Recommend an amp for a bedroom noodler.

Voxman

tony99 said:

ok, just a quick update to say thanks again for all the help from everyone

as mentioned in a couple of other threads I've gone with the Boss Katana 50,

it's taken me a few days but I am now beginning to see some of its capabilities, and wow it's bloody good, the best thing about it is it seems to encourage me to try other things that I don't normally play. fantastic!!

still yet to figure out using it as an interface but that's probably going to be down to what software I choose probably, so expect another thread on that soon

thanks again everyone !

Sorry, didn't see this post when I posted earlier - but yes, the Boss Katana is very well thought of by many folk here. It was the first one in my earlier 'list' and is cheaper, better featured, & way better sounding than the THR10C.  I think you did good! 

tony99

Voxman said:

tony99 said:

ok, just a quick update to say thanks again for all the help from everyone

as mentioned in a couple of other threads I've gone with the Boss Katana 50,

it's taken me a few days but I am now beginning to see some of its capabilities, and wow it's bloody good, the best thing about it is it seems to encourage me to try other things that I don't normally play. fantastic!!

still yet to figure out using it as an interface but that's probably going to be down to what software I choose probably, so expect another thread on that soon

thanks again everyone !

Sorry, didn't see this post when I posted earlier - but yes, the Boss Katana is very well thought of by many folk here. It was the first one in my earlier 'list' and is cheaper, better featured, & way better sounding than the THR10C.  I think you did good! 

Hey that's ok, still trying to figure out a few things though, when I was searching I found out that with the zoom G things, you can record a loop and jam with yourself, so I'd like to figure a way of doing that with the boss k?

Also, what recording software should I be looking at d'ya think, if I want o record some basic tracks / ambient moonscapes?

Thanks for your help!

Nikko

Any Looper pedal will do. 

tony99

Nikko said:

Any Looper pedal will do. 

ok, but if I use loop pedal then whatever fx I choose on the amp effects that loop as well as what I play over it right? because the 50 has no fx loop, right?

have I got that right?

darthed1981

tony99 said:

Nikko said:

Any Looper pedal will do. 

ok, but if I use loop pedal then whatever fx I choose on the amp effects that loop as well as what I play over it right? because the 50 has no fx loop, right?

have I got that right?

Yes thats correct.

Your other option if you are connected to a pc or laptop is to record a part in audacity or similar and use that as your loop.  I've done that once or twice with my Blackstar core, not tried with the Katana.

Nikko

darthed1981 said:

tony99 said:

Nikko said:

Any Looper pedal will do. 

ok, but if I use loop pedal then whatever fx I choose on the amp effects that loop as well as what I play over it right? because the 50 has no fx loop, right?

have I got that right?

Yes thats correct.

Your other option if you are connected to a pc or laptop is to record a part in audacity or similar and use that as your loop.  I've done that once or twice with my Blackstar core, not tried with the Katana.

Yes, this is what I do.

Exorcist

You could just get a cheap joyo dirt pedal for when you want to loop something clean and riff over the top with some od..

ICBM

Just to resurrect this thread - today I borrowed a Blackstar ID Core Beam which had come into the shop. I was interested by the idea of a bedroom amp which will do electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass, and also it's a Bluetooth speaker.

But…

Oh dear! No. Just no.

1 - it sounds dreadful. Only the 'Bright Clean' setting is even close to being natural-sounding, all the others are muddy, muffled and totally lacking in any kind of clarity or sparkle. The ISF tone control does so little it's almost pointless.

2 - the 'Wide Stereo' reverb and delay are incredibly annoying, the sound appears to come from outside the amp in a really disconcerting way, like you're wearing headphones that are wired out of phase.

 3 - the noise gate is ludicrously unsubtle and not only cuts off the tails of notes, it doesn't even open properly when you're picking softly. I can see why though, since with the gate open it's very noisy. (And for what it's worth it's very prone to picking up external noise too, which is why I had it here for testing - in the shop it was so noisy I thought it might be faulty.)

I haven't even bothered trying it with acoustic guitar or bass. I did briefly try the 'Acoustic Simulator' mode with the electric, and that if anything sounds even worse… tinny, thin and metallic.

Not sure if it actually beats the Orange Micro Terror for the title of the worst-sounding guitar amp I've ever heard - it is at least not as harsh and fatiguing to listen to - but my Vox Mini5 Rhythm thrashes it so comprehensively it's not true.

