dimeRazor Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Hi, i need to purchase a small amp for practice at home. I wan't something with descent overdrive to suit the music i play (metallica, pantera etc..) I am looking for something with 10-15 watts. I looked at a marshall mcd10 and a few laney models but have yet to try them. Any ideas??? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Try one of the Line 6 spider 2 amps. I use one of the 2 x 10 combo's as my main amp, does some really great heavy distortion (Immortal, Cradle of Filth ect.) sounds as well as some less heavy sounds (Slayer, Black Sabbath ect.) and as well it does some great rock tones fender clean and not so clean...even a half decent impression of a AC30! The 15 watt combo is obviously slightly less well endowed with features but you get all the good ones (infact they're the models I have saved as my presents!) plus you still get the effects section which is pretty cool in its own right. The programable channels are just cool...so you can have 4 differant sounds all stored up in the memory and all you have to do is hit one switch to change! anyway enough of me selling Line 6 stuff lol! I have one of the Marshall MG30DFX amps too...s'not bad for what it cost....does some half decent sounds but nothing compared to the Spider....it DOES do a better blues sound though I've not got any experiance of Laney stuff but if its good enough for Tony Iommi its got to me quality gear! hope I've been of some help Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimeRazor Posted April 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Hi, i need to purchase a small amp for practice at home. I haven't tried it out, but there's the Ibanez Valbee --it's all tube, but only 5 watts with a 6-inch speaker, so it should be suitable for home use --it also has an extra high-gain distortion circuit for metalheads...also has a headphone out and tube-emulation for late-night playing. Best of all, it's pretty cheap. And it's tube. I will look at both, the spider2 is looking damn good not bad but cost $400 for a 15w. Though the valbee is $450 but is a tube. Hmmm Line6 is looking more enticing. (unless someone tells me otherwise) Cheers guys! RIP marshall stack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Want cheap, never leave your room, lots of felxibility, and do you have a decent stereo? Line6 GuitarPort. The End. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 I have to agree with Robert_the_damned, I've been using a tiny SpiderII 30 in a Jazz club ever week. I expected the little guy to explode but people really like it and the reason I got it had nothing to do with Jazz! Also, I like my GuitarPort a lot, the TonePort is great as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Brown Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 i also have a line six spider II its a 120watt monster way too loud for my bedroom but stick a pair of headphones in and i can jam all night and use the same thing for a gig the next day. however if you want an amp just to practise on i suggest a pod, get one of the older ones if you cant affored the XT, even more versitle than the spider and way more portable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenhoneywell Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Epiphone Valve Junior seems OK for the money. It's a bit noisy but it's 5W all tube. I picked mine up for £85 here in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 (edited) I just got my valve junior in the mail about three hours ago. I was really amazed by the great sound I was getting out of it. Than I switched the preamp tube for an old made in USA sylvania 12AT7 that I stole out of an old radio and WOW. I thought this things sound was good before, but with the new tube it's just amazing. I am going to order a JJ el84 and see if improves things further. I have a sound meter so I can give you some readings. at 9 o' clock it's around 80 db 1 meter away at 12 o' clock it's 100-107 db 1 meter away I havn't turned it past that because I don't wan't a bunch of angry neighbors calling the cops. Tomorow I will turn it all the way up and see how loud it is. Mine is the "new" one that has two cutouts in the back. The hum seems to be very tolerable but after I switched the preamp tube to the 12AT7 it reduced the hum to "oh my gosh this is quiet" levels. I seriously recomend changing the preamp tube to a 12AT7. The overdrive sounds better (to my ear) and it's much much quiter. Not a little, but alot. I noticed a little bit of cabinet rattle when playing in the lower register around 110db. Does anyone elses have this rattle? It's kinda annoying and I'd like to be able to get rid of it. All in all I'm very very satisfied with my purchase of $140 It's not going to give you high gain sounds, but for vintage champ type sounds this thing is a real steal. The only thing It's missing is reverb. But honestly I'm glad they left it out, it's not like the reverb in a $140 amp would sound very good. I'll probably end up building a fender standalone reverb insted of buying a digital reverb. I can't imagine how Epiophone can sell this amp so cheap and make it sound this good. I would easily pay $400 or $500 for this amp I can't wait to try out a JJ power tube and maybe a new speaker. Edited May 4, 2006 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 (edited) You don't have to rebias when changing preamp tubes on -any- amp. On amps with a class A single ended output stage (like the VJ) you don't have to rebias when changing output tubes either. I just turned it all the way up and it's only 105-109db. So it doesn't really get louder (but it seems louder because of the overdrive) it sounds soooooo sweet turned up all the way. Edited May 4, 2006 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay66 Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 I had a Marshall mg 15 or 20 not sure, for a short while, it sounded like a tin can. I traded it for a line 6 spider, that sounded way better. Good tone at low volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimeRazor Posted May 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Yeah, the Amp really doesn't need to be amazing, thats what the mesa is for Just needed a practice but the spider 15w looks like the one to get. Cheers for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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