Do I really need an amp any more?

Sassafras

I'd be tempted to get rid of your present setup, keep the Princeton and sort out a proper connection to the Jettenuator.
All those wires and plugs would do my head in if it was just for home playing.

Wazmeister

Sell the amp. Full stop.

Buy something that you love the basic sound off... guitar -> amp.

Thats the start point; all the rest just follows.

Life is very short to be messing around with gear that 'should' sound good, imho.

thecolourbox

peteri said:

Thought - check out the Two Notes Torpedo.

I've played with running my pedalboard straight into it and it sounds great - has power amp simulation and speakers/room reverb.

Sounds a lot better than you'd think with normal pedals in front and a lot less wires!

Isn't that the same as me using the Pangaea though?

Fez

You don't have to have an amp you could get an audio interface and plug that into a computer and output from the computer to your monitors. Run Reaper on the computer and use a modeling vst like Amplitube.

thecolourbox

Fez said:

You don't have to have an amp you could get an audio interface and plug that into a computer and output from the computer to your monitors. Run Reaper on the computer and use a modeling vst like Amplitube.

Thanks but computer based is definitely not what I want, I want to be able to use my pedals really and not be tied up to a computer cake with the associated hums and buzzes

ICBM

Boss Katana 100 head? Yes, I know 100W is way, way too much power in theory but it depends how controllable it is - it has a 0.5W setting for quiet practice. The 100 head (not combo) has the neat feature of a 5" practice speaker too, as well as emulated direct out and USB connections so you could still go through the monitors if you want.

At that point you could ditch the Mesa pedal as well as the Princeton and get a small pedalboard with a multi-outlet power supply that would run the pedals - you an do that even with the Whammy if the outlets are isolated. That would reduce it to two power cables out front.

I'm quite tempted to try the Katana myself...

thecolourbox

Nooooooooo my ears!!!! I just listened to a couple of YouTube videos of the katana, what an ugly sounding (and looking) amp!!!! Christ that was awful. 

I've also never understood why a solid state amp needs an attenuated mode? 

ICBM

thecolourbox said:

Nooooooooo my ears!!!! I just listened to a couple of YouTube videos of the katana, what an ugly sounding (and looking) amp!!!! Christ that was awful.

Well that suggestion went down well...

I have to agree about ugly. There are demos where it sounds good though.

thecolourbox said:

I've also never understood why a solid state amp needs an attenuated mode? 

Mainly to get a more useful range on the master volume control. (That said 0.5W, 50W and 100W seems odd, the middle one would be better around 5-10W probably.)

My little Vox Mini5 Rhythm does too, and the effect of using the lower-power modes is slightly different from turning the volume down, if you're trying to play very quietly - it stops the slight boominess which you get in 5W mode at low settings.

You could try a Vox Mini5 Rhythm .

thecolourbox

Tempted by the suggestion of a small rack based set up that could sit on my chest of drawers, maybe with a keyboard on top, with one of the rack units being a mixer which would feed out to monitors. However not sure how that would stay compact when I factor in the tc vocals multi fx as that is not rack based so would have to sit by the side. And then there's power as well, would mean I'd need three separate power points in a 2 plug room.....Argghh ffs!!!

ICBM

thecolourbox said:

Tempted by the suggestion of a small rack based set up that could sit on my chest of drawers, maybe with a keyboard on top, with one of the rack units being a mixer which would feed out to monitors. However not sure how that would stay compact when I factor in the tc vocals multi fx as that is not rack based so would have to sit by the side. And then there's power as well, would mean I'd need three separate power points in a 2 plug room.....Argghh ffs!!!

That's what 4-gang power strips are for . You mount one in the back of the rack and it keeps everything neat, with one cable to the wall.

thecolourbox

Yes but I'd then then a power point for the rack, power point for the floor based pedals, and another for the monitors on the window ledge. I don't have enough plugs to tidy that up

ICBM

thecolourbox said:

Yes but I'd then then a power point for the rack, power point for the floor based pedals, and another for the monitors on the window ledge. I don't have enough plugs to tidy that up

Just get another 4-way . If the rack case has less than four units in it you could actually daisy-chain it from there, the total power draw won't be anywhere near high enough for it to be a problem and it will avoid an earth loop.

