Practice amp recommendations please..

oreca · Post by **oreca** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:14 am

I must say the Pathfinder 15R makes for a pretty nice practice amp.

Just got rid of mine to upgrade to a AD60VTX.

mdbuck · Post by **mdbuck** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 9:18 am

Someone mentioned trying out a G-Dec which stands for Guitar-Digital Entertainment Center. I just got one.

I can see these things being a great practice amp if you are all by yourself. It's a band-in-a-box. Has many types of musical arrangements and you can download your favorite midis. You can also record a riff your doing and loop it. There is alot more features than what I've decribed and I don't want to make this post huge.

It doesn't sound like a normal amp but more like a Hi-Fi component. It's small w/strap as you can see in the above pic. The controls

are easy to use.

You can change the pre-sets to what ever sound you are looking for and if you want to plug your guitar into another amp and use the Gdec simoltainiously, that works great also.

There have been a lot of great suggestions put down here so far but, what ever you do, give the G Dec a shot as well. You won't be disappointed!(imo)

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:12 am

It looks like a car stereo!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:40 am

I did me one better I bought 'player-in-a-box' they come out and play the thing, all I gotta do is sit there and watch it.

philco · Post by **philco** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:06 pm

A Kustom Tube 12 sounds as good or better than an old Champ amp and will set you back $105 for a new one, plus S&H from Music123 and others. It sounds really big for such a little amp. Don't use the Chinese tube that comes in some of them, unless you like heavy metal grating didtortion. A JJ or Ei tube gives a good sound in them. The Ei ECC83 has the most upper harmonic chime.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:45 pm

Bob, am I getting a Luddite vibe here?

Right after I wrote my last post I checked on eBay for Champs. A nice older one (50s) will set you back a grand easily. A newer one goes for $300-350. There was a nice '58 claiming to be 100% original, whose photos showed new vinyl wiring and brand new caps. It is still there, has several days left, and was at around $500 this am. Yikes.

The market is changing, or better said, expanding. That Fender thingie does look like a car stereo, does give off a video game vibe, and that's wily marketing at work. So's the shoulder strap it comes with. And, Bob, it IS a band-in-a-box, but less entertaining, because it can't do between-songs patter.

Uh-oh. Did I give Fender an idea for free? Better call a lawyer here.

Back to the topic: This is for kids who live in a digital world. Guitar karaoke, if you will.

eatswodo · Post by **eatswodo** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:53 pm

I'll second Phil's recommendation for the Kustom Tube 12 - it's an outstanding little amp for the money.

philco · Post by **philco** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 4:24 pm

Right, David. It costs almost no money.....less than Celestion wants for a single speaker these days.....and it comes with a Celestion anyway! The cheap Super 8 speaker isn't the best, but it sounds very good within its low power range. The worst part is the hum from the AC heater supply. Some modern preamp tubes that have DC heaters can't be used in it. I suggest drilling through the baffle plate and bolting the baffle plate to the cabinet. The short wood screws quickly pull out of the particle board. Using black bolts makes the mod almost invisible. After a few simple tweaks, it's stone reliable. There's a chip in the amp that can be upgraded, and I hear it really improves the sound. The mod is listed in the Harmony-Central reviews. I just checked, and the little amp has an overall rating of 9 in the reviews. A 12AY7 tube really smooths out the distortion, but it really cuts the gain when run clean. A 5751 tube gives more gain but not quite so smooth distortion. A high gain 12AX7 will give you raw metalhead distortion. It's a neat little amp to tweak, and it's too cheap to worry about blowing up. My father has been playing his constantly since fall of 2002, and no breakdowns at all. He much prefers it to his 1x12 130W Peavey combo. He even prefers it to my Marshall AVT-50. Sounds killer with his Oscar-Schmidt ES-335 style guitar. He uses the Ei ECC83 tube in his. Best tube for clean country pickers.

mdbuck · Post by **mdbuck** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:35 pm

Hmmm. For kids that live in a digital world. Paul, this is definetly not for you(the Gdec). However, one who is willing to take a stab at playing through the thing, listening to it and giving it a chance may think otherwise. Obviously the sophistication level of this little amp doesn't measure up to some. More like a toy rather than a tool, eh. I do see the 'car stereo' reference to it though. Well, whether it be a toy or a tool, it's a cool little amp and I was offering my two cents to this post. After all, it's not meant to replace a tube amp for practice, just another alternative...

