First post from a beginner

Here is something to think about.

It is a good idea, according to many players, to plan to spend as much on an amp as you do on your guitar.

With this in mind, you might want to consider getting a very decent amp, maybe a tube amp, as an upgrade from the one you now have if it is not an awesome amp.

An awesome really half way decent amp will make your guitars sound super great compared to a mediocre less than half way decent amp. By half way decent I mean that when considering amps a lot is relative. There are affordable but costly amps and there are super expensive amps. A half way decent one is probably not going to be cheap, in all probability. Maybe not too expensive, but not cheap.

Just something to think about. Do your guitar a favor unless you already have an awesome amp.



Duffy,

What I have now is about as far from an awesome amp as you can get.

Any suggestions for a decent, very small sub $300 or sub $500 amp. I stopped by GC today (bought a new black Tremonti on clearance) and he recommended a small Bad Cat amp they had on clearance for $300.

Thanks
 
Duffy,

What I have now is about as far from an awesome amp as you can get.

Any suggestions for a decent, very small sub $300 or sub $500 amp. I stopped by GC today (bought a new black Tremonti on clearance) and he recommended a small Bad Cat amp they had on clearance for $300.

Thanks

If you want variety, want to play with your sound, want to play with effects I'd look at a fender mustang. I have a mustang 3 and my daughter has a mustang 1 and they are amazing for the money. You'd have to double their price for a decent entry level tube amp and you won't have the myriad of effects built in. Their tube modeling is amazing for a solid state amp.
 
Instead of buying another guitar, find a good teacher and take lessons. It's the best, fastest way to learn, and the teacher will be able to work with your skill set, because every student is different. Besides, it's fun.

You can buy all the guitars in the store, and if you can't play them, what's the point?

Having more than one guitar and not knowing how to play is...I dunno. Just learn to play.

After you sound halfway decent on the instrument, you'll be in a much better position to work on a guitar collection, because you will have some clue as to what really sounds good with your playing style.

I could go into a long thing on guitars aren't artwork to hang on a wall, but everyone here will kick my behind if I do, so...I will refrain from my usual refrain. :)
 
Last edited:
Duffy,

What I have now is about as far from an awesome amp as you can get.

Any suggestions for a decent, very small sub $300 or sub $500 amp. I stopped by GC today (bought a new black Tremonti on clearance) and he recommended a small Bad Cat amp they had on clearance for $300.

Thanks

I would advise staying away from the solid state amps like the Mustang. If you get a Mustang, make sure you get a
"version two" (V2); because the one "not" labeled "V2" often have a defect called the "snare drum sizzle", which is not correctable. The snare drum sizzle was corrected with the redesign and release of the new Mustangs clearly labeled "V2" on the cardboard/paper descriptive advertising on top of the amp, with a cut out for the amp's handle.

I would get an inexpensive "tube amp". Possibly the Black Cat is a tube amp. Don't get one that is too small because it won't have the features or "clean headroom" of a more powerful amp. That means when you turn it up, which you will want to do now and then, it will sound not very good, not clear.

I would advise something like the twenty tube watt one below. Remember that 20 tube watts is equal to 60 solid state amp watts: 1 tube watt = 3 solid state watts. This means that the 20 watt tube amp is going to be a lot louder than the 20 watt solid state amp. Reserve power is a good thing and helps your low end tone sound better. Plus the amp shown below is 20 tube watts at full power but has a switch to drop it down to 5 or 1 tube watts. This is a great feature for playing at home when people are sleeping or don't want to be blasted out of the house - because your amp will still sound great and have its best tone that would normally only be available at high volume, at very low volume.

If you want effects the best thing to do is buy individual ones, but a "multi-effects pedal" like a Digitech RPxxxx will give you more effects than you will know what to do with.

Check out this amp. Spend an extra fifty dollars or talk them down at a big internet place, on the phone, like musiciansfriend.com . They will cut you a deal if you tell them you are "buying now".

