Shopping for a practice amp.

[Ian111]

I like my Fender Mustang for cleans and the Katana for dirty tones. The Katana cleans are okay but more digital sounding. I haven’t tried out the Mk2 Katanas. I heard good thing about the Fender LT amps. The Yamaha THR’s are small but sound way too artificial and make different guitars sound the same. The Roland MicroCube is good for cleans and retain the characteristic tones of a Strat or Les Paul but sound awful for distortion.

What I like about the Mustang and Katana are it’s cheap and I can play all kinds of distortion tones at low bedroom volume which is all I can play after coming home from work. And it sounds worlds better than the Yamaha and Roland.

[imwjl]

Having owned and sold or traded several popular models I still can't say enough good about the Yamaha THR I have. Nice clean tone and playing dynamic. Consider all the input and output options Yamaha has. They've done a few firmware updates where many products don't. Now they have the wireless model.

With tube having been brought up, I'll remind I don't argue when people say friends only let friends buy Princeton Reverbs. Nothing of many purchases has worked at home or to take with if someone's playing drums. They're timeless classics whether you find an original or buy a modern one.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Ian111

I like my Fender Mustang for cleans and the Katana for dirty tones. The Katana cleans are okay but more digital sounding. I haven’t tried out the Mk2 Katanas. I heard good thing about the Fender LT amps. The Yamaha THR’s are small but sound way too artificial and make different guitars sound the same. The Roland MicroCube is good for cleans and retain the characteristic tones of a Strat or Les Paul but sound awful for distortion.

What I like about the Mustang and Katana are it’s cheap and I can play all kinds of distortion tones at low bedroom volume which is all I can play after coming home from work. And it sounds worlds better than the Yamaha and Roland.

I know it's a matter of opinion, but I have several amps and the I have never found the THR's to be artificial sounding in the least. In fact, I think they are warm and the closest to a tube sound that I have of my solid state amps. And, there is no doubt that all my guitars sound vastly different though it.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by ch willie

I suppose the Katana would be good for a practice amp. My buddy had a Katana that sounded good, but when we A-Bd it with a small Fender amp, it sounded lifeless.

Again, I don't think it's a bad practice amp. I just think with a little research, you'll be able to find something better.

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ..... I was looking at amps in a Guitar Center several months ago and the sales guy kept pushing me to the Katana. I was telling him a Fender sounds better. He plugged in a Champion 20 and I went home with it. He agreed. It comes with onboard FX effects that are great. It's a small amp. Headphone jack, too.

[1neeto]

Remember this is for bedroom practicing, I’m not planning on gigging anytime soon if ever. The amp must have good tone at low volume levels, which is impossible with a tube amp. If I was shopping for a tube amp then it would definitely be a Boogie MKV.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by robj144

I know it's a matter of opinion, but I have several amps and the I have never found the THR's to be artificial sounding in the least. In fact, I think they are warm and the closest to a tube sound that I have of my solid state amps. And, there is no doubt that all my guitars sound vastly different though it.

Everyone’s idea of good tone is different. It’s not a cop out. There are some awesome virtuosos out there but their guitar tone is nails on chalkboard for me out of a tube amp. I wanted to keep my THR (it’s nice to have a handy battery amp) but every time I plugged it in every setting left me cold after I got the larger amps. There’s no getting away from the tinny boxy sound. There’s no getting away from what my ear hears. We can give out our opinions but our opinions are just that.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

A few years ago I was gasing for a HT1R after taking it for a spin. I would consider that since it’s in my budget, but I kinda want the versatility of a modeling amp with all the amp models and effects, and with the ability to plug in a set of headphones.

I wanted a tube amp and realized very few had headphone jacks. Through the search and a couple problems I ended up with a Roland Blues Cube Hot. It has power settings at 0.5watts-5watts-15watts-30watts. USB jack. Headphone jack. Line out. Solid State amp modeled after a Blues Junior. I love it. I can play at night without headphones at 0.5watts. Sounds great and while it doesn't have any onboard effects, it has all kinds of tones without it. I have only a compression pedal and a Blues Driver pedal. I could do without the BD just fine.

