Im saving up money to buy an amp in the summer. My range is up to $700 (or a couple bucks more). Im currently looking at:
Fender
FAT Series Hot Rod Deluxe $579.95
Hot Rod Deville 212 $734.95*
Hot Rod Deville 410 $769.95*
Marshall
AVT 50
AVT 50Head
AVT 100*
AVT 150
AVT 150Head
AVT 4x12 Half-Stack
JCM900**
JCM 602 **
DSL 401 **
Especially the *****. Ive gone to harmony central and what not, but i always ask here b/c i feel these reviews to be more honest. Thanks!
I can only speak of the Marshall AVT series and the fender Hotrod Deluxe. In short:
marshall AVT: Greatly overpriced wanna-be Marshall-amps, big no-no.
Fender HR: Great cleans, bluesy and classic rock tones. It's frigging loud, which might be good or bad.
ElPelotero
It all depends on what you want to use the amp for. If you love the blues and Classic Rock type distortion then the Hot Rod Deluxe or DeVille is the way to go. These amps have an excellent clean channel. However you will not get a modern Grunge or Metal distortion from the Drive channels. The Drive channels sound more like the type of overdrive you heard back in the late 60's, early 70's. These amps are very friendly to effects though, so you can get the modern distortions with a pedal. I own a HRD and have been very happy with it. The quality is also very good.
The Marshall amps will definetly get you a heavier, more modern type distortion. So if you are into heavy stuff, go Marshall. I have also owned Marshall amps. They were great, I loved the tone, but the quality was not so good. They seem to fall apart over time. Sorry Marshall fans, but this has been my experience. They are also far more expensive than Fenders. But then again, there is nothing quite like the tone of a Marshall.
A new amp that has just come out that you might look into is the Randall 50 Watt 1 X 12 Combo. This amp uses EL34EH tubes so it should sound very Marshall. I have heard Randall amps used live on several occasions and was very impressed. Absolutely great tone. I have not heard this particular amp however. But if possible I would give this amp a listen. This just might be the next great amp and the price is very reasonable. I plan on checking them out myself.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
wow, looks nice. def will check it out. how about the marshall dsl and the jcm's?? the jcm's are discontinued but they're still on sale on some sites. right now im in college at UF so when i go back down to miami during xmas ill go to stores and try out amps, but right now this is wat ive seen online.
I guess I'll be going against the flow here, but I've had reasonably good experiences with the AVT line from Marshall. They're not DSL's, or TSL's, but they don't cost $1,400 for the head either.
A buddy of mine picked up the half stack with the 150 head for a shade under 1000, and it is phenomenal at that price point. It doesn't break up as well, but you can definitely hear that one tube in the preamp. For recording and small gigs, it more than holds it's own.
I have been less than impressed by the combos in the AVT line, but my experience with them has been limited mostly to guitar stores.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
Oh, and to add to what was previously said, yes, the HRD's are ridiculously loud. Incredibly, ridiculously, kind-of-unbelievable-on-8 loud.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
