Friends,

My son plays rhythm guitar with his (ska) band. He is now looking for a guitar amplifier. He used to gig with my old Peavey KB-300 and a cheap distortion pedal. His pedal got stolen, so now he is using it as an excuse to get a real guitar amp.

Can you give me some advice regarding which features to look for, which brands, which types of speakers to get (e.g. 2x12", etc.).

What is a reasonable price he should expect to pay? They play a lot, but their music does not bring income, so money is a concern. On the other hand, he does not want to buy cheap crap, but something he can use for years to come.

Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

Alex

I just bought a real nice Fender Blues Jr. on ebay for about $250 real nice tube amp with nice tone but only about 15 or 20 watts. Has a 10 or 12" speaker I'm not much on specs but it is nice sounding reminds me of the amps I grew up on in the 60's. Without the big price.

Alex, I have lots of guitar amplifiers, and have owned most of what's been available out
there(Standel, Gretch, Vox, Traynor and lots more). While I'm partial to Fender tube amps, recently, I've been using a Roland Cube 60...60 watts, 12" speaker...line out, cabinet similator, multiple effects...switching channels, capability of using an 8 ohm extension cabinet, which gives you nearly 80 watts...all in a light, easy to handle "cube".

Don't know about this one specifically, but have also been using a Roland Jazz chorus for nearly 20 years without a malfunction.

Street price...$349.00. Friends have been using various new Berringer models, which cost less, but I don't know much about them.

I use the Roland 4 nights a week, and it's worked flawlessly.

You might take a look at this one!

Good luck!


Russ

PS: I also have the Fender Blues Jr....nice little amp if you don't need the power and want that fat tube sound.

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 10-20-2005).]

Fender tube amps are tough to beat. Clean, crisp, clear sounds and lots of beef!

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

A tube amp for sure.
affordable?

Fender hot rod de luxe
Fender hot rod deVille
Fender concert II
in fact any fender TUBE guitar amp, but most of them could come expensive allthough in usa they are much cheaper as in europe.

Peavey classic 50 (the tube version!)

To be honest I don't know what SKA is?, so
if he needs more jazz sounds as pop/rock sounds the roland jazz chorus amps do very well.

I can mention a lot more but most of them are expensive...

Fred

At the moment I have;
Fender concert II
Fender Twin
Fender hot rod de luxe
Mesa mark IV
Roland JC77

The most versatile amp is the concert II which can still be found for reasonable
prices and is actually the amp I use most.

Alex,
I own a music store and sell the Fenders, Peavey, Behringers and Roland Cubes discussed here.
Personally, I would get a Fender Blues Deluxe (1 12") or the Blues Deville (2 12") speakers and know that I've got an amp for years and years.
The Roland Cubes are very nice but don't have all the warmth and pure volume the Fenders have.
I sell a lot of Behringer models, especially the GMX212 which has 120 watts, 2 12" speakers and built in effects. However, they are made in China and I don't know if they will last as long as a Fender under band level volumes and moving around. However, the Behringers are under $300.00 brand new and the fender DeVille is more like $750.00.
Peavey is a good choice for a little less money than the fender for a very similar all tube design, but you still see more Fenders played than anything else.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Alex:

There's lots of choices out there. I also don't know what ska (sounds sorta familiar) means. but you mentioned he plays rhythm guitar, but need more info such as, does he play acoustic electric?, or a solid body electric?, is he probably going to learn to play lead? There's a lot of different sounds from different amps, some amps are modeling amps, some amps are just straight amplifiers. Lots of youngsters use pedalboards..

I'm a fender man also, and I play every kind of music, and have many amps, the one I use is a 1964 Fender dual showman with reverb and vibrato. This is a head only and sits on a speaker Cabinet that I modified and currently has 2 heavy duty 15" woofers 2 8" mid range and a bass horn. I've never found anything better and no place it won't get the job done, and after all these years its still in perfect condition. It weights probably 175 lbs or close to it.

A good starter amp for a rocker is a fender princeton 65 watts with a 12" fender blue speaker. probably 285 bucks. a good amp for a acoustic electric player for folk church etc is a Fender acousonic comes in two sizes small is probably 350 bucks large probably around 650 bucks.

Versitile amp for all around use is Roland Jazz chorus probably get a used one from Ebay for about 300 dollars.

If it country, its gotta be tube, there's only one and thats Fender, I would pick a tube head and buy the speakers seperately and start him with 2 12" cab. The old Fenders are built like a tank and will not wear out, only need minor repairs sometimes, and a occasional tube. A good middle of the road choice is a mid 60's Bandmaster reverb, If it has to be all in one cabinet there's the Fender twin reverb, the #1 pick for the last 1/2 century and still probably tops, especially to older musicians who have worked with them.
You can buy used and if you look for a couple of things you can do okay on tube amps. look close for signs of tampering, missing parts and most important almost flawless in cosmetics, look in the back, no water marks, chassy Looks clean. turn in on and try it, if its quiet and has lots of volume and no scratchy sounds when knobs is turned its probably a good amp.
Buying a solid state(no tubes) is risky business, in used, wouldn't do it unless I knew the amp or person selling.....

