14 replies to this topic

[cxwq]

I know there have been loads of guitar and bass threads but I didn't see one with what I needed so here goes... bear in mind that I know absolutely nothing about guitars.

I just picked up a standard strat for myself and a j bass for Julie. I need suggestions for practice amps that are (really) affordable but still sound good. We're just going to be jamming in our living room for the time being so volume is not something we need lots of. Hard ceiling at $200 each, but lower is a plus.

Thanks.

[Talio]

For your standard strat, I'd go bebop over to the music store and pick up pretty much any cheap ass guitar amp. If you want something a little nicer, I think I got my Princeton for 150 - 200. I can't remember the exact ammount. I use it with my American Strat and it sounds great. What I've found though is that most of the time, the amp isn't nearly as important as the guitar. For starting out, anything will do.

I don't know shit about bass.

Good luck,

Talio.

[ogopogo]

roland amps are simpliy awsome get a roland.

[NinjZ]

Any Ibanez bass amp will serve you well. I have the 60 and 100 watt combo amps they make ( SoundWave series ). Even the 60watt shakes the house ( from the basement ).

[tenesee23]

Personally, I like Behringer. The quality is nice, and they keep your wallet happy as well. You can buy one amp if you guys are just learning and share it, if you want to be affordable, but bear in mind a Bass amp can be used for both, where as a Elctric Guitar amp can only be used for electric guitars. There is a chance of blowing out the amp if used with a bass.

[Lukeinator]

Being an avid bass player myself, I would recommend the Fender Rumble series. They have fairly good quality and range from 15 watts to 100 watts. Or if you want better performance, try the Fender Bassman series. These are, however, more expensive than the Rumbles. I have a Rumble 60 watt amp and it serves me well in my band and at home.

Edit: I got my amp for about $300 CAD.

Edited by Lukeinator, 27 November 2005 - 12:03 AM.

[Switchblade]

For bass, I would suggest the Behringer BX108 Thunderbird Bass amplifier. It's only 15 watts but it has a really nice tone and is just a solid solid choice. Check it here. Great tone, impossible to blow the speaker out (I pretty much tried), and it has computer recording capabilities and a headphone jack. So yeah. It's $80.
For guitar, I'd suggest anything by Crate. They're the best value.

Edited by Switchblade, 27 November 2005 - 04:59 PM.

[Black Wrath]

I would suggest Traynor amps for the bass guitar, since they are affordable and sound nice. Be sure to get the tube amp, I'm thinking a 30W will put you down 179$USD. For the guitar, Cube amps are pretty good for the money. A 20W may put you down 140$, and it's digital so it will have built in FX.

Other amps mentioned in this thread are worth looking at too, but don't look at Marshalls, or high-end variants of the amps listed already.

For wattage, stay under 25W for the guitar if you're just jamming in your living room, and under 30W for the bass.

[VoLT]

Personally, I like Behringer. The quality is nice, and they keep your wallet happy as well.

I agree. I got a Behringer BX1200 Ultrabass amp recently for just $200 (new!) and it kicks my ass. It's got 120 watts, which is amazing for the price, and even makes my piece of crap Ibanez GSR200 bass sound great. Definitely recommend it.
And, if you're willing to pay $300 for a guitar amp, the Fender FM 212R seems pretty darn good. I play it at my friend's house all the time, and I love it. It cranks out 100 watts. If the price is too much though, my dinky little Ibanez IBZ10G hasn't let me down. It's a small little practice amp, and I think it goes for about $65 or thereabouts (I don't know. It came with the noob starter pack I got, so I don't know how much it would be separate, but most amps of that power run about that price). It also has gain, but it's kinda crummy. I'd recommend picking up the essential Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal, which runs around $40, and trust me, you'll end up using it a lot. Good luck with your playing. The right equipment can make all the difference, trust me.

