# Newbie looking for a better amp.



## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

I have a Dean Markley 15x little cheapo amp which I really hate and want to replace. It sounds terrible and I need something that sounds a little more crisp.

Anyone know what kind of amp I should look at? My price range is sort of low since I'm only 14. 

I'd go between 150-250 dollars.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
(I'm ganna check a few stores in and around Moncton if that helps any residents)


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## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

whatever you do, don't really look at how cheap an amp is and how many watts it is. try to find a small tube amp. I've gone through a bunch of different amps(now im 18 years old). my first amps were solid state and i was never happy with them. finally I have a valve amp and wish I had just bought one when I started playing with other musicians. chances are, if you're 14 you may not be playing in a band so don't be worried about how many watts the amp is. Just find something that sounds good, has a range of volume and features you're looking for.


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

Are you jamming with other players or just learning to play guitar by yourself at home? If it's the latter, I wouldn't buy an amp at all. Instead I'd get something like this:

http://www.behringer.com/V-AMP2/index.cfm?lang=ENG










I wish this technology existed when I first started playing. For $100 you get a whackload of modeled amps, distortions, effects, tuner, etc. Perfect for headphones or plug into a boombox or home stereo - or computer soundcard to play around with recording. Of course you can plug it into the front of an amp too.

Later on, when you're playing in a band, etc, you'll need a good tube amp but for now I say this is the ONLY way to go.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

If you want a tube amp, look into the Epiphone Valve Junior. Great little amp but it won't do metal and it won't get distorted until it is pretty loud; if you cannot be loud don't buy a tube amp (even small ones are still loud).

Check out the Vox DA5. It's a small modeling amp that sounds great and it cheap. Check out my other post for a review.

TG


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## Tarl (Feb 4, 2006)

The Roland Cube series is always a good reliable choice.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

back a number of years ago before I could afford a tube amp (and didnt need anything louder) I played through one of the small 10 watt solid state marshalls. Yes, they are not that bad, and I think I bought mine for well under $100 C brand new in the box (off some guy).

AJC


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

ajcoholic said:


> back a number of years ago before I could afford a tube amp (and didnt need anything louder) I played through one of the small 10 watt solid state marshalls. Yes, they are not that bad, and I think I bought mine for well under $100 C brand new in the box (off some guy).
> 
> AJC


I have the Marshall MG15CD. Basic SS practice amp. Not really that good. The Vox Pathfinder 15R is at least 5x better to my ear.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

I say get a used Fender Pro Jr.

You can find one in the upper end of your budget, and it will last you a lifetime. Great little amp for the money.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

That is a good choice too. Can you get one of those for $250 Cdn?

Hey Luke98, what kind of music do you play? Are you playing with our people or just alone? Is volume a concern or a necessity? It's hard to make a recommendation without a bit more info.



Jeff Flowerday said:


> I say get a used Fender Pro Jr.
> 
> You can find one in the upper end of your budget, and it will last you a lifetime. Great little amp for the money.


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

I Play with friends sometimes, but play alone mostly. Volumes kind of an issue since I tend to play at night in my room when I'm home.

My friend has A fender Pro and I love it so i'm definately going to check out the fender pro jr.

Thanks for the suggestion Robboman, but I already have a very expensive pedal with like a billion different settings on loan .

Thanks everyone.

I play every genre of music, from country to a bit of metal if i feel like it, so A more versitile amp is best. I'm not worried about distortion and overdrive settings though, because, as I said, I have an amazing pedal.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> That is a good choice too. Can you get one of those for $250 Cdn?
> 
> Hey Luke98, what kind of music do you play? Are you playing with our people or just alone? Is volume a concern or a necessity? It's hard to make a recommendation without a bit more info.


Used you might find one for $250.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> I have the Marshall MG15CD. Basic SS practice amp. Not really that good. The Vox Pathfinder 15R is at least 5x better to my ear.


...i agree, this is an excellent choice. 

or, for more bells and whistles, a vox modelling amp.

-dh


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

Tarl said:


> The Roland Cube series is always a good reliable choice.


