advice for buying next amp

Most 2 channel amps lack on one or the other channels, which is why most people opt for a fantastic single channel amp and a pedal or two.

In general, Fenders have a distinctive clean tone, while Marshalls have a distinctive distortion tone. It's not hard to get great distortion with a Fender and a pedal, but it's almost impossible to get a great clean from a Marshall (and it's really hard to get ultimate distortion in a Fender).

I'd recommend you try a few amps with the volume at what you're going to use. At higher volumes, a gain blackface Fender will sound unreal!

I'd listen to a Deluxe or Princeton Reverb.

You've built some nice looking amps, PRNDL.

their is one more problem i forgot to mention .....i cannot really get a clean or dirty tone out of the amp it ...its just sorta blah........it has an amazing blues amp sound but...i cant get metal distortion or sparkly clean outa it....

i dunno ill just keep searching

It'd be a mighty rare amp that could do all of those well.

I love my Marshall JTM45 combo, which is more than sufficient for gigging needs, but really needs a reverb pedal (no inbuilt reverb is its biggest fault) to sound good clean.

For metal tones, get a distortion pedal - the Pro Co Rat 2 is excellent, but you might wanna try the Marshall heavy distortion pedal (think it might be the Jackhammer), the MXR distrortion ro distortion plus, and maybe the Boss range too.

The JTM45 combo was used with an LP by Clapton on the Bluesbreakers Beano album, its all tube, and cranking it up gives that classic bluesy distorted tone that perfectly fits the 60's.

But I'd seriously suggest finding the amp in your price range with the best clean sond (not the JTM45 then), then using distortion pedals, etc, for colour. The marshall bluesbreaker pedal is great for bluesy overdrive (a mainstay of my arsenal for using other amps), and the suggetions above should give you more choice in the metal-end of things.

Like Ricochet said, you'd be mighty lucky to find an amp that does everything well. And there is nothing wrong with having 2-3 (or more) different 'distortion' pedals for different types of distorted noise. Your most fexible rig would, IMO, be going down that route.

What ever you do, please stay FAR away from any Marshall MG series amp. They are just not the best.
If you want a more modern tone(Metal, with some classic rock thrown in, and an awesome clean tone with more bass than most other amps in the price range), then go for the Line 6 Spider III HD150 Half Stack Oh and btw most of the settings on this amp were actually created for humbucking pickups.

However, If you want to be able to get a good blues sound, stick with that peavey

no offense but...i have a pod and a spider 2 and i think im gona stay away from the line 6 gear........

im not shur about the new spider valve series but all the other modeling gear they sell sort of sound computerized and plastic .........but i do have to say u do get the perfect u2 sort of tone from the spider clean channels...and the built in effects are cool to mess with.........but past that ...there nothing else i can use them for..........

but thank u very much for the advice keep it coming.....

but im sorta leaning towards a fender for the clean and just ivesting in a couple of good pedals........

but the search continues!!!!

There are many around here who swear by the Fender clean. I've got a Blues Deluxe. Love it. I've got some pedals for the non-clean things. I'm really pleased with my set up. I'm not a well seasoned veteran and have never gigged, so take what I say with that in mind. :wink:

Just a FYI..MF has a reissue '65 Fender Twin Reverb Custom 15 blem for $1011.49.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-65-Twin-Custom-15-Combo-Amp?sku=480727X

That along with a wise pedal choice for distortion should give you plenty of volume plus oodles (yes a highly technical, precision term :lol: ) of clean spanky-ness. Other than that, anything Fender with higher power ratings (60 watts or more) should give you enough headroom to give you a good clean sound. Another choice that may work, is a Blues DeVille.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Blues-DeVille-410-Reissue-Guitar-Amp?sku=483719

Cheers!

Strat

I would look at Randall amps. They sound very similar to the Marshall tone you are after but cost far less.

i have played that fender....very very nice......very very expensive toooo hahaha...guess you gota pay to play........

i have never tried a randal amp??? what would be a good model to look out for ???

I would just go to different sites likes Musician's Friend and read lots of reviews. You will always get some who claim an amp is the best ever, the next guy says it's the worst. You kinda have to ignore those posts and get a feel for the "overall ratings". If you see just one post saying the amp blew first day, that probably means nothing. If you see five or six though, then this amp has a problem. So you gotta read lots of reviews and get the overall feel.

By the way, this half stack is on sale, looks like a good deal.

Randall RX120RHS

I will tell you this, I have heard Randall amps quite a few times and they get an AWESOME heavy tone. They are great sounding amps. But they are designed for Heavy Metal type tones, you are not gonna get Country twang or Jazz tones out of a Randall. :twisted:

If you're looking for a Marshall-type sound and have a thousand to spend, you might consider a Carvin. They are a great value. All the Carvins I've heard or played through have been quite good, and doubly-so considering the price.

Here's a 50/100 dual-power 2-channel half stack for $999:

https://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=MTS412

One very nice feature is a bias switch that allows you to use the stock 5881 Groove Tubes power tubes, 6L6GC power tubes, or EL34 (like a Marshall) power tubes. It has separate level controls for each channel too. The one annoyance is the foot-switch is extra ($29.99).

[EDIT] By the way, I played a 50-watt Carvin half-stack in a new-country band and it sounded great! The crunch tones were good too.[/EDIT]

Cheers!

Strat

I use a Marshall DSL 401 for both the clean and distorted sounds. I think the clean channel is fine. What I do is I max out the Main Volume and control the clean channels volume using the "gain" control. I put both the "clean" channels "gain" and the distorted channel "volume" at the same level and play that way. That way both are at the same level. When I need less distortion I turn the "gain" down on the distorted channel and pump up that channel's volume a little and dial it in while playing using the guitar's volume. I don't use any distortion pedals since I LOVE the Marshall's tone and I don't want to muddy it up with pedals.