Practice Amps - are any really actually good? (Updated with THR-AS...)

stickyfiddle

..I mean, objectively good, as opposed to "for 100 quid it's great!" 

Background; I have a Fender Mustang 1 (mk1) that's been in the cupboard and hardly touched for years, but I'd very keen to have something small that sounds objective good compared to a proper big amp. Tonewise I want that edge of clean/chime/breakup thing, ideally on the line between blackface and vox type tones, with an ability to plug my pedalboard in and still sound half decent. Bonus marks for anything that looks nice enough that I can keep it in the living room. 

Jamup for iPad does a great job of all that except for not being very "plug and play" and ideally needing to go through headphones. 

I've quite enjoyed the Yamaha THR stuff I've plugged into on occasion, but I understand they basically spit the dummy out if you wave a dirt pedal at them. 

The bad news is I can't demo stuff easily cos I moved to the middle east and the guitar shops here are poo, so anything other than a THR would probably have to come from Andertons.

Any ideas?

munckee

I have a THR 5 and its great, I don't play really heavy stuff but my Mojo Mojo overdrive worked okay.  I find better to use the brit hi setting and roll off the volume to give you a dirty clean tone and then turn up for a drivey solo.  The hall and spring reverbs and tremolo are great I don't use anything else.

I haven't tried the Katana mini thing but better than any other practice amps I tried.  Can get good sounds at any volume which is a great bonus for me playing when kids and wife asleep.

ICBM

It's a while since I've played one, but I thought the Mustang 1 was actually pretty good for that sort of thing. I can't remember if I tried it with pedals.

No small amp is ever going to sound as good at really low volume as a big one does slightly too loud to use in the house, that's just one of those things we have to live with .

Bluebeard

Check out the Boss Katana range. They are excellent and take pedals really well

Legionreturns

I recently picked up a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 5 from this very parish for a very reasonable price. I wanted it for kids to use at my music sessions but it sounds beautiful. The clean channel is outstanding and takes pedals very well. A lot louder than I expected too. 

p90fool

Yep, Boss Katana 100 is the best practice amp I've ever owned. 
I'm not being facetious btw, it's light, sounds fantastic at home and is what, three or four inches wider than a typical 1x8 piece of crap? 

The 50w is significantly smaller, lighter and probably sounds just as good as the 100 at low volume. 

sw67

My practice amp is a Roland JC22. Not cheap but sounds good on its own and with pedals

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

It's a while since I've played one, but I thought the Mustang 1 was actually pretty good for that sort of thing. I can't remember if I tried it with pedals.

No small amp is ever going to sound as good at really low volume as a big one does slightly too loud to use in the house, that's just one of those things we have to live with .

I know. The Mustang is definitely at the upper end (or certainly was when it came out). It's just a bit boxy and woofy, which I recall the THRs weren't, last time I tried one. Maybe I should take a Rat to the shop here and try one again. 

JezWynd

The Fender Frontman 25 was a nice sounding little combo. Lovely Fender cleans and pedals sounded good. Internet wisdom said the distortion channel was crap but I liked it. Internet wisdom also said the speaker should be replaced - so I did; took out the Ragin Cajun someone had fitted and reinstalled the original - much better (as a practise amp). You could probably find one easily enough, they were very common at one time.

Flanging_Fred

Vox Pathfinder 15r

Great clean and slightly dirty sounds. Just about loud enough on its own to be useable with a band. Has a speaker out so you can hook up a bigger cab and get a lot more volume and depth. Takes my pedals well. Built in trem, reverb and boost.

Used live by someone in Norah Jones band apperently (you can see it in her cameo in Ted2 as well I think)

Discontinued though so may be a bit tricky for you to pick up S/H, but they come up for sale pretty regularly.

My 2p.

Jalapeno

Another THR vote.  Not tried any of the Katana stuff.

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

The Mustang is definitely at the upper end (or certainly was when it came out). It's just a bit boxy and woofy, which I recall the THRs weren't, last time I tried one.

I just fixed some of that characteristic of the Vox AD15VT I picked up a few days ago by putting some foam acoustic cab lining material (I think it came out of an old hi-fi speaker) in it. Not a vast difference, but it did help.

JezWynd

Flanging_Fred said:

Vox Pathfinder 15r

Great clean and slightly dirty sounds. Just about loud enough on its own to be useable with a band. Has a speaker out so you can hook up a bigger cab and get a lot more volume and depth. Takes my pedals well. Built in trem, reverb and boost.

These are fantastic combos. Used to run two as stereo setup. Very valve amp like response and the tremolo is exactly what trem is supposed to sound like. Reverb is mild but works to make amp sound bigger and give projection.

fandango

I've got a THR10C, and it's still stacks up well against similar opposition. For it's size & portability, it's got a lot going for it. I also have a Vox Mini 5 Rhythm, and it's okay, serves a function, but far prefer the THR10C. I note Vox also do a THR-type thing called the Adio Air that has bluetooth.

