Another practice amp thread

[roylor4]

Guys,

He's looking for an amp with great tone at VERY LOW volume levels. Blues Jr ain't gonna do it without an attenuator IMO. Remember, he's looking for good tone at 1/2 watt levels.

Also, I own the Bugera V5. While it is a great value and sounds good at medium loud levels I find that the attenuator switch (1 watt, .5 watt) REALLY affect it's tone - and not in a good way. This is subjective, of course, but the amp is already a dark sounding amp, even with the tone dimed. I found the tones in the lower power settings accentuated that to the point that it destroyed the amps dynamic range. I personally found it unusable in those settings. Not trying to diss ya'lls recommendations, but these are my opinions of these selections. I have NEVER played a 10-15 watt amp that sounded great at bedroom levels. As usual, my .02, YMMV

[robj144]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

Yamaha thr10ii--I just got one and love it! With the cell phone app, you essentially have the old green model, the manilla one, the black one, the gold one (THR5a) all in one for $299. Sounds fantastic with decent headphones. I lined mine out with the headphone jack into my Stagepas 1k for a "bigger sound" and it worked great. Very pleased. Super easy to dial in any tone you want. Hi gain stuff isn't my thing, but is sounds great to me. If you're throwing pedals at it, I'm sure the flat setting would be the one. My acoustic sounded great through it, plus the USB interface is sweet. It's definitely worth checking out.

Pedals work better in the amp modes, not the flat settings.

If you have an amp sim pedal though, the flat modes and even the acoustic modes (for even electric) are good for that.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by Bix58

I have a Yamaha THR10C that I'm about to list for sale. Mint. Original owner. Box, etc. I'll be listing it for $150 if you're interested...

Nice little box. Enjoying mine.

[Sage97]

I may get the the AC2 or the Laney just for goofing around at the house.

Heads up - I enjoy seeing Jack Sparrow on guitar but others may not.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Guys,

He's looking for an amp with great tone at VERY LOW volume levels. Blues Jr ain't gonna do it without an attenuator IMO. Remember, he's looking for good tone at 1/2 watt levels.

Also, I own the Bugera V5. While it is a great value and sounds good at medium loud levels I find that the attenuator switch (1 watt, .5 watt) REALLY affect it's tone - and not in a good way. This is subjective, of course, but the amp is already a dark sounding amp, even with the tone dimed. I found the tones in the lower power settings accentuated that to the point that it destroyed the amps dynamic range. I personally found it unusable in those settings. Not trying to diss ya'lls recommendations, but these are my opinions of these selections. I have NEVER played a 10-15 watt amp that sounded great at bedroom levels. As usual, my .02, YMMV

Thanks for the heads up on the Bugera. Your criticisms seems to be similar to the reviews Ive read as well.

[Ian111]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I just sold a Yamaha THR5. I dont like the way it sounds and no way getting away from the tinny box sound. Id rather play my acoustic if there’s no electricity. Not as bad as the Katana Mini, Blackstar Fly, Pignose, or other battery operated amps but why put up with it if I can fire up an 8” or 12” speaker instead? Even at low volume the difference in how much air it moves is palable. There’s no replacement for displacement as they say.

I think for the moment Im just going to get the Katana MK2 as a back up to my Mk1. I pretty much know what Im getting when it shows up at the door and the new features appeal to me. Maybe in a few months when I can walk into a store and try out different amps and when returning or exchanging amps is easier I’ll look into a valve option. What Im really hoping for is a smaller $500 version of the solid state Fender Tone Master with some kind of low wattage option. That would be an ideal investment for me.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Ian111

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I just sold a Yamaha THR5. I dont like the way it sounds and no way getting away from the tinny box sound. Id rather play my acoustic if there’s no electricity. Not as bad as the Katana Mini, Blackstar Fly, Pignose, or other battery operated amps but why put up with it if I can fire up an 8” or 12” speaker instead? Even at low volume the difference in how much air it moves is palable. There’s no replacement for displacement as they say.

I think for the moment Im just going to get the Katana MK2 as a back up to my Mk1. I pretty much know what Im getting when it shows up at the door and the new features appeal to me. Maybe in a few months when I can walk into a store and try out different amps and when returning or exchanging amps is easier I’ll look into a valve option. What Im really hoping for is a smaller $500 version of the solid state Fender Tone Master with some kind of low wattage option. That would be an ideal investment for me.

Well, going from $300 to $500 changes things immensely.

May I present to you, the Koch Jupiter Junior
. 2 channels with boost (effectively a 3 channel amp), reverb, built in attenuator from 0-20 watts, hybrid power and preamp section.

Check out sound clips on YT. Pretty great sounding amp for the $ and loaded with functional features.

[paulp1960]

Originally Posted by Ian111

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I just sold a Yamaha THR5. I dont like the way it sounds and no way getting away from the tinny box sound. Id rather play my acoustic if there’s no electricity. Not as bad as the Katana Mini, Blackstar Fly, Pignose, or other battery operated amps but why put up with it if I can fire up an 8” or 12” speaker instead? Even at low volume the difference in how much air it moves is palable. There’s no replacement for displacement as they say.

I think for the moment Im just going to get the Katana MK2 as a back up to my Mk1. I pretty much know what Im getting when it shows up at the door and the new features appeal to me. Maybe in a few months when I can walk into a store and try out different amps and when returning or exchanging amps is easier I’ll look into a valve option. What Im really hoping for is a smaller $500 version of the solid state Fender Tone Master with some kind of low wattage option. That would be an ideal investment for me.

Now I understand where you're coming from. I don't like the sound of amps with tiny speakers (less than 8 inch). I'm primarily an electric player who only started acoustic guitar about 6 years ago. A clean electric guitar should carry a fairly bass rich sound, not a tinny sound like I hear from the amps with tiny speakers.

If I were you I would keep the Katana you have and check out the 1 watt valve amps from the likes of Blackstar and Marshall. The Marshal DSL1CR 1 watt combo with reverb has full tone controls and an effects loop and headphone output. I just listened to the Blackstar HT1R mk 2 combo on Youtube and it sounds sweet to me.

I'm not super keen on the Bugera V5 combo. Darkish sound, not great distortion and some of them hum too much. But cheap for what they are.
I much prefer a Fender Champ 5F1 Tweed amp though the Fender 57 reissue is around $1000 there are cheaper options from smaller manufacturers or DIY kits.

Good luck choosing but if you don't mind trying something different I would recommend a low power tube amp.