Amps / Live

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20 said:

So do class A, B, or AB sounds better?

I design all sorts of these amps but at a much smaller scale at work (semiconductor chips!). 

Oh!! Everything I've read and heard about the TH30 has been amazing so far. That's a surprise. The rocker 30 is sooooo much more expensive I heard the Orange clean was great and had loads of headroom

The Boogie Mark 5:25 looks and sounds great but is very expensive and not the simple thing I'm looking for. 

Ignore marketing classes (none are class A, though I'm not electrically qualified to talk about the differences), use ears.  No 'better' or 'worse', just taste.  

The TH30 was really disappointing, thin but muddy at the same time.  No idea how! I A/B'd against a Rocker 30 in the store, and it was beaten in every way.

Rocker 30 combos should be cheaper than TH30 heads? They're discontinued, you won't find a new one.  I'm not talking about Rockerverbs, different beast altogether (the Jim Root Terror uses a similar preamp to a rockerverb, if you want to sample that flavour). 

thomasross20

Oh, I thought you were talking about Rockerverbs. 

Just checking out Blackstar IDs now. So these are SS but emulate valves - sound good and good price. 

The HT (club) series are their valve amps (I'm just learning this myself!).

God, there has to be an all-encompassing solution somewhere...!

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20 said:

Oh, I thought you were talking about Rockerverbs. 

Just checking out Blackstar IDs now. So these are SS but emulate valves - sound good and good price. 

The HT (club) series are their valve amps (I'm just learning this myself!).

God, there has to be an all-encompassing solution somewhere...!

Nope.

Variety is the spice of life etc.  This is partly why some folks were suggesting your second guitar be a lower cost model - same model, even, but without the bling (ie same construction and pickups, but no curly maple - in "higher end" PRS', you're often paying for bling rather than construction changes). 

The money could have gone towards a better amp, or a second amp even, since they're more important for tone (you won't get a Twin Reverb to sound like a 6505, despite having a 7 string EMG loaded monster, for example). As it is, a twin channel amp would be decent enough for you anyway - and there are lots of good twin channel amps around. 

Forget about how the amp looks and the marketing around them - seriously, they *want* you to buy them.  Get out there, take your guitar and pedals, and try them all out.  Then look up how reliable they are.  If you like the sound, and they're reliable, you have the winner. 

And remember, punters and band members *don't give a shit* what brand and model your gear is.  The band care about reliability and not putting the punters off (ie not sounding horrendous) and punters care about it not shredding their ears and whether it went bang at the gig. 

thomasross20

All good points!

I did pay a bit for the bling, but I tell you these PRS' are amazing!

Cleans not breaking up at loud volumes is a good point. 

I've had enough now - got to do something else today lol!

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20 said:

All good points!

I did pay a bit for the bling, but I tell you these PRS' are amazing!

Cleans not breaking up at loud volumes is a good point. 

I've had enough now - got to do something else today lol!

No doubt they are (I would be furious if I found a screw missing on any guitar costing more than £250 mind!) but the punters won't care about that.  They will care how good you sound, and most (certainly a large amount) of that is determined by the amp.  

The best thing you can do is to just go out with your guitar (just one, I imagine they're pretty similar), your pedals and try a whole bunch out, playing the stuff you normally play.  Your ears will say what you prefer.  

thomasross20

The screw is in the post lol...  

Right, ciao for now - and yes, I plan to go out and play some. If not tomorrow then next weekend

monquixote

I'd really recommend trying an Orange before buying. I've found them to be completely unbearably dark. 

I was using one in a guitar shop the other day and I had the treble on full on the amp and guitar in the bridge pickup and it sounded like it had a blanket over it. 

hubobulous

I know it was probably dismissed quite early in, and might not be right for your needs, but I actually really like the SL5. Try it for yourself.

thomasross20

Would love that but surely not loud enough for gigging??? Could maybe run out into an NL12 cab though

thomasross20

Bugera hd55 head and blackstar cab going for £250 total near me. Anyone tried the bugera?

So ... I thought orange looked good but apparently not loved here. What about Blackstar? They (and Laney) have to be the best value for money I've seen. Love/hate? SS/valve model?

The light NL12 cabs are so lightweight but at £350 for a 1x12 they're expensive going by normal cab prices on the GUITARGUITAR website.

FYI I've never owned a tube amp before.. But then I've always lived in flats!

