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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:44 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
mhowell wrote:
Ignore the tube snobs. There are a lot of good SS amps out there.

There's good tube amps and bad tube amps and there's good SS amps and bad SS amps. Anybody that offers a blanket statement that "tubes sound better than SS" doesn't know what they're talking about.


Your signature, "In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.", clearly implies that tubes are better than solid state. :wink: :lol:

Ba-zinggggg! :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:47 pm
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63supro wrote:
Beemer, So you're a Trailer Park Boys Fan? Funny stuff. :lol:

You guys get that show in Arizona? I never woulda thunk it would ever get American airplay. My fav episode was when Ricky and Julian paved the driveway with black hash. Although Ricky getting out of jail with ten grand and thinking he was a millionaire was pretty funny too. Bubbles playing "Closer To The Heart" on the acoustic was kinda cool too. It looked like he was really playing it.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:50 pm
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NewWave wrote:
So I'm looking for a "practice" amp that has that fender crystal clean sound like beck and EJ and have some balls to do classic~heavy rock (<80's music) crunch under half grand.
TIA


Welcome to the Forum NewWave, 500 dollars, lucky you. New or old? Old is rampant now at Guitar Center, they've taken a lot of trades this year. New, just for practice: Image hope this helps :D

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:11 am
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Bottom line is, you've got to go out to the stores and try out what they have there, within you budget. GC use to work with people but, not anymore. Gain Capital changed that around. It sucks because Fender does alot of business with them and, I'm sure there would be more sales, all the way around.


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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:20 am
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Just my opinion but, I'd take a Blackface or Silverface Champ over any of the HRD series amps including the Pro Jr.
When I run my 74 Champ through two 112 cabs it's a whole other different animal. Also I don't find the tone from an old Champ boxy. The Blues and Pro jrs, drive me nuts with their boxiness. The cabs are just too small for the speakers that are in them.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:21 am
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63supro wrote:
The Blues and Pro jrs, drive me nuts with their boxiness. The cabs are just too small for the speakers that are in them.


You said a mouthful.

Those tiny cabinets have spawned a whole cottage industry. BillM would not be in a thriving modification business if it weren't for people drawn to the BJ by it's low price and then frustrated with its tone due to the puny cabinet. I tried his approach and spent a bunch of money on my BJ. In the end I realised I should never have bought the amp in the first place and the BillM mods were just throwing good money after bad. Those amps are poorly designed from the ground up.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:28 am
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BMW-KTM wrote:
63supro wrote:
The Blues and Pro jrs, drive me nuts with their boxiness. The cabs are just too small for the speakers that are in them.


You said a mouthful.

Those tiny cabinets have spawned a whole cottage industry. BillM would not be in a thriving modification business if it weren't for people drawn to the BJ by it's low price and then frustrated with its tone due to the puny cabinet. I tried his approach and spent a bunch of money on my BJ. In the end I realised I should never have bought the amp in the first place and the BillM mods were just throwing good money after bad. Those amps are poorly designed from the ground up.


I bought a tweed BJ a few years ago. Fortunately the shop I bought it from has a 30 day return policy, cuz that amp was back in the store before 30 days was up. Came home with a Traynor YCV 40 WR instead. That amp is over $700 though.

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Last edited by yodacaster on Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:53 am
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Yeah, Yoda, I remember that. Traynor amps are really nice and they don't cost a fortune.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:41 am
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Have to agree with a previous poster, the Fender Mustang series offers nice clean Fender sounds at some very attractive prices, with the added benefit of usable models of other amps for a nice variety of sounds.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:15 am
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Twang99 wrote:
Have to agree with a previous poster, the Fender Mustang series offers nice clean Fender sounds at some very attractive prices, with the added benefit of usable models of other amps for a nice variety of sounds.


+Agreed+

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:57 am
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This is a little over 500, but I suggest something by Blackstar. This is probably the best one for you http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifie ... half-stack
I have the Blackstar HT Club 40. It gets amazing clean tones, and it handles distortion extremely well! I highly suggest these amps!

If you want a Fender amp, then you could try te new Excelsior. They sound like they could be cool. If I had the money, that's the one I would want. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifie ... -combo-amp


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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:46 pm
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mhowell wrote:
Ignore the tube snobs. There are a lot of good SS amps out there.

There's good tube amps and bad tube amps and there's good SS amps and bad SS amps. Anybody that offers a blanket statement that "tubes sound better than SS" doesn't know what they're talking about.



I missed any posts by the tube snobs. But I have to ask, can you prove a SS amp sounds better than a tube amp?

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:17 pm
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Hou-Tex wrote:
mhowell wrote:
Ignore the tube snobs. There are a lot of good SS amps out there.

There's good tube amps and bad tube amps and there's good SS amps and bad SS amps. Anybody that offers a blanket statement that "tubes sound better than SS" doesn't know what they're talking about.



I missed any posts by the tube snobs. But I have to ask, can you prove a SS amp sounds better than a tube amp?


53magnatone may not have been snobbish but he basically said tube is better than solid state. I think that's an opinion, not fact, and certainly not good advice for buying an amp.

I never said SS was better than tube. I said there were good SS amps and bad SS amps and there are good tube amps and bad tube amps. What sounds best is a matter of opinion and I can't prove subjectivity. My favorite amp is a tube amp, the original BF princeton reverb, but that doesn't mean tubes are better any more than my preference for a 1940 ford pickup means that ford is better. I would take a Roland JC 120 over many tube amps any day.

I'll bet you I could record some of my playing and you wouldn't be able to tell if I used a tube or SS amp. That's really not a fair test of course because it most likely gets replayed through SS setup. It's also probably not a relevant test because it's the playing dynamics that we experience as much as, if not more, than the tone that drives our preferences.

I posted in this forum previously about a double blind test where only one guitarist could reliable ID when he was playing through a tube amp - and that was because of defect in the design. Do a search for "Double Blind test". It an interesting thread.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:47 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
mhowell wrote:
Ignore the tube snobs. There are a lot of good SS amps out there.

There's good tube amps and bad tube amps and there's good SS amps and bad SS amps. Anybody that offers a blanket statement that "tubes sound better than SS" doesn't know what they're talking about.


Your signature, "In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.", clearly implies that tubes are better than solid state. :wink: :lol:


That's my own statement, not a quote, and I'll stand by it. I admit that it does seem to imply that my opinion is that tubes are better than SS. But that is not actually my opinion at all. It is also not my opinion that SS is better that tube.

It is based on my experience with the Princeton Reverb. I am able to get superb playing dynamics and tone to suit my playing style with the PR and it first came into production in 1964 - hence the statement. However, I like the amp for what it can do for me, not because it's tube.

There are tube amps that don't suit me at all. I can't do anything with a Twin and I've owned couple of other tube amps that were horrid.

There have also been some SS amps that worked great for me. The yamaha G100 with it's parametric EQ was great. Also had a Peavey Heritage ( SS pre-amp - quad 6L6 power amp ) that worked well.

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Post subject: Re: Amp under $500
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:42 pm
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Blues JNR.......Forget the SS Snobs..... :lol:

Go and Park a Frontman next to a Blues Jnr......Play them both, Take your favorite pedal............ It'll be a no brainer.... :wink:

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Last edited by ozrv on Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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