Recommend an amp for a bedroom noodler.

darthed1981

tony99 said:

darthed1981 said:

I've posted a couple of threads on the same topic.

The Blackstar ID Core amps are excellent for the money, you can get a new ID 10 for £99, and if you can find old Gen1 models a lot less, I got a brand new Core 20 recently for my PC and it cost me £89.

My main amp is now a Boss Katana 50 which I can't rate highly enough.

The THRs for me are a LOT of money for what they are, £250 would get you a Katana 100 or Marshall Code 50 and other more flexible amps.  THR10s are very good though.  If you are a fan of his videos, Captain Lee Anderton never shuts up about how much he loves his.

right ID10 core, let me check it, is captain anderson the one who keeps doing star wars voices on the vids?

Lee Anderton, owns Andertons one of the bigger music retailers in the UK search "chapters and the captain" on YouTube they review gear and do challenges etc

tony99

Grunfeld said:

tony99 said:

right so these Blackstar ID core look pretty good...

Check to see if they have an FX loop though.  iirc they don't?

right see this is exactly why I need you guys, the details for ID core say "6 classic channels" so that's amp types right? then says "12 stereo effects" is that not the FX stuff?


is a loop something else I need ? I know a loop is a bit of a track going round and round again as a sort of base to play over or around, but soz mate I'm just a bit confused with all the options

but I can't thank everyone enough for all the advice and PM offers of super cheap amps, you guys are super helpful

Arktik83

tony99 said:

right so these Blackstar ID core look pretty good, seem good for effects and the kind of things that I'm looing for, might start my quest for one . .

One thing about the ID: Core's is that both the V1 and V2 have this rather loud ambient hiss that whilst some can just completely ignore it, it annoys the absolute piss out of me and causes me a bit of ear fatigue really, not so much if you have the amp at your feet but anywhere higher than waist height you'll hear it.  Definitely try before you buy in my opinion.

Re: the Boss Katana's, having owned both the 50 and the 100, the 50 is the way to go at home.  The 100 is bigger, heavier and to me, more designed to be a gigging amp.  

The THR's are a great shout but they are hi-fi speakers a bit like monitor speakers and as someone said they're designed to reproduce the recorded, mic'ed up tone, not the actual amp itself.  They are great bits of kit, especially when you pop open the THR patch editor and change the cabs etc.  

The mustang's are great too but the stock patches are mostly awful beyond the fender model amps such as the deluxe etc.  They also seem to over-egg the bass a little and can be quite boomy in my experience, it's like they're trying to simulate the speaker pushing air and the cabinet vibrating sympathetically.

If you're not too arsed about having something take up a little bit of space I'd go for a Boss Katana 50.  If you need an all in one that can work as a great jamming tool along with recording I'd say the THR10.

All personal opinion of course!

tone1

richardhomer said:

Blackstar HT1R - preferably the head with a 1x12 cab 

That's my setup and it sounds way better than it should 

Grunfeld

tony99 said:

 ...the details for ID core say "6 classic channels" so that's amp types right? then says "12 stereo effects" is that not the FX stuff?

is a loop something else I need ? I know a loop is a bit of a track going round and round again as a sort of base to play over or around, but soz mate I'm just a bit confused with all the options

Couple of things here:
1)  FX loop on an amp is not the same as a sample loop.  They just happen to share the word "loop".  A sample loop is what you've said:  a "tape" of a bit of your playing which you record and play back, usually through a pedal like a Ditto etc.  But an FX loop is something totally different. (see below.).

2)  An FX loop on an amp is something which is not on every amp.  And like everything else on amps it's something which is better or worse on different amps.  Think of it like this:  you plug your guitar into the front of the amp and it gets louder and distorted etc.  But if you wanted to use your favourite echo FX pedal and you plugged your guitar into that and then into the front of the amp all the echoes would get distorted.  You might not want mushy, distorted echoes.  So... an FX loop is basically a way of plugging the echo pedal (or other stuff) around the back of the amp so it doesn't get distorted and blending it back into your guitar sound.  Do you need an FX loop?  Dunno.  But if you do need one and your amp hasn't got one then you've got the wrong amp.

The ID core has some FX built into it.  Nice if you like them but rather restricted if you don't.  And if you wanted no restrictions you'd probably want your own FX pedals and that's why you might want an FX loop.  Some people find the loop essential; others don't.

WK_James

I've recently had a THR10 and done a couple of smaller MT shows. 

