# Marshall Mg or Vox Vt or ...



## vibe (Jul 10, 2009)

Hi i m buying a new amp, i bought my new guitar a month ago it s the ibanez rg350dx wh it s great and i love it i also got a Boss me 50 pedal on second hand but in a good shape,

i play a lot of metal :rockon2: mostly metallica, iron maiden, megadeth ... but i also like to play blues, santana, steve vai and some classical music (covers for Mozart and Bach) so i want something versatile my budjet is 200-300 CA$ i m between three options i tried the Marshall mg50 but it s higher than my budget and much more than what i need to practice in my bedroom and what if i get the 30 or the 15 would it be a big difference other than geting less power wich i dont really need to practice i also tried Vox VT30 it sounds good but it just felt less powerfull and i dont need all the effects built in since i got my pedal and the store guy suggested to me another opotion of pluging my pedal through good quality recording monitors the Tascam vlx5 (90wat) that cost only $200 cause they stayd too much in the store the problem is though the pedal gives the distortion and all the effects the monitors still dont have an amp simulation (pre-amp) do you think it will be a big diffrence i tried the pedal directly through speakers it was not bad at all and i thought with better speakers or monitors it would be intresting

feel free to give other options and even with a bit higher budget i might look for used amps to reduce the price


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I would look for a used peavey Bandit for around $250 - it will do metal fairly well (i wouldnt be using the pedal as the basis for your tone, i'd be using it for fx only).

Bear in mind that metal is usually an amp and sometimes an overdrive pedal, medium to high output pickups, turned up very loud.


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

A solid state amp may be fine for metal, but for blues and Santana, you might prefer a tube amp (like most guitarists) and you could use your pedal to get your metal out of it.

The Voc AC4TV8 combo is $275 at L&M. It might be worth trying out. A nice and small little tube combo.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

When I started playing again after quitting for decades, I got Marshall MG15. Clean was ok, dirt channel sucked. I use Vox Tonelab LE now, above what you are looking for, but it has some good sounds. Most comments I've about the Vox Valvetronix series are good - though reliability seems to the main issue. The Marshall MG series, meh.


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## passenger (Feb 10, 2006)

tried a Tech21 trademark 30 combo a few years back, was really impressed.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

See if you can track down a Blackheart little giant head in 3-7 watt. It has way more power than you think.
Used should be well under $200 and a cab will be a challange to find under $100.

Its an all tube head that cleans up real nice for blues and does very well with a pedal in front. Check out the detailed review in the review section.

ev


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## vibe (Jul 10, 2009)

thank you everyone for answering it s my first thread here and i really dont regret it 

the Vox AC4TV8 is intresting but with the price it seems cheap considering all tube amps are generally way mor expensive 

I guess it's a no for the tascam but if the marshall Mg got a good clean sound would it be completed by my pedal for the distortion and what is the difference between a 15W and a 30W exept for the power should i care about that too?

I will consider the other options and i am cheking out the reviews for every amp you suggested thanks again


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

the difference about most 15W and 30W amps is the speaker size, actually. I prefer at least 1 12-in speaker for all sorts of music.

The Tech21 is a great suggestion, that i've heard on other forums as well - not sure how easy they are to find, but the tone is apparently there.

you can get blues out of amps that do metal, but its a lot harder to get metal out of an amp that does blues well .

blues is more about the music then the tone - if you played a beaten up acoustic that barely held its tune, but chose the right notes/rhythms/etc you'd still be playing fine blues!

Tube amps are nice and all, but you're starting out - dont worry about that yet, gotta keep learning to play first!


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Vibe..my firend is selling his Peavey Bandi..as Budda mentionned..very versatile amp, loud if you want it to be. i'm in Sherbrooke. i'll make ya a deal if you wanna come try it out.

THanks


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## infinitemonkey (Jan 20, 2008)

I emailed Long and McQuade about a Trademark 30, and they told me they can't get them because they aren't CSA approved. I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, the Tech21 situation in Canada is a bit limited. L&M have the TM60 and the power engine, but that would be about it for new stuff. The TM10 can be found used, but they are getting harder to find.

I have a TM10, and I don't find it's all that great for metal or high gain stuff. The bluesy tone is really nice and tube-like, but the high gain tones are nothing to get excited about. It also doesn't play well with dirt boxes. It seems to have the ability to soak up gain from a distortion pedal. I have a GoudieFX OTP, which is a fantastic pedal for metal. It has tons of gain. With the TM10, though, a lot of the bite seems to disappear. 

I would suggest looking at the Traynor Dynagain amps. I have a DG15 and it takes pedals well, like most SS amps. It also has a nice bluesy tone, that if you fiddle for a while, is as good or better than the TM10. I think there's one for sale in the For Sale forum here, but it would depend where you both are if it's worth shipping, because they're not that expensive an amp.

For a bit more money (still under $300) you can get the DG30, which has a 12-inch speaker instead of a 10, and has a few onboard effects. I think there's a review in the review forum here. I know a few people on here have them and like them.

Good luck


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## Skoczylas (Mar 27, 2007)

I used to own a BOSS ME50, and it was great through higher wattage solid state amps that had a good clean channel.

