Moving up

I see this often when a guitarist has purchased a solidstate amp only to be disappointed when they show up to jam or a venue only to get walked on by us tube amp boys. I'm not trying to be rude, just pointing out something I've seen to many times. I do have solidstate power amps, they are used post, only when true transparent volume is needed.

Joe

It all depends ...

I've "somehow" ended up with quite a collection of small to medium sized solid state and tube amps -- they just keep buying themselves I guess. But anyway, my quickie choice lately is to grab the Blues Junior (tube amp) for general rock blues and even jazzy stuff. OTOH I am always pleased with the clean sound from my Roland Cube 30 -- it actually plays pretty well in among the "bigger boy" tube amps. But there is no doubt that it is best at clean -- and that's the classic Roland (jazz chorus) sound that gets raves. If I want to play it dirtier, I prefer to use a good pedal instead of the Cube's modeling section, as the modeled amps are not of the same quality. But of course, then that's not the same and nice, tuby overdrives and/or saturation. I think the Cube 30 is worth every $ of its $230-ish price. Just have to use it for the sounds it does best.

Joe: that would depend on who is using it, doesn't it? 'you tube amp boys' can come around any day of the week and I'll guarantee I wont be dissapointed nor will you or any of your buddies walk on me. Aside from the fact that people that try to 'walk on' other musicians get kicked out of my place faster then you can spell 'tube', gringo.

Mike: Yes, it does break up, because that's what they simulate. Tube amps break up, that's what people want. If you want a clean clean sound check the Cube, that's about as clean as it gets. But since the Vox has far more control then the stuff of 'those tube amp boys' you can keep it clean at any volume and have it break-up at any volume, without using tone-affecting attenuators.

Greg: Cool, hadn't tried that. I did try a few boss distortion pedals and those don't work too well, could very well be that a booster functions better.

Thanks for your input. I'm still deciding on an amp but I have until my birthday to figure it out.

About the pedals, does the DS-2 get heavy enough for metal? Because it costs twice as much as the DS-1 so if it can't get heavy enough for metal, I might as well get the DS-1.

The DS-2 has the DS-1 built in basically. But if your just wanting some solid distortion with no added flare. Go for the good old reliable DS-1. Hell... Joe Satriani has the DS-1 in his rig. So do I! :D

For some cool metal tones try the DS-1 + Ibanez TS9 + BOSS SUPER Octave pedal and you can really scream anything from metal to some chilling blues.

Maybe I worded it wrong. I should have perhaps said disappointed. Kind of looks like the point was over looked. I'm talking about that sought after distorted overdriven tone. Not volume. I use solid state amps. Which are post the tube amps, tube processors, and equalizers. What tone is folks trying to emulate with their trans amps and modelers? Lets take a look at what amps are most used by professional guitarist. Why not be truthful. Sure I can take a 15 watt fender trans and create enough sound to almost sound convincing, but it with not have the tone or feel of a tube amp.

joe

The DS-2 has the DS-1 built in basically. But if your just wanting some solid distortion with no added flare. Go for the good old reliable DS-1. Hell... Joe Satriani has the DS-1 in his rig. So do I! :D

For some cool metal tones try the DS-1 + Ibanez TS9 + BOSS SUPER Octave pedal and you can really scream anything from metal to some chilling blues.

Think I'll go for the DS-1, then get something to handle metal when funds become availible, maybe the MT-Z. Figure that should cover light rock, to grunge, to heavy metal. Possibly blues too, but I don't play the blues, so having something that has that tone isn't necessary.

OWA, I've been following this thread with a bi of interest. I just wanted to chime in with my thoughts on the Spider II amps. I've got a 210. It's got 12 models, but a few of them are almost useless for me and most people.

It is a fun amp to play around with, but I agree with those that say the tone is lacking. It's just a digital thing, after all. Not solid-state or tube.

Would I get it again? To be honest, I'm not sure. I think I've evolved to the clean tones of Fenders. I will say that if I was to spend $399, I'd add a couple hundred and get the Hot Rod Deluxe. That's an entirely different puppy on it's pwn though.

My 210 is loud as heck, sounds decent enough and is fun to mess with.

