Question for Gee-tar Players

[B-Lo]

I purchased my first guitar today (Ibanez Artcore AS73FM) and I'm looking for a decent amp. I'm not looking to join a guitar forum anytime soon so I thought I'd ask here.

I turn 48 this year and I'll be a day 1 beginner when it arrives, so I don't have an delusions of ever playing in front of a crowd of adoring fans. I do however want something with more heft than just a practice amp because I'll eventually want to be able to jam along with drums, bass, etc.

The choices of guitar amps are pretty overwhelming. Any recommendations from you all? Thanks.

 

[AceOfBassFace]

A Fender Princeton (the tube version) is the sweet spot for guitar amps IMO. 12 watts into a 10" speaker. Plenty loud for rehearsing and can carry the room in small bar gigs. Lightweight. A bit pricey new, but used ones are reasonably priced and retain their value.

 

[Wasnex]

Our ears are most sensitive to mid-range frequencies, so if you hear bass and guitar at the same SPL, the guitar will be perceived as significantly louder. A 25W guitar amp into an efficient speaker may be more than enough, unless you plan to play in a really loud band.

 

[5StringBlues]

Blues Jr.

 

[Phlipper]

Any of the small tube combos like Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Blues Jr or Deluxe will work for you. No need to spend big money. They'll be dependable and loud enough to gig with a small group.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

The smallish Fender and Peavey tube combos would be excellent starting points and would take you far from a starting point of zero. And they can be had for not that much money and resold if necessary without an enormous loss.

For a slightly less orthodox choice, you could consider a Quilter Aviator Cub: Aviator Cub. Yeah, it's solid state, but it sounds great, it would almost certainly be loud enough for your needs, it's easy to carry around, and you wouldn't have to worry about tube maintenance (which is not as big a hassle as is sometimes claimed but nevertheless should be kept in mind). Quilter also has great customer service, if that's a consideration.

 

[CallMeAl]

Budget?
Care about features like headphones, aux?
Strong feelings about tube vs SS?

I’ve been playing electric a little over a year now. (And my second guitar was a AS73FM- it’s freaking awesome!)

My 2 amps are a Champion 20 and a Vox AC4TV.

The Champion is fantastic. Great amp models, built in FX to play with (I only use the reverb). This is my most used amp. I’d look into the Champion series, or the Boss Katana series is also great, if you want a modeling amp.

My Vox is 4w tubes, 10”. It’s absolutely awesome, but lite on features. It’s also discontinued; plenty of other great offerings in the AC series. I also love the Fender Blues Jr.

My lil guys are freaking loud and I’d wager I could hang with a drummer. A 12” combo would be absolutely enough for jammin. Enjoy the ride !

edit, ps: there’s also a fairly active guitar player thread, might wanna cross post there
Guitar players corner!

 

[beans-on-toast]

Looks like a nice guitar. If it hasn’t been set up, have it done. Nothing worse than learning to play when the instrument isn’t as playable as it can he.

The tone out of a small wattage tube amp is hard to argue with. A Fender Champ is pretty nice. But all these tube amps are expensive. A used Fender Bassman head would be a great find.

Another option is to use a bass amp with a guitar speaker cabinet. Failing that, use a bass amp with the guitar. It won’t hurt the amp and will save you some money.

There are some great instructional videos on Youtube.

 

[hbarcat]

While solid state is a great option for electric bass, nothing beats an all tube amp for electric guitar.

Still, this isn't the 1980s, when everybody had to have a 100 watt tube amp, full stack blasting away at "11", making everyone within a 7 mile radius instantly deaf. A 15 - 30 watt tube amp is perfectly capable of providing enough volume. In fact, it's very helpful having a lower watt amp that you'll be playing at close to its maximum output power, so you can push the tubes into their sweet spot.

As far as what make and model, that's 100% subjective. I prefer Mesa Boogie amps. Then there's Fender, Marshall, Vox, Blackstar, Orangre, Hughes and Kettner, Bugera, Peavey. Rivera . . . . . . .

I started dabbling in guitar again, 2 years ago, and got myself a 10 watt, vintage ('67) Gibson Skylark.

