Practice Amps?
- Thread starter gball
- Start date
SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
Very nice gear SG, but i notice you could use a Godin guitar , and an Orange amp combo.. just saying..
Could go for a Matamp, but need to wait for the old hag next door who always calls the cops on me to kick the bucket first.
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
I think Orange Tiny Terror, set on 1/2 power is pretty crunchy.
But it's still fairly loud compared to a 1 watt....almost loud enough to play with a drum kit.
marshalltsl
Well-Known Member
Mine it's a JVM1H but I use all my amps for practice. This one always I use It in 0,1W mode. I think It sounds better in 0,1w mode than 1w mode. Usually I use It in a 4X12 alnico magnets speakers. In low output mode it can move a 4x12 without issues.
marshalltsl
Well-Known Member
Those 1w Marshall amps are fine. They are great using at home. They has no trouble into a full stack(2x412) as well.
Cadorman
Ambassador of the Catocaster
Today I'm running the little guy through my pine 412 with a pair of G12T-75S and a pair of Vintage 30s. These amps are a little dark. It sounds good like this, but it really shines with all G12T-75S. I imagine it was intentionally voiced that way. If you run them with all Greenbacks or Vintage 30s it gets too dark ATMO.
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
The Peavey Mini heads do have a 1 watt setting and a 5.
For noodling at home I use a Yamaha THR-10x. Sounds very good! Wide stereo sound, headphone out, records ideas from the phones out and sounds amazing. Small, versatile little rig. At least try one out. No it isn't tube but spunds great.
For the band I usually use the Katana for practice mainly for ease of hauling around and versatility. Sounds good too.
Gahr
Ambassador of Blues & Brews
Hell, I don't even have a wall in my house big enough to fit anything like that...
Gahr
Ambassador of Blues & Brews
I've tried to find one of those small 1W Marshalls they came out with a few years ago for a while, but they are just too expensive to justify buying one. They had one (I forget the actual name) with a single volume control, based on a vintage JTM45, I think. I used to play a Vox AC4 at home, now I mostly use my old Gibson amps, but they are really way too loud for living room playing. Lately I've played my 50W Salmer head through a 4x12 Wharfedale loaded Vox cabinet. Hardly a rig for home use, but with a nice OD pedal it actually works really well. The rig fits nicely in a corner of the living room, so the wife is happy too.
Mr Grumpy
Ambassador of Comings and Goings
Nice buy, I reckon you'll like it (I had the DSL5 and liked it). Really hope it does everything you need - it's a versatile amp; the new ones have a pretty useable reverb too. Maybe the 8" Celestion speaker is the weak point, but I think I've read that a 10" greenback goes in there with a tad of cutting (I think there's some advice about that on the Marshall forum).
But, if it doesn't work out for you, the best home amp I've had by far (it and the SG Junior are the only gear I regret selling) was a Randall RD 1, as eSGEe mentions below - it is a much under-known (I would say under-rated, but nobody who has played through it has a bad word to say about it) amp.
These are quality, but they are also $$$ $$$.
You, Sir, are correct. I sold it (I'm stupid...), but it was fantastic - better than any of the Marshals I've owned (MG15, MG30, DSL5, Origin20 - maybe that's unfair on the Origin because it's a really nice amp, but I just couldn't play it at the volume it needs to breathe RnR fire) to my ears:
Came with it's own 8" speaker that was great - didn't need changing. Has an effects loop. Wasn't loud enough at band practice, but excellent at home. A tiny slither of clean, lots of grit (lovely bluesey grit) and low to mid gain - that was before midday; you then went into the territory that Randall is famous for. Very different sounding amp from the Marshall - far nicer bluesey grit and metal sounds, imho than similarly priced Marshalls.
