Thread: Still Searching
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Old 12-03-2017, 10:56 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EasyEd View Post
...I've been searching out amps for a while...

Yesterday my son and I went to a local store to try a Katana 100. Disappointing to say the least. It kept dropping the low strings on full chords no matter how many dials you turn. Bouncing around the presets some would lose the upper strings. It sounded like a modeling amp...

Then for fun we tried the Fender gt40 about which I heard a lot of bad. No question it had the Fender sparkle an chime vibe but as the volume went up the more brittle and harsh it got like a modeling amp often does, shedding the tubular warmth...

So the search continues for an inexpensive low wattage practice amp that nails Fender Twin-style tone...
OK - "big clean" tube tone at moderate volume levels, not too hard on the wallet...

One of these:

http://www.music-group.com/Categorie...FINIUM/p/P0B03

- equipped with one of these:

http://www.eminence.com/speakers/spe...el=Swamp_Thang

- and a set of these:

http://www.thetubestore.com/Shop-by-...remium-Package

- will give you all the big fat tube tone you can handle for under $600 if you take advantage of the Christmas specials/coupon days/deal-of-the-hour sales going on right now; I've got the above setup, and it's been my go-to since 2010 - fills a 600-700 seat house clean as you need or dirty as you want, and powers down nicely to bedroom practice levels without sacrificing tone. BTW, it's a fine amp right out of the box - way more tone than anything this inexpensive has a right to have (read some of the recent reviews here on the Electric Guitar subforum), with just enough British flavor in stock form to appeal to your son's taste - but invest in a couple easy DIY tweaks and it becomes a real tone monster; the upgrade tubes and "American" voiced Eminence Swamp Thang give it the feel of an old blackface Pro Reverb or blue-check Ampeg B-12XT - it actually sounds like a mid-powered 1960's American 2x12" in a small- to medium-size venue, with far more low-end heft, warmth, and dynamic range/headroom than you'd expect from a 22W 1x12" - and one knowledgeable player actually complemented me on the tone of my "V55" until I explained to him that this was the little-brother 22-watter. Tastes vary, everyone has their own idea of what constitutes "good" electric guitar tone, and sometimes for a large or outdoor gig there's simply no substitute for more watts/more speakers (got a '65 Super RI and late-model Frontman 212R for that) - but you'd be remiss if you didn't put this one on your "must-play" list...
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