 

[Aloe]

I have a similar Artcore (AFS75T) and I have two Orange combos: a small Crush 20 for apartment and a larger Crush 35RT for the band practice room. I dig both the clean and dirty channels and while the amps are not versatile for an acoustic or vocals, they're fine for every electric guitar. the 20 won't cut the band, but the 35 seems much better and enough for my purposes. YMMV

this said:
1. my Artcore sounds nice in everything, including the DI and my Phil Jones bass amp.
2. I'm also lately looking for Blackstar valve heads to use with a 112 cab. or a Roland JC-40 (the 120 is nicer, but seems like overkill just to me).

and yeah, advice: those Artcores are sometimes noisy. if you have the one with ACH pickups (not Super 58), you'll likely want to upgrade the pickups (and do a bit of shielding, at least on the back on the pickups). I've heard, Super 58's are okay, but mine had ACH.

 

[tshapiro]

If you'd like to buy just 1 guitar amp in your life try this one (BTW I own 5 tube guitar amps). The clean side is classic Fender. Drive side with the extra drive button pushed in let's you get a good crunch at low volumes. Heavier crunch requires you to use a humbucker (high output) pickup. No different than most amps. Not too big to carry. Heavenly reverb. Big enough for any gig. I wish I had bought this one first.

BTW- the hot rod deluxe series come with a 2 button foot switch. However, I like using any after market single button foot switch better to swap between clean and crunch without needing to bring any dirt or other effect pedals.
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV 1x12" 40-watt Tube Combo Amp

If you're looking to get a really heavy crunch for metal or just really high gain, you'll want to use a humbucker pickup and some sort of fuzz or high distortion pedal. Just throw that in front of the clean channel.

If you want a smaller package and no crunch channel, you can't beat the Princeton. Heavenly cleans and reverb. There IS a difference between the Fender cleans and the cleans of every other amp.

If youd like an amp that has all the effects and a very nice switch pedal (and are willing to try solid state), this one by Boss is rediculously good.
Boss Katana Artist MkII 1x12" 100-Watt Combo Amplifier- B-Stock
Not going to get the umph/drippy-ness of a tube amp though. My guitarist has many great tube amps but gigs with this one using the line level out. Sounds amazing in the PA but he says he does miss some of the tube feel.

 

[dbase]

Guitar Forum???

 

[Hundred proof]

In the blues genre I work in the Fender Deluxe reverb (22 watt 1x12) is the go-to amp of choice. That said the previously mentioned Boss Katana is what I keep around here for an all around practice/rehearsal amp, it’s quite enough for that or a local gig if needed.

 

[And I]

Assuming you're not trying to play heavy metal with a semi hollow body, 40w fender Deville combo is a great sounding amp and as loud as you'll likely ever need to be. The blues jr is decent too, and the peavey classic 30 is worth a mention.

 

[JimChjones]

I don't know how available they are where you are, but a guitar playing mate I really respect does pub gigs with a Blackstar HT5r. The great advantage, he says, is that you can crank it up to the max and still get invited back. Its pretty versatile and later versions have various useful bells and whistles.

I have a 1980ish Fender Champ which admittedly really only has one sound, but its a *good* sound. However they're probably stupid money now and have no versatility at all.

 

[Uncorked]

Supro Blues King 12 is what I used with my Ibanez's. 15 watts all tube with foot switchable boost and gain. Very easy to control volume and overdrive. For me it was a significant change up from Fenders. Much lighter, and better tone. YMMV

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'll speak on Tim's behalf: any Peavey combo...used, of course. He also uses a Roland Jazz Chorus (dual drivers) that Uncle Bobby left in our rehearsal space a couple years back.

Riis

 

[NKBassman]

+1 Fender Blues Jr or Supro Blues/Delta King. I have a 15W 1x12 Supro Blues King and it’s great.

 

[Sponson Thrisby]

Too many questions:
Budget, type of music, physical strength (yes, really)?
My experience:

• I had a little Line 6 Spider 15 at one point. Sounded good but crapped out after less than a year.
• Fender Mustang. Good amp, and the Fender Fuse software provides some ok emulation of pedals. Eventually the power supply failed.
• I have a used Fender Deville 212 (60W version of the Deluxe). Great tone (tubes), but farking heavy! My favourite when playing at home, but I don't tend to take it anywhere because of the weight. Bloody loud, too. I almost never turn the volume above 3 (of 12) at home. Also, I've fully re-tubed it and adjusted bias for my preferred tone.
  
• Boss Katana 50. Lots of cool software customizable stuff, but I've never liked the tone of it. Could be the speaker. One of my jam buddies has the Katana 100 and says it sounds much better.

 

[beans-on-toast]

The 112 Fender Deluxe Reverb is probably the most recorded guitar amp.

If you’re looking for a tube amp, be careful with some Fender amps such as the Tone Master line. They look like the vintage amps but are modelled digital, not tube amps.

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