Sorry Dave . Although I know this one is nothing to do with you!

olafgarten

ICBM said:

Just to resurrect this thread - today I borrowed a Blackstar ID Core Beam which had come into the shop. I was interested by the idea of a bedroom amp which will do electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass, and also it's a Bluetooth speaker.

But…

Oh dear! No. Just no.

1 - it sounds dreadful. Only the 'Bright Clean' setting is even close to being natural-sounding, all the others are muddy, muffled and totally lacking in any kind of clarity or sparkle. The ISF tone control does so little it's almost pointless.

2 - the 'Wide Stereo' reverb and delay are incredibly annoying, the sound appears to come from outside the amp in a really disconcerting way, like you're wearing headphones that are wired out of phase.

 3 - the noise gate is ludicrously unsubtle and not only cuts off the tails of notes, it doesn't even open properly when you're picking softly. I can see why though, since with the gate open it's very noisy. (And for what it's worth it's very prone to picking up external noise too, which is why I had it here for testing - in the shop it was so noisy I thought it might be faulty.)

I haven't even bothered trying it with acoustic guitar or bass. I did briefly try the 'Acoustic Simulator' mode with the electric, and that if anything sounds even worse… tinny, thin and metallic.

Not sure if it actually beats the Orange Micro Terror for the title of the worst-sounding guitar amp I've ever heard - it is at least not as harsh and fatiguing to listen to - but my Vox Mini5 Rhythm thrashes it so comprehensively it's not true.

Sorry Dave . Although I know this one is nothing to do with you!

The BEAM is really bad, it's basically a Bluetooth Speaker with a guitar modeller built in,

The ID:Core Stereo 10, 20 and 40 are pretty good though.

darthed1981

Was going to say my cores are pretty good.

The Beam aint cheap either, clanger dropped.

ICBM

olafgarten said:

The BEAM is really bad, it's basically a Bluetooth Speaker with a guitar modeller built in,

The ID:Core Stereo 10, 20 and 40 are pretty good though.

Just been testing a Core 20…

Better, but still no good. Same overly dark, midrangy Blackstar voicing with no top-end at all, just harsh upper mid if you use the 'bright clean' sound - and there's a huge amount of hiss on the clean sounds, proving that the lack of top-end is a deliberate voicing and not a characteristic of the speakers or power section. The ISF is more effective but still works backwards, and the 'wide stereo' is still horrible if you turn any of the effects up past 'just about on'.

Is this *really* what people think a guitar amp should sound like? (The ones who work at Blackstar, anyway…)

Chuffola

My experience was the same with the Core 20 when I experimented as a desktop amp. Awful, bland, massive hiss and the "wide" reverb sounded weird.

THR, even though much more expensive, sounded infinitely better. But many people think the total opposite!  

Boss Katana is my home noodler of choice at the moment and its better than all of them (although hardly a desktop amp, to be fair). 

olafgarten

ICBM said:

olafgarten said:

The BEAM is really bad, it's basically a Bluetooth Speaker with a guitar modeller built in,

The ID:Core Stereo 10, 20 and 40 are pretty good though.

Just been testing a Core 20…

Better, but still no good. Same overly dark, midrangy Blackstar voicing with no top-end at all, just harsh upper mid if you use the 'bright clean' sound - and there's a huge amount of hiss on the clean sounds, proving that the lack of top-end is a deliberate voicing and not a characteristic of the speakers or power section. The ISF is more effective but still works backwards, and the 'wide stereo' is still horrible if you turn any of the effects up past 'just about on'.

Is this *really* what people think a guitar amp should sound like? (The ones who work at Blackstar, anyway…)

While I'm not a huge fan of the voicing for cleans and low gain, it does sound better for their main target market which I think is higher gain rock/metal stuff. The ISF is backwards but the stereo effects aren't that bad. 

ICBM

The stereo FX are probably the worst bit of it. (Maybe apart from the hiss.) They sound absolutely dreadful, very fatiguing to listen to.

Luckily all I have to do is check it's working OK... so having confirmed that the hiss is normal it's going back to the shop now!

sweepy

Still can't go wrong with a Boss Katana 

Legionreturns

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/107279/fs-boss-katana-100-combo-175#latest

Buy that, job done! 

maw4neu

Easy one to answer . . . Cornell Romany Plus . . .  .