Help choosing among these three

[RambleOn]

Hi All,
I'm going to get my son a new amp for his birthday. He's outgrown the Fender Rumble 15 practice amp. I want to get him something a little more powerful and versatile that he can use for practicing but also for garage jamming with his friends/band without breaking the bank.
I´m looking at:

Gallien Krueger BL 110II
Behringer BXL900A (possibly the 1800A)
KUSTOM KXB 100

These are all under 200Euro online but I can´t try them locally.
Those of you who have used or heard these please give me your opinions.
He plays a mixed bag, 70's Rock, GreenDay, U2, Nirvana.....
I realize that these are not top of the line, just looking for something with a reasonable quality/price ratio.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[cheezewiz]

I think you'd get much more bang for the buck by getting something used and a little higher quality. The GK Backline and Behringer both have pretty poor reputations for quality and reliability, and we know how teenagers tend to treat gear. I'm not familiar with the Kustom.

[Substandard]

I would suggest checking out a crate 15" combo if you can. Should be cheap and they tend to be fairly burly as far as taking a beating.

[RambleOn]

Originally Posted by Substandard

I would suggest checking out a crate 15" combo if you can. Should be cheap and they tend to be fairly burly as far as taking a beating.

Having trouble finding Crate in Europe....

[bassplayerbob]

Older peavey combos are a dime a dozen and easy to get. Tko and tnt models are good choices.

[René_Julien]

Sorry to say, but it is my opinion that you're not really upgrading with that budget and that selection. Maybe expanding the budget to 400 € than you have a nice selection of powerful 1x12 or 1x15 combos, that are decent and will last him for a while.
Or with a budget within 300 to 400 € you can find him something really nice on the used market.
Ampeg BA115, Marshall MB150 or Ashdown Electric Blue are nice budget combos that will meet the needs of your son. (The ones I can immediately think of.)

Where are you from?

[RambleOn]

Originally Posted by René_Julien

Sorry to say, but it is my opinion that you're not really upgrading with that budget and that selection. Maybe expanding the budget to 400 € than you have a nice selection of powerful 1x12 or 1x15 combos, that are decent and will last him for a while.
Or with a budget within 300 to 400 € you can find him something really nice on the used market.
Ampeg BA115, Marshall MB150 or Ashdown Electric Blue are nice budget combos that will meet the needs of your son. (The ones I can immediately think of.)

Where are you from?

Hi I'm in Spain.
Thanks for your feedback, I guess I may have to consider upping the budget a little....however why do you say it wouldn't really be upgrading?
The Kustom KXB 100, for example, is 100watts 15" 4-band EQ,DI Out, Speaker Out with apparently (from the little I've been able to read) pretty good tone and build quality, while the Fender Rumble 15 is 15W 8" 3-band EQ.
What´s the criteria?
Thanks

[RambleOn]

Nobody has tried any of these?

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by RambleOn

Hi I'm in Spain.
Thanks for your feedback, I guess I may have to consider upping the budget a little....however why do you say it wouldn't really be upgrading?
The Kustom KXB 100, for example, is 100watts 15" 4-band EQ,DI Out, Speaker Out with apparently (from the little I've been able to read) pretty good tone and build quality, while the Fender Rumble 15 is 15W 8" 3-band EQ.
What´s the criteria?
Thanks

out of all you mentioned, only the kustom is something that might be usable. the others are just barely an upgrade.

[jeff7bass]

I'm hearing good things about the new Kustom Deep End combos. The 100w, 15" combo is at Amazon.com for 399.00 (US ). Might want to check that out.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by RambleOn

Hi I'm in Spain.
Thanks for your feedback, I guess I may have to consider upping the budget a little....however why do you say it wouldn't really be upgrading?
The Kustom KXB 100, for example, is 100watts 15" 4-band EQ,DI Out, Speaker Out with apparently (from the little I've been able to read) pretty good tone and build quality, while the Fender Rumble 15 is 15W 8" 3-band EQ.
What´s the criteria?
Thanks

Okay, maybe I didn't considered the Kustom in your selection. From specs that one might do the job. I never played or even seen a Kustom in real life and I might have let my personal preference get in the way.

