I was in my
local music shop today to sell my daughters trumpet that has been collecting dust for a few years. The sales manager offered me $200 for it - cash or store credit. Since I made the rental / purchase payments, and she was the one who lost interest playing trumpet 1 month after the trade in period was over, I got to keep the cash.
I've been wanting a nice 50 watt solid state 1x12 combo to use for practice and jamming. I checked out the Ibanez Tone Blaster TB50R and was pleasantly surprised. It has clean and overdrive channels with separate EQ sections and a shared reverb. The overdrive channel has a push - pull mid-shift knob that cuts the mids at 600 Hz or 1000 Hz.
It comes with a 2
button footswitch that can be plugged into either of 2 footswitch jacks. Jack 1 lets you switch channels and engage a +6 db lead boost. Jack 2 allows you to switch between the 2 mid-shift settings and turn the reverb on or off. If you buy another 2 button footswitch, you can perform all 4 functions.
The store was selling it for $249, so I picked it up for $49 out of pocket! - Not bad for a brand new - in the box 50w combo w/ footswitch.
It's perfect for my needs as a practice amp. It has a headphone jack and nice "bedroom metal" tones at low volume and is loud enough that I can use it at impromptu jams. The distortion is kinda harsh and gets that typical solid state "buzz tone" once the gain goes above "4" but it sounds ok to me, and has plenty of sustain and gain anywhere between the 2 and 4 setting. I haven't tried it out with my pedals yet. The clean channel also has a gain knob so you can use it super clean or crank the gain for a bit of hair around the edges - not really distorted, but nice and crunchy.
I'm also gonna take it to gigs to use as a backup in case my Carvin X100B ever goes on the fritz. It has a speaker out jack, so I can plug directly into my 2x12 or 4x12 cabinet on stage.
Pretty versatile 50 watt amp for $49 ($249).
