Best head

JohnnyPlectrum

I've nothing but praise for the Carvin Legacy 3.

I've a brown one and a green one.

Dinky small, lovely cleans, groovy light show.

drwiddly

They're not really any more complicated than an amp and pedal board. Each profile is a snapshot of an amp and you have all the usual knobs to adjust the tone and volume. Each of the sections at the top relates to FX and you fill the FX slots as you wish from the built in FX choices and adjust using the amp controls which change their function to allow for FX editing.

Most of these things are a bit like a mixing desk - they look terrifying at first but once you've worked out how to set up a single channel, you realise the other 32 work in exactly the same way

thomasross20

I'll check it out. 

I say that all the time, but I do, you know. I don't make a decision until I've made a decision... which can take some time

RaymondLin

My friend had the same problem, his only amp so far is his blackstar HT5R and that was bought during his uni days and although it has done him well he was looking for something better and something new. He likes his heavier stuff and always liked Mesa amps so he only gone out and ordered a JP-2C with a 2x12 verticals cab to go with it!

Talk about cutting out all the middle steps in upgrade path! Although on the guitar end he has lots of room for improvement, he has the opposite problem to you Tom, he is rocking some £500 ibenez, but he has my PRE 305 on loan also.

thomasross20

Thing is my blackstar does a great job. The egnater tweaker great at practice sounds better possibly. Only thing is, the blackstar is a tad heavy. And it's one of the lighter amps!

So. Functionally I'm sorted.. I might regret selling and spending lots on another solution. Hence taking the time..

RaymondLin

It depends how you look at things. If you are looking to "get things done" then one tend to go with whatever you can get away with. If you are tone chasing then all of the sudden your budget will be almost unlimited.

I'd say the fact that your are constantly looking at tube amps is evidence that you have a bit of the latter still lingering around despite what you keep saying about your blackstar.

andyoz

Am I the only one that has a giggle each time I see this thread title? Dirty mind...

thomasross20

RaymondLin said:

It depends how you look at things. If you are looking to "get things done" then one tend to go with whatever you can get away with. If you are tone chasing then all of the sudden your budget will be almost unlimited.

I'd say the fact that your are constantly looking at tube amps is evidence that you have a bit of the latter still lingering around despite what you keep saying about your blackstar.

Some slight tone-chasing but more about weight and portability. 

I'd be willing to spend up to £2k (£3k at a push) for something that was right and I wouldn't have to sell. 

- Lightweight cab. All I hear are good things about NL212s. 

- Main head - lightweight and small. 

- Second head as backup (which one!), OR emulator pedal into my Orchid DI into the PA as backup. 

Main head criteria:

- Small (not one of these hulking huge heads) & light.

- Ideally (foot-switchable) multi-channel because I never use pedals at home. 

- Foot switch should be able to be integrated onto a pedal board. 

- FX loop.

- Reverb on the unit (I always leave a little bit of reverb on, always). 

- Ideally easily accessible tube bias points... OR like the PRS amps (?) just plug and play the more expensive valves.

- Good sounding low power mode for home use. 

- No need for hi-gain metal tones, but I do like shimmery cleans. 

- More important is great distortion, but I do use a pedal for that, too. 

- 2x speaker out for 2x12 cab.

 

I've tried enough valve amps now to know I really don't gel with some. So they're a bit like Gibsons - I need to get the right one! However the ones I want to try aren't anywhere near me (Victory amps - though in fact I had a shot of @Vaiai's V30 I think it was and that seemed cool). 

When I think about all that, and the cost, and the fact that my Blackstar does it all with perhaps less of a pure sound, the main downside just being the weight (and sh!t, it's built like a tank - I don't think it'll ever fail at a gig) I have to think twice. People compliment me loads at gigs saying the tone is great - I can hear the difference compared to, say, the Egnater tweaker head I use at practice.. but in the mix of a band, it's not such a huge difference. 

Maybe money's just burning a hole in my pocket! 

Tell you, though.. having a small and lightweight solution that WORKS would be worth its weight in gold when it comes time to loading gear in and out of venues (which isn't that often, admittedly).

thomasross20

I could actually buy an NL212 cab and get the ID:100 TVP head.... best of both worlds!?

--> I'd probably make the switch to valve to try for once, though. 

That Carvin Legacy looks good. 

I think the Victory cleans aren't crystal clear? They seem to be marmite on here. 

Need to check out Two Rock and all other recommendations.

ICBM

You really must try the Yamaha THR100, the dual-channel one - simple and intuitive for a digital amp, and sounds great.

If it's valve you're after, try a Mesa Mark V 25. Quite complex for a valve amp, but actually logical once you get past the number of knobs .

thomasross20

Those THRs are in the vicinity so could try one for sure.

I tried the Mark V 25 but thought they missed a trick by not having a crunch channel (the clean channel is the same as crunch?) and never quite got on with it. Defo complex for a little head!

Demos of the Brunetti singleman head sound very promising! Single channel, though.

thomasross20

OK I'm hopefully getting the NL212 from the classifies so now I REALLY need to get a head and backup option... and then sell my Blackstar on. I just lugged it back from my car to the flat and it was painful (for a skinny runt like me). 

If I can get something off the classifieds, all the better....

thomasross20

I want to sound like Slash!

ThePrettyDamned

If you want to sound like slash but still have sparkling cleans, you're probably looking for compromise - or a really nice plexi.

The new Marshall silver jubilee 25 watter springs to mind as a good ballpark.

Or, my previous mentioned Laney lh50 - lovely cleans, old school crunch channel, likes pedals, cheap and small and carry-able.

ICBM

Sparkling cleans + Slash… Jet City 22H. The cleans aren't *that* clean and sparkly, but it should be easy to do a SLO clean channel mod on it, it's still basically the same circuit.

thomasross20

Good shouts. 

22H - 20W... how much wattage do you reckon I'll need (minimum) especially given I'd like headroom for cleans? 

I notice there's a V40 going in the classifieds... and a V50 though it weighs a bit...

thomasross20

That Jet City is cheap as chips. 

I wonder if I'd now be better to get an emulator pedal or a second head as backup!

--> What do people generally use for backups?

thomasross20

I'm probably going to have to get a pedal train & supply now... as if I'm going to be using an FX loop I'm going to have leads all over the place and my Boss BCB50 may not be able to cope - the pedals are packed close together.

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

22H - 20W... how much wattage do you reckon I'll need (minimum) especially given I'd like headroom for cleans?

If you like a fairly tight, mid-focused sound then 20W should be enough even for clean - 40W definitely is. The problem comes when you want a loose, deep clean sound - then you tend to need 50W and up. Having heard you play I would say you're in the former group.

The JCA22H is probably the best bet for a backup amp if you want an actual amp, whichever other amp you get. Or just get two . Then you could run in stereo if the cab has dual inputs… it means you have a backup without carrying any extra gear.

thomasross20 said:

as if I'm going to be using an FX loop I'm going to have leads all over the place and my Boss BCB50 may not be able to cope - the pedals are packed close together.

I think the Boss BCB-50/60 is too much of a pain for an FX-loop set-up - you'd be better with two BCB-30s, assuming you don't need more than three pedals in each position.

ThePrettyDamned

Will you need the loop? What are the pedals?