Looking for a good (low price) practice amp

[Wizid]

I picked up a used Marshall V65 valvestate for $150. Clean channel with a little reverb sounds good with both electric and acoustic. Overdrive channel has nice classic crunch. 65 watts and 12" speaker made in England.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

All the best with the Vox, but be careful with any used Bugera V-Series (V5/V22/V55); as I stated in my first post they had some major quality-control issues early on (reverb cutting in and out, channels switching spontaneously or not at all, volume dropouts - just to name the ones I've heard of) -

Notwithstanding Steve's good experience with his Bugera,you should note that Bugera is a Behringer brand. Behringer's modus operandi is pure plagiarism - they've never done an original thing in their existence - and, as a result, their products are cheap facsimiles of reputable gear, dressed up nicely, but with none of the redeeming features (like quality) of the things they are modeled on.

They are very clever in the way they go about it - a few years ago, they blatantly ripped off one of my favourite companies, Tech 21, who were powerless to do anything about it. They didn't fair so well with a range of effects pedals which were a bit too close for comfort for Boss.

Friends don't let friends buy Behringer. Or Bugera.

[terrapin]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Notwithstanding Steve's good experience with his Bugera,you should note that Bugera is a Behringer brand. Behringer's modus operandi is pure plagiarism - they've never done an original thing in their existence - and, as a result, their products are cheap facsimiles of reputable gear, dressed up nicely, but with none of the redeeming features (like quality) of the things they are modeled on.

They are very clever in the way they go about it - a few years ago, they blatantly ripped off one of my favourite companies, Tech 21, who were powerless to do anything about it. They didn't fair so well with a range of effects pedals which were a bit too close for comfort for Boss.

Friends don't let friends buy Behringer. Or Bugera.

I agree that Behringer/Bugera make very poorly constructed facsimiles of other amps (although some sound ok) but isn't that the story of amps? Fender "stole" Western Electric circuits...Marshall "stole" Fender's Bassman circuits...Mesa "stole" Marshall circuits...and on and on until now when there are a book load of boutique and other builders and even modeling amps using essentially the same Western
Electric circuits, or at least their sound. Other than bells and whistles amps haven't changed much since solid state became an option. That's how I see it.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by terrapin

I agree that Behringer/Bugera make very poorly constructed facsimiles of other amps (although some sound ok) but isn't that the story of amps? Fender "stole" Western Electric circuits...Marshall "stole" Fender's Bassman circuits...Mesa "stole" Marshall circuits...and on and on until now when there are a book load of boutique and other builders and even modeling amps using essentially the same Western
Electric circuits, or at least their sound. Other than bells and whistles amps haven't changed much since solid state became an option. That's how I see it.

That's a good point, Russ - but there's a big difference between making replicas of things which are essentially in the public domain, and blatantly copying others' intellectual property.

[rbachman]

I have a Vox Pathfinder 15R also .... Great little amp !!!!

Works well with all the guitars below

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Notwithstanding Steve's good experience with his Bugera, you should note that Bugera is a Behringer brand. Behringer's modus operandi is pure plagiarism - they've never done an original thing in their existence - and, as a result, their products are cheap facsimiles of reputable gear, dressed up nicely, but with none of the redeeming features (like quality) of the things they are modeled on...Friends don't let friends buy Behringer. Or Bugera...there's a big difference between making replicas of things which are essentially in the public domain, and blatantly copying others' intellectual property.

Originally Posted by terrapin

I agree that Behringer/Bugera make very poorly constructed facsimiles of other amps (although some sound ok) but isn't that the story of amps?...Other than bells and whistles amps haven't changed much since solid state became an option...

Don't know if you guys were around back in the day, but it sounds like the same criticisms leveled at the first wave of Japanese (and later Korean) electric guitars - and we all know how far they've come since then. If you're basing your judgments on the Behringer/Bugera equipment of five or more years ago I'd be the first to agree - although I've got an eight-year-old Behringer active direct box that hasn't given me a moment's trouble since purchase, so maybe I'm just lucky - and I regularly steered my students away from their first-run amplifiers. Assuming (rightly or not) you're not hands-on familiar with the current Bugera tube amp line (I can't speak for Behringer's latest gear), they have about as much relation to the POS early solid-state stuff as a $49 Wal-Mart acoustic has to a Larrivee -03 Series: workmanlike, well-constructed, and sounds better than its modest price would suggest. Not for anything, guys, but I've been playing since all those blonde/blackface Fenders and blue-check Ampegs everyone drools over were brand-new (and an "old-fashioned" tweed Twin or Bassman - which nobody wanted, believe it or not - could be had for $75 at any NYC pawn shop), so I know a little about quality tube tone and construction; everything on my V22's cabinet is fastened with machine screws (many of the boutique builders don't even do that) and the audiophile father of one of my former students (who also designs/builds his own equipment and taught me how to do a bias job), who had the chance to examine the chassis out of the box, said it was surprisingly well-designed/constructed (and electronically stable) for a mass-production amp - enough so that he was considering purchase for his son and as a mod platform. There's a big difference between cheap and affordable - in Bugera's case, the economies are those of manufacture (China vs. Japan/UK/USA), the designs for the most part de facto public domain (channel-switching 1x12" combo, 100W EL34 head, 6550-powered bass rig, etc.); since their introduction they've worked themselves into a position of being as reputable and reliable as any other non-boutique maker on the market - and I'd recommend them without reservation to any player, at any level, in search of a dependable go-to amp...