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20;377314" said:

Bugera hd55 head and blackstar cab going for £250 total near me. Anyone tried the bugera?

So ... I thought orange looked good but apparently not loved here. What about Blackstar? They (and Laney) have to be the best value for money I've seen. Love/hate? SS/valve model?

You're kidding, loads of folk love orange! Myself included, I'd love one, it's a sound I wouldn't use much mind...

But they're different. Same as blackstar, it's a voice some like, some don't. It's why it's so important to take everyone's tonal preferences with a large handful of salt. There is no "best amp" or even "best amp for genre x". Same for guitars, there really is no correct answer.

mike_l

Orange have a distinct sound. Personally I don't like it for my self, but others whose playing/sounds I like use them......

Blackstar have a sound which is quite similar to Marshall. IIRC the guys who started Blackstar had previously worked at Marshall (I could be wrong here though).

AS has been suggested, get an amp which is loud enough clean, and use a dirt pedal in front of it. The BlackStar HT Dual pedal does a really nice rock sound. Without too much effort I've had an early Van Halen, Guns'n'Roses, and Iron Maiden sounds (among many others). The Hardwire Tube distortion pedal also covers these sounds, but a lot cheaper. Also the Hardwire doesn't actually have a valve in it (The Blackstar does)

thomasross20

Will check some out soon...

Just been looking at Bogner Atma, Suhr Corso (those two loud enough for gigs?) which look to do a great job for home practice. Love the look of these smaller heads!

thomasross20

OK!
Went to GUITARGUITAR but despite dropping several grand on a PRS in a sister store I was standing around not trying anything..! So I went to reddog and tried an orange th30 head versus a blackstar ht club 40 (valve) and blackstar id tvp 60 (ss, valve modelling).

Long story short, orange was good but there is one a fizz you hear when playing distorted! Add to that, it was heavy. In fact, after trying to lift some fenders, weight is now a real issue. No backbreakers!!!

The blackstars were amazing. The ss version sounded very close to the valve version, was cheaper and lighter! Not keen on the USB input and all that guff though.

A valve combo is a no go due to weight. Head and cab would be the way to go there - and only one of the lunch box size heads at that.

Actually all channels on the blackstar were good and I could see myself maybe ditching the distortion pedal.

Bummer about GUITARGUITAR as I wanted to check out the mesa and Suhr heads they had. Might try the Glasgow store next week.

But honestly, is looking like blackstar. Sounds amazing and in the £500 region so what's not to like there??? Question is... Valve or solid state. The tvp amp really did sound amazing and had several valve models which sounded, to me, really authentic. I literally tried every channel on both side by side.

Thoughts!?

monquixote

A lot of people really hate the Blackstar sound, but if you like it the HT range are keenly priced, reliable and have a decent feature set. 

Personally I like their cleans, but find the drive a touch compressed. Decent amps though.

I've been in a couple of bands where people used them and they performed extremely well. You might want to try a Series One as they are a step up in quality again. 

I haven't tried the TVP stuff, but I've heard some good and some bad reports. Seems to be the best of the mid priced modellers though by all accounts.

thomasross20

I'll be checking them out in more detail. Next week will try higher end stuff. At least orange are out of the race

ThePrettyDamned

I was quite impressed by the TVP. 

This is good fun: 

He doesn't always get it, and none are perfect, but they're not bad and decent enough for gigging with, certainly.  

Personally?  I am not a *huge* fan of the Blackstar sound, but it does do some stuff really well, and I'd be more than happy to gig with one, particularly for my heavy stuff. 

thomasross20

Both the Club (valve) and the TVP (SS) amps sounded ok at lowish bedroom volumes, too... 

They just looked SOLID and sounded great to me. And the price is good. Not sure if I'd go valve or SS. 

thomasross20

Wow, I'll watch that whole video - thanks!

I haven't checked it out yet but I think you can play through the TVP with headphones and jam along to tracks on your mp3 player. 

The valve modelling on it sounds REALLY good in that video... just like it did in the shop! 

Just wondering IF I went for the TVP, what wattage would be enough! 60W is only £400! 

For the money, I'm really blown away with these, I have to admit.... I actually think I'll end up getting one. 

thomasw88

Check out hughes n kettner. The tubemeisters ab'd if you can find one the statesman are both superb amps. Also, ss wise, I've used an orange cr head and combo at some festivals abe found them very good indeed, they take pedals well.