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Astral Traveler
Ambassador of Both Time and Space
I've been on a bit of an amp journey. As a teenager I had a Peavey Rage 158. I didn't really have a point of reference but always thought it sounded like crap. When I got back into playing a few (not so few anymore) years ago, after not having touched a guitar in 15 years, I got the Yamaha THR 5 (I still have it) which was brand new on the market at the time. To my inexperienced ears it sounded great.
I then joined a guitar forum and learned that if I wanted really great tonez I needed a tube amp. Said and done, I went to the local guitar store and got an overprized Peavey Nanovalve, it didn't sound good at all. Those guys on the interwebs were obviously full of crap, or I just got the wrong tube amp. I then got a Fender Greta, fun but not that great. Then I got a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18, that one was actually really good but it wasn't the sound I was after, much too modern sounding when driven hard. It's still an amp I'd highly recommend to anyone though.
Since I still liked the THR 5 I figured I'd try the THR 100, because how could I go wrong with that? I liked the little brother and about 50% of people on the interwebs claimed modeling amp superiority, only contradicted by the 50% that claimed tube amp superiority. My odds seemed pretty good. The Yamaha THR 100 was not bad at all but I had expected something that sounded as good as the THR 5, I just didn't feel I got that. Plus it was pretty big for a modeling amp and not that convenient to haul to rehearsals (I had just joined my first band in 20 years). So maybe I needed a tube combo? I got the Fender Ramparte (still have it), it sounds good but it's too loud for home use, even too loud for band practice, has no FX loop etc. etc. This is where I came to the conclusion that I didn't want one practice amp and one amp for band situations, I wanted one amp, period.
Where to go from there then? Maybe I should try a solid state amp I thought. But how could those be any good? I mean both interweb camps, tube and modeling, seemed to agree on one thing; SS amps suck. They are unreliable, sound OK clean but sound like crap if you drive them, they are barely functional as small home practice amps. This seemed to go hand in hand with my own vast SS amp experiences (remember the Rage 158?). Anyway, I heard about Quilter and eventually found a used one locally. Now this was an amp I bonded with.
I then stumbled upon a used BluGuitar Amp 1 that I just had to try. I loved a few sounds from it but not so much other sounds. It was very convenient though, 100 watts in a pedal format, great EQ section, a small tube that actually seemed to do stuff etc. I put the Quilter up for sale but nobody wanted it (lucky). One day was fighting with a backing track, it was pretty crowded and I had a hard time cutting through. I brought out the Quilter and still had a hard time, in frustration I kicked the footswitch to engage the crunch channel, a channel that I generally don't like very much. It has a preset EQ that bypasses the EQ section of the amp and it sounds kind of bland to me on its own. Instant success though, I suddenly came through loud and clear. I sold the Amp 1 that same week and put the Quilter on my pedal board together with an OD pedal and a reverb pedal.
Sometimes I look at yout00b reviews of other amps, I've looked at the Marshall JTM45, the DSL series, the Origin series, Fender Bassbreaker, Pro Jr. Bassman etc. None of them do (to my ears) anything that I can't make the Quilter do, at least reasonably well. If something better shows up one day I'll switch amps again and I don't care if it is tube, modeling or SS but this far, nothing has beaten the Quilter for my needs.
The moral of the story kids? Astral Traveler is right and everyone else on the interwebs is wrong!! Muahahahahaha!!!
Below is my amp journey in yout00b clips. The really depressing part is that when listening back, I don't think I've improved my playing in those 5 years, it might actually have gotten worse
Peavey Nanovalve:
(1) Sunset noodling - YouTube
Fender Greta:
(1) Moving mountains - YouTube
Hughes&Kettner:
(1) Unshackle me baby! - YouTube
Yamaha THR 100H:
(1) At the strike of twelve - YouTube
Fender Ramparte:
(1) Dark of night - YouTube
BluGuitar Amp 1:
(1) Day 5 - YouTube
Quilter Overdrive 200:
(1) Sad Little Heart - YouTube
I then joined a guitar forum and learned that if I wanted really great tonez I needed a tube amp. Said and done, I went to the local guitar store and got an overprized Peavey Nanovalve, it didn't sound good at all. Those guys on the interwebs were obviously full of crap, or I just got the wrong tube amp. I then got a Fender Greta, fun but not that great. Then I got a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18, that one was actually really good but it wasn't the sound I was after, much too modern sounding when driven hard. It's still an amp I'd highly recommend to anyone though.
