Back again. I think I have my heart set on a Tele. Admittedly I've never played one but I just love the way they look. When I was younger I had a Epiphone Dot and always lusted after a Tele.
I'm heading into town to try some next week and although I think I want a Tele, I am open to having my head turned.
The bit I'm struggling with is amps. Ball park budget in total is 1k. I'd like a new guitar, for a Tele, I'm thinking Player 2 range which would leave me roughly 300ish for an amp
No problem with a second hand amp, and ideally cheaper the better. I guess a key requirement is that it sounds ok without having to be loud. It's going to be in the spare room, etc and the wife simply won't tolerate something really noisy.
Where on earth do I start?! What is a nice sounding amp for blues / indie type sounds that isn't too loud and under 300?! Am I asking for something impossible? Help!
Any specific blues / indie (bands etc)? For example playing Clapton/Creme will be a different blues sound than NC porch blues.
You have plenty of options new with £300 but also secondhand. The key here is making the amp suited for your use.
* Bedroom
* Low volume playing/no volume (ie headphones option a good thing)
* Learning - so having the ability to mix input from a music player/computer into the headphones/amp.
If you can find a shop with a smaller room rather than just playing in the open shop that will give you a better feel for the amp sound.
Now a couple of things on the amp.
1. Is it going to be played in a large space or just in a bedroom? Will it be next to a wall during playing?
An open back gives a more nuanced airy sound in a small room. Only issue is that it can interact with walls if right up against it.
A closed back supports the speaker and gives deeper sound but can sound boxy if the speaker is too confined in the design of cabinet. It can be put against a wall but may 'excite' the room boundary giving more boom.
A ported design uses a hole that's tuned to help bring out the lower end of the speaker.
Either way the key here is where is the amp being played - if you take that along to the shop they should be able to give you more advise when listening (depends on the shop etc).
2. Speaker size/sound.. minimum of 8" but you'll find that guitar amps will sound very different between 8, 10 and 12" but a 12" speaker in a small box will sound 'boxy'. Ideally you want 1-2 inch minimum around the diameter of the speaker. In an open back you can see this by looking through then back at the speaker on the baffle. There are some good amps that combine small cab and ported design (Roland Cube and Melissa Boogie). A larger cab/combo will support the lower end frequencies better.. only issue is that then means more sound in the house (glorious or annoying depending who in the house you talk to!).
However as this is you first amp, I'd stick to 8" or above as a minimum (but never above 12"). Also note that an amp speaker needs a run-in period, so it will sound really nasal and crap initially (I'll describe a break in process later). However keep that in mind that a shop amp should have had some playing and be broken in, a new purchase from the web is not likely to have that. A secondhand may have been abused or hammered which is a risk.
So simply put:
* Larger speaker - better sound stage, deeper lows and less harsh high frequency, downside is they need more volume to sound right (to get the larger cone moving) and more size of the amp itself physically to allow the speaker to breathe.
* Smaller speaker - more constrained frequency range (although modelling allows them to compensate it's not quite the same as a loud speaker), crisper highs (which can become strident - again modelling helps control), less volume is needed to get the speaker moving for the sound and a smaller physical amp.
Looking at Thomann as an example of an online company, they also give a variety of sound clips for each amp. 50W amps (you can use these low to stop blowing you out of house and home but they'll give you clean headroom):
* £244 new - Boss Katana 50W combo with a 12" speaker openback, headphones, input for playing along (this link has some sound of playing:
https://www.thomann.co.uk/boss_katana_50_gen_3.htm but playback won't give the full sound feel due to internet compression and your headphones, especially bass etc). Just look at the size Dimensions (W x D x H):
470 x 238 x 398 mm
It's a modelling amp with different voicing, effects etc including modelled tube sound. For a bedroom player this is a good beginner amp.
* £199 new - Fender Champ 2 50W with 12" speaker openback, input for play along, headphone (
https://www.thomann.co.uk/fender_champion_ii_50.htm)
Less bells and whistles, not modelling but a gateway in to the big amp sound - you can add as you develop. Dimensions (H x W x D): 438 x 438 x 229 mm
I'd probably avoid the 100W version simply because 50W in a bedroom is way more than enough (and 2x12" is going to be large and heavy).
