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Good Looking AND Playing Amp

#61
I agree- appearance shouldn't matter. But to her it definitely does, and I really don't blame her. Our living space right now is small enough that anything we get will be in the living room, front and center. Now, if you've been playing long enough, sometimes you can look at an amp and see past its physical appearance, and see it as the awesome tone that it produces.

It can become beautiful to your eyes because it sounds beautiful to your ears.

Now, personally, I think modular Moog's look incredible. But your average person might just see it as a bookcase-sized rats nest of wire, knobs, and blinky lights.

If my Vox wasn't so pretty, it would have been a lot harder convincing her to let me get it.

She's still new, and I really don't want her to start resenting the instrument because it makes her have to look at a big ugly box any time she's home. I really look forward to the days where I can jam with her. So if it takes an amp that also looks pretty- something she can look at with pride- to keep her playing, then that's what I'll get.

Having said all that, how do you feel about fEARful cabinets? I like the idea of building it to look however I want. I also like that they use a proper midrange driver/subwoofer combination for a nice even frequency response. That way I could have it double as a PA for electronic instruments. I could definitely increase my budget to get something a bit more versatile. Also, if I built a nice-looking cab she'd be less likely to care about how the amp looks on top.
 
#63
YES. THAT. I like the way you think, beans-on-toast. :cool: (although I'm sure those Mesas cost many thousands of dollars...)

I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on them, as there are on basically everything. That being said, what is the consensus opinion on them? I'll probably end up going with them regardless, but I'm curious what others think.
 
#64
Yeah, I'm kind of partial to my rig looking as good as it sounds... ;)

Combo.jpg
 
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#66
ajsmcs said:
I agree- appearance shouldn't matter. But to her it definitely does, and I really don't blame her. Our living space right now is small enough that anything we get will be in the living room, front and center. Now, if you've been playing long enough, sometimes you can look at an amp and see past its physical appearance, and see it as the awesome tone that it produces.

It can become beautiful to your eyes because it sounds beautiful to your ears.

Now, personally, I think modular Moog's look incredible. But your average person might just see it as a bookcase-sized rats nest of wire, knobs, and blinky lights.

If my Vox wasn't so pretty, it would have been a lot harder convincing her to let me get it.

She's still new, and I really don't want her to start resenting the instrument because it makes her have to look at a big ugly box any time she's home. I really look forward to the days where I can jam with her. So if it takes an amp that also looks pretty- something she can look at with pride- to keep her playing, then that's what I'll get.

Having said all that, how do you feel about fEARful cabinets? I like the idea of building it to look however I want. I also like that they use a proper midrange driver/subwoofer combination for a nice even frequency response. That way I could have it double as a PA for electronic instruments. I could definitely increase my budget to get something a bit more versatile. Also, if I built a nice-looking cab she'd be less likely to care about how the amp looks on top.
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Nearly all my gear lives in my living room, pretty much all the time. My wife will tolerate just about anything I build as long as it isn't painted black or covered in Tolex or other plasticky stuff. This fEARful 12/6 was done with "eco-friendly" plywood (Europly) and finished with low stink water based poly. Don't have it anymore, but it sounded good and met WAF standards well.

Link Removed
 
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#68
ajsmcs said:
YES. THAT. I like the way you think, beans-on-toast. :cool: (although I'm sure those Mesas cost many thousands of dollars...)

I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on them, as there are on basically everything. That being said, what is the consensus opinion on them? I'll probably end up going with them regardless, but I'm curious what others think.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more about building something similar. You had mentioned the fearful which you would have to build or find a local woodworker to build it for you. A fearful in a hardwood cab would look good and perform well. Like Charlie's cab above.

Mesa cabinets are very nice but expensive. I have a nice hardwood combo cabinet. Used ones are easily refinished with oil.

Mesa made a nice 115 cabinet based on the TL-606 design which would be good for bass.
 
#71
beans-on-toast said:
You are right about that.

Dreaming is a good way to figure out what you want by seeing what's available. Then when the cold realities set in, decide on options based on budget. Storing seeds for the future never hurts.
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I've come to realize that there is no such amp that is good enough looking for our living room and that any playing will be taking place in the family room, bar, spare room, whatever. ;) I'm OK with that because I don't need my 'junk' all over the house. My leopard upholstered record rack holding 1000's of LPs doesn't make the cut either.
 
#72
Unfortunately for me, my living room, family room, bar, spare room, AND my whatever are all the exact same space. ;-)

Fortunately, I have enough carpentry skills that building a fEARful wouldn't be too difficult. And I'd be willing to increase my budget to fit one of those because it could be used with other instruments. Not only that, but if the sound quality rivals significantly more expensive, commercially built cabs, then going for the fEARful would be a much better value in the long run.

