Just My opinion
In this day and age of various 100- 150 watt modeling amps it can really be a real chore to select your first guitar amp or even a replacement guitar amp. In general, concerning modeling features and effects on an amp my opinion is that less is better especially for a working musician. The 4 features that I look for in any amp are as follows: 1) size & weight 2) a quality clean sound 3) durability 4) simplicity which keeps in mind potential maintenence costs & potential ease of maintainece.
Lets look at these items individually.
1) Size.... I don't know too many people whether they be 15 or 50 who like carrying around a 50+ pound amp. I know that I don't. However, there are 50+ pound amps being bought, sold and used privately and professionally every day. Why ???(you might ask). There is a common misconception out there that bigger is better or that bigger is louder or that bigger is more durable.Typically the larger/heavier the amp the more wattage output it usually has along with heavier speaker(s) to handle that output. Also, many people prefer the warm sound of a tube amp vs the colder sound of a solid state amp and tube amps tend to be heavier than solid state amps . If you like an amp that has both high volume sound output and the warmth of a tube amp, such as the Fender twin reverb, then you had better take up weight lifting as a second hobby. Also, since modeling technology and effects do take up space in a cabinet, this all leads to bigger and heavier cabinets. I personally own 2 guitar amps; a vintage Fender Princeton Reverb Tube amp with a non stock, big magnet 10" speaker for a better cleaner sound (12 watt output that either keeps up with or blows most medium sized amps out of the water volume-wise) and a Vintage Gallen Krugger guitar amp with 2 excellently designed 6" speakers that is about as big and heavy as an everyday toaster that can be found in most breakfast nooks in homes around the country (50 watts output that will again blow the socks off of most medium sized amps out there & can drive a 4 speaker Marshal Cabinet very effectively). There are other amps out there (and most of the brand names escape me presently) that are small but powerful. I am not talking about those Fender/Crate/Peavy etc etc practice amps which are also small (but junky). I am talking high priced stuff that is small, may be a bit pricey (for its size....i.e. you could buy a large powerful line 6 ...for example ...for the same price). I understand that Crate now makes an amp head that puts out 100 watts and is no bigger than you average clock radio for example. I haven't seen or heard it but I understand that its pretty expensive. The brand name escapes me but I did try out (when I was in Detroit 4 years ago) an amp that was a little bigger than a classic pignose amp (about 6" cubed), with a cabinet made of solid wood in a very tastefully styled retro design, that had the volume punch of any 60+ watt amp I've ever heard that had a sound so clean that it just amazed me. I even played a keyboard through it & the clarity was amazing !!! My mindset was a bit different today than it is now. So when I say a price-tag of $300+ I balked (and I'm kicking myself now). The long & the short of it is that where amps are concerned ...bigger isn't necessarily better, or louder or cleaner. I prefer 50 watts output (maximum) and smaller size & lighter weight in an amp with a plug for an additional speaker output. 1/4 inch is nice. 3 pronged XLR output is better. Both is better yet. Both of my "small" amps have those features for bigger gigs such as outdoor or large hall gigs which allows me to either plug them into a large cabinet or into the P.A. head for increased volume and/or cleaner output.
If I were to have a fire tomorrow & lost everything I'd select the Roland Cube 60. Its small (12'x12'x12") & relatively light, powerful (60 watts output which sounds much louder than 60 watts), affordable (about $350+-), does have an ouput jack for extra speaker and/or plugging into a P.A. head, and has one of the cleanest sound outputs that I have ever heard !!! It also has a minimal amount of effects and modeling features which are really good, actually, but thats not necessarily why I like it. If I were into buying high priced I'd select the BOSE Li/PSI/B1 single bass package ($1999 with really convenient payment terms...something like $100 down and $40 month) for all of my sound needs. Its a relatively compact system considering all that it can do (and do well I might add). Its a whole sound system so you don't need an extra P.A. system, or a bass amp, or a keyboard amp. Playing an electric guitar through it clean sounds like playing through a guitar amp. It can handle a wide range of output sounds from bass, to keys (with the subwoofer added which is included in this package), to guitars to vocals In short............... [[b]U]Its a dream !!!![/B][/u]Enough about size.
2) Clean Sound....You can synthesize a dirty sound, a whah, crunge, reverb ad infinim with the right pedal. You can synthesize via modeling technology, through a pedal a marshal stack, a fender twin again ad infinim with the right pedal. One can even set tones with a stomp pedal equalizer which would eliminate the need for tone knobs. You can't synthesize a good solid clean sound. Again I like the Roland Cube (60 watt)or BOSE (on the high priced end) as mentioned above for this feature.
3) Durability .... Common sense will tell you that the more features that an item posesses, the more that can break and possibly put the entire piece of equipment out of commission (and usually at the least convenient time too). Also the heavier and bulkier an item is the more likely it is to be awkwardly placed and broken. It makes sense....the more features a piece of equipment has the more circutry it has and the more that can go wrong. Certain brands have a reputation for durability. A little bit of research is in order here. Check em out. It will be well worth your time.
4) Simplicity and ease of maintainence.....Total simplicity is hard to find in this day of modeling amps and weird effects. Again the more features the more that can break down or go wrong. Before/during a gig I'd rather replace a $50 pedal that produces the desired effect/model (or even play without it) than to have my whole amp go down. I don't know about you but I rarely(if ever) bring a back-up amp, but I've been known to bring back-up pedals to a gig. Also, especially during a band type gig, there is too much else going on to concentrate upon to be worrying about a zillion effects and modeling positions. They are nice to play around with on a rainy day, but in the real world not practical. In my opinion they not much more than a marketing ploy, perpetrated by amp manufacturers in order to sell amps and can be implimented just as effectively with a good pedal if desired. In my opinion, simple is definitely better. The ease of maintenance factor again will require a bit of research. With new purchases researching warranties are a good idea. If its a "limited warranty" found out how limited or in what respects the warranty is limited. Most importantly find out what voids the warranty. Find out how long the warranty is for. My old Crate twin 50 had a 5 year warranty which could have cost me as much to fix it as I originally paid for it had the warranty not been a factor when it got really fuzzy on me after 4 years and 10 months of usage. Also ease of obtaining parts, or schematics can be a disheartening factor when an amp breaks down and these or similar items aren't readily available. I once took an amp that I owned (bought used) in for service and it took 9 months to get it back because some parts were hard to get and the schematic was unavailable so the technitian had to guess at some of the wiring.
So there you have it ....small, light, clean, durable and as maintenence free as possible. I hope that this helps somebody.
Last edited by Retrorick : 03-17-2007 at 02:50 PM.
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03-17-2007, 04:46 AM
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