[terrapin]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Don't know if you guys were around back in the day, but it sounds like the same criticisms leveled at the first wave of Japanese (and later Korean) electric guitars - and we all know how far they've come since then. If you're basing your judgments on the Behringer/Bugera equipment of five or more years ago I'd be the first to agree - although I've got an eight-year-old Behringer active direct box that hasn't given me a moment's trouble since purchase, so maybe I'm just lucky - and I regularly steered my students away from their first-run amplifiers. Assuming (rightly or not) you're not hands-on familiar with the current Bugera tube amp line (I can't speak for Behringer's latest gear), they have about as much relation to the POS early solid-state stuff as a $49 Wal-Mart acoustic has to a Larrivee -03 Series: workmanlike, well-constructed, and sounds better than its modest price would suggest. Not for anything, guys, but I've been playing since all those blonde/blackface Fenders and blue-check Ampegs everyone drools over were brand-new (and an "old-fashioned" tweed Twin or Bassman - which nobody wanted, believe it or not - could be had for $75 at any NYC pawn shop), so I know a little about quality tube tone and construction; everything on my V22's cabinet is fastened with machine screws (many of the boutique builders don't even do that) and the audiophile father of one of my former students (who also designs/builds his own equipment and taught me how to do a bias job), who had the chance to examine the chassis out of the box, said it was surprisingly well-designed/constructed (and electronically stable) for a mass-production amp - enough so that he was considering purchase for his son and as a mod platform. There's a big difference between cheap and affordable - in Bugera's case, the economies are those of manufacture (China vs. Japan/UK/USA), the designs for the most part de facto public domain (channel-switching 1x12" combo, 100W EL34 head, 6550-powered bass rig, etc.); since their introduction they've worked themselves into a position of being as reputable and reliable as any other non-boutique maker on the market - and I'd recommend them without reservation to any player, at any level, in search of a dependable go-to amp...

Steve, no desire to offend. I said some of their amps sound pretty good. But, I have two friends with Bugera amps that spend as much time in the shop as they do being played. I made the mistake of buying a Behringer Acoustic amp about 5 years ago, and it was HORRIBLE! I could not even use it.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by terrapin

Steve, no desire to offend. I said some of their amps sound pretty good. But, I have two friends with Bugera amps that spend as much time in the shop as they do being played. I made the mistake of buying a Behringer Acoustic amp about 5 years ago, and it was HORRIBLE! I could not even use it.

No offense taken, Russ - and the five-year cutoff point for your own amp is well in line with what I posted. BTW, I'm thinking your friends' amps are of pre-2010 manufacture - easy enough to decipher from the serial number if you have any experience whatsoever with consumer electronics; if so they have my sympathy, but as I also stated I'm not surprised. If they like the tone I'd say strip them for usable spare parts (speakers, tubes, hardware, etc.) and check out some of the new ones - far better-made, with some interesting features not generally available in this price range (viz., tube life monitoring, auto-bias, built-in channel stacking, etc.) - and bear in mind that any manufacturer is capable of producing lemons, at any point in its history; stories of CBS/Norlin notwithstanding, even Martin - whose products are generally regarded with the utmost respect - hit a few snags over the years (much of the '70s production, and the more-recent mid-800,000 serial-number 15/16-Series instruments, in particular), so it can happen to anybody...

[terrapin]

I hear you about the "lemon" thing! Marshall is a great example. Of the multitude of amps they have made over the years the "lemons" far outnumber the memorable ones.

[LewisBrookshire]

- Fender Vibro Champ XD
- Fender Super Champ XD

Opinions on these two amps??

[terrapin]

Originally Posted by Reviveourhomes

- Fender Vibro Champ XD
- Fender Super Champ XD

Opinions on these two amps??

Both nice little amps. Only limitation IMO is being a single-ended 5-6 watt amp they lack the kind of clean headroom I need, and have a really tough time hanging with a full band without an external speaker cab. My advice if your looking at Champs....get a 70's silverface Vibro Champ. Really cool little amp, and there are a lot of them out there.

[warbles]

I recommend the Ultrasound/Dean Markley AG-15M.
It has plenty of volume, clear tone and an additional mic input. Solid and dependable.

[terrapin]

Originally Posted by warbles

I recommend the Ultrasound/Dean Markley AG-15M.
It has plenty of volume, clear tone and an additional mic input. Solid and dependable.

That's an acoustic guitar amp.

[warbles]

Originally Posted by warbles

I recommend the Ultrasound/Dean Markley AG-15M.
It has plenty of volume, clear tone and an additional mic input. Solid and dependable.

Originally Posted by terrapin

That's an acoustic guitar amp.

Oops! ...apologies.

[LewisBrookshire]

Anyone have experience with the Blackheart Mini stack in the link below?

http://nealsmusic.com/shop/amps/guit...prod_4411.html