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun May 01, 2005 2:52 am

Michael, you must have me confused with Bob Young!

Here's my complement of amps:

1960 Fender Pro 15" JBL (tubes! lots of 'em!)
2004 Line 6 Spider II 112 (all digital) My home practice amp.
2005 VOX Valvetronix AD30VT (digital) My office practice amp.
1998 ART DST 825 (digital with 12AX7 preamps). Recently acquired; unbelievable early modeling amp with 2-12s and gobs of tone and power. Gives the 1960 Pro a run for its money (they both cost the same used--$400.00, although I've had the Pro since '81). The 825 is almost as big, equally heavy and powerful, and so far has better tone, richer and with more depth. And we won't go into flexibility.

In addition, I've just picked up a Tonelab SE and have so far lost a couple of nights' sleep beginning to learn it. It's all digital with the 12AX7 preamp deal, too...)

My comments on the new Fender (I tried it out last Wednesday, BTW) were not in the nature of bashing it. I was merely mouthing off on what I thought was Fender's market positioning on the item.

"As a technology grows, its complexity and price expands in both directions." (Old engineering axiom)

The guy who cracked wise on that one (it wasn't Jerry Orbach) had no idea that complex technology and low price could go hand in hand, as they do in this gadget, or that simplicity could be so expensive (as in a tan handwired AC30)!

clearblue · Post by **clearblue** » Sun May 01, 2005 5:39 am

Comparing the Line 6 Spider II 15 Combo to the Vox AD15VT I felt the Vox was more versatile.
I really can't afford the Line 6 Spider II 112.

mdbuck · Post by **mdbuck** » Sun May 01, 2005 6:40 am

Paul, the amps in the picture are mine. Including the little box with the car stereo look. One of the beauties of this little guy is that it doesn't talk back at you, do drugs, not show up for practices or raid your refrigerator...and drink all your beer.

I don't believe that most people will find it just an amusement although it IS amusing. But, for me, it potentially is a great tool. Although I don't gig anymore, I do suffer from the addiction of playing my guitars and experimenting. Anyway, it was just an idea thrown into the mix.

What ever one is looking for in a good practice amp, it all come down to what you are looking for. For me, all those amps are practice amps. I also suffer from the affliction of not being able to decide what amp I want so I have the CyberTwin AND the Valvetronix. They have saved me alot of money, not to mention the space.

Anyway, I don't want to hi-jack this thread explaining anymore of my preferences soooo....back to the topic at hand.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun May 01, 2005 7:50 am

Michael, I hope my comments were not taken as negative criticism of the li'l guy...and I did notice your stable of sound reinforcement in the pictures.

As is the case with people with similar preferences, I think that you and agree in principle on this.

And it wasn't me who made the car stereo comment, although it does have some truth to it, and I think that's deliberate on Fender's part. Amps with seventeen dials on the front (where they should be, IMO) intimidate some newbies. The friendly face of that li'l guy does a lot to mitigate that.

Dan, I agree that the VOX is more flexible than the Line 6, based upon my own experiences with my own amps.

I heard that Line 6's name is a cocaine reference...

clearblue · Post by **clearblue** » Sun May 01, 2005 11:13 am

I've returned the VOX and haven't purchased another amp at this time. I'm looking at a Peavey TransTube 258 EFX. It's very light compared to the Vox I returned. It sounded better than the Line 6 Spider II 15 for clean tones.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun May 01, 2005 12:06 pm

Dan, I do agree wth you on the Spider. I loved it at first, but compared to both the cheap Vox and my Fender, it sounds really dry and "digital".

The ART 825, on the other hand, continues to amaze me the more I play with it. I have begun to program it, and believe it or not, I can get an ORGAN sound from my guitar with it. I can mix harmonics and sustain to the point where it has the rich harmonics of my Farfisa Pro Duo when some of the 2/3 and 1/5 stops are used. Amazing. Not to mention that it is very rich and warm. Too bad they are no longer made. But it's far from portable. It's a gigging amp--lots of power and quite heavy.