Which guitar amp

riddlermarc

riddlermarc

riddlermarc

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Okay, so I'm looking at spending £300-500 and initially I was going to go for the AVT150 combo.. but after reading the reviews over at Harmony Central I'm not so sure. It seems you can only get a decent sound (and volume) if you add the 4x12 cab which pushes the price up somewhat.

Alternative options are (didn't put up links, wasn't sure it was allowed?):
  • Marshall AVT150-X head (150w) and AVT412A-X cab at ~£500
  • Behringer V-Ampire LX1200H (120w) head and BG412H cab at £352 deal price
  • Line 6 Spider II HD head (150w) and Spider II 412 cab at £440
I have a Boss GT-6 so I'm not entirely depending on the sound I get from the amp, although in an ideal world I'd like to use the distortion from the amp. I'm looking for a decent metal sound, although I play other styles this is the primary desire.

Anyone have any experience of any of these or can suggest an alternative? After thinking about it and reading the reviews on Harmony Central I'm not really looking to buy a combo - I want the 4x12 cab to give me a fuller sound. I'll be playing a Jackson DXMG (w/EMG-HZ4's) and a Les Paul Custom fitted with EMG 81s through it :)
 
Out of those three its definitely the Marshall.
Line 6 are wonderful amps but don't hit the back of the wall when you're playing a gig.
If you can afford a proper Marshall valve then go for that.
Ditch the GT-6.
Guitar > amp > speakers <no toys>

Just my preference.
 
Get a second hand DSL401 if you can and most importantly try as many amps you're interested in.

Personally I can't understand why the AVT series gets any positive feedback as the distortion on it always sounded dire to me at any volume level, the DSL will absolutely scream. I had the TSL version (originally was getting DSL but guitar shop mucked up and let me have the TSL - woot) and I thought it sounded brutal.

You should be able to get a second hand Marshall 4x12 with some celestions in it for about £200 if you search around ebay. Don't go for the AVT/MG cabs :(
 
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dmpoole said:
Out of those three its definitely the Marshall.
Line 6 are wonderful amps but don't hit the back of the wall when you're playing a gig.
If you can afford a proper Marshall valve then go for that.
Ditch the GT-6.
Guitar > amp > speakers <no toys>

Just my preference.
Click to expand...
Pretty much what I thought too, I read the Line 6 doesn't cut it in a battle situation. I want to just use the GT-6 for some minor compression/noise gate as and when needed - there are certain things you do need above and beyond what the amp can give you.

I can't afford a valve Marshall, even on ebay so it's best endeavours I'm afraid. Will the DSL401 be loud enough to do some decent gigging, I have my doubts? And the 1960A/B's on ebay are shockingly expensive, in some cases more so than brand new ones :(

I totally appreciate what you guys are saying and I agree, but I have a strict budget (although I got a £4k bonus this year it's mostly going on leather sofas, furniture etc for the house
icon13.gif
)..
 
There is a combo I can recommend 100% but I don't know if they're still out there. Go to my website, click on MEMBERS and have a look at Colins setup. He uses a Marshall Valvestate VS265 with a 1912 speaker and the sound is awesome. He has it on number 3 and when he opens up with the chords of Shot Down In Flames the sound is as real and loud as it gets.
 
I run a Marshall Park, which I guess is like the Squier of the Marshall world, and let me tell you it can give a lot of Marshall tube amps a run for their money :)

Took me a while to find my particular sound with its EQ though.
 
Hmm, I cunningly trawled the "completed listings" listing on ebay and found a few cabs and head/cab auctions that went uncompleted so have fired off some emails to see if I can get something a fair bit cheaper than shop price..
 
riddlermarc said:
Pretty much what I thought too, I read the Line 6 doesn't cut it in a battle situation. I want to just use the GT-6 for some minor compression/noise gate as and when needed - there are certain things you do need above and beyond what the amp can give you.

I can't afford a valve Marshall, even on ebay so it's best endeavours I'm afraid. Will the DSL401 be loud enough to do some decent gigging, I have my doubts? And the 1960A/B's on ebay are shockingly expensive, in some cases more so than brand new ones :(

I totally appreciate what you guys are saying and I agree, but I have a strict budget (although I got a £4k bonus this year it's mostly going on leather sofas, furniture etc for the house
icon13.gif
)..
Click to expand...

I had the TSL601 (1x12" speaker) and compared to my mates Marshall 4x12 it sounded a bit harsh, it cutted through but didn't have the prescence or bottom end a cab can offer.