+1 on the Cubes - the ugly old orange ones can occasionally be found for super cheap and they are real workhorses. If not, the new ones work well and have some nice features.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Paul said:


> Myles Rose, who works for Groove Tubes, and is one of the worlds great authorities on tube amps


I don't know about that...


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

So far on my list of amps to look for and try I have;

the Fender Pro Jr

Vox Pathfinder 15R

Spider II's 

Any other advice and what prices I should look for to not be ripped off?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Luke98 said:


> So far on my list of amps to look for and try I have;
> the Fender Pro Jr
> Vox Pathfinder 15R
> Spider II's
> Any other advice and what prices I should look for to not be ripped off?



...good choices! don't forget the vox da15. i find long & mcquades prices are very difficult to beat, except perhaps in urban areas where there is plenty of competition. take a look at harmony central reviews to see what others have paid, especially in canada.

choose the pro jr (tubes, no reverb) or pathfinder if you want pure tone. choose the line six or da15 if you want built-in effects and amp models.

-dh


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

*"You can believe me, because I never lie!"*



Jeff Flowerday said:


> I don't know about that...



Agreed! This guy comes from the Jim Baker/Tammy Fay school of self-promotion.

He's a self-appointed authority. He does have a lot of knowledge but he seems to always imply that he's one of the ONLY authorities! What's more, if you poke around his site you find that he always gives great reviews to stuff HE sells or stuff sold by HIS business network.

He also loves to threaten lawsuits against anyone who disagrees with him who's a business competitor. Only if they are too small to afford much of a fight, of course.

He threatened to sue a domestic Canadian competitor. Like many Americans he hadn't considered that it's a lot more complicated to sue someone in a different country. American law doesn't apply here.

My advice is to always pay attention to the source. Follow the money and it will tell you who's biased and who has no agenda.


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## RippingRudy (Feb 2, 2006)

Honestly, the perfect amp for you is a Roland Cube - Get either the cube 15 or Cube 30. It is the best practice amp you can buy and sounds better than any other amp in it's class. It comes with 4 of the most necessary guitar tones and also has built in delay, reverb and other effects.

I have a microcube which sits next to my computer - At very low volumes it sounds better then some tube amps. PERFECT for a young guy getting his start - Or in my case, an old guy still kickin'!!!


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## bRian (Jul 3, 2006)

Check this link out, a guy from Sackville, NB has a Peavey Studio Pro, asking $150. 
http://media.locals.ca/localsconf/viewtopic.php?t=93225


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

Thanks everyone, I was at music stop today and looked for a few amps that you mentioned, but the only ones they had were the roland cube's, which I'd rather look at other things first, since I'm not really looking for effects, I just want a standard distortion and a crisp clean sound.

I'm ganna check out that link Brian.
EDIT: I think it sold, somebody already said they'd buy it.


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

Got A fender Pro Jr for sale?
I had a chance to try one and now im next to sure I wants it for the right price.

http://guitarscanada.com/Board/showthread.php?p=35562#post35562


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## acdc51502112 (Mar 20, 2007)

I sujest a epiphone vavle junior (combo or head) simple as hell and has almost a marshall tone. All it has is a volume knob and thats all u need about $120 at L&M plug it into some g12-65s with a vintage SD-1 woooooo rape in a can. Oh, and don't get any of the other ones just the vavle junior all the other epip ones suck. and the cubes are good too.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

acdc51502112 said:


> I sujest a epiphone vavle junior (combo or head) simple as hell and has almost a marshall tone. All it has is a volume knob and thats all u need about $120 at L&M plug it into some g12-65s with a vintage SD-1 woooooo rape in a can.



...i'm going to have to grab one of those - i keep hearing so much about them.

-dh


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## Adicted to Tubes (Mar 5, 2006)

The valve jr in it's stock form is kind of lame.There are a million threads on other sites about mods and more mods to get them sounding right.
My take is this: why buy a cheapo valve amp or some solid state modeling amp and have to mod the crap out of it to get it to sound half as good as a Pro JR?
Find a Pro JR and use your pedals to get any sound you want.Listen to Jeff Flowerday.He knows what he's talking about.
Once you go tube you will never look back at solid state.Ever.


