How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwise)

Make it loud here.
User avatar
stevejamsecono
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4552
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:55 am
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Contact:

How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwise)

Post by stevejamsecono » Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:53 pm

Hey Gang,

So I'm in a bit of a pickle. As many of you know I sold my Avatar 18 awhile ago in a fit of brokeness, and when my girlfriend moved in this month I had to sell the replacement amp I got for it (Orange Tiny Terror.. which frankly I was not sad to lose) to help cover moving costs. It was agreed at this time that when "things settled down" I could squirrel away money as I pleased to get whatever amp I wanted. Problem is, at the rate things are going, it's going to be awhile before I can successfully accumulate what I need (I'm looking into either a JCM800 Combo or similar, so probably around 800-1000 bucks) without running up against another big expense. We're going into the studio in November, and I have expensive birthdays and winter holidays to deal with until about.... late January. Normally I'd be fine with waiting since NYC backline is at least vaguely consistent (HR Deluxes for days), but looking at out gig calendar we have quite a few shows booked in places that either don't have a backline, or have a backline so lousy that it might ruin the gig. Long story short, I need an amp to get me through that time.

Craiglist seems to be giving me the usual contenders (HR Dlx, Peavey Classic 30, the occasional older Traynor or whatnot) in the 250-450 range. Any of these would probably be fine as the holdover amp, but I wanted to see if there was anything new/funky/cool that I might be missing while poking around.

Requirements:
1x12 or 2x10 Combo or Head. Has to fit on a handtruck (for reference, any of the above listed amps do)
20-50 watts Max
No Vox amps
Tube (I've tried solid state and modeling and it's just not for me in this scenario)
Good solid OD sound of the 70s/80s rock variety (I don't really use clean sounds in the traditional sense. I play Humbuckere'd yamahas and just turn my volume down if I want a slightly cleaner sound).
Max Price: $450 (added points for coming well below this)

Ideas? Thoughts? Let's hear 'em.
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

Resident Yamaha Fanboy

COYS

User avatar
Racing
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:29 pm

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Racing » Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:02 pm

You know what....
I´d dig deeper and older and go for a hunt for old Peavey stuff. Some of that -80´s all tube stuff is dirt cheap and built like tanks.

Think Triumph. Ultra et al. From that era there there´s bargains to be had seing how they play. The answer to all ills? Hell no,but on a budget i´d say they´re hard to beat.

In turn the Windsor was marketed as sort of a poor mans JCM-800 at the time. TBH i for one at least don´t think they sound all that much,which would be a predominant opinion for the mainstay of the China produced Peaveys.

That older made in USA Meridian stuff tho is another matter. Me i´d go head before combo. Back in the day combos,no matter which almost,were bricks. Anchors even.
Most of them amps were Peaveys introduction to the highgain scene but here´s the thing... Many of them are three channel and the middle one can certainly be a contender in your case i bet.
The ultra gain channels of them are normally overcompressed typical -80s metal ones. Cool if you´re into that sort of thing i guess,otherwise..not so much.

User avatar
stevejamsecono
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4552
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:55 am
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Contact:

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by stevejamsecono » Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:29 pm

Racing wrote:You know what....
I´d dig deeper and older and go for a hunt for old Peavey stuff. Some of that -80´s all tube stuff is dirt cheap and built like tanks.

Think Triumph. Ultra et al. From that era there there´s bargains to be had seing how they play. The answer to all ills? Hell no,but on a budget i´d say they´re hard to beat.

In turn the Windsor was marketed as sort of a poor mans JCM-800 at the time. TBH i for one at least don´t think they sound all that much,which would be a predominant opinion for the mainstay of the China produced Peaveys.

That older made in USA Meridian stuff tho is another matter. Me i´d go head before combo. Back in the day combos,no matter which almost,were bricks. Anchors even.
Most of them amps were Peaveys introduction to the highgain scene but here´s the thing... Many of them are three channel and the middle one can certainly be a contender in your case i bet.
The ultra gain channels of them are normally overcompressed typical -80s metal ones. Cool if you´re into that sort of thing i guess,otherwise..not so much.
Hmm. Not a bad idea. I've heard good things about those and the Triumphs tend to go for like... Bandit prices. Good call!
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

Resident Yamaha Fanboy

COYS

User avatar
shoule79
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1963
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:57 am
Location: London....the one in Canada

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by shoule79 » Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:53 pm

I triedone of the new EHX mig 50's the other day, I was impressed by it.

I rocked a JCM 800 as my gigging amp for years, and if I went back to that sound the mig is what I may go for. It didn't sound like an 800 per se, but it was good and had some of the same characteristics. Smaller too.

It was $650 Canadian, so that's like $50 USD, right?

