Can anyone reccomend me a good practice amp?

mark_atdi · January 2015

Looking for a new amp to practice with and I wondered if anyone had any suggestions. At the moment I use a Laney hcm65 but recently it has started to have a few reliability problems. Never really been blown away by the way it sounds either. So I'm wondering if I can get something smaller which sounds better.

I won’t be using it for gigging so was thinking something around the 15-20w range would be suitable. Maybe one in the Orange Crush range? That’s my only idea so far. I know very little about amps…

Some background which may be relevant – I use a Michael Kelly Patriot Custom guitar and like to play music by The Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, and The Mars Volta to name a few bands. In terms of budget preferably I’d like something under £100.

ThePrettyDamned · January 2015

The Blackstar ID Core range is pretty good.

If you've got the budget, or go used, you might even get a Blackstar TVP. These do sound bigger and better, but the ID Core is still really good, I was very impressed - ask @monquixote for a comparison to THR amps.

EricTheWeary · January 2015

For the rock end of things Blackstar would be the obvious call.

mark_atdi · January 2015

Thanks, I'll take a look at them! Would there actually be any difference between the 10w and 20w Blackstar in terms of sound if I was playing them at the same volume? As I mentioned, I don't need that much volume, but would the 10w sound as good as the 20w? Or does the different speaker size matter?

PermanentWaves · January 2015

Another thumbs up for the ID core range. I've had the 10 and the 20. Both excellent. Great as practice amps. Amazing sound that makes you want to practice

mark_atdi · January 2015

Awesome thanks guys, I'll probably get the 10 or 20 ID core

Col_Decker · January 2015

I was about to start this very same thread!!! Whats the current wisdom regarding valve practise amps? Are they still too loud to be neighbour / kids asleep upstarirs friendly?

nickp · January 2015

ThePrettyDamned said:

The Blackstar ID Core range is pretty good.

If you've got the budget, or go used, you might even get a Blackstar TVP. These do sound bigger and better, but the ID Core is still really good, I was very impressed - ask @monquixote for a comparison to THR amps.

+1. got ID core 20 for a shade over £100. presets are OK for practice, sound is OK, mp3 playback is good. headphone out. what else could you want? i can't be arsed to feck about programming it so just use the preset cleans and od channels

nickp · January 2015

nickp said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

The Blackstar ID Core range is pretty good.

If you've got the budget, or go used, you might even get a Blackstar TVP. These do sound bigger and better, but the ID Core is still really good, I was very impressed - ask @monquixote for a comparison to THR amps.

+1. got ID core 20 for a shade over £100. presets are OK for practice, sound is OK, mp3 playback is good. headphone out. what else could you want? i can't be arsed to feck about programming it so just use the preset cleans and od channels

I tried the yamaha thr as well - didn't see what I got for an extra £100 other than a small lunchbox that would look better on the sideboard.

I wish they would incorporate a simple drum machine and metronome app on the amp

I found the sound on the ID20 significantly better than the 10 probably coz of the speaker size which justified the extra £20 expense