A lot of this cable clutter and mess can be avoided by building pedalboards and rack cases with it all cut to length or cable-tied into place, so you only have one loose power cable. I used to do that with my gig set-up a few years ago - my amp and pedalboard were plugged into the rack (2U, so two spare outlets) and the only connection to the wall was the power cable to the rack unit… made it safe, quick and easy to set up.

thecolourbox

That's the same amount of power leads as there are now though to be honest. I've not properly played for ages anyway so my competency level is so low that quick pick up and play sessions are no fun anyway. I decided when this happened last year I wanted to stick with guitar but I think this year I'm keen to shift the lot out and just get a new non musical hobby instead

Sassafras

thecolourbox said:

That's the same amount of power leads as there are now though to be honest. I've not properly played for ages anyway so my competency level is so low that quick pick up and play sessions are no fun anyway. I decided when this happened last year I wanted to stick with guitar but I think this year I'm keen to shift the lot out and just get a new non musical hobby instead

 You mean drums?

thecolourbox

^^ tee hee hee!

ICBM

You could always become a singer. That way you wouldn't need any gear at all, you could just turn up and expect someone else to have provided everything and set it up for you, then make sure you leave when it needs to be got back into the van.

thecolourbox

ICBM said:

You could always become a singer. That way you wouldn't need any gear at all, you could just turn up and expect someone else to have provided everything and set it up for you, then make sure you leave when it needs to be got back into the van.

Lol yes indeed. I wouldn't even need to turn up half the time so my unreliability would be a strength it is actually something I was considering (not for the reasons above Haha) however not sure I'd have the raw ability to work with to do that

Lew

You're making this way too complicated. Sell the lot. Buy a cheap interface, a comfy chair and use your computer (and have an audio universe at your fingers for peanuts) or keep the Princeton and get a multi-fx. Unless you actually need the money from the Princeton sale who cares if it's laying around unused. Yer not gonna hurt it's feelings and I couldn't think of a better amp for what you're describing and stop putting yourself down.

thecolourbox

Lew said:

You're making this way too complicated. Sell the lot. Buy a cheap interface, a comfy chair and use your computer (and have an audio universe at your fingers for peanuts) or keep the Princeton and get a multi-fx. Unless you actually need the money from the Princeton sale who cares if it's laying around unused. Yer not gonna hurt it's feelings and I couldn't think of a better amp for what you're describing and stop putting yourself down.

Thing is that's nor necessarily any simpler a set up - I'd only have one less power plug but that's because I would not be able to use my drive pedals which I like (still need to plug in the monitors and whammy), and there's the added annoyance of the noise picked up from the computer through the pickups which drives me mad. Oh and in order to have the computer near enough to the speakers for the cable to reach from the laptop, I then wouldn't be able to reach to change sounds. And you can't change them on the fly unless you buy yet another gadget to use as a floorboard, which is then complicating it much more.

The idea of selling the amp (and petty much everything else) is to use the money to build an ideal home setup from the ground up, which would probably leave he some left over to get something better than guitar stuff as an alternative as well - nice small keyboard, mandola, anything else interesting

Edit - also playing through modelling software just isn't as fun as playing a proper amp or preamp! I'm not going to be playing in public so it's only for me and I want to enjoy it and sound as nice as possible

TTBZ

People over on TGP are really rating the Boss Katana, most saying it has that real valve amp feel. And considering how much cork sniffery and other bollocks there is over there, that's some sort of endorsement anyway. If you got the 100w head you could use its built in speakers for home practice then go into a backline cab for any gigs you might have. Or go for the 100w combo which apparently sounds good at any volume.