Maybe not what you're looking for but still, worth a look.

What I would love about the THR amps is the Audio Playback volume control. Volume control for the backing track AND volume control for guitar. I have an output volume on the BOSS Loop pedal which is just okay. On the THR amps the 2 volumes are side by side within an easy arm length, not having to bend over to your pedal to get the levels right.

I think Yamaha has a great amp in the THR models. Hope to have one soon. Take your guitar into the woods and turn it up.?? Are you kidding me.?? I want in.

[aknow]

I've had both and got rid of them. Try a Yamaha 10w, 20w if this is for bedroom/practice. Much better sound than the Katana, or the Fender, without the fuzz overkill.
If you need volume, get an Orange Tiny Terror used.

[1neeto]

I was digging through my stuff since I moved a year and a half ago I still have things in boxes. Went to the corner of the storage room and found an old crate amp someone gifted me a long time ago, and my old Boss GT-6 effects processor. Plugged in the amp, and it works even though it has crackly pots, and the channel switch button doesn’t work sometimes, but at least the clean channel works. Put the boss processor in front of it and boom, it does what I want it to do.

But wow I need about ten years to tweak this boss thing in order to make it sound halfway decent. The amp models sound so fake. It truly shows its age.
I might still buy that amp though. Amazon says it might ship sometime mid may.

[1neeto]

Was going to make a new thread but since I already have this going might as well post it here.

Like my post above indicates, I found an old amp someone gifted me a few years ago. Didn’t think anything of it because it’s solid state. Today I plugged it in, and to my surprise it does work (quite loud I might add), but some of the pots are crackly, the channel push button switch sometimes doesn’t work, and the dirty channel sounds quite terrible. The reverb and chorus do sound like analog pedals though.

I even found the manual stashed under a ball of dog hair and dust bunnies at the bottom of the amp. The manual says it’s a G40XL, but the stamp on the amp says G40. Did some googling and the XL is the one with the Celestion speakers, so I guess it was a misprint on the amp itself. Date of manufacture could be anywhere from late 80’s to early 90’s. But it is a made in USA amp.

Anyone knows anything about these? I might stop shopping for a new amp if I have something cool here.

[paulp1960]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Remember this is for bedroom practicing, I’m not planning on gigging anytime soon if ever. The amp must have good tone at low volume levels, which is impossible with a tube amp. If I was shopping for a tube amp then it would definitely be a Boogie MKV.

Not sure I would agree that you can't get a good sound at low volume levels out of a valve amp. If you want crunch at low levels just use an overdrive pedal.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Not sure I would agree that you can't get a good sound at low volume levels out of a valve amp...

Agreed, and for those who might not be aware "good sound" in a guitar amp doesn't automatically equate with massive amounts of gain and distortion. As any mainstream jazz guitarist will be more than happy to tell you, this is where the twin elements of technique and control enter the picture: focus on listening to subtleties of touch and picking, as well as the unadorned intrinsic tone of your instrument/amplifier combination when playing at a moderate volume level - IME not only will you develop a greater understanding of what constitutes "good sound" (which BTW can be achieved with a decent analog solid-state amp, for certain styles of music), but once everything is no longer masked in multiple layers of processing and distortion you'll become painfully aware of those elements in your own playing that need attention...

[Teleplucker]

If you are going to be playing through headphones or if you already own a powered speaker of some type you might want to check out the Strymon Irriidum pedal. It works great as a practice "amp".

[lkingston]

Another vote for the Yamaha THR ii series. I have the THR30ii with the line 6 wireless transmitter and it is absolutely wonderful. It looks beautiful, it sounds incredible, and without any wires, it is wonderfully convenient!

[guitararmy]

That Crate amp should do the trick, with the Celestion speakers and true stereo chorus.

I see that those Boss GT-6 pedalboards are selling for at least $100 on Reverb if you decide it doesn't float your boat.
I am currently using a Boss ME-70 unit for it's simplicity.