From what you tell about how your son is going to use it I personally would go either one of these two:

MARSHALL MB150 - Thomann Belgian Cyberstore
LINE6 LOWDOWN LD 150 - Thomann Belgian Cyberstore

These are combos that I played and liked, and can get the job done. Maybe even small gigs in the future.

You spoke in euros so I went on thomann.de and searched for combo starting at lowest price. Minimum 100W, 1x12 or 1x15.
These combos I listed are around 500 €. That may be much over the budget, but look for them used if you can. I don't know the used market in Spain but maybe you can get combos like this for around 350 € used in very good condition. That's one good thing about combos like this used, most likely they've never been outside the first owner's livingroom/bedroom/garage.

Good luck with your search. I hope your son will enjoy whatever he ends up with.

[perogato02]

If you pull up that budget to 350 euro, there are some better options:
Ampeg BA115
Orange Crush 100BXT (the 50BXT is within the budget but not really up to playing in a band setting)
Hartke A100 ...
Well just have a look here ;-)
Combo bajo de transistor - Thomann Cyberstore Español

[RambleOn]

Originally Posted by René_Julien

Okay, maybe I didn't considered the Kustom in your selection. From specs that one might do the job. I never played or even seen a Kustom in real life and I might have let my personal preference get in the way.

From what you tell about how your son is going to use it I personally would go either one of these two:

MARSHALL MB150 - Thomann Belgian Cyberstore
LINE6 LOWDOWN LD 150 - Thomann Belgian Cyberstore

These are combos that I played and liked, and can get the job done. Maybe even small gigs in the future.

You spoke in euros so I went on thomann.de and searched for combo starting at lowest price. Minimum 100W, 1x12 or 1x15.
These combos I listed are around 500 €. That may be much over the budget, but look for them used if you can. I don't know the used market in Spain but maybe you can get combos like this for around 350 € used in very good condition. That's one good thing about combos like this used, most likely they've never been outside the first owner's livingroom/bedroom/garage.

Good luck with your search. I hope your son will enjoy whatever he ends up with.

Thanks for your imputs! Looking into these!

[remainthesame]

gallien, all the way

[RambleOn]

Anyone have experience with the ASHDOWN FIVE FIFTEEN? 100W 1 x 15"
Looks like it might be a better option than those I mentioned above. I've heard some Ashdown (not this specific one) and they sounded very good.
Thanks for your help!

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by RambleOn

Anyone have experience with the ASHDOWN FIVE FIFTEEN? 100W 1 x 15"
Looks like it might be a better option than those I mentioned above. I've heard some Ashdown (not this specific one) and they sounded very good.
Thanks for your help!

Hi, it's me again with my opinions.

I like that combo, at it's price point (as a budget amp). I even prefer it over the Ashdown MAG 115 regardless of the price difference. (Or even over the more expensive ABM 115 combo. My prefered choice in an Ashdown rig would be a MAG amp head and an ABM 115 cab, but that's out of the question pricewise.)

That gets the job done: bedroom to garage rehearsal.

At what price did you find one?

[RambleOn]

Found it at 295Euro so far, still shopping...

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by RambleOn

Found it at 295Euro so far, still shopping...

That's the streetprice for a new unit.
Like I said, for about 100 € more you can find something nicer, even though I think the Five Fifteen is a nice budget amp.
Or again, 300 € (or 295) will give you much on the used market.
Happy hunting.

edit:
You also have the Five Fifteen Ministack, which is an amp head 100W and a seperate cab 2x10", for around 310 € street price new. Something to consider over the 1x15 combo maybe.

[RambleOn]

Originally Posted by René_Julien

That's the streetprice for a new unit.
Like I said, for about 100 € more you can find something nicer, even though I think the Five Fifteen is a nice budget amp.
Or again, 300 € (or 295) will give you much on the used market.
Happy hunting.

Down to 218Euro....still hunting!

I have to buy soon, birthday not far away, I'll be looking for a good used AMP if I can find one in good condition, if not it will probably be the Five Fifteen. Still have a few days of searching so nothing decided yet....
Thanks for your comments!

[spaz21387]

is hartke hard to find over there? Hartke gear is great and reliable. other good budget gear is anything used you can usually find used stuff at less then half the retail price.