Amp buying crisis!!

[peacock1987]

hi, im new to this site just signed up today. im looking into buying a new amplifier but im not sure where to turn. i currently have a 2005 us series strat n play with a marshall mg250dfx amp. ideally id like a combo amp with my budget stretching to 500 ish. I am looking for a hard hitting but clear overdriven sound and am currently enjoying the guitar sounds of angels and airwaves and more atmospheric stuff like U2. Any suggestions?? Also, as novice as this sounds, what is difference between valve and tube amps.. cheers

[stevefingers]

Valve and tube amps are the same thing. We call them valves and the colonials (USA) call them tubes.

[imported_fredy]

a second hand marshall jmp or whatever the 18w is called seems like an idea. A decent valve amp will give you clear overdrive so i would suggest a valve amp.

[wilber]

Maybe a chinese vox ac30, used on the angels and airwaves album and anyone with an ounce of taste

[imported_fredy]

it wouldnt give you much overdrive though. Unless you are deaf, then you have nothing to lose.

Is this amp for home, studio or gigs, or a mix of the 3,or 2?

[paulmapp8306]

£500?

Tiny Terror plus a cab?

Randel RG50-TC 50W valve combo?

Fender Blues Junior?

Or a Vox Valvtronix or Line 6 amp if you dont need valves maybe.

[imported_timmyo]

Originally Posted by paulmapp8306

Randel RG50-TC 50W valve combo?

yuk yuk yuk

I spent an hour in Andertons trying to get one to sound nice. The clean is clanky, 2 dimensional and sterile, and the dirty channel gain at its lowest is a bit more than I'd use except for a boosted moment. And it is not possible to cover the ground in between - I tried. I think there's a reason the price dropped on these . . .

[GearAddict]

Originally Posted by imported_timmyo

yuk yuk yuk

I spent an hour in Andertons trying to get one to sound nice. The clean is clanky, 2 dimensional and sterile, and the dirty channel gain at its lowest is a bit more than I'd use except for a boosted moment. And it is not possible to cover the ground in between - I tried. I think there's a reason the price dropped on these . . .

+1

I tried really hard to like these, but couldn't. It's one of these amps that are shit but got rave reviews from all the mags. Like the valveking.

[fastboy]

You guys are all wrong on the Randall (well sort of anyway).

Yes the combo is rubbish, however, the head version (RH50T) with any half decent 2x12 or 4x12 is absolutely amazing.

Very nice warm clean channel (it's not Fender bright however), clean boost which is like a vintage tube screamer with a bit more gain. The OD channel is nothing short of amazing! Think absolutely liquid santana type lead tones without an iota of fizziness and with a bit more gain on offer as well - basically a Marshall on steriods without the fizzy Marshall gain. The distortion saturates at about 6 on the low gain input of the OD channel and as you add more gain, instead of getting fizzy or harsh it just adds more and more sustain instead!

I've just ordered another one and can categorically say this is the best OD channel of any amp I have owned and I've owned a couple of pretty desirable amps as below:

Mesa F50
Marshall JVM
Marshall Slash Stack
Hughe & Kettner Switchblade
Fender Supersonic

These things are an absolute bargain at the asking price to say the very least.

[imported_timmyo]

Originally Posted by fastboy

You guys are all wrong on the Randall (well sort of anyway).

Yes the combo is rubbish, however, the head version (RH50T) with any half decent 2x12 or 4x12 is absolutely amazing..

I don't agree - I was sat with the combo and the head (attached to a Mesa cab) - the head was the least horrid.

If that's your idea of a good clean sound then you need to get out and hear some other amps ! I can imagine it being used for the tinkly tinkly intro of some metal band ballad called 'bunny wabbit armageddon' but beyond that . . .

I normally don't actually 'oppose' someone's opinion of gear because it's just that, one person's opinion, but to say the clean boost sound is like a vintage tube screamer . . . imho you've gone nuts Unless you mean a vintage tube screamer in to an unpleasant solid state clankifier.