But! I tried it through a Marshall MG 15 and it sounded horrid. I would suggest the Epiphone Valve Jr. which I found had a great clean channel that would _probably_ take the BOSS ME50 superb-ly. Plus, it will give you a tube amp that are always fun to have.

Only problem I could see with going this route is that the Valve Jr. may be slightly too low of a wattage to handle lots of delay without distortion, but that is coming from someone who uses a ton of delay.


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## vibe (Jul 10, 2009)

well it s been a while since i posted this thread and i m still searching so i got a bunch of other questions that need some answers plz

for now i use the fender frontman 15, a very cheap amp but a little better through my pedal and other speackers, i ve tried a lot of ss amps and it dosent sound like a big upgrade to it, i didn t try the peavy bandit yet though. I ve seen very good comments about it and it seems the last option i would consider in ss amps. The only problem is that it dosent comme less than 60 or 80 watts which is way too much for practicing at home.

NOW!! i tried the fender blues jr and i was blown away by the sound quality, all the warmth and the tone it provides and when plugged through my boss me 50 (on DS1 distortion pedal) it gave a heavy metal tone which exceeded all my expectations and with only 15 watt it suits me very well. Of course this amp is way higher than my budget (new for $700 tax in) but i found some used ones around 400 and i think it would be a good long term investment but now i m wondering if there are other tube amp options that i could get on second hand for the same price (so around 700 if new) or should i just stick with it

please tell me what you think and thanks beforehand


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

1. How is 60W too loud for practising at home? A properly designed amp (most of the ones out today, ish) will get quiet enough for home use and will get loud enough to leave permanent hearing damage.
2. try to play a traynor YCV50B before entirely jumping on that Fender


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Don't be so worried about watts, my 7 watt tube amp is stupid loud at half volume in my house. Had it hooked up to a 4-12 at a jam with an MT-2 pedal in front, kept up no problem!

The key to most of the amps is in how you use them, you have two volumes usaly, master and channel. On a tube amp you have two distortions, pre amp (channel volume) and power amp (master).
For high gain bedroom it would be high channel volume and master to taste. For a nice blues sound it would be the other way around, clean channel volume low, master high.
What this does is get your tubes cooking in different ways and providing two completly different tones.
Saying that you will find each amp has a sweet spot, spending time with it is how you find it. They all differ even from the same model to the next.

Another detail on wattage, to double your power increases your DB or sound you hear by only 3 db. So a 50 watt amp is only 3db quieter than a 100 watt and you know how loud a 100 is. Go backwards..25 watt is 3db from a 50, a 12.5 is 3db from a 25, 6 watt is 3db from a 12.5, 3 watt is 3db from a 6.
So if my math is right at this time of day the 3 watt amp is 15 db less than a 100 watt amp. Saying a 100 watt tube head is doing a conservative 120db flat out means you can still get over 100 db with a 3 watt amp.
Bottom line, don't worry to much about wattage..they are ALL loud.
Just find one with channel and master volumes, you can figure it out from there.
Last thing, tube amps and SS amps use wattage different, tubes like to be cranked and SS not. So a 100 watt SS you want to keep below 8, when they distort (clip) its not pretty.

Back to the amps...The Blues JR is a great amp but I would not settle for anything with less than a 12 inch speaker. Actualy I would only buy a head, I find it provides way more options.
As Budda said, you are close to the Traynor prices, take you guitar down to L&M and give them a go. Sign up for the rental plan and take one home for a month, trust me its $40 dollars well spent!

Bev


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## foghorn99 (Apr 28, 2008)

*Modeling amps.....don't take pedals, well (IMHO)*

I have a Valvetronix (AD15VT)...great little amp for plug-n-play. The Boutique CL (clean) sold me on this baby...similar to my Twin, but only 22 pounds. Then I got hooked on the AC15 and AC30TB models...great for recording, especially with the 8" speaker...perfect frequency balance in the mix for guitar parts. The other amp models are 'fun'...but not close to any of the models that they claim.

BUT....as fun as these amps are, ensure that, if you like pedals...try it with your pedals first. The Valvetronix didn't take my chorus or fuzz-wah pedal very well. Sounded like digitized crap... I should have realized this because....

1. There is no effects loop
2. Anything that comes in the front jack (i.e. only jack) is digitized/manipulated.

A friend of mine has a Johnson Millenium....'the mother of all modeling amps' (LOL)....he has the same issue...doesn't take his multi-effects pedal board(s) well....even through the effects loop.

But other than that....the VT series is a lot of fun for the price.

-Kent


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## LaRSin (Nov 27, 2006)

I have the Tech 21 30 watt , it is nice amp ,
I don't use much anymore..


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## vibe (Jul 10, 2009)

Thanks for every one again especially budda whos responding to my every post and bevo for the detailed explanation which helped a lot, kind of reminded me of my physics lessons  from what i undertstand now the speaker is more responsible for the volume than the wattage 

I recently found a good offer for the Pro Jr for wich i had good comments some said it s even better than the Blues Jr with limited features it ll go perfectly with my pedal the guy asked for $300 which suits my budget perfectly but with some negociation i hope to go even lower i m gonna try it supposedly tomorrow 

I m stll curious about the traynors what is L&M is it an online store that i have to contact or can i find one where i live in montreal


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Long and McQuade

http://www.long-mcquade.com/


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