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Post subject: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:51 pm
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.....do you look at reviews to see if there are any problems, or do you just buy the one you want?

I am going to buy a good tube amp some time this summer, and have about 1500.00 to spend. I plan to do a lot of research, actually play thru the amps I am interested in, and make my decision-hopefully my last amp purchase :roll:

I want a good reliable amp, but I know there are no guarantees. vintage 65-era fender amps are great, but I'm not sure that I want to buy the amp, and put a bunch of money to get it right.

so tell me gang, when looking at an amp, do you only concern yourself with the sound, or does reputation figure into your decision?


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 5:08 pm
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I think that reputation depends on who you ask, where you look. Many times I will scour the internet and try to get as many views as I can about an amp that I'm considering, but also keep in mind that many times I find that some problems are from user ignorance, shipping, or other factors that have nothing to do with the amp itself. Read reviews very carefully, and take most with a grain of salt. :wink:

Sometimes though, you come across an amp that just seems right, so it was with my BJr. I wanted a new amp, something small that sounded good, and had virtually no knowledge of the BJr, but when I first tried it, I knew that my search was over and I bought it. No regrets. 8)

On the other hand, I listened to the B* amps many times, read everything that I could find, and I found very, very little negative things said about them, with lots of positive reviews, so I bought, and bought, and bought...... :D

It is never a bad thing to check for all of the info that you can find, and make an informed decision.

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 5:22 pm
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For me sound would come first. What good is a reliable crappy sounding amp?

However, after finding out which amps are sonically suitable, then reliability of said amps should be strongly considered. What good is a great sounding amp that isn't reliable? Bruce Zinky has already addressed that one. :lol:

So, it is both.

I recently bought a H n'K tubemeister amp. Listened to the utubes, read reviews, both were very favorable. The amp, although new, has exceeded my expectations. Fine German engineering built with integrity in China. It was 100.00 off the regular price so I got it for 300.00. I have been using it to record some guitar tracks. Tube tone and silent recording. I love it.

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 5:38 pm
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I seldom buy new amps. Which nips that problem right in the bud.

Fifteen hundred bucks would buy one helluva nice vintage rig......

:wink:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:41 pm
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right you are arjay...

I am definitely open minded to vintage amps. I am not, however, an electronics expert. If I were to go the vintage route I would hate to pay a good price, only to find out there may be some costly upgrades needed.

maybe some of you talented folks could tell me what to look at when trying out a vintage amp. i am looking fender vintage-wise at a twin reverb, deluxe, or even a super reverb. something in an easy-to-handle form. (just turned 60, so my heavy amp lifting days are behind me).

I am open to any suggestions, and as always, I appreciate your advice


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:55 pm
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and just as a follow-up arjay, do you have years that you consider are fender's best work?

I prefer the looks of the old blackface, but will look at the silver as well.


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:16 pm
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You will always find more bad reviews of new amps, because most of the posted responses will be by disgruntled owners. This won't happen with vintage stuff because whomever bought it first never had access to the internet, and if it's still around it was fixed by someone along the way. Does that mean Vintage is better than New? I don't think so, but many will disagree.


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:58 pm
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phreddybee wrote:
and just as a follow-up arjay, do you have years that you consider are fender's best work?

I prefer the looks of the old blackface, but will look at the silver as well.


Anything made before 1971, which is the year that FMI's cabinetry became structurally weak due to cost-cutting measures.

Oh, and you can count on spending two to three hundred dollars to have the amp serviced to spec (or save a few $$$ by doing it yourself). But once the basic servicing and maintenance has been competently performed, you'll likely have a trouble-amp for the next decade or more.

Obviously the blackfaces are preferred for their superior circuit design but a qualified technician can back-date a silverface chassis by removing, replacing, or rewiring a few key components and reconfiguring the power supply to provide a traditional idle-bias adjustment for optimum power-tube performance.

Or if you prefer blinking lights, bells and whistles, glow-in-the-dark grill cloth, a serial port to interface with your iWhatever, and bio-degradable Tolex you can pick up a bright shiny Fizzmaster from your local big-box store.

:wink:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:08 am
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If you want this to be your last amp, I'd save a little more money and go with a Victoria. Best new production amps out there in my opinion. Lifetime warranty too. Outside of that, I'd go vintage or boutique. It will cost more up front, but you would probably be happier in the long run. Better components equal better reliability and performance. The way that high production amps are made today and with the marginal QC with many of them, I don't think anything but vintage or boutique would be the way to go. If I went back to any serious gigging, it would be the only way I'd go. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:40 pm
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When reading reviews, keep in mind that there are "professional reviewers" out there, astroturfing.
And that 9 out of 10 of the rest are pretty clueless and go for blinkenlights. Often bragging about a product to justify their purchase.

