Amp advice please....

jclogston · #1 03-31-2008, 08:51 AM

Hi all -

I need some amp advice. I currently have a vox ad15 and after 4 years with it, it's time for a change. Some background, i play only at home in an apt, looking for nice cleans and a 80's metal distorted tone. I don't like any of the other modelers out there.
Looking at the following options:
1 - Peavey Valveking 112: I liked the second channel of this but the clean wasn't as great as i would have liked. The 50 W is overkill for my apt but i can always play lower.
2 - Fender Vibro champ xd: very nice cleans, distortion is lacking. I would use a pedal for my 80's metal tones. Tried and liked the Seymour duncan twin tube classic, want to try out their metal mayham. This option seems more appropriate but is more expensive.
3 - Mesa boogie subway rocket: have to buy used, always wanted one since they came out but cannot try one now. Always liked the mesa cleans; don't know if the rocket can handle 80's metal though?

Your thoughs/advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

jeff

losgatosrg350dx · #2 03-31-2008, 12:13 PM

1 peavey valveking is a great amp, but they lack in qualoty parts since they are soo cheap
2 fender makes some good amps, but not realy the vibro
3 mesa, well dont get me started

ever concidered a peavey jsx?
or a legacy combo?

kotornut · #3 03-31-2008, 01:03 PM

I recommend the Mesa because my experience witht he company has been top always. I love all of their products except the F series.

But for the price that Peavy looks really good. And the fender option is alright, but that Seymour Duncan pedal is good, but I would look into others before I bought one, it's not the best for metal IMO.

microdmitry · #4 03-31-2008, 01:21 PM

Subway Rocket has pretty crappy cleans, though. I had one a few years back. The distortion was great - "chewy" and dynamic. Clean tone sucked.

jclogston · #5 03-31-2008, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kotornut

I recommend the Mesa because my experience witht he company has been top always. I love all of their products except the F series.

But for the price that Peavy looks really good. And the fender option is alright, but that Seymour Duncan pedal is good, but I would look into others before I bought one, it's not the best for metal IMO.

I want to check out sd new metal mayhym pedal; it might be what i want/need.

jeff

Drew · #6 04-01-2008, 11:33 AM

I had a Rocket 44 ages ago, most of the way through college. It wasn't the greatest clean I'd ever played, but it could get nice and bluesy with a strat.

The gain, well, make sure you try it before you buy one. I thought it was an awesome sounding amp, very Mark-like, but I wouldn't describe it as at ALL 80s sounding, unless you're thinking Metallica. That's really more of a modded marshall sound you have in mind, which isn't really Mesa's forte, or at least not that particular amp. Maybe a Stiletto Ace or a Nomad?

**jim777** · #7 04-01-2008, 12:00 PM

I think the best tube amps have great cleans, personally. It is a million times easier to fuzzy up a nice clean than it is to dial a nice clean into an amp that doesn't have one

I think you're on the right track with what you were saying about the Fender Vibro-Champ; get your nice clean, and a pedal that will give you the distortion you want.

musicdr · #8 04-01-2008, 07:58 PM

I'm using a f30 for a bedroom amp.It sounds good for my purposes.I don't like it very much at high volume.At low volume its perfect.

**elcid** · #9 04-01-2008, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jclogston

I want to check out sd new metal mayhym pedal; it might be what i want/need.

jeff

Generally any pedal with "Metal" in the name isnt what you need. Of all the great metal tones ever recorded none were gotten with a pedal that advertised itself as metal, much like the Seattle bands got their tones before there was a Grunge pedal.

jclogston · #10 04-01-2008, 11:24 PM

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm going tomrrow night to try out some amps at my local store. They have if i remember correctly the following:

Peavey Royal 8
Peavey Valveking 112
Peavey mini collosal
Peavey Classic 30
Peavey Windsor Studio

Fender Vibro Champ XD
Fender Super Champ XD
Fender Champion 600
Fender Blues Jr

Traynor Custom valve 40 ?

Mesa Express 5:25
Mesa Express F-50
Mesa Express 5:50

Any ones i should really look at?

Thanks

Jeff

**jim777** · #11 04-01-2008, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elcid

Generally any pedal with "Metal" in the name isnt what you need. Of all the great metal tones ever recorded none were gotten with a pedal that advertised itself as metal, much like the Seattle bands got their tones before there was a Grunge pedal.

That's very true. I had a pedal once, I forget what, and it had the word Metal on it (I think it was red, maybe a DOD or something). It was laughably bad; completely unusable.

**jaxadam** · #12 04-01-2008, 11:45 PM

Metal Zone was a pretty kick ass pedal...

ColinMmmmm · #13 04-01-2008, 11:49 PM

Yeah I think the metal zone is the exception - it was one of Guitar Players top 50 pedals ever. But they didn't rank them. It could be that the metal zone was number 50, and they only threw it in to add some teenage drop D credibility to the bunch.

Clonetool · #14 04-01-2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elcid

Generally any pedal with "Metal" in the name isnt what you need. Of all the great metal tones ever recorded none were gotten with a pedal that advertised itself as metal, much like the Seattle bands got their tones before there was a Grunge pedal.

Grunge guys seem to like the Big Muff.