I have a rig that I currently use and LOVE (pod xt + atomic reactor amp), and I was thinking of getting another setup (perhaps going all-tube), since I split my time between college (in a diff state) and my home. My max cost for this is about 1300-1400. I play primarily instrumental rock ala Timmons/Vai/Satriani, and progressive metal (Dream Theater, Symphony X, etc). An important consideration is great tone at low volume levels, because I wanna be able to play it at bedroom volume and still get great tone. I'd love some suggestions! Thanks!
I dont mean it like I need to keep the volume at 0.5 or I'll get kicked out, I just mean i need it to sound good at a reasonable (read: not extremely loud) volume. Ive been lookin around a lot and i REALLY dig the Laney VH100R amp. Might be out of my price range though, and unfortunately it seems its only offered in stack form, not a combo.
I dont mean it like I need to keep the volume at 0.5 or I'll get kicked out, I just mean i need it to sound good at a reasonable (read: not extremely loud) volume.
Forget it because the legacy has only one volume. Extremely loud. Even with the volume knob on 1 it is retarded loud.
Try the JSX combo again. Buy it and take it home, test it for a week and if you don't like it, take it back. You can generally get a metal-like tone out of the ultra channel and add some stomps to it if you need more metal-like qualities.
I use it in my home and it maintains a nice sound even at low volumes. If you have a POD, hook it up to the loop via 4-cable method and it should change your original perception of the amp.
I used to play through a TriAxis straight into my computer's soundcard but thought I wasn't really using it to it's whole potential without a decent poweramp and cab after it, so I sold. But I love how it sounded.............
Just like shreddersymphony I'm now on the hunt for a nice combo that will get me that same sound. I play the same kind of music he does so I've been watching this thread very closely.
I only use two sounds: one for ditortion and one for cleans
On the TriAxis they were: Mark3c channel (Ld1 yellow) for the distortion and the clean yellow for cleans.
Last week I tried a few Laneys and didnt get even close to what I was looking for.
Yesterday I tried a Mark 3 1x12 combo. I started with the clean channel and was really excited when I heard how great it sounded. Crunch was good too, but I don't give a cr@p about AC/DC's sound. When I asked the guy to dial in the most distorted tone the amp could deliver I was like....................WTF?!?!?!?
You could barely call that a Metal distortion. Just a very overdriven crunch sound but forget about playing DT or Sx with that............. I was devastated.
He told me Marks were not intended as Metal amps and that if I wanted to get a good metal sound out of it I'd have to put a pedal in front of it.............no way
How is this possible, aren't Marks capable of giving me great Metal distortion without the need of a pedal? I don't want to spend over 1500 euros on an amp and then need to throw a 50 buck pedal in the signal chain.
Next week I'm trying out a Nomad and hope to have more luck with it. Anyone has any experience with this amps????
Yesterday I tried a Mark 3 1x12 combo. I started with the clean channel and was really excited when I heard how great it sounded. Crunch was good too, but I don't give a cr@p about AC/DC's sound. When I asked the guy to dial in the most distorted tone the amp could deliver I was like....................WTF?!?!?!?
You could barely call that a Metal distortion. Just a very overdriven crunch sound but forget about playing DT or Sx with that............. I was devastated.
He told me Marks were not intended as Metal amps and that if I wanted to get a good metal sound out of it I'd have to put a pedal in front of it.............no way
How is this possible, aren't Marks capable of giving me great Metal distortion without the need of a pedal? I don't want to spend over 1500 euros on an amp and then need to throw a 50 buck pedal in the signal chain.
I've never played a Mark amp, but ermm...Did -you- get a chance to muck with the settings or did you just have the guy in the store dialing stuff in for you? Do you know what settings he was using to give you "as much distortion as the amp had"? And what guitar were you using through it?
Besides, if you're willing to spend that much on an amp, then what's 50 bucks more for an entire new range of tones?
I went to a private to try it out because he's the one who's selling it. The Mark has a kind of complicated architecture and therefore I was asking the guy to change stuff around whenever I didn't understand how to do it myself. He knew how to move around the dials.