Others have suggested the Katana, but the physical size might be a problem, so what about the Boss Katana-Air (with wireless) just introduced? Again, it looks size-wise similar to the THR, with a lot of the functionality of it's larger brethren.

And if you like Blackstar tones, they have the extensive iD-Core range, which also features several amps larger items than Yamaha's THR-series.

guzziuk

I use Yamaha THR10's - they are great - and so lightweight my poor old aging back loves it!  Using two together (my main guitar has a stereo lead out taking a TVJones Classic to one amp and Seymour Duncan PRails to another) I get a huge sound - mic them up if needed.  I use EHX B9, Lester G, Jerry Cantrell Wah, Origin Slide Rig etc pedals with no problems at all.

JAYJO

ICBM said:

stickyfiddle said:

The Mustang is definitely at the upper end (or certainly was when it came out). It's just a bit boxy and woofy, which I recall the THRs weren't, last time I tried one.

I just fixed some of that characteristic of the Vox AD15VT I picked up a few days ago by putting some foam acoustic cab lining material (I think it came out of an old hi-fi speaker) in it. Not a vast difference, but it did help.

How do you go about that. did you just cram the foam in the back of the cab? pack it around the speaker etc? 

ICBM

fandango said:

I've got a THR10C, and it's still stacks up well against similar opposition. For it's size & portability, it's got a lot going for it. I also have a Vox Mini 5 Rhythm, and it's okay, serves a function, but far prefer the THR10C.

Interesting - I've got a Mini5 Rhythm as well, and a friend has the THR10 (the original beige one). I much prefer the THR's clean sound - in fact, I think it's maybe the best clean tone I've heard from a 'hi-fi speaker' amp - but at anything more than the light edge-of-breakup setting it's dreadful and the Vox wipes the floor with it. The Vox sounds really good, both for mild crunch (the AC15 setting) and heavier overdrive (the Brit 80s setting) although it does get a bit buzzy above that.

I've just found exactly the same comparing a Roland Cube 40 to the Vox AD15 as well - clean, the Roland takes it. Overdriven, it's the Vox by a mile - the Roland sounds appalling on anything other than the JC120 and Blackface settings.

DiscoStu

I have an original THR10 which is probably my most used amp ever. It's still on factory settings but would probably sound even better if I bothered to tweak it using the software.

I saw an Andertons comparison vid a while back and I have to say I thought the Vox Adio sounded best of all the amps used, including the THR. Pity it looks like an inflatable handbag!

Beexter

I have the THR10 and a Katana 100 combo. For quick and QUIET practice, the THR is the one. What the THR does better than anything else I have tried is sounding good at whisper volume. I can't get the Katana to sound as rich at super low volume. 

The THR is not brilliant with pedals in my experience but if I want to grab a guitar and practise in a spare few minutes, I don't want to be faffing around connecting up a pedalboard. The convenience of plugging straight into the THR and getting some pleasing tones right off the bat is a big plus.

Having said that, I have used the THR as a means of amplifying my AX8 for quiet practise - using the "FLAT" setting on the THR. Astonishingly, any presets I tweak on the AX8 whilst hooked up to the THR translate really well to full on gig volume. The speakers on the THR also do a better job of reproducing anything played through the aux input which is great for playing along/ learning stuff.

digitalscream

stickyfiddle said:

ICBM said:

It's a while since I've played one, but I thought the Mustang 1 was actually pretty good for that sort of thing. I can't remember if I tried it with pedals.

No small amp is ever going to sound as good at really low volume as a big one does slightly too loud to use in the house, that's just one of those things we have to live with .

I know. The Mustang is definitely at the upper end (or certainly was when it came out). It's just a bit boxy and woofy, which I recall the THRs weren't, last time I tried one. Maybe I should take a Rat to the shop here and try one again. 

I'm not so sure the Mustang is a particularly good option...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/27/fender_smart_guitar_amp_dumb_security/

stickyfiddle

digitalscream said:

stickyfiddle said:

ICBM said:

It's a while since I've played one, but I thought the Mustang 1 was actually pretty good for that sort of thing. I can't remember if I tried it with pedals.

No small amp is ever going to sound as good at really low volume as a big one does slightly too loud to use in the house, that's just one of those things we have to live with .

I know. The Mustang is definitely at the upper end (or certainly was when it came out). It's just a bit boxy and woofy, which I recall the THRs weren't, last time I tried one. Maybe I should take a Rat to the shop here and try one again. 

I'm not so sure the Mustang is a particularly good option...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/27/fender_smart_guitar_amp_dumb_security/

lol! Mine is the old "dumb" Mustang, so no such issues