Since I still liked the THR 5 I figured I'd try the THR 100, because how could I go wrong with that? I liked the little brother and about 50% of people on the interwebs claimed modeling amp superiority, only contradicted by the 50% that claimed tube amp superiority. My odds seemed pretty good. The Yamaha THR 100 was not bad at all but I had expected something that sounded as good as the THR 5, I just didn't feel I got that. Plus it was pretty big for a modeling amp and not that convenient to haul to rehearsals (I had just joined my first band in 20 years). So maybe I needed a tube combo? I got the Fender Ramparte (still have it), it sounds good but it's too loud for home use, even too loud for band practice, has no FX loop etc. etc. This is where I came to the conclusion that I didn't want one practice amp and one amp for band situations, I wanted one amp, period.
Where to go from there then? Maybe I should try a solid state amp I thought. But how could those be any good? I mean both interweb camps, tube and modeling, seemed to agree on one thing; SS amps suck. They are unreliable, sound OK clean but sound like crap if you drive them, they are barely functional as small home practice amps. This seemed to go hand in hand with my own vast SS amp experiences (remember the Rage 158?). Anyway, I heard about Quilter and eventually found a used one locally. Now this was an amp I bonded with.
I then stumbled upon a used BluGuitar Amp 1 that I just had to try. I loved a few sounds from it but not so much other sounds. It was very convenient though, 100 watts in a pedal format, great EQ section, a small tube that actually seemed to do stuff etc. I put the Quilter up for sale but nobody wanted it (lucky). One day was fighting with a backing track, it was pretty crowded and I had a hard time cutting through. I brought out the Quilter and still had a hard time, in frustration I kicked the footswitch to engage the crunch channel, a channel that I generally don't like very much. It has a preset EQ that bypasses the EQ section of the amp and it sounds kind of bland to me on its own. Instant success though, I suddenly came through loud and clear. I sold the Amp 1 that same week and put the Quilter on my pedal board together with an OD pedal and a reverb pedal.
Sometimes I look at yout00b reviews of other amps, I've looked at the Marshall JTM45, the DSL series, the Origin series, Fender Bassbreaker, Pro Jr. Bassman etc. None of them do (to my ears) anything that I can't make the Quilter do, at least reasonably well. If something better shows up one day I'll switch amps again and I don't care if it is tube, modeling or SS but this far, nothing has beaten the Quilter for my needs.
The moral of the story kids? Astral Traveler is right and everyone else on the interwebs is wrong!! Muahahahahaha!!!
Below is my amp journey in yout00b clips. The really depressing part is that when listening back, I don't think I've improved my playing in those 5 years, it might actually have gotten worse
Peavey Nanovalve:
(1) Sunset noodling - YouTube
Fender Greta:
(1) Moving mountains - YouTube
Hughes&Kettner:
(1) Unshackle me baby! - YouTube
Yamaha THR 100H:
(1) At the strike of twelve - YouTube
Fender Ramparte:
(1) Dark of night - YouTube
BluGuitar Amp 1:
(1) Day 5 - YouTube
Quilter Overdrive 200:
(1) Sad Little Heart - YouTube
Astral Traveler
Ambassador of Both Time and Space
Thanks but listening to it bums me out, there really should be more improvement. On the bright side it makes me want to triple my efforts.
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
Those 1w Marshall amps are fine. They are great using at home. They has no trouble into a full stack(2x412) as well.
From what I am told, the transformers cannot be bought, and the schematic is a secret.
Apparently the transformers are highly classified.