I need a new amp, reccomendations?

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun May 05, 2002 2:36 pm

I play a 360 and a 360/12. I play most pop rock, REM, Matthew Sweet, Beatles, kinda stuff.

I currently play thru a Fender hot rod deluxe and don't really like it much. I also have a Peavey Delta Blues and don't like that much either.

Any reccomendations?

Please help?

corey · Post by **corey** » Sun May 05, 2002 3:37 pm

Well, speaking as a fellow 360 and 360/12 player who plays lots of R.E.M., I'd recommend you test out some Vox products. I like my Vox Cambridge Reverb 30 a lot.

On a "Hey, try out the new technology to see if you like it" note - check out any Line 6 product you cna get your hands on.

Between Vox and Line 6, you've got everything from retro to the most current sounds covered.

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Sun May 05, 2002 4:36 pm

John-- Take a look at one of the models in the 18/00 series at the following website: http://www.audiocage.com/

Hope this helps.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Mon May 06, 2002 2:00 am

I am partial on the low end to the Vox Cambridge series, which has been discontinued to the best of my knowledge. You can find new ones under $200.00. These are tube preamp only. For ulitmate clean, I also like the Roland Jazz Chorus amps, as well. These are 100% solid state, though.

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon May 06, 2002 3:22 am

Jim ...I am a die hard tube nut .

I own a Mesa Boogie Mark II C ,
1958 Tweed Deluxe
1959 Tweed Princeton (best distortion box ever)
1961 Brown Fender Deluxe ...Great Gretsch guitar amp , terrible Fender guitar amp
1962 Fender Bandmaster
1965 Fender Super
1966 Fender Vibro Champ
1956 Fender Tweed Champ (the Clapton Layla tone)
1966 Fender Deluxe Reverb

My gigging amp Was the Boogie , great dirty tone okay clean , I amp switched ...The Bandmaster head was my 'clean' ...I never play six strings 100% clean ...I leave that to Don Adamek insteed.

What do I use live now ................more than 75% of the time ...I use a Flextone II 100watt amp made by 'Line 6' .
Does it sound like solid state......NO!!!!

Does iit get Boogie tone ....unbelievably close yes!!!
Does it get Vox ...sort of ,
Does it get Soldano ? ...Really close
What about Fender Tweed tone ......WOW!!!
I got it due to the A/B test done at my house with all my amps .

I will say ..It does NOT get 100% oof the tube tone ....but it does NOT have that solid state "Peavey" thing .

The Spyder Line 6 amp is worth lookinng at also .
I may get one of those as they are smaller and lighter for club gigs ....the Flextone II is not a light amp .

By the way ...it nails the Jazz Chorus perfect and the chorus IS the Roland chorus .Two versions of it .

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Mon May 06, 2002 4:28 am

The guitar player in my band uses a Hot Rod Deluxe Fender amp and IMO they are too muddy for a Rickenbacker. They are just too muddy. Period.

My .02:

A Roland Jazz Chorus 90 or 120....nice and bright; with a little compression they sound really cool.

OR-- an older Fender amp like a Super or Twin Reverb (black face) - get your wallet out. Maybe even a Showman or a Deluxe......something with top end.

sir_andrew_of_left_coast · Mon May 06, 2002 5:55 am

Jeffrey D. Bauguss:

Are you a Cage Amp owner, too?

cobrav · Post by **cobrav** » Mon May 06, 2002 6:57 am

John,

I also play a 360/12 and other brands of guitars. I recently bought a Line 6 Vetta and I'm really happy with its sound and its capability. It may end up not being the one for you but I would recommend you try it before making a final choice. Not only can you get a lot of good amp tones out of it, but you don't have to drag around a pile of stompboxes to add effects. Take your guitar down to the local music store and give it an audition.

It takes a lot of time to really begin to understand the capability. The presets are not really great but when you first plug-in, scroll through them to get a flavor for the variety of sounds available. Then try dial in a patch of your own. Using the 360/12, Select the amp you always wanted to own, add a compressor at stompbox 1, put a second one at stompbox 2, a little chorus at stompbox 3, and add some spring reverb at the end. Keep the volume low (about 9:00) and try out some early Byrds riffs.

Let me know what you think.

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Mon May 06, 2002 9:20 am

The other guitarist in my band had a Line 6, 2x12 Flextone amp, and it sounded good at a soft volume, but didnt really work well at concert volumes. It would start to sound small, and kinda 1 dimensional. My ric thru the deluxe would always smother the other guys tones.

I had tries using the POD thru the "in" of the effects loop, and into the normal input of my amps, and I got the same result. Great sounds at a low volume, but when I tried to turn up, it would just not sound good at all.

I am a little scared of line 6 because of this, but maybe I am just doing something wrong then?

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon May 06, 2002 9:53 am

Yes ... I play loud live ... in clubs and in a church group ...I crank it up .

There is a tweek you get using the floor pedals , you click on the upper left hand switch and it tells you what presets are being used ... there is a BOOST buttom (second from the lower left) I keep this off during chording stuff , but kick it in when soloing.

I also add what ever effect I want to help boost the sound ... the compressor works great .
I am a Humbucking kind of guy for the most part , but I use a Strat and my 1952 black guard Esquire also ...
I still have to adjust for the less power for those pickups .

For the Rick 12 string , I use the Matchless setting with some reverb and the compressor on .
I turn off the 'tube noise' for that guitar .

For soloing ...I have presets with tube noise in them .
It took me awhile to figure out what this amp can do ........Once you do that ...WOW

I would have to say that you only have scratched the surface ....

The POD is NOT the same thing ...that is the Walkman version .It is meant for headpphones.

I have two cabinets ... the stock one with two 12" speakers and one slant cabinet with two Celestions greenbacks .
I use that for the Soldano,Dumble and Rectifier settings and the stock speakers for the rest of the amp settings.

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Tue May 07, 2002 12:10 pm

Andrew Spencer-- No, I'm not a Cage amp owner, but I would LOVE to hear one of them. That classic Vox AC-30 Top Boost tone is just about my favorite and I suspect one of the Cage 18/00 models would get pretty darn close. I'm hoping for the opportunity to hear a nice Ric 12-string through one; I don't play guitar well enough to justify the expense of a Cage amp at this time.

Andrew, what can you tell us about your Cage amp? Ric and Vox lovers want to know......

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Tue May 07, 2002 1:23 pm

When I was playing guitar for awhile and owned a 330/12 I bought a Roland Jazz Chorus 77 to play through. I was a great versatile amp.
Not to long after I bought it I saw Roger McGuinn live performing his "Back from Rio" CD. He was playing his 360/12RM through a Jazz Chorus 120.
Check one out.

sir_andrew_of_left_coast · Tue May 07, 2002 1:59 pm

Well, Jeffrey, how'za'bout:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Cage/18_30TRC112-01.html

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Tue May 07, 2002 6:46 pm

Andrew-- Thanks for the link; highly interesting review. Makes me want to concentrate even more on learning guitar. I hope Pete continues building those things for awhile.

Now if I can just track down a vintage 30 watt Hiwatt combo with original Fanes in excellent condition. Hmmmm.............

sir_andrew_of_left_coast · Wed May 08, 2002 8:40 am

Pete is an all-around good guy. I believe he'll be building his amps for a while. He has (or at least had) a 360V64-12 that he said sounded great through his 18/00.

Good luck on your Hiwatt search!