If you can get a TSL602 (2x12" speaker) and a Marshall 1936 Cab (you may eventually want to swap the speakers out..look into this) then you'll have all the oomf you'll need for gigs, you can also decide whether you need the extension cab for larger gigs or just take the combo along, this gets rid of having to lug a 4x12 about wherever you go.
 
Andelusion said:
If you can get a TSL602 (2x12" speaker) and a Marshall 1936 Cab (you may eventually want to swap the speakers out..look into this) then you'll have all the oomf you'll need for gigs, you can also decide whether you need the extension cab for larger gigs or just take the combo along, this gets rid of having to lug a 4x12 about wherever you go.
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Good advice.
A 4x12 is a real chore.
The advantage of 2 speakers is that you can put one each side of the stage like my guitarists do. It gives a massive sound on stage and both guitarists can hear what the other is doing.
Last year I wired a groups 4x12 cabs up so that the top half belonged to the guitarist and the bottom half belonged to the other guitarist (both sides).
Instead of one guitar left and one right the sound was coming from everywhere - awesome.
 
Andelusion said:
Personally I can't understand why the AVT series gets any positive feedback as the distortion on it always sounded dire to me at any volume level, the DSL will absolutely scream.

Don't go for the AVT/MG cabs :(
Click to expand...

I'm sure I've argued about this before but compared to every other amp I've ever used, admittedly NOT the DSL or TSL, the AVT has held its own very well. I don't gig often, but its always done the job well enough and I've never ONCE questioned whether I want to buy another amp, at this level I am at least.

The general concensus always seem to be that AVT's suck, but thats all I hear on internet forums only. Never had any guitarist imply I had a bad tone, and I never thought I have had that either.

The AVT has done me awesomely. While I prefer a pedal for distortion, I find the clean lovely.

Go and try them out is all I can say.

Edit - For the record I have a AVT100. However I heard the 150 and cab before. It sounded like a monster, much better distortion.
 
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dmpoole said:
Good advice.
A 4x12 is a real chore.
The advantage of 2 speakers is that you can put one each side of the stage like my guitarists do. It gives a massive sound on stage and both guitarists can hear what the other is doing.
Last year I wired a groups 4x12 cabs up so that the top half belonged to the guitarist and the bottom half belonged to the other guitarist (both sides).
Instead of one guitar left and one right the sound was coming from everywhere - awesome.
Click to expand...

Aye at full band practises me and our other guitarist put our stacks facing at right angles to each other then stand infront of each others amp so we can hear a decent mix of each other.

In ear monitors for the win though :D
 
Nitefly said:
The AVT has done me awesomely. While I prefer a pedal for distortion, I find the clean lovely.

Go and try them out is all I can say.
Click to expand...

if you're going to be using a pedal for distortion, the cleans on the Vox Valvetronix range (cloth grille, not the mesh ones) are second to none! ive been using mine now for nearly a year and i love it!

i'm actually thinking about buying another 2x12 cab to go with the 2x12 that it has on it!
 
I use a BOSS ME-50 multi effects thing actually. Gives a ridiculous amount of moderation for each setting and there are NO COMPUTER MENUs. I plug it to everyone I can because again, I always here 'rubbish multi effects!' comments, which simply isn't true if you get a decent one.

It gives me all I want without spending silly amounts of money. More money for a silly flash guitar you see :D
 
Cheers for all the advice guys, oh and can I have thirds on that Ibanez jazz mag 'cause my RG-550 is getting a little old now :p

Ideally, if I can get a 4x12 cab from ebay for a decent price (might mean travelling 50-100 miles but not a problem) then I'll probably plump for the AVT150 combo as well - as you say, means I can take the amp to practise and leave the 4x12 for times when it's needed.

Price wise, this seems to be my best option - for a TSL602 you're looking at over £650 and that's without the cab that I will need to get to play some of the larger local venues.

FWIW I have been using a MG100DFX up to now with distortion from my GT-6 in front and have had numerous other guitarists comment on my "nice tone, man.. " and compare it loosely to dimebag's sound.. so I'm hoping with the addition of a larger/better amp plus the cab it's going to really expand it more :) Yes I know the MG100DFX is a carp amp, it really struggles to hold it's own at full volume even at practise.. definitely an amp to forget ;)

God, reading my posts on this make me sound a real n00b.. you wouldn't believe I'm 33 and been playing for eighteen years!
 
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