How do you get to hear your amps?

PermanentWaves

I'm looking to upgrade my Blackstar Ht5 for something more gig able, - Ok  - louder!

My problem is I really want to hear my amps before I buy but I have precious few amp shops near me.

Youtube is full of reviews and whilst helpful here is no way they can give a decent sound representation of what to expect.

Most guitar shops are  not well stocked as it would cost a fortune to stock all amps.

So, how do you pick on amp?

Mike

Voxman

I sympathise but the only way is to play them yourself - its as much about what feels good as well as what sounds good, and you can't find that out from videos.  

If you can, what about arranging a 'pilgrimage' on a weekend to try out amps at a large store that will have a big selection of amps for you to try.  Where abouts are you in the UK?  Perhaps we can give some suggested stores to you.  

If that's not practical for you, some on-line stores allow you to return an item and get a refund or exchange it if you don't like it.  For example, Andertons will give a full refund if you contact them within 14 days of receiving the item, and allows you to exchange items for up to 30 days from date of receiving item.  Here is their returns policy link:

http://www.andertons.co.uk/Pages/Returns-Repairs.asp

So if you base your purchase on videos/reviews but don't like it 'in person' then this type of service does give you some options.

Hope this is of some help.

 

John_A

Find a nice seller on here that is happy for you to return an amp if you don't like it . BTW I've got a few amps up for sale in the classifieds

photek

The harder question is how do you get to hear your amp in the band mix! Seriously difficult to gauge without taking it to a rehearsal.

I did it by buying an amp for a good price second hand, trying it live a few times and selling it on if it didn't work out. Not ideal but got rid of most of the risk of losing money.

57Deluxe

Trouble is you may can easily get a wrong impression of an amp in a shop environment... Best thing is to define the sound you want. Offset against features/weight cost etc. Do some extensive Youtubing and even live band snooping and yes, buy from a dealer who takes returns. Take written reviews with a pinch of salt as you will invariably hear a completely different set of tones than the reviewer... Then sell it on here!

Dave_Mc

Voxman said:

If that's not practical for you, some on-line stores allow you to return an item and get a refund or exchange it if you don't like it. 

Legally all online stores should offer that. The 14 day thing is EU-wide law, as far as I'm aware.

Now, of course, it's probably sensible to buy from a store which you know is happy for you to do that. But legally (unless it was a special order or something custom-made) you should be able to return something regardless of where you buy within the UK. You'll probably have to pay return postage, though (and maybe postage both ways).

57Deluxe said:

Trouble is you may can easily get a wrong impression of an amp in a shop environment...

That's the big problem. I know online an awful lot of people say you should never buy any guitar gear without trying it first- fair enough, but in my opinion that sort of naively assumes that you will get to try the thing properly in the shop, which isn't always the case. Or that you won't make a mistake and think something will work in the shop, when it won't when you get it home...

dilbert

Dave_Mc said:

Legally all online stores should offer that. The 14 day thing is EU-wide law, as far as I'm aware.

I don't think it has global (or even EU !) application, Dave. Distance Selling Regulations make provision for returns, otherwise the Sale of Goods act applies and I believe that a shop has no remit to offer a refund unless the goods are actually faulty. 

Dave_Mc

I was under the impression that DSRs (or whatever the name changed to recently) covered online sales throughout the EU (since an online sale is done from a distance) for anything that wasn't special-ordered or custom-made (i.e. most off-the-shelf amps, guitars, pedals etc. that you're liable to buy from an online guitar store).

Certainly any time I've bought the store said it accepted returns, and often quoted DSRs as the reason why it did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Protection_(Distance_Selling)_Regulations_2000#Cancellation

(I know that's the older one but the new one is similar, as far as I'm aware. Main difference being you now have 14 days instead of the previous 7 (working) days to change your mind, I think.)

Cacofonix

It's EU wide.