I'm really loving it (the hall reverb is really impressive), and the amp itself is surprisingly loud. If you don't want to pay full price for it, then picking it up used is a great option. It's super light and convenient, which makes it great for grab and go to a short notice rehearsal or something. 

I don't think you'll be disappointed with a THR10, considering the options it has and especially if you can pick one up used cheaply. 

TTBZ

I didn't like the THR10 tbh. Really wanted to but it didn't do it for me.

Might be worth looking at a Marshall Code? I've not had a chance to play one yet but in that Anderton shootout it sounded the best to me iirc. 

professorben

Katana 50



End of thread 

Reverend

For home use i have the Vox mini3. 4 watts is more than enough for a flat. I have the volume on minimum. 

darthed1981

Reverend said:

... I have the volume on minimum. 

Good point here, I have a Katana 50 and apart from a couple of strums to check it works, ive not had it off the 0.5w attentuated setting.

In flats and semi-detatched houses, the last thing your non-guitar playing neighbours will want to hear is someone playing guitar, especially when practising and playing scales and screwing things up.

If you wanted to go really cheap, the Vox Mini 3 as Reverend has here, the blackstar Fly 3 and amps of that ilk are pretty capable.

rico

One of the 1 watt Marshalls? Might be slightly outside of your budget but I managed to get a JVM-1C for £250 a couple of years ago...

fandango

+1 for a THR-10C as a practice amp.

Theres also the Vox VT range ... surprised no-one's mentioned it. I had a VT20+ as my first ever amp, and the configuration was overkill/distraction - too many knobs, buttons, settings ... like a kid in a candy store. Spent too much time twiddling, and not enough playing. Very quickly traded in for a proper valve amp. Then subsequently purchased the Yamaha THR-10C.

There's also the thing that usually you can only have 2 or 3 effects at the same time, and on most modelling amps the order of those effect types is set: distortion/overdrive, modulation, delays. Meaning that whilst the VOX has 25 effects, don't think you get a chain of 25 effects. And it means you might have to make do with say, overdrive + chorus, but no delay. Or tremolo + reverb, but no distortion. The lack of distortion/overdrive effect can be mitigated by choosing an appropriate amp model. But here we are faffing around with the amp, and not playing the guitar.

Moral - get something that encourages you to play the guitar, not play with the amp.

Flink_Poyd

I'm quite happy with my Blackstar Core ID20. A decent range  of effects, you can also download patches from the Insider website if you fancy. It's a stereo amp as well so it's more than loud enough for home noodling. Mine is aversion one that was about £90 in a sale, probably get around the same price if you hunt around 

BintyTwanger77

One of the smaller Katanas, definitely, or a Roland JC22? Good for bedroom playing, and both have headphone inputs, I think.

rlw

Also the Vox AV range.  I replaced my THR10C with the AV30.  It sounds more like a guitar amp than the THR, has eight rather good preset amp models, reverb, delay and chorus plus a gain control which allows you to overdrive each of the amps realistically.  Very good at low volume and even better at high which, for me, is where the THR comes unstuck and ceases to sound real.

The AV15 is also very good but is only single channel and an eight inch speaker.

Rocker

My stock reply to this question is Pignose.  The simplest and least complicated amp on the market.

Christophe

Having had them all I think you can't go wrong with either Blackstar HT5-R (secondhand for under £250) Yamaha THR10 or Boss katana 50. Although the Blackstar HR1 gets great reviews I always struggled with the small boxy sound from the 8" speaker which ironically is not an issue with the smaller ones in the ID core 20 or Yam THR. Through headphones or larger cab it's great though.

HAL9000

Having played through both the Mustang, and the Blackstar ID amps, I'd say the Blackstar is probably more what you're looking for.

If you want something which is more intuitive to use but has fewer models and effects then the Roland Cube amps might also be worth taking a squiz at.

darthed1981

Someone a bit more knowledgeable than me should do an FAQ for this topic, the market is so crowded it would help a lot of people out.  Every amp manufacturer seems to have 2-3 model ranges under £150!

DartmoorHedgehog

Arktik83 said:

One thing about the ID: Core's is that both the V1 and V2 have this rather loud ambient hiss that whilst some can just completely ignore it, it annoys the absolute piss out of me

That is unfortunately true.  I've got a ID Core 10 as a practice amp and for my purposes the hiss doesn't bother me, but it is definitely there.  If I was wanting to record from it then it may become an issue.  Certainly worth checking out before you buy one to make sure you're not one of the people who will be annoyed by it.  Just playing through it with the amp on the floor the hiss isn't really audible at all though.