User avatar
stevejamsecono
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4552
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:55 am
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Contact:

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by stevejamsecono » Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:24 pm

I'm actually pretty interested in the MIG50H, because I got to play one of the combos awhile back and was really into it. Problem is that the only ones on Reverb right now are pushing 600, so it's a little high :(
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

Resident Yamaha Fanboy

COYS

User avatar
marqueemoon
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 7344
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:37 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by marqueemoon » Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:58 pm

I like the Sovtek idea. Too bad they've gotten so pricey.

User avatar
Racing
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:29 pm

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Racing » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:48 am

What´s more they´re not exactly top notch within.
Never had my nose into one of the newer ones but the old Soviet made ones...nope. Run a B+ of approx 600 volts in turn and that coupled with real poor insulation wiring is a BAD idea.

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:16 am

Brand new they don't fit the price range, but a used Peavey Classic 30 1X12 would totally fit the bill for what you want. The Peavey Classic series seems to fit a generic tone area between Fender and Marshall, but sounds unique enough to not be a direct 50-50 of either. They take pedals amazing, sound great clean, usually have a nice sounding spring reverb tank, and are damn workhorses. My Delta Blues 115 is basically a Classic 30 with a 15" speaker (not exactly, but pretty close). The Classic 30's aren't insanely heavy, but as with all the classic series line, can be get very loud for just 30W. The only thing I'd say is that you may eventually want to upgrade the speaker, but the Blue Marvels aren't that bad at all. The built in gain sounds pretty good if you know how to set it up too!
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
DrQuasar
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1113
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:58 am
Location: Las Vegas

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by DrQuasar » Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:02 pm

I think they price went up on these and they are hybrid but I really love my Music Man 112-65.

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Embenny » Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:47 am

What about a Bugera, like the V22 or the T50 head? Or the Jet City amps like the JCA50H?

I've heard good things about them, but don't have firsthand experience (haven't encountered any in the wild here in Canada, and I've never bought an amp without playing it first).
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
Racing
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 734
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:29 pm

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Racing » Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:26 am

Uhu.
From a tech point of view,Bugera no.. Jet City yes. As you dive into one of the latter... For the record,i´m impressed. The mere proposition to manufacture something like that at coffee and change...
No. Again not the answer to all ills,but it becomes sort of besides the point as they´re built as they are. Ie;half cheap components but with "usable" size components.

Put another way?
Mike Soldano did something right with the Jet City´s.

User avatar
OffYourFace
Mods
Mods
Posts: 13683
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 2:59 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by OffYourFace » Sat Sep 16, 2017 4:38 pm

I'm not sure if Jet City makes combos but that's a good choice for the cheaper Marshall-esque substitute. I actually like the JCM2000 stuff, maybe a DSL401?
Otherwise I'm a fan of the older Peavey tweed Classic 30 with the Sheffield 12" or the original Hot Rod Deluxe after a full filter cap change and reinforced jacks.

User avatar
stevejamsecono
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4552
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:55 am
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Contact:

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by stevejamsecono » Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:36 pm

OffYourFace wrote:I'm not sure if Jet City makes combos but that's a good choice for the cheaper Marshall-esque substitute. I actually like the JCM2000 stuff, maybe a DSL401?
Otherwise I'm a fan of the older Peavey tweed Classic 30 with the Sheffield 12" or the original Hot Rod Deluxe after a full filter cap change and reinforced jacks.
Good to hear you weigh in on this one. I actually helped a friend buy a DSL401 off the local craigslist for not a lot of cash recently, so it might be worth the look. I haven't honestly played through any of the newer combos lately so it might fit the bill.

Jet City definitely makes combos, I know people who had 'em.

And yeah, I feel like there's a lot of oldschool C30s on Craigslist for pretty cheap most of the time. Either way, options!
And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

Resident Yamaha Fanboy

COYS

User avatar
nanamour
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 791
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:22 pm
Location: Hell's Kitchen

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by nanamour » Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:43 pm

It's not at all difficult to find a 60s Ampeg Reverberocket 2 for ~$400-450 if you're okay with the odd spot of tarnishing or rip in the tolex. Sort of Ampeg's answer to the Deluxe Reverb: around 22 watts, 1x12, tremolo (with a cool staccato, almost repeat percussion mode), and reverb that's practically a religious experience. Definitely leans towards the hairier side at full band volume, and a decent boost/loud OD can send it into a creamy grind.

Bummer the Mig 50's have gotten so pricey.

User avatar
Ursa Minor
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 5892
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:26 am
Location: Chicago

Re: How would you spend your money in this situation? (ampwi

Post by Ursa Minor » Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:04 pm

I was gonna say older Ampeg stuff. Wonder if the RI stuff is up to snuff on the inside? They made vintage RI combo that was built a lot like a brown deluxe iirc.

What about doing a build or scouring for a used clone of something?
The artist formerly known as kosmonautmayhem.

Post Reply