Best head

Nerine

Has the Victory Sheriff 44 been mentioned yet? Seems ideal given the requirements?

thomasross20

Pedals: 

Wah

Boost

Distortion 

Tuner

Chorus

EP Boost (always-on)

Delay/looper (rarely used)

ThePrettyDamned

If you get distortion from a pedal you don't need a loop.



Nor do you really need a multi channel amp. Just something that sounds good with those pedals - plenty out there, but for small the v40 sounds quite ideal.

thomasross20

Victory amps seem like Marmite on here.
I did want to try using amp distortion and at home an amp with distortion would be ideal as I don't use pedals at home.

Saying that..
V40 otherwise does look pretty good.

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20;1145351" said:

Victory amps seem like Marmite on here.
I did want to try using amp distortion and at home an amp with distortion would be ideal as I don't use pedals at home.

Saying that..
V40 otherwise does look pretty good.

Two things.

Firstly, why no pedals at home?

Secondly, that doesn't matter - you've got a pretty great home amp already in the blackstar. If it's too big, get an id core or thr 10. Then you get the home amp and the gig set up

thomasross20

I'm probably going to sell the Blackstar so will definitely need *something*

I want my gigging backup solution to be BULLETPROOF, whether it be second head or emulator pedal into DI or a second mini head I can mic up (that I can also use at home). 

TBH I'd be gutted to get the cab and head and only use them the 5-6 times a year I'll gig!

thomasross20

What amp heads do you know that bias the valves themselves (like the AFD100) or where you don't even need to (expensive valves like PRS Archon)?

 FYI I'm not keen on American or British - ideally I like a mix of both (selectable)

No reverb isn't a HUGE issue... looking at the Sheriff 22 and 44 just now.... I can always put a reverb pedal on a new pedalboard. 

viz

JohnnyPlectrum said:

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.

Can I buy the green one @johnnyplectrum?

thomasross20

The best clean I've heard so far is from the Brunetti Singleman Head. 
Best distortion off the AFD100. 
Still checking all these recommendations out BUT... for so much money... I'm not sure whether to try first - a lot of these are NOT local..

Whatever it is, it has to be the size of those Victory amps. 
I might make an exception for something like that Brunetti.

RaymondLin

If they are THAT much money then it would be worth it to make a trip of it, just find a place that has most amps in stock and bring a guitar with you. Otherwise you will be forever on this thread basically just guessing. Go to a store and explain what you are after and keep trying amps, the most you will waste is time and petrol money. As opposed to a couple of thousand on an amp you don't like.

thomasross20

Probably cost a couple hundred driving to Andertons or wherever and staying the night in a hotel lol. But yeah, it's something I've considered. I want to bypass the "in-between" and get the best I can.

Oh. @ThePrettyDamned - right now I don't have enough room in the flat to dig out my pedal board every time I want to play I like just going straight into an amp and getting clean/distortion - that's all I need for practice.

RaymondLin

If you are heading all the way to Andertons, might be good to go to something like Coda or Peach on the way back or something too while you are down here.

jaytmon

What about a Bogner Atma head? 18w, small, 3 channel, reverb, fx loop, very versatile by the looks of things. GuitarGuitar stock them I believe. Worth a look for sure.

thomasross20

Going to do a lotta YouTubing first. 
Might have passed off the Mark V 25 too quickly before - that also looks good. Small, light, self-biasing tubes? Though first impressions when I tried it weren't hot. @Bucket has one - is it still going good?

thomasross20

jaytmon said:

What about a Bogner Atma head? 18w, small, 3 channel, reverb, fx loop, very versatile by the looks of things. GuitarGuitar stock them I believe. Worth a look for sure.

Think they look and sound awesome but reckon I'd need more than 18W?

By the way if I have a 2x12 cab with two 16 ohm connections, that's 8 ohms in parallel. But if I want to run it in stereo, as such, I need two 16 ohm outputs from whatever head I want to buy? EDIT - what an idiot - I'd either need two 16 ohm outs... or take a single 8 ohm out and split into the two 16 ohm inputs, right? Is that what people generally do? Mind I've never done this!

Have you seen the Dr Z amps? Only two controls (volume and "tone")!?

thomasross20

Unless I've read this wrong, this H&K has integrated cab emulator so if the head dies you can send a signal straight to the PA:
http://www.peachguitars.com/guitar-amps/guitar-amps/heads/hughes-and-kettner-tubemeister-36-head.htm

John_P

That only saves you having to mic a cab - it might work for some amp fails but the power goes - fuse etc, then it's no use.


I'd agree with the post above that you need to go and try some amps or could you borrow or hire some - either use them in a rehearsal room or at gigs.   Amps are no different to guitars in that it's quite personal - what suits me might be very different to you and then that depends on the particular gig so a change of band might lead to different needs.

i'd get a thr for use in the flat and then either a 2 or 3 channel head - lots of great amps listed and any might work but until you try them in anger it's a guessing game.    Lots of gigs with different amps gives people experience about what they like and it's hard to short cut that. 

thomasross20

I'd rather go for an uber-expensive option than 20 medium-priced options that cost me more in the end. I think it's going to be painful ...

John_P

You still need to try them (preferably with a band) to really know if it suits you.   

thomasross20

Luckily my size and weight criteria throw a lot of options out of the window. 

I think Victory looks good for the price (Sheriff or V30).

Mark V:25 very versatile but channel 1 being clean AND crunch? Damn. About twice the price of a Victory. 

EVH looks ok but I don't need mental gain. 

Jet City great value for money but they're physically rather large (same for Suhr heads, H&K, Marshall and a whole bunch of others). 

Carol-Ann / Two-Rock sound fab but are very expensive. 

Brunetti singleman sounds fantastic (!!!) but only single-channel. 


--> Time for sleep!