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## acdc51502112 (Mar 20, 2007)

Adicted to Tubes said:


> The valve jr in it's stock form is kind of lame.There are a million threads on other sites about mods and more mods to get them sounding right.
> My take is this: why buy a cheapo valve amp or some solid state modeling amp and have to mod the crap out of it to get it to sound half as good as a Pro JR?
> Find a Pro JR and use your pedals to get any sound you want.Listen to Jeff Flowerday.He knows what he's talking about.
> Once you go tube you will never look back at solid state.Ever.


a valve junior is all u need trust me, and u won't need to mod it, if you do u're f'ing retarted lol. If u have pedals try em with the valve, then play without the pedals (you'll be sellin those pedals soon after ).

:food-smiley-004:


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

IMHO the one thing that you MUST do with the Valve Jr is swap out the tubes. The difference is night and day. I'm still amazed that a amp built in China has Russian tubes in it....evilGuitar:


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

As well as the Vox DA5 another good value is the Orange Crush SS amps.

A lot of people say the same things about them as the Vox amps... "sound great for SS."


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## Coustfan'01 (Sep 27, 2006)

sesroh said:


> whatever you do, don't really look at how cheap an amp is and how many watts it is. try to find a small tube amp. I've gone through a bunch of different amps(now im 18 years old). my first amps were solid state and i was never happy with them. finally I have a valve amp and wish I had just bought one when I started playing with other musicians. chances are, if you're 14 you may not be playing in a band so don't be worried about how many watts the amp is. Just find something that sounds good, has a range of volume and features you're looking for.



I'll tell you the exact opposite . If you play in a band and can't keep up with the drummer , it doesn't matter how great you sound .And don't expect bandmates to have a 10000000000 watt PA and mics to fix the problem . My first amp was a 120 watt crate 2X12 combo , and it did the job . 

On the other hand , if you only play in your bedroom/basement , a small tube amp will probably sound better .


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Coustfan'01 said:


> I'll tell you the exact opposite . If you play in a band and can't keep up with the drummer , it doesn't matter how great you sound .And don't expect bandmates to have a 10000000000 watt PA and mics to fix the problem . My first amp was a 120 watt crate 2X12 combo , and it did the job .
> On the other hand , if you only play in your bedroom/basement , a small tube amp will probably sound better .


....just to make things interesting, i'll tell YOU the exact opposite.

at bedroom levels, give me solid state over tube amps.

i'm not sure why, however. it seems that, at low volume levels, you have to keep pushing a tube amp to get it to reproduce all the frequencies.

:food-smiley-004: 

-dh


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

acdc51502112 said:


> a valve junior is all u need trust me, and u won't need to mod it, if you do u're f'ing retarted lol. If u have pedals try em with the valve, then play without the pedals (you'll be sellin those pedals soon after ).
> 
> :food-smiley-004:


The Valve Jr. in combo form is just too boxey, IMO. I'm not a fan of 8" speakers. That said the Weber 8F125 is a pretty big sounding 8" and probably do wonders for the combo.

The Valve Jr. head is a different story, it leaves all kinds of opportunity with cabs. That said the end result then becomes expensive because of the need for a cab.

Jeff


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm a basement player - and I know y'all seem to be huge fans of the tube amps......but I have a crate VTX65 - it's solid state....the effects work very well but I rarely use them as pedals are much easier to change "on the fly"


but - I am very happy with it.......it's a little too powerful for a basement - but it really does have very nice tone for a solid state

it's about $450 new


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I should get one of this Valve Jr heads one of these days. For the price of it, I don't think you could go wrong with it.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Not sure what you desire but as far as tube amps go here is a good place to start... 

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=254&CollectionID=13

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=255&CollectionID=13

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=256&CollectionID=13

Some clips here... scroll down to Epiphone...


http://www.instituteofnoise.com/L6/ampclips.asp

Khing


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