Anyway, we tried everything but not a hint of a decent metal distrtion.
My point about the pedal is: I need a decent combo ONLY to get a good distortion sound out of it (I dont care about cleans, effects or whatever), so I want one where I can plug in, turn on and there's my tone. Without other devices.
Anyway Im trying out a nomad next week I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Well, they are discontinued but you can still find them and I will put it against ANY other combo. Vox AD120VTX. It has a killer Recto tone and can also do Marshall, AC30 and twin sounds. With the big controller pedal, the only stomp box I need is a talk-box and the power knob on the back goes from 60-30-15-1 watt so bedroom playing works good too. Tone rules.
Have you tried the Hughes and Kettner Switchblade yet? They have it in combo and head format. I have one of each and they are pretty awesome. I know some people may be tone purists insisting that the Switchblade isn't a "true" tube amp because it has the EFX built in and such but it screams at all volume levels.
The great thing is, is that the Switchblade sounds really good at low volumes because in my cover band, I use it in smaller venues so I don't have the thing cranked. When you do open it up, it's amazing. The other great thing is that there are 4 distinct channels with one of them being ridiculously overdriven. I used all Line 6 stuff for my cover band because of the versatility but the stale tone got to me after a bit. I still have an old school POD Pro 2.0 that I keep in my recording rig, but I got rid of the amps.
If you want to get away from the EFX being mixed in with the amp, try going old-school with an ADA MP-1 and a nice tube rack head.... Should still come in under the budget.
Have you tried the Hughes and Kettner Switchblade yet? They have it in combo and head format. I have one of each and they are pretty awesome. I know some people may be tone purists insisting that the Switchblade isn't a "true" tube amp because it has the EFX built in and such but it screams at all volume levels.
The great thing is, is that the Switchblade sounds really good at low volumes because in my cover band, I use it in smaller venues so I don't have the thing cranked. When you do open it up, it's amazing. The other great thing is that there are 4 distinct channels with one of them being ridiculously overdriven. I used all Line 6 stuff for my cover band because of the versatility but the stale tone got to me after a bit. I still have an old school POD Pro 2.0 that I keep in my recording rig, but I got rid of the amps.
If you want to get away from the EFX being mixed in with the amp, try going old-school with an ADA MP-1 and a nice tube rack head.... Should still come in under the budget.
I agree, you should try it out. I actually just sold mine and have lately been regretting it. They are definatley sweet amps and when I had it I actually got a lot of compliments about my tone. They are very versatile.
There's nowhere to really try that amp around here. Anyway, thanks for all the ideas. I think I'm probably just going to pick up another Atomic if I want that second rig. I got to spend some quality time with it recently (i left it at home when i went up to college for the last few weeks of this semester), and it's simply fantastic. There's no need for anything else.
Yep, had one a few amps ago, lol. Great for classic rock tones, not up to my standards for metal. I'm not really a fan of the British type lead tone either.
The older blue grill valvetronix VTX models are absolutely killer. The Recto patch rocks and even works at low volume. The newer Vox's don't come close.
I agree. That's why I have one. It's a beautiful thing. Although. They seem to spend a great deal of time getting repaired. But there isn't an amp with the combination of as many features and as good of tone to be had. It's an amp modeler, but it does have a tube. I'm not sure if the new ones do. I was able to find a used head at GC a few weeks ago, then a used foot controller from a friend. The head was $299 and the controller $100. I think he ripped me on the controller, but I needed it, and he had it. The head sits on a Carvin 2x12 Legacy cab with v30's which I paid $250 for. So I'm in it for $650. Pretty darn good deal for what it is. That's about $100 more than the new $100 2x12 Valvetronix, which sound pretty darn good too. But only 2 channels and no where near the versatility of the older ones. I did crank up the new 2x12 combo at GC and it was ripping my face off. I would be happy to own one anyway.
I made a video to erm 'show off' my S7320... But it's played with the Marshall 6101, so you might get an idea of the sounds it's capable of.
See this topic: http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76962
(It starts off with lo-gain stuff, but there's some metalish stuff about halfway).
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