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i have $375 now... so either a guitar in the 4 - 500 range or an amp for aboout 300... what do u guys think? amp or guitar? i cant decide

I say save your money alittle longer till your can aford a more quality amp or guitar.

but, if you are looking to buy now i would get a amp.


Originally Posted by metallicajs1I say save your money alittle longer till your can aford a more quality amp or guitar.

but, if you are looking to buy now i would get a amp.

1

im not lookin for a killer amp, i just want like a peavey bandit 112 or something, just something decent

well if you already have an amp, whether its some practice 15 watt or not, i say you save up and get a nicer amp, cause after you get this amp you'll want a nicer bigger one so you'll have to start saving from scratch... just hhold on to your money dude

save a lilttle bit more and get a used marshall jcm800 50 watt all tube head , they run used on ebay for abotu $500 to $600

A better amp will make you sound better than a better guitar will.

In other words, a cheap guitar through a good amp will sound better than a good guitar through a crappy amp.

1 for the amp, every time. Everyone's already said about maybe saving for a little longer. What would you be looking for in an amp?

Are you gigging?
Who are your favourite bands/guitarists?
Anything else about what you think you'll need from an amp?

Cheers,
Benja

well no giggin yet.. been asked to do some bands but havent said yes yet... angus young, slash, kirk hammet, EVH, Uli Jon Roth... all are totally diff so im sure that dont help... and i dont want special EFX cuz i dont wanna use em just some good distortion

Save for a good amp, dude. Just my 2c.

Save and get an awesome amp, and keep the little one for a practice amp, thats what i would do.

yea i know... well i was just wantin to run it by ppl who know theyre stuff, kids my age either know absoultey nothing, or next to mothing... for example, my friends played 3 yrs, and shes ok... but she didnt know what a pickup was... lol so i dont get much help from my friends, so thanks, ill look into one.. im thinking marshall, crate, or peavey

angus young, slash, kirk hammet, EVH, Uli Jon Roth...

Not sure about the fifth (never heard of him/her to be honest) but I'm pretty sure the first four are all Marshall folks, definately Angus Young, Slash and EVH anyway.

and i dont want special EFX cuz i dont wanna use em just some good distortion

You're starting on the right track, definately the way to go, hehe.

well no giggin yet.. been asked to do some bands but havent said yes yet

I'd say get a gig worthy amp anyway, you'll only have to up-grade later which means more faffing around. Get a good amp and work with it, find your sound and all that.

I'd definately suggest you're part of the Marshall camp, without question. And you sound like you just want a simple out and out rock amp. Marshall vbasically invented rock amps. The price range that you mentioned is a little thin on the ground for quality Marshalls though.
If you're looking to buy it new then the Marshall ranges, in order of price (cheapest first) are:

MG
(beginner series, completely solid state. In my opinion they're quite good for the money but a lot of people here will tell you they're terrible)

AVT
(I think these have a pre-amp tube in them. this has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Not really sure what it does. However, these are good amps, not professional quality, but not professional prices either. Good for the classic Marshall sounds and much more reliable than tube amps)

JCM
(Marshall flagship range. You could pick any guitar band at random and chances are they've used a Marshall JCM on at least one recording. All tube, expensive though. I think these are a bit out of your price range)

Depending on how long you're prepared to save up for I'd recommend an AVT. Good solid all-round rock amps. I think some of them do have that EFX rubbish but you'll be hard pressed to find any more than a few decent solid-state amps that don't these days. You can just turn all that stuff off anyway, and one the brightside, this is a good way to learn a little bit about different effects.

If you're not in a band, and have no desperate need for an amp now, then I'd suggest hanging on to that peavey and saving up. Definately worth it when you reap the benefits of owning a truely 'kick-ass' amp. Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Benja

for around 450-500 alot more options are available to you for amps. you can get a 5150 amp for around here on ebay if ur lucky, these are all tube and really heavy. an avt50 will cover the ground you mentioned fairly well. it doesnt sound as warm as a tube amp but it still has a nice sound. i took the back out of mine and it gives it a more open sound. i liked the sound i got with it with my wah wah pedal for playing slither. it does an alright brown sound as well. the clean channel basically has two sounds. the first is a basic clean, with a decent amount of headroom. the second is if you keep the volume lower and turn the gain up on the clean channel, it tries to sound like tube breakup. its not bad. its definitely not the same as real powertube breakup, but its not bad.

amps are a dime a dozen and you can always rent for a gig or recording for now until you have enough cash. a really nice guitar is something that's going to last you the rest of your life though, if you choose wisely. I'd say hold onto your money for a little longer and get a nice guitar. However, thats just what i would do, the question really depends on your situation and your personal preference and all. It's not really something someone who doesnt know you can answer.

btw Uli Jon Roth replaced Scheckner of the scorpions... he was with em like... 76-79? not sure, but yea hes great... well ok, so i guess ill be headin up to guitar center soon, the only bad thing is they tie down the few cables they have to a few certain amps... o well, ill see... thanks for the help

Instead of getting a new guitar you could also considering getting new pickups for your guitar. For an amp what kind of amp are you looking for. Combo or head and cabinet? For an amp I have heard good things about the dsl line from marshall. For these you would need to save more money, but I think it would be worth it for you.

ive considered pickups, but i dont know how to get my hands on any guitars that have the ones im lookin for, so my amp with be the main tone.. adjustor... whatever u wanna call it..

I'd go with a Marshall DSL 401 combo if u wanna save up or the 50 watt head and cab (which will cost i little more) or maybe a laney (they go pretty cheap but might not be the sound ur looking for) either way i would go for all tube because u won't regret it.


Originally Posted by tfb1990angus young, slash, kirk hammet, EVH, Uli Jon Roth

Marshall, marshall, marshall. Angus is cranked non-master 50W's, EVH is open to much debate although many people say modified non-master, Slash is master volume Marshall (and some people say AFD was done with a modified non master). Early on, Kirk was master volume marshall and I stopped paying attention after a while. UJR should be master volume Marshall.

JCM800, JMP, or reissue 2203/2204 should do it for the MV. If you want to go non-master, JCM800, JMP, or reissue 1987/1959. You will have to crank the non-master volume amps to ear blistering levels to get them to distort, but you'll get holy grail distortion. Or install a post PI master volume, or get an attenuator.

Laney AOR amps are like hot rodded Marshalls and usually go for a lot less.

Save your $$$ and get something you really want instead of spending half as much on something you will want to replace in a year.
and i dont want special EFX cuz i dont wanna use em just some good distortion

Good! An amp that does one sound well is worth far more than an amp that does a halfarse of 2 or 200 sounds.