Electric Guitar Amp with Backing Track / MP3 Input

connal42

Hi everyone, I'm looking to get a decent electric guitar amp for my father's 60th birthday.

Ideally I'd like to get him one where he is able to add a backing track from an external source (probably AUX) so he can play along to his favourites.

He's currently using a Fender Stratocaster so if anyone has advice for a good amp that gives a good sound with that  particular guitar it would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

merlin

Roland Blues cube or Boss Katana. Depends on the sounds you want...

Beexter

One of the Roland Cube amps would be a good call. I had an 80xl which was good ( and had a built-in looper) 
although the Katana amps seem to have stolen the limelight a bit.

CarpeDiem

How much are you looking to spend? What style(s) of music does your father play?

bazxkr

Decent strat should sound pretty good through almost anything. Much depends how much you wanna spend & how big an amp. If just for home I'd look at Marshall Code 50, Line 6 Amplifi 75, Boss Katana 50. I even have an old Fender G Dec 30 that does all you ask & you can pick them up real cheap. The Line 6 & Marshall you can control all the tone/amp/effect models via ipad.

On the line 6 you can play music on yr ipad & ask it to download that tone to your amp. So if you were listening to Slash for example you can ask it to download that tone to your amp and use that as a tone. The Line 6 is also the best sounding as a standalone music player. I use it for sound off my ipad for radio/iplayer tv/amazon music etc. If you are near my way you are welcome to see them perform against each other.  They all have headphone sockets too.

You can play through aux or Bluetooth on the code and amplifi

bazxkr

Thinking on it the spider & the mustang are probably worth adding the list for investigation too

Telejester

For home use 5 watt blackstar ht5r will do just what op is looking for.

Plectrum

A lot depends on the sort of music he likes to play. If he's into twangy, twangy Country and Western then one of the smaller Fender Mustangs would be good. If he's into classic rock then the Marshall CODE 25 would be a good choice (the 50 is really too loud for home use). The little Vox's are worth looking at too.

connal42

Thank's very much for all your comments, really appreciated!

He's primarily into Deep Purple, Rainbow etc. (Richie Blackmore is his idol!) and I'd be looking to spend up to about £250 for the right bit of kit.

I'd came across the Roland Cube while researching so I'm pleased to see it being recommended here.

I'll have a good look at the amps that have been recommended and thanks again for your help!

bazxkr

Ha..your father is one year older than me & I match his interests 100%...spoil the ol' chap & get him a Blackmore Strat or an Engl Blackmore head LOL

mli3

Yamaha THR-10 

Arktik83

Telejester said:

For home use 5 watt blackstar ht5r will do just what op is looking for.

One thing about the blackstars is they are  loud.  If you live in a detached house where you can let it breathe then they're a great but they are proper loud.

THR's are great for playing backing tracks as they have hifi speakers but they can sound a little boxy.  Cube's are always a solid option because they give a decent tone but the Katana's are also brill.  If space is at a premium maybe a THR will be a better shout but saying that, Katana's don't take up a lot of room either!

Your father is spoilt for choice really

connal42

To all,

Thank you so much for your help! Went with the Fender Mustang in the end as I felt he would like the idea of loading preset effects onto it and being able to tinker with the software via USB (he loves all that kind of stuff!).

I'll be recommending this forum to him so you may well see him on here at some point.

@bazxkr I'll tell him there's like-minded enthusiasts out there!

Thanks again!

Arktik83

connal42 said:

To all,

Thank you so much for your help! Went with the Fender Mustang in the end as I felt he would like the idea of loading preset effects onto it and being able to tinker with the software via USB (he loves all that kind of stuff!).

I'll be recommending this forum to him so you may well see him on here at some point.

@bazxkr I'll tell him there's like-minded enthusiasts out there!

Thanks again!

Nice one, you can't go wrong with most modellers nowadays and the mustangs if you're prepared to take the time to dial in some tones you can get some really good sounds.  Hope he likes it!