[Drano]

For guitar: try to score a Fender pro jr.
i wouldnt steer ya wrong.
Its a small tube amp* with a 10" speaker.
Good for practice and small giging.
Great tone and if you drive it, it breaks up beautifuly. then all you have to do is roll back the volume on the guitar to 7 or 5 and you get a mellow clean


Ceiling for this baby on the bay is about 300. Try and get one of the older ones.
I know its a little above your range but i want you to keep in mind that this little thing wont depreciate.
If you ever need the money you can turn it right back around on the bay, for exactly what you paid for it.

just found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

and heres a new one (i would prefer an old one):
http://www.musicians...80511?src=HC004

heres some other peoples reviews on it from harmony-central
take it with a grain of salt:
http://www.harmony-c...o_Junior-1.html

I could recomend others but i'm assuming your not going for the severly overdriven, overly distorted metal tone.

And dont get anything by Crate, they dont break-up very well, and the drive on almost all of these amps is too one dimensional. If i had to pick a "Ben Stein" of the amp world, Crate would be it. They also have no sensitivity to playing-dynamics.



As for bass, no clue
I could get back with an answer in a couple days.



I wouldnt recomend gettin the DS-1 right now. this particular box sux balls unless you have a top rate tube amp.
But even then i would recomend a modded BD-2
http://www.robertkee...oduct.php?id=14

At this point in your musical carreer you shouldn't need any pedals if you have an amp that drives well, and a guitar volume pot that dosent suck.

Lastly, the pick-ups matter more than any other piece of gear. There is no amount of pedals, no amp in the world, or any guitar that will fix your tone, if your pups suck. A good pickup will make a crappy guitar, played though a crappy amp, sound 300% better. so if your tone sucks, blame the pups first...
well, blame your fingers first, then the pups.
i know this first hand, its my favorite thing to do.
Here (please ignore, when that thread gets hijacked and goes horribly off topic, but does have some basic info on electric guitars at the end.)


*if you do think about gettin a tube amp, educate yourself on the propper operation of one, as they need warm up time.

Edited by Drano, 30 November 2005 - 07:45 PM.

[cxwq]

Thanks much for all the feedback, it's been an interesting read. Basically, half of the people I talked to, including here, said that brand x was the best and they'd had nothing but good experiences with it. Of course, over time I heard that about every possible brand. The other half of the people I talked to said it didn't matter because most affordable practice (10-20W) amps are pretty much the same. I decided to take that advice and just wander over to guitar center and see what was on sale for around $100. Crate was the clear winner on price/features for guitar, and bass was a toss-up between Fender and Crate. My sales-dude said he'd had fewer returns on the Crate bass amp so I got a matched set. If I'd seen Drano's post before I bought them, I might have reconsidered, but overall I'm happy with the sound. I think the bass amp probably sounds better than the guitar amp, but they both sound good for the price.



Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

[NinjZ]

As far as sound goes, you just need to keep tweeking your settings till you find what you want.

[Drano]

Nice to see you bought 'string swings'. IMO its the best thing. Aside from the fact that the only con is accumilation of dust and rust. it keeps the guitars out of harms way and off the floor. Plus it makes your space look cool.

[VoLT]

Thanks much for all the feedback, it's been an interesting read. Basically, half of the people I talked to, including here, said that brand x was the best and they'd had nothing but good experiences with it. Of course, over time I heard that about every possible brand. The other half of the people I talked to said it didn't matter because most affordable practice (10-20W) amps are pretty much the same. I decided to take that advice and just wander over to guitar center and see what was on sale for around $100. Crate was the clear winner on price/features for guitar, and bass was a toss-up between Fender and Crate. My sales-dude said he'd had fewer returns on the Crate bass amp so I got a matched set. If I'd seen Drano's post before I bought them, I might have reconsidered, but overall I'm happy with the sound. I think the bass amp probably sounds better than the guitar amp, but they both sound good for the price.



Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

Awesome, congrats. Those string swing guitar holders are great. I swear by 'em.

[Drano]

Just a thought, but that strat would look sweet with a pearloid pickguard.