Smaller wattage amps worthy of note:
* £159 (20W 8")/£299 (40W 10") - VOX Valvetronix - like the Katana a modelling amp and has a 12ax7 tube in the preamp system. It has headphones, and input for play along.
Sound samples:
https://www.thomann.co.uk/vox_vt20x.htm and
https://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/vt20x
Size is smaller: Dimensions: 410 x 225 x 347 mm. Note here that VOX has their trademark sound (same with fender etc) and the amp can play normal but also model their large amps like the AC series.
When I started I had cleanish and distortion. The more gadgets and sounds the more you get distracted from learning the guitar but at the same time you'll experiment. Later you'll find you'll want to tune things or adjust but that's fine.. however for now the amp needs to give you the basis of learning the electric guitar, and then allowing you to play along (so some basic effects like reverb, chorus etc are good to get a feel for the effects sounds to prevent you from feeling the amp is 'sterile sounding'). Tube style modelling can help here but it's a sticking plaster over the difference between tubes and solid-state.
Just for the record I split my time learning with a 12W Marshall 8" openback speaker with a large pair of dad's old siennheiser headphones for evening playing 'cranked' etc. At the time I was more interested in sounding like iron maiden with the distortion coming from both the DS-1 pedal and the gain cranked up with lower volume.
Now, 36 years later, my tube amp is only 2W and it's played with either the pre-gain at full with it cracked open on the main volume (ie the pre-amp is providing full distortion at a low volume) or with little pre-gain and the volume cranked wide open (ie the pre-amp is clean and there's a little distortion to round off the sound) by attenuating the power by 90% (that's 0.2W of mega tube power!). I can go full clean by switching out the attenuation.
This attenuated sound gives me a clean which runs into that blues distorted sound. The celestion 12" G12M-65 speaker is just on song and it's much more depth, clarity than the original marshall celestion 8" V-series - a different beast (my point here is all speakers sound different even between 12")
One thing to note is that the modelling amps are more likely to give you their sound at lower volumes simply because the modelling dues the sound and then they can scale the volume accordingly with the clean power amp for the speaker.
I'm not going to reel of a massive list of amps - there's lots of options, each with their pros/cons and cut corners/tradeoffs, however given your blues/indie sound these are a cleaner/mod-able sounding with the vox having a tube to provide a warmer sound as part of the modelling. If I was looking at the beginner amps for a family member I'd try to get them to play the three above to get a feel for the sounds available - trying out a 50W 12" and a 20W 8" will give you a feel. Note I'm deliberately NOT telling you to get amp X because my playing and music is different to yours. You could look at what people in the blues/indie scene play - it's likely to be Fenders but consider that they probably have spent an age experimenting with different pedals/effects/amps/speakers etc to get that sound. Don't get hung up on chasing the perfect tone - 99% of tone comes from your personal fingers. In the end your needs are lower volume and modelling can help maintain the sound with lower volume and with headphones.
The large speaker will give you a better sound, however you may find that you can nearly crank up the volume in a quiet house. Headphones will work and then when you have the option later you can crank it. Also if you find you start learning in a class/group you may have people around for a jam.. that's when more wattage is good to give you a cleaner sound at a slightly higher volume.
On breaking in speakers. Usually there's instructions in the manual. Most speaker manufacturers look at clean sound low volume and simply strum the guitar initially for a few hours. Then slowly increase the volume until it's broken in, then worry about distortion etc to finish. There are speaker manufacturers that suggest white-noise "hiss" but let's ignore that as most amp owners simply plug in and start playing.
Anyways I've probably done more than enough to confuse you into buyer paralysis. Get a demo play of the Fender Champ 50W, of the Katana then try the 20W 8" amps (smaller versions or others). I have a feeling that these will set you up to guide your exploration of amps. With that you'll come back from the experience with some thoughts - you can take your time, don't purchase now and thinking it over or discuss here.
. Their amps looks smart and like a Marshall/Bluesbreaker.. I have to say I'm not normally a laney guy (but this is simply because they have history in making big boomy PAs etc) and wouldn't be able to give guide to their sound.
