Combo recommendations

Andybolly

Littlejonny said:

I have Hot Rod Deluxe at home and a Peavey Bandit at work. The Peavey can sound good, but when you AB them, the Fender just has a 3D punch to it that the Peavey can’t touch. But then mine has the stock speaker, which others have said is best changed. Also, I find the high end of the treble to have that transistor amp immediacy. 

I’ve also had two Laney VC30s. Lovely amps but very different sounding to the Fender much brighter, much less bass. 

I’ve tried a Peavey Classic 30 a few times and really like them. Nice alternative to the Hot Rod.

I also had a Blues Deluxe - wasn’t for me, seemed to have a different midrange to the Hot Rod. A bit more cloudy, and I suppose I was after blackface clarity. 

Speaking of Blackface clarity - I had a Deluxe VM for a while. Don’t know why I sold it. Great blackface clean channel and the gain channel was decent too.

Now I remember it, I also had a Supersonic 22. Lovely sounding thing. Sold it because the hiss annoyed me (and my wife in particular). Totally useable for band use though. I’ve been temped to buy one again several times.

Anyway @Andybolly I’m currently in a similar situation to you, but hoping to get something lightweight so I can leave the HRD at home. I hate to DI so the pedal amp solution would have to include buying a speaker cab. 

last year I played a gig with a Blues Junior IV and quite liked it. Definitely workable. For me it’s between that and a Tone Master blonde. 

By the way, if you haven’t tried an EQ pedal in the FX loop of the HRD you need to…switch on the drive channel (not more drive) and set the gain to 6, bass to 3, mid 6, treble 7, presence 6, EQ pedal in FX loop with the 200hz boosted a few db, the 800hz cut a bit, the top two bands pushed a tiny bit. It’s like the best Marshall sound I’ve ever had. 

Yeah ive tried the tonemaster and it was good and light. But something about it being digital just doesn't sit right with me. I guess I'm old school and prefer to take my amps to an amp tech when they go wrong. Plus I don't think they will hold their value as much as a tube amp. The Blues Jnr might be a good shout. 

Littlejonny

Roland Blues Cube also

Littlejonny

I took my trusty American strat into work today (I teach guitar in a prep school) and plugged into the Bandit. I have to say my perception of it vastly improved with a decent guitar. I really enjoyed it with the strat - I normally hear it with a crappy badly-setup strat copy that probably marred my perception of the amp.

it does have a slightly different midrange character to the Fender and is trickier to dial in, but it’s definitely capable of some big, warm sounds and a valve-like response. 

Both channels have three settings each, so there’s plenty to get your teeth into. The amp is relatively light and incredibly loud. The reverb is ok and it has a boost function for solos. The knobs are horrible silver plastic and it’s hard to see where they’re pointing. There’s an attenuation switch on the back and a loose/medium/tight response switch which seems to do something to the bass.

Overall though, amazing for the £150 I paid for it. 

Andybolly

I decided to sell both my amps in the end and opt for a Fender deluxe reverb. I'm going to purchase a boss IR2 for backup, they look incredible. 

Littlejonny

GreAndybolly said:

I decided to sell both my amps in the end and opt for a Fender deluxe reverb. I'm going to purchase a boss IR2 for backup, they look incredible. 

how Are you finding the DR? Is it a DRRI?