Brand new redesigned Peavey ValveKing 20.
PEV%20VKINGII112-Large.jpg


This tube amp is very cool and has tone equal to your guitars. Here is a link to the web page, no affln., http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-PEV-VKINGII112-LIST

Click on the link above to see the amp, price, etc.

Good luck. Buy something decent would be my advice. Those computerized amps are highly complicated and often can be very expensive to repair or even be unrepairable. A simple tube amp circuit can probably be repaired far into the future with no scarcity of parts, etc., and they are "dependable". Dependable is a key word when I consider when buying an amp. Peavey is know to make some very good tube amps.

Good luck.
 
You can buy all the guitars in the store, and if you can't play them, what's the point?

I thought the more guitars you had the better you could play......no??
Seriously, I wanted a less expensive guitar to bang on but was closer in feel to the Custom 24 and besides they had it on clearance for what I believe was a great price. I have not even seen any used ones for $300 on eBay, let alone a brand new one.


As far as amps go, he also recommended the Fender SuperChamp X2. He said it was a 15 watt tube amp but was also a modeling amp so I could fart around with endless tones. Would that be a good starter amp? I think I can buy that one for around $300. I definitely want something small and portable.
I'm also looking at the Vox VT20PLUS 20-Watt 1x8 Guitar Combo Amplifier ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043UKJ4K ) this one seems to be exactly what I'm looking for???

Mbanks850.....Is that a Vintage Sunburst?


Duffy....That Peavey looks very nice but in a perfect world I'd rather get something a little smaller and less expensive if possible.

Thanks again for all this advice....this is a great forum with a lot of knowledgeable and helpful guys....thanx.
 
Last edited:
Just a thought. What about returning the New SE and adding that money to the $300 budget for a higher quality amp. Then, you can continue banging on with the Current SE you already own. Then, save your money while you continue to learn. When you're beyond the banging stage, you can then buy a USA Custom 24. Just a thought.
 
I thought the more guitars you had the better you could play......no??

Mbanks850.....Is that a Vintage Sunburst?

Yes it is. Its amazing how the color changes on the guitar. In the house it is a more muted brown, but in sunlight its oranges and reds.
 
I thought the more guitars you had the better you could play......no??
Seriously, I wanted a less expensive guitar to bang on but was closer in feel to the Custom 24 and besides they had it on clearance for what I believe was a great price. I have not even seen any used ones for $300 on eBay, let alone a brand new one.


As far as amps go, he also recommended the Fender SuperChamp X2. He said it was a 15 watt tube amp but was also a modeling amp so I could fart around with endless tones. Would that be a good starter amp? I think I can buy that one for around $300. I definitely want something small and portable.
I'm also looking at the Vox VT20PLUS 20-Watt 1x8 Guitar Combo Amplifier ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043UKJ4K ) this one seems to be exactly what I'm looking for???

Mbanks850.....Is that a Vintage Sunburst?


Duffy....That Peavey looks very nice but in a perfect world I'd rather get something a little smaller and less expensive if possible.

Thanks again for all this advice....this is a great forum with a lot of knowledgeable and helpful guys....thanx.