To put that another way, I'd max out at $450 on a "pretty decent for the money" combo amp, but I could definitely increase that by a few hundred for an "actually really good in general" kind of amp with increased versatility.

And since its the cab- not the amp head- that dominates the view, I can be a lot less picky about the aesthetics of the amp heads.
 
#73
ajsmcs said:
Unfortunately for me, my living room, family room, bar, spare room, AND my whatever are all the exact same space. ;-)
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Same here! The upside is that it's paid for.

And since its the cab- not the amp head- that dominates the view, I can be a lot less picky about the aesthetics of the amp heads.
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Pretty easy to do a quasi home hi-fi sleeve or rack case for a head:

PW8B_BSX.jpg
 
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#74
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#76
danosix said:
While that's a very usable and practical amp - it would definitely fall into the category of "looking like a PA" that he doesn't want.
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Well, it's an excellent combo, & worth nearly twice it's current price. Many other options offered here represent nothing more than dreams to the OP's price range. So, for all practical purposes, the choice is this or nothing.
 
#77
iualum said:
Well, it's an excellent combo, & worth nearly twice it's current price. Many other options offered here represent nothing more than dreams to the OP's price range. So, for all practical purposes, the choice is this or nothing.
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While I totally agree that this thread has been highjacked by people sending pics of high end boutique stuff, I wouldn't say it's that or nothing - most of the first few pages is practical suggestions for at least vintage-y looking stuff well within his price range including the new Rumble Amps which are similarly priced and valued to this and don't have this modern look he's trying to avoid.
Again- as far as a good usable amp and a practical suggestions you're right on the money - but his wife wants "pretty" and that ain't what a wife would call "pretty"
I also kinda' agree with the wives of this world in wondering why all bass amps have to look like the Klingons designed them for their war ships? There are vey few guitar amps that still look like 80s heavy metal amps, but most bass amps companies have run with that look - it's annoying. That's why I didn't recommend my personal fave in that price range - the SWR workingman's which can be had relatively easily used for less than $200 and sound amazing. Unfortunately it is BUT UGLY - that's why I've moved over to Ampeg B100Rs - actually not quite as practical an amp and a lower end one (about half the price new) but it doesn't hurt my eyes and looks a 1032 times cooler (that's a preceice measurement on the Fonzerelli scale or 97ehs).
 
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#78
danosix said:
While I totally agree that this thread has been highjacked by people sending pics of high end boutique stuff, I wouldn't say it's that or nothing - most of the first few pages is practical suggestions for at least vintage-y looking stuff well within his price range including the new Rumble Amps which are similarly priced and valued to this and don't have this modern look he's trying to avoid.
Again- as far as a good usable amp and a practical suggestions you're right on the money - but his wife wants "pretty" and that ain't what a wife would call "pretty"
I also kinda' agree with the wives of this world in wondering why all bass amps have to look like the Klingons designed them for their war ships? There are vey few guitar amps that still look like 80s heavy metal amps, but most bass amps companies have run with that look - it's annoying. That's why I didn't recommend my personal fave in that price range - the SWR workingman's which can be had relatively easily used for less than $200 and sound amazing. Unfortunately it is BUT UGLY - that's why I've moved over to Ampeg B100Rs - actually not quite as practical an amp and a lower end one (about half the price new) but it doesn't hurt my eyes and looks a 1032 times cooler (that's a preceice measurement on the Fonzerelli scale or 97ehs).
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The Rumble V3 210 looks to be a nice combo, granted, but it's $140 more than the Genz Contour, $499 vs $359. Not an insignificant difference, especially when the budget is an already pretty unrealistic $200-$400. The Contour covers all the musical bases needed, does it very well, & all for little coin (much less than original retail & its intrinsic value).

Wifey (& maybe the OP) can want their cake & to eat it, too, but people in Hell want ice H2O also. Don't mean they get it :D.
 
#79
I don't think it's been mentioned:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

If you're handy enough to consider a fearful, you could build a grill cloth frame and install it on whatever set up that matches your price, output and tone goals but not aesthetics. It's pricey grill cloth, but opens the field up considerably.
 
#80
The Carvin MB210 or MB115, with all the color options, looks the best in the price range IMO and both are loud enough for jamming with a band. They're small two, the MB210 takes up very little space since it's "vertical".
The GB Contour 115 is the best PERFORMING amp in the price range. Loud + full by itself, mighty with an extension. The Carvin's also work well with extensions the the Benz has a lot more power.
 

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