NAD

Gru

Now you guys are going to have a field day with this!

I currently own a fabulous limited edition blueburst Epiphone 335 with Gibson 57 pickups coutesy of @RichardsGuitars but sadly haven't had an amp to play it through.

I inquired about an amp today from my local music shop, initially I went in looking for small all in one amp, something like the THR5, Mini Mustang, but they gave me a nice demo of the Fender Superchamp x2, had a good chat and came away needing to think about whether I want an all in one, or a basic (possibly tube) amp and to get some pedals.

However I still needed something to practice through. So I took an executive decision and had a quick search online. I proceeded to spend not a lot (£39.99) on a 20w Acoustic Solution amp from Argos. :-). Go on, rip me to spreads, I know you want to!

My initial thoughts are, it's quite basic, gain, level, bass, mid and treble. The finish of the control panel is understandably poor due to its mass produced nature, but......

...it sounds ok, it was a 12th of the price, its small, it's not loud (a major criteria) it's actually all right for a practice tool. So those of you that have spend hundreds on your amps, put that in your pipe and smoke it! (I am joking as I would love a Vox AC30 #well gel) and the last person I met had an amazing! Marshall amp, this is really just a stop gap)

The main reason for buying was that I wanted to work on my technique (finger noise etc) before plunging into buying a nice amp, last time I checked it was quite bad). The second was that I want to play around with the idea of pedals (never used one) rather than having an all in one. With this I can try some pedals in front of the amp, delay and reverb were the main, but the 335 actually gives off some natural reverb on its own.

So there we go :-)

p90fool

Good on you, just play the damn guitar.
I have some lovely amps, but usually practice at home with a £63 Belcat from Gear4Music. It sounds fine, in fact it has a couple of tones I wish my gigging amps could get.

ThePrettyDamned

No shame there! If it's a good practice tool, it's a good practice tool.

Gru

p90fool;399873" said:

Good on you, just play the damn guitar.
I have some lovely amps, but usually practice at home with a £63 Belcat from Gear4Music. It sounds fine, in fact it has a couple of tones I wish my gigging amps could get.

Thanks, I am quite surprised that I haven't had at least one, 'what are you thinking' type reply, but I guess we may have all needed something cheap and cheerful at some point.

I will certainly be needing some advice on something a little more special in the future (and pedals for that matter), but I just want to get more confident with my playing.

The person in the shop asked me if I wanted to try an amp and I passed, even though I was itching to, I just didn't feel confident enough, even if I buy second had locally my fingers just seem to freeze.

hotpickups

I don't use an amp at home for practise. I use one of those tascam guitsr gadgets you can plug into. Slows things down if required but etc.

Mind you they are dearer than what you have just bought but I certainly don't irritate anyone with my widdling

p90fool

I often think that my early development as a player would've been severely handicapped if I'd had access to multi FX or a very versatile amp.

I had to learn so much about how and where to hit the strings, about dynamics, touch and expression because it's all I had.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no genius, but I wouldn't be half the player I am now if I'd had access to thousands of different sounds while I was learning.

Keep it simple and maybe add the occasional effect one at a time, then you'll really get to know and appreciate what you and your gear can do.

equalsql

I cannot believe that anyone would come onto a forum such as this and admit such a crime!
It's solid state isn't it? eh!  You can't deny it.  Sorry but you're now dealing with the pro's on these boards and only valve or serious modeling amps are acceptable!

gearaddict

I don't think there are many people on here that would be snobbish about someone having a cheap practice amp. There's nothing quite as satisfying as picking up a bit of gear that is cheap n'cheerful which surprises you with how good it sounds.

I rarely plug into anything at all when practicing at home so I tend not to buy any amp that can't at least serve as a gig backup. But some of my favourite amps have been cheaper solid state or digital and I have used them at gigs and got good comments on the sound. For home use and gig backup I don't think you can go very far wrong with one of the more powerful Roland Cubes. I just bought the small 10W version for my son - for £95 it sounds really good.

ICBM

Good on you for shopping based on what you *really* need rather than being sucked into "needing" something expensive.

For what it's worth, whenever some cheap solid-state amp like this comes into the shop for a repair/check-over/trade-in or whatever, I enjoy getting a decent sound of it. I almost always can. There are some which only really do one good sound - or at best, a good clean and a tolerable overdrive, and at very particular settings so they're not usually versatile - but it's rare to find an amp that is really impossible to make sound good.

For what it's worth I often find the *tone* of these very basic analogue solid-state amps is better than a cheaper modeller, too. Not in terms of the "sounds" they can get, just the actual tonal quality - they often sound more natural.

p90fool

ICBM said:

For what it's worth I often find the *tone* of these very basic analogue solid-state amps is better than a cheaper modeller, too. Not in terms of the "sounds" they can get, just the actual tonal quality - they often sound more natural.

Me too, there's often something "pumped"-sounding in some modelling amps which I find very fatiguing.

It's a bit like listening to Radio 1 on a really good stereo, the way they compress it makes me feel seasick after a while.

John_A

I used to have a little tokai transistor amp that I loved the sound of, used to leave the jtm45 at home a lot of the time for little gigs and just use the tokai, it was cheap but sounded great. I'm normally one to spend £100o when I really don't need to, good on you

57Deluxe

been better off with Ampli Rig into an iPad... it interfaces with Garage Band into the bargain...

EdGrip

I heard that the 20W Argos Acoustic Solutions is one of @ICBM 's favourite amps ever. "The Conveyor-Belt Trem-o-verb", he calls it. 

John_A

57Deluxe said:

been better off with Ampli Rig into an iPad... it interfaces with Garage Band into the bargain...

An expensive solution if you don't have an iPad

Gru

John_A;403473" said:

57Deluxe said:

been better off with Ampli Rig into an iPad... it interfaces with Garage Band into the bargain...













An expensive solution if you don't have an iPad

Tried the original amplitude iRig and thought it was pretty rubbish. Nothing but background noise. Took it back and got a refund. Now that Apple have done their best to ruin my iPad with the latest software updates, I am glad I am not relying on it.

FX_Munkee

I use a Vox amplug (picked up on a whim) a damn sight more than I thought I would. Surprisingly acceptable.

noisepolluter

ICBM said:

For what it's worth I often find the *tone* of these very basic analogue solid-state amps is better than a cheaper modeller, too. Not in terms of the "sounds" they can get, just the actual tonal quality - they often sound more natural.

I had a Peavey Rage 158 for a while that was great. I'd buy it back for the price I sold it.

breadfan

noisepolluter said:

ICBM said:

For what it's worth I often find the *tone* of these very basic analogue solid-state amps is better than a cheaper modeller, too. Not in terms of the "sounds" they can get, just the actual tonal quality - they often sound more natural.

I had a Peavey Rage 158 for a while that was great. I'd buy it back for the price I sold it.

My first amp was a Rage 158 & I loved it. It got a hell of a lot of use & withstood quite a battering (as did the Bandit I bought next).

I recently bought another for £12. It doesn't sound anywhere near as good as I remember but I still prefer it to any modeller I've tried.