I think that the route I am going to go with is to pick a great clean amp, like my Fender FM210R and try to get some sort of modelling & effects board to come up with the different toens I want. I've read many people do this and are very pleased.

I'm with rparker. I personally love my Deluxe Reverb and it takes pedals very well. So I think I have the best of both worlds. An awesome clean at lower levels but can handle my Tubescreamer and Digitech modeler just fine.

So, IMO, get a good clean amp but try it with some pedals and see how it takes it. I've also heard nothing but good things about those Roland Cube 30's but can't vouch personally as I've never tried one.

Bottom line though, we can't know what tone you want exactly, so you'll just have to go play around with various amps, pedals, etc. to find the combo that works for you. You might even want to take your guitar so you'll know exactly how it will sound.

Jason

I'm after a couple tones. Anything between rock->grunge->metal. Not sure about bringing my guitar since I plan to get a new one.......yet another decision to make.

By clean amp, you mean something with a nice clean channel, no effects?

By clean amp, you mean something with a nice clean channel, no effects?

Yes. My DR has two channels, a clean and another with Vibrato and Reverb. I use the clean channel the most and if I need heavy distortion I use a pedal. I like being able to go from very clean to dirty quickly and easily. BUT, I'm also leaning more for amps with very little built-in stuff and using seperate pedals for the tones I want. YMMV.

Jason

Maybe I worded it wrong. I should have perhaps said disappointed. Kind of looks like the point was over looked. I'm talking about that sought after distorted overdriven tone. Not volume. I use solid state amps. Which are post the tube amps, tube processors, and equalizers. What tone is folks trying to emulate with their trans amps and modelers? Lets take a look at what amps are most used by professional guitarist. Why not be truthful. Sure I can take a 15 watt fender trans and create enough sound to almost sound convincing, but it with not have the tone or feel of a tube amp.

joe

1) That 'sought after overdriven tube sound' is just one sound. Which happens to be the sound you are interested in but people differ, you know? Check out the jazz scene and ask around what people think of the JC120. Go talk to some metal-specialised studios and ask about ampfarm. Go talk to the producers of bands like Muse and OLP and ask them which amps they used for various recordings. They'll tell you they used Vox Valvetronix and Line6 modeling amps and their fans tell you they liked it. Not everyone is like you, not everyone wants to be like you.

2) Go to your favourite music store and check out the Boss GT Pro. Try their new system of using two amps mixed together with the ratio based on your picking dynamics. So the softer you pick the more, for example, Fender Twin sound you hear and the louder you pick the more overdriven marshall sound gets through. That's so far beyond the basic dynamics you can get with tube amps it isn't even funny. Might take some time getting used to it, but hey, maybe you like it.

3) Solidstate/digital is more then fender frontman amps and zoom505 units. I don't base my opinion of tube amps on Ibanez Valbee amps and you shouldn't toy around with $40 units for a few minutes and judge an entire technology-group on it.

4) I recently had a hearing test and this 20-year old kid has his ears working just fine. I've an extensive collection of albums and listen to plenty of live music. Just a few weeks ago I was asked to program a tonelab unit for the guitarist of a local band. It sounded awesome. Now you may disagree with me, no problem, but don't even think for a second I'm either deaf of stupid. I don't recommend stuff because of the volume it produces, that idea is just absurd.

5) Why don't you try and be a bit more constructive and helpfull, as you normally are? Right now there is someone here who wants advice on what to get with a somewhat limited budget and a variety of tones required. If you can come up with a tube amp (modded to allow an attenuator), attenuator and a set of pedals for under $350 that will sound better then a simple Vox AD30VT then just suggest that. Merely coming in to say 'these suggestions blow' isn't really helping anyone.

Well, I got a distortion pedal, the Digitech Grunge. I tried the DS-1, the MD-1 and the Digitech Grunge and like that one the most. It handles rock and with a turn of the low knob and the gain knob, it'll handle metal too. It also has a volume boost, which I found out about the hard way.........seriously ow. One thing I'm going to have to get used to is muting the strings after I pick them, with the pedal, the ringing is even louder. But I'm happy with it, it handles the tones I want, is loud.........much to my parent's dismay.

I'm going to have to go back to that store though when I get paid, my eyes kept going back to a Flying V on the wall, as well as a BC Rich Beast.