UPDATED: £500 Budget for Amp

RocknRollDave

UPDATED: Amp now bought, but what is it? 

Mate's looking at buying an amp this weekend, I'm looking for suggestions please based on good experiences.

Budget must be no more than £500
He's buying BRAND NEW so please no "Well, I'd get a second hand (insert name of amp here)" thanks
He is in an originals band, just at the "rented gear in rehearsal room" stage.
Mudhoney/ Dinosaur Jr 90's Alternative style music, so he's not a tone-whore looking for an ultra touch responsive valve amp, more like something that will be loud enough for pub and club gigs, take dirt pedals well and be easy to get a good sound out of for someone who is a self confessed noob when it comes to amps (not unlike myself...)


So, ideas please!

Thank you good people of the Fretboard

ddlooping

Fender Mustang IV v2.

IanSavage

Peavey Delta Blues. 

not_the_dj

Is this the same 'mate' that bought that Les Paul?

RocknRollDave

Nope, different mate. That one plays an lovely expensive Mesa Boogie of some description...I forget, I'm not even allowed to look at it for fear of breaking it...

stickyfiddle

Noisy alt stuff? Peavey Bandit, Big Muff and Proco Rat

not_the_dj

RocknRollDave said:

Nope, different mate.

I reckon you're making this all up to appear popular ;-)

RocknRollDave

Truth is, we do seem to have somehow now covered the entirety of my group of friends......:(

EricTheWeary

For your 'friend' Dave or really for yourself? It's a bit like that time when you said your 'friend' had a funny coloured patch on their scrotum.

Not really convinced with the Mustangs as a platform for pedals or for that kind of music ( their higher gain models being the weak spot) or that they are that tough for gigging.

If 'your friend' went down the modelling route then a Blackstar ID ( the 60 watt combo is about £400 or 2x12 combo or head+ cab would come in around budget) is more of a rocker and the built in effects easy enough to use/ignore.

A Blackstar HT-40 combo would be simpler still but £600 and he would have to know how not to kill the valves. For that money he could have an Egnater Tweaker 40 combo which is ultimately a bit more flexible although probably less noob friendly.

An Orange Tiny Terror + cab would be £550 ish for a pretty simple set up that I have seen a lot of people gigging with, although there wouldn't be any clean headroom to speak of.

I really like the look of the Koch Jupiter which is a £500 hybrid combo with simple yet nice features. However, only one shop in the UK stocks them and it is aimed a bit more at the bluesy end of things.

EricTheWeary

Sorry, started that reply and got distracted. Other people had got the sarcasm in before me.

Dave_Mc

Hard to beat the traynor ycv50b for that kind of money (on thomann). Assuming it works for that type of music (I don't play it).

ThePrettyDamned

Blackstar ht 40 or 60. Bloody brilliant.

Laney lc50.

Blackstar id is excellent sounding. Actually, better than some valve amps, seriously.

Peavey bandit. Two of them, set in stereo with badass fuzz and distortion pedals and a stereo chorus like the visual sound liquid, would sound massive, epic and crazy for around 500 sheets.

To be honest, I'd probably go for the bandits (2 amps, way cool!) or the id. Bandits are amazingly reliable and sound great, and the id is frankly one of the finest value amps on the market.

swlabr

Tiny Terror combos go for 495 at Andertons, so that would be within the budget.

Funny no one has mentioned Jet City amps yet. Seem to have an increasing number of fans.

grungebob

I play similar stuff and if he can add some funds then the line 6 dt25 should be a serious option, another choice would be a mesa f50

ICBM

For valve it's hard to beat the Jet City JCA50H + Harley Benton V212 that was mentioned in another thread. Better build quality and tone than almost anything else I can think of at that price.

For solid state, if you want to spend up to the budget then a Blackstar ID60 (remember you need to buy the footswitch separately, but it will still be under budget), and if you want to spend less then a Peavey Bandit. You could actually buy two for £500.

grungebob

Just realised you said New so ignore me

thomasw88

You might get a hughes and kettner statesman for that money. They are awesome.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

For valve it's hard to beat the Jet City JCA50H + Harley Benton V212 that was mentioned in another thread. Better build quality and tone than almost anything else I can think of at that price.

Agreed- the only reason I suggested the Traynor instead is that I suspect (perhaps incorrectly) that the Traynor might be more aimed at the tones he wants. Though (and again I could be wrong here) I think the Traynor has pretty decent build quality too, for its price?

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

Though (and again I could be wrong here) I think the Traynor has pretty decent build quality too, for its price?

I haven't been impressed with them. I had a YCV20 for a while and that was why I sold it - lack of confidence in the build quality coupled with awful valve access - just changing them is bad enough, but working on anything more serious is an utter nightmare. Mine had already started to cook the PCB above the power valve sockets too.

I worked on a YCV50 once which had blown a rectifier diode - by a miracle, it was the only one that was accessible by reaching under the end of the board without disassembling the whole thing, or the bill would have been three or four times higher probably.

A bit sad considering how well-made and easy to work on the old ones were.

RocknRollDave

Many thanks everyone - some great food for thought there

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

Though (and again I could be wrong here) I think the Traynor has pretty decent build quality too, for its price?

I haven't been impressed with them. I had a YCV20 for a while and that was why I sold it - lack of confidence in the build quality coupled with awful valve access - just changing them is bad enough, but working on anything more serious is an utter nightmare. Mine had already started to cook the PCB above the power valve sockets too.

I worked on a YCV50 once which had blown a rectifier diode - by a miracle, it was the only one that was accessible by reaching under the end of the board without disassembling the whole thing, or the bill would have been three or four times higher probably.

A bit sad considering how well-made and easy to work on the old ones were.

Ah right I didn't realise you'd got rid of your ycv20. That doesn't sound great.