Hey guys,
I recently made a thread about what type of amplifier I should get, and I've received a tremendous amount of recommendations that got me into a 2 month period of trying out as many amps as I could. To restate, this decision is very difficult for me because I like to play a very wide range of genres; this includes material like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and even a considerable amount of John Mayer. It's been very difficult to get an amp that can do all of those tones effectively. I like to use a lot of pedals, so I'm not too worried about the particular gain an amp can achieve as I can get most of it from my pedals. My budget is £650 ($850), and the most popular recommendations I've received are:
Orange Rocker 15
Fender Bassbreaker 15C
Marshall DSL40C/15C
Marshall 2525C Mini Jubilee
Now the tricky part, I currently own the particularly horrible Marshall MG15CFR; and I've been using solid state amps since I started playing guitar. This might sound a little crazy to some of you, but ever since trying out a variety of tube amps, I've realized how good the clean channel is in my amp. I've tried all of the amps mentioned above, excluding the Mini Jubilee, and found that I really really didn't like their clean sounds. The Orange was particularly disappointing because while I LOVED its dirty channel, its "natural" channel was hardly clean and had a lot of break-up. The DSL40C was probably the nicest of the ones I've tried above, and if I do get it, I would change the speaker; however, the cleans still aren't as good as my Marshall's cleans. Do solid state amps have better cleans than tube amps? Or, since I've only owned solid-state amps, is my entire philosophy about what a clean channel should sound like completely incorrect? You can hear the Marshall MG15CFR clean channel in this video:
Having a good clean channel is very important since I like to play a lot of John Mayer. I play with Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe HSS.
If you could tell me why I'm not liking the clean sounds on these amps or have any recommendations that'd be great. I'd really appreciate your help guys.
Comments
JM build | Pedalboard plans
The DSL40C with a better speaker would get the closest out of the options you've listed - the stock speaker is poor, and it makes a big difference.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
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Had. It's just sold.
If I were you I'd wait til NAMM 2018 and look out for Marshall
Roland Jazz Chorus - Brilliant cleans, then use pedals for the gain sounds.
Orange CR60C - (I’m a bit biased as I’ve got one.) Clean channel goes from clean to mild crunch, and dirty channel takes over from where the clean leaves off and goes to more gain than most people will ever need.
So I'm not sure if any of have gotten the chance to see/hear the newly released PRS MT15 head. It does both cleans and gains exactly as I want them to sound and I think I'll be going for it! The issue now is finding a suitable cabinet. PRS are also releasing a signature cabinet to compliment the head, however I'd rather get a solid cabinet that'll last me as long as possible and be suitable any amps i'd get in the future.
Firstly, for bedroom levels, is it still more advantageous to get a 2x12 instead of a 1x12? Also what cabs would you guys recommend? I hear that Mesa does excellent cabs, but their cheapest cab costs more than the amp and is a bit too much. Are they that much better than say, Orange? I heard Orange have great cabs, but they are apparently quite mid-heavy.
I'd really appreciate advice on this guys!
As for cabs I personally think the jump from a 1x12 to a 2x12 is massive in terms of projection and being able to compete on a stage and generally they don't sound anywhere near as boxey as a 1x12. I'd definitely check out a zilla fatboy which is made to sound more like a 4x12 than a 2x12 and obviously depending on speakers can vary massively. I have a V30 and a G12H30 in mine and its sounds massive, the best build quality I've seen and not crazy heavy. Orange make some decent cabs too but I'd avoid the open back ones as I've always found them a bit meh.