I understand buying too many guitars right off the bat... been there done that. You want a good amp. If you love the guitars keep them. You are in the practice/learning stage. You can't properly evaluate an amp because you have zero idea what you will be playing, what sound you want, and what features you want. You are in the practice amp stage. If you are willing to drop $300 on an amp you will not find a better bang for your buck than the mustang 3. The sound is there, anyone that says it's not has not played the thing with an open mind or has not heard one in any place other than a warehouse sized store. They sound GOOD! Yes it is solid state, yes it is more complicated than a tube amp to repair... That said, fender gives a lifetime, fully transferable warranty. Want to play on a dual rectifier type amp, a princeton, and a british voiced amp all in a span of 10 minutes? Well with the mustang you can and you won't be out $3000 +... Want to add some effects? No problem, same $300. Some of those pedals cost more than the price of this entire amp! For the price I love this thing. I can shake the windows if I want or plug a pair of headphones in and strum away while my wife sleeps next to me. I can plug an mp3 player in and play along with tracks. I can hook it up to the computer and download a preset for basically any sort of sound I could ever dream of. That said, it ships with 100 presets. I only replaced 2 of those, one with an octave down preset and one with one called garage rock. Buy the tube amps when you know what you want and what you are buying. A fender doesn't sound like a peavey, a peavey doesn't sound like a marshall, and a marshall doesn't sound like a VOX but the mustang can nail those sounds down pretty good and when you really know how to play you can really compare those high dollar amps with each other to get what you really want. All of that said, the mustang 3 is definitely gig worthy for a small venue, you won't get junk that is for sure.

Do I like tube amps? Damn straight I do but this thing is a miracle worker when you consider a $300 price tag.

Oh and yes, get a v2 in the mustangs. Both of mine are v2 and not an odd sound comes out of it.
 
Instead of buying another guitar, find a good teacher and take lessons. It's the best, fastest way to learn, and the teacher will be able to work with your skill set, because every student is different. Besides, it's fun.


YUP! Been taking lessons for 3 and a half years and just got rid of my cheap ole Fender Frontman AMP.
I kind used it as a reward for myself to get a decent amp..

Scales, open and power chords, pentatonics...Some fun sonsg to keep a pleasure/work mix..play play PLAY...practice practice...

I am NOT bored with any of it becuase I know it will pay off and all come together...I am just now starting to reach out to other musicians and possibly taking a harder look at my Torero..But a low E string is a Low E string..

As a beginning sudent, I dont care if that string sits on a 10,000 dollar guitar or a 100 guitar..the mechanics are the same. And any time screwing around shopping for the 'next' guitar means I am not playing.
Shop less, play more.

At the end of the day do you want to be a guitar collector or a guitar PLAYER?
 
I can't play worth a lick but I sure have one pretty guitar. Even if I never learn how to play I can see a wall full of these things in my future.

My ability to buy guitars far exceeds my ability to play guitars. :vroam:
 
YUP! Been taking lessons for 3 and a half years and just got rid of my cheap ole Fender Frontman AMP.
I kind used it as a reward for myself to get a decent amp..

Scales, open and power chords, pentatonics...Some fun sonsg to keep a pleasure/work mix..play play PLAY...practice practice...

I am NOT bored with any of it becuase I know it will pay off and all come together...I am just now starting to reach out to other musicians and possibly taking a harder look at my Torero..But a low E string is a Low E string..

As a beginning sudent, I dont care if that string sits on a 10,000 dollar guitar or a 100 guitar..the mechanics are the same. And any time screwing around shopping for the 'next' guitar means I am not playing.
Shop less, play more.

At the end of the day do you want to be a guitar collector or a guitar PLAYER?

Not to mention with a regularly scheduled lesson you will push yourself. You will want to accomplish the goals your teacher set so you can progress. I started with youtube lessons which got a solid start but I found myself not keeping up with practice. When you go to find a teacher you need to find someone with good references and that will teach you theory and not just how to play songs. If you don't know why you are doing what you are doing you will never be able to work things out for yourself down the road. I am 18 months in and when he writes out a new song to work on I can work out new chords without too much trouble based on knowing what their names mean. I took lessons for a while years ago and my very first lesson ever I sat down... the teacher tuned my guitar with his back turned to me... he then said, "we are going to teach you to play Layla"... I had no idea why I was putting my fingers where I was, I had no idea what key I was in, I had no idea how to learn anything from what I was doing. That didn't fly for long with me and I threw in the towel for a decade. A teacher that will teach you music that just so happens to be played on a guitar with vastly more valuable than a teacher that will show you how to play a few songs. The songs will come naturally as you learn the theory.
 
Back
Top