Some of my veiws on this subject, not set in stone, but I've been using guitar amps since 1946, and have played thru most all of them. Hope you find something of use in my book.... ............pose

I have been using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for about 8 years now and I couldn't be happier with it. I'd recommend any of the Fender tube amps from the Blues Jnr and up. Personally I think tube amps are the only way to go. About the only solid state amp that is worth considering is the Roland Jazz Chorus that Russ and pose recommended.

George, how are those Peavey tube amps ? Do they compare well with similar Fenders ? I'm curious because someone was just telling me today that Peavey was selling a range of reasonably priced tube amps.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 10-20-2005).]

Friends,

Thank you very much for your advice. My son has been calling around today and found a used Peavey Classic 50 212BT for $375 - I guess that is a reasonable deal and an amp that would work for him. He is asking me to lend money for the amp, so I want to make sure he is making a wise decision.

He is playing a solid body with 2 single coil pickups DeArmond M75T, which he traded "up" from Ibanez Artcore.

Thanks again,
Alex

PS Fred, Pose, you can hear samples of my son's band on http://www.myspace.com/oedipusska
- this is not a true band site, so ignore the juvenile antics and poor recording quality. The music, though not my style, is pretty good - my son wrote all the songs.

Ok, Alex that's the good one.
212BT Should be 2 x 12" and blonde tolex.

My band mate uses one and I really like that amp.!

As it's used you might have the amp chequed on the tubes and tubecabs, allthough as long as no crackles when warming up they're probably fine.

Nigel,
The Peavey Classic 30 with 1 12" speaker and Classic 50 with either 2 12" or 4 10" speakers are both great amps. The peavey amps are american made, the fenders are made in Mexico, and are priced less than the Fenders. All and all, both brands are very good quality although for most, the resale value of the Fender's are probably a little higher.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Had to gig last night so no not much time yesterday.
I just listned to THE SKA music of your son.

Allthough it's not my style of music I do like the songs , refreshing and a kind of positive "have fun" feeling with it.
Note: the trumpet needs to practice his timing...that's not meant negative but just as an advise.
If it's played tight it will lift the songs to real swingin'..

Alex,
You shuld not borrow the money to your son for the amp, but give it away he's good enough

Friends,

Once again, thank you for the advice. The story ends that I took my son to the Guitar Center where he found the Peavey, and after trying it for half an hour, he did not like it much, so instead he settled on a new Fender Hot Rod DeLuxe 40 1x12 (so I have lent him $550 instead of $400). My son loves the tube sound, and I guess 40 watts is enough for him - I listened to them play an outdoor gig last night, and while the PA was struggling to match the drummer (who always seems to have too much caffeine) and the bass player with his own 4x12 cabinet, the guitar came through the mix quite well.

Fred, thank you for taking time to listen to their music, I am glad, though, that my son did not see your comment before our visit to the Guitar Center (or he'd have tried to get me to "give" him the amp). I also like the "happy" quality of his music, as well as the fact that his ear for harmonies is totally different from mine (I am more of a traditional "3 chord+" person myself).

I think that often guitar players suffer from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) even more than us the keyboard players - I only have 2 keyboards, the newest one is G1000 that is almost 8 years old. My son has gone through 3 guitars of his own (and at least 3 that he borrowed from friends), a banjo, a
a bass, numerous pedals (using one of my kb amps), and now his own amp - and I can afford to pay for my gear much easier than my son. I can also justify buying it much better, as I make more money in one gig than my son's entire band made in their entire musical carreer so far. It's hard to make kids (of all ages) happy these days...

That's a great choice Alex. While it may be a little more than you were hoping to spend he will be using that amp for many years to come so is well worth the extra. The Hot Rod Deluxe has a great tone and is very versatile.

Although it is 40 watts it is a powerful little amp. I have used one for years with my band and I never really get the volume control much past 2. We have a drummer playing an electronic V-Drums kit which does help keep the level down but the Hot Rod Deluxe is quite capable of cutting through the mix with an acoustic kit. I have had 100 watt Marshall amps when I was younger and found them to be too loud ie. I couldn't run them into distortion easily without deafening everyone. I find it is much better to have a smaller amp that you can run harder without overpowering everyone in the band.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 10-30-2005).]

Good choice Alex.
Peavey or Fender is more a matter of taste and also depends a bit of which guitar you are using.









Absolutely..
You will have noticed that most guitar players here have more then ten guitars by the way I'm still looking for an affordable VOX AC30

Fred

Those AC30s really are nice. I used one back in the 70s. Though the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe does remind me a lot of that Vox.

I was in a Guitar Center recently and tried out one of the Vox Guitar Modellers ( can't remember the name ). It surprised me how much it REALLY sounded like a tube amp. I guess Vox have quite reputation to keep up so made sure their modeller really is convincing. I have a Line 6 POD which is very good and fun to play through but doesn't really convince me as much as the Vox modeller did.

I accumulate a lot of guitars. I have around 10 guitars and basses. I bought a few cheap copies from http://www.rondomusic.com in New Jersey. Their Agile guitars made in Korea are VERY good value for the price. Harmony Central have a good collection of user reviews in their guitar database that confirm my opinion. I just love guitars I guess and can't help myself.