S/H Shopping, what should I go for?

SuperJemBoy · #1 02-05-2004, 01:36 PM

Heres the problem:
I'm currently ampless. I have just found a Digitech GNX1 for £140 s/h and a Yamaha DG60-112 for £200. Obviously, I would be playing through the GNX with headphones but which would be better for me? I'm looking for:
Clear, vibrant, completely undistorted (even at loud volumes) cleans. Something that really lets the sound of the guitar come through but colours it ever so slightly (otherwise I would use the PA

)
Distortion wise, I love Petrucci, Vai, Satch, all of their tones but I also the sound of Children of Bodoms guitars. I need a lot of mids and a lot of gain without it sounding too loose.

Does that all make sense? Which one should I go for? I have enough money for both. The only thing I think I need to say is that I care about tone, but not enough to buy a valve amp (ahh valves

)

Thanks for all your help in advance!
Joe

darren wilson · #2 02-05-2004, 01:41 PM

If you buy the Digitech box, you're STILL going to be ampless... aren't you comparing apples and oranges?

SuperJemBoy · #3 02-05-2004, 01:47 PM

Yes, but I would be willing to use headphones for that at home (there's amps and a PA I could plug into at my practice hall). Right now I'm totally ampless, nothing at all to play through.

Joe

darren wilson · #4 02-05-2004, 02:02 PM

Based on my gigging experience over the last year and a half, going direct on gigs is like pulling teeth. Sound guys genereally don't want to do anything different.

Quote:

"Where's your amp?"

"I'm not using one... just plug my pedalboard into a DI box and give me a loud monitor."

<blank stare>

Not to mention that you have to count on the sound guy having a free DI box and an available channel on the mixer, and the ability to give you your own submix for monitoring. I've had great sound out front going direct, but stage monitors are usually too directional and too weak for what i wanted on stage. When i couldn't hear myself on stage, my playing and showmanship suffered.

I've had MUCH better results since getting a decent power amp + cabinet, and get consistent sound from rehearsal to stage, and i just let the sound guy do what he's comfortable with, which is usually sticking a mic in front of the cabinet.

I'd say get an amp. With solid state, you want to get more wattage than you really need in order to keep the transistors in their comfortable operating range. Sixty watts will be fine for bedroom and small rehearsal use, but i've tried gigging with a 60-watt solid state amp and it sounded like utter crap.

SuperJemBoy · #5 02-05-2004, 05:09 PM

Thanks darren, that was helpful. I would rather have an amp that I can use to gig so maybe I'll keep saving.

Anyone else got any other input to help change my mind or persuade me to buy one of these?

Joe

bpd111 · #6 02-06-2004, 03:23 AM

Buy an amp.

somata · #7 02-06-2004, 02:24 PM

i'd agree that an amp would be the better choice, but if you would decide to get something to use with headphones and go direct, then the boss gt-6 would be a better choice...

in fact you could get a gt-6, an inexpensive poweramp and a cab and you could do it all! as your heart desires...

SuperJemBoy · #8 02-06-2004, 05:29 PM

Cool, thanks so far.
So, any poweramps in mind to go with that? With what everyone (this site and otherwise) has said, I think I might just go with a combo of some sort.
Any good recommendations? I'd probably go without valves so any good SS suggestions (doesnt that sound familiar lol)
THANKS!

Joe

Drew · #9 02-07-2004, 02:40 PM

Hmm. Good solid state combos? Tech-21. For what you get, the price is VERY reasonable... If you know you'll have a mic, an available channel, and enough power fromt he PA to get it up to manageable levels, the trademark-10 is about the best sounding small combo I've ever heard. If not, I'd say pass over the 60 and go for the 120- the 60 is GREAT for cleans and medium-gain tones, but for heavier stuff, I couldn't quite get a sound i liked out of it. I actually found that I got better sounds by distorting the "clean", fender-y channel and setting the darker "distortion" channel for a clean tone- it never got perfectly clean, something about enguaging the boost circuit (forgot what tech21 calls it, but that's it's basic function) on the fender side gave a slight grain-iness to the other channel- you could hear the difference on the marshall/mesa channel if you clicked back and forth between the boost on the fender channel- but it was serviceable. the trademark-120, however, had a bit more power on tap and was basically like three of the trademark 10's run paralell, with a few more options on tap- it could give you three independant channels with just about every concievable gain style and level on tap. Besides, it'll probably weight significantly less than any similar tube amp...

For solid state gear, Tech-21 isn't cheap, but you get what you pay for.

If you're willing to spend a little extra cash, you could definately find a good low-wattage tube amp that would also give you the kind of power and tone you'd need- the two I always suggest are the Mesa Nomad-45 and the Marshall DSL-401. Used you can probably find them around $600, about what you'd be looking for the tech 21 trademark 120, i believe, and tubes just have this magical character to them... A good tube amp running hard is a thing of beauty, and if nothing else, the psychological benefit of "heeeeey... my amp has little glowing things inside it!" can't be overlooked.

-D