone and effects do you prefer. A 50w tube amp will be loud enough for practice, you could even play some gigs.

On guitars, go to your local store and play as many guitars you can. Play Les Paul and also Stratocaster and the others.

Welcome to GN.


   
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 jdf
(@jdf)
New Member
Joined: 10 years ago
Posts: 1
 

Hey crnainthemaking,

I recently joined the forum and came across your post. I think you've selected a great guitar. I personally started off playing with an ESP, but after going several years of playing gigs with them, I realized they were not as resilient as the Gibsons or Epiphones my friend owned. I would suggest you also have a look at an Epiphone, especially if you are just starting.

Regarding the amp, I used to play small gigs with a 30 watt Marshall amp and it worked out perfectly. The lead guitarist in my band had a 50 watt Mesa Boogie tube amp, but again honestly that is of much better use if you are playing larger gigs. The advantage of the 30 watt was also that it was lighter, so for example, it was much easier to take to practices and carry around.

I've put together this collection of other stuff that you might find useful including a Boss Metal Zone MT-2 and Distortion DS-1, which came in handy when playing some of Slash's solos. Make sure you also use 9/42 strings. I think the 10/48 are too thick, especially for playing solos.

Hope this helps,


   
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