Buy with your ears. There is no "the" best amp, so find one that you like based on what you play and how you play it. And be prepared to grow out of it one day. That's okay too.


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:11 pm
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63supro wrote:
If you want this to be your last amp, I'd save a little more money and go with a Victoria. Best new production amps out there in my opinion. Lifetime warranty too. Outside of that, I'd go vintage or boutique. It will cost more up front, but you would probably be happier in the long run. Better components equal better reliability and performance. The way that high production amps are made today and with the marginal QC with many of them, I don't think anything but vintage or boutique would be the way to go. If I went back to any serious gigging, it would be the only way I'd go. :wink:


My ultimate guitar rig gas is a Victoria Regal. 15" speaker and a self biasing amp that accepts 6v6,6L6,EL 34 and 84. Single or in combination. You can use a 6V6 or 6L6 with an EL tube. Onboard tube tremolo and reverb. All for around 2400.00. :shock:

I'll have probably built a simple DIY before that. Whatever that means. :?:

One day, maybe. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:59 am
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modwiz wrote:
63supro wrote:
If you want this to be your last amp, I'd save a little more money and go with a Victoria. Best new production amps out there in my opinion. Lifetime warranty too. Outside of that, I'd go vintage or boutique. It will cost more up front, but you would probably be happier in the long run. Better components equal better reliability and performance. The way that high production amps are made today and with the marginal QC with many of them, I don't think anything but vintage or boutique would be the way to go. If I went back to any serious gigging, it would be the only way I'd go. :wink:


My ultimate guitar rig gas is a Victoria Regal. 15" speaker and a self biasing amp that accepts 6v6,6L6,EL 34 and 84. Single or in combination. You can use a 6V6 or 6L6 with an EL tube. Onboard tube tremolo and reverb. All for around 2400.00. :shock:

I'll have probably built a simple DIY before that. Whatever that means. :?:

One day, maybe. :lol:


Modwiz, There are two simple small amp kits that come to mind right off the bat.
One is pretty cheap and sounds great IMO. It only took me around three hours to build, taking my time. Here it is. $215, true point to point. True PTP isn't too bad if you utilize alligator clips to help hold the components in place. Here's a link. http://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/K-MOD102 this was my first tube amp build and it's pretty impressive sounding. You can view the step by step instructions.

The other one comes from Tube Depot. https://tubedepot.com/products/tweed-de ... be-amp-kit This was my second build. I bypassed the 5F1 because the 5e3 was only a hundred bucks more. Seriously nice kit and pretty simple to build with the step by step instructions. This is now my Grab-N-Go amp and it sounds great. I changed the 50 watt Jenson Mod speaker to a Weber 12A125A 30 watt Alnico light dope and this amp is a thing of beauty.
The amp is built on a Mil Spec PCB with fat traces, a double sided board with plated through holes. It's a really nice kit. Mine came with Classic Tone trannies that are build the old fashioned way with paper interleaving and built here in the USA.

I've been building pedals for years so my soldering skills are decent. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, so If I can do it, anybody can do it if you take your time and read everything carefully. The first time I took this amps out I got lots of compliments and three people asked if I could build one for them. :shock:

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:34 am
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I'm 61, I know what you mean by wanting something easier to haul around.

I just went through the same thing. I've been carting a 2x12 Marshall combo around.

Vintage amps are great, just find a good amp tech. IMO it's always worth paying a pro.

My decision was based on:
- I don't need a 50 watt amp anymore. Something in the 20W range would be fine.
- the band I play in mics everything, one speaker is perfect. (smaller, lighter)
- I wanted channel switching, a real good clean, and a good dirt channel.
- I tested quite a few amps that fit my criteria. Opinions will vary, but to my old ears nothing delivers as nice a clean as a Fender (in a reasonable price range that is)
- I decided on a new Supersonic 22. I went new because I can afford it, I like the Fender warranty, I've read some stuff on the net about problems with the earlier models (as said above though, always take reviews found on the internet with a whole bag of salt).
- I ordered the 1x12 combo. I can always add an extension cab if I want, but I can't see a reason to right now. It's pretty small, pretty light, and most importantly delivers exactly the tone I have been looking for. But, what I was searching for, may not be what you are searching for.

Test drive a few, let your ears be your guide not $. Too many bad reviews you see on the net really boil down to 'I can't afford it so I'll crap on it'.


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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:31 pm
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dwagar wrote:
...Too many bad reviews you see on the net really boil down to 'I can't afford it so I'll crap on it'.


Or, "I don't know WTF I'm talking about, so I'll crap on it". One example that I saw, a review of the GT 6L6GE tube in which the reviewer stated that the getter flash being on the side of the tube was "unacceptable quality control". :lol:

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Post subject: Re: when buying a new amp.....
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:43 pm
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Mike,

Which article was this? I must read it. I've often wonder why these tubes never really made the grade. Now, I know! :lol:



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