School me on transistor amps

daveyh

So, for various late '80s sounds I'm looking for a smaller amp that will get me into Randall RG100 territory. Any suggestions? Looking for a 1x10 or 1x12, will be for recording mainly but big enough to keep up with drums would be usefu but not essential. Had my eye open for a teal stripe Peavey Backstage 110 but no luck yet.

ThePrettyDamned

If it's that high gain stuff, the Randall is probably your best bet.

Obviously, I'm always harping on about Bandits... I've played the newer chinese ones and they sound every bit as good as the USA ones but with more sounds available.  Only used stock speaker, though.

You'll definitely need a noise gate, by the way.  You would for valves, too, but something worth bearing in mind.

For more old school sounds, like  JCM800 or similar, Marshall had one... The 3210 lead 100.  There was a reverb model, too, in combo format, but I've heard mixed reviews.  These heads can go pretty cheap! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi5T82swPQI they are big though.

Lastly, something that will be really flexible was a rig I was looking into not long ago - AMT series 2 preamp pedal and a good quality solid state (or valve!) power amp.  The marshall valvestate 8008 power amp is solid state and is supposed to sound good, and ISP do one called the stealth that's supposed to be great.  The preamp will give you a clean channel (fender ish) and a dirty one (based on anything you like - i like the bognor and the 6505 ones, but there are plenty, including a randall one iirc).  With a second series 1 pedal and a loop box, you'd get a 3 channel preamp - clean, crunch and lead (each with seperate effects, and the series 1 can power the series 2) then run that into a power amp.  Light, portable and (hopefully) reliable.

For half the cost, I'd probably go for a Chinese bandit

ICBM

Randall RG50?

digitalscream

For what it's worth...if you get a head, the Montage 1x12" cabs are excellent and not too expensive...

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

Randall RG50?

Totally forgot that existed.

digitalscream

Also, if you don't mind going for a head, the AMT Stonehead will likely do basically everything you want (although it may break the budget).

daveyh

I was thinking a smaller combo really, don't need anything too big although certainly not averse to a head or bigger wattage.

I suppose Randall are probably the best bet, but the modern RG50 is a tube head, I'd have to hunt for an old one. Although I've just discovered the Nuno sig practice amp, looks very interestingly retro.

EDIT: found some demos of the Nuno sig 15w amp. Would make a nice ornament.

Drew_TNBD

digitalscream said:

Also, if you don't mind going for a head, the AMT Stonehead will likely do basically everything you want (although it may break the budget).

Those amps look great on paper, they're pretty ugly though!

Joesa

I had a Marshall Valvestate 8080 for 10 years and really liked it. Really nice, took pedals well and pretty good cleans/ crunch tones. Only changed to a valve amp because of peer pressure! (Although I'm glad I did) You can pick them up for £90

NickM

Sessionette 75 or Rockette 30.

Fantastic sounding amps, always available on Ebay £50-£150 depending on condition.

ICBM

NickM said:

Sessionette 75 or Rockette 30.

Fantastic sounding amps, always available on Ebay £50-£150 depending on condition.

Awful things. Sounded dreadful when they came out, and haven't improved with age.

The only remotely good thing about them is that they have a fairly decent speaker which you can take out and put in something else .

Matter of personal taste, obviously! I do know other people who love them as well. They're also getting a bit less reliable than they used to be, just due to age.

ESBlonde

I changed my mind about 3 years ago when I went to a bar gig to watch a local band. Guitarerer had a sessionette, a pedal board and a 80s strat. I'm a bit of a tone freak at times and I could not get over how wonderful it all sounded in this 3 Piece pub rock outfit. Of course the player had no part in it. :-)  Would it have suited me? No not for a more than a moment and I empathise with John @ICBM to a degree, but this guy got all he needed to make great music. 

EricTheWeary

Have you seen the new Orange ones? They are Crush Pros IIRC. The 60 watt combo looks like a good rock gigging combo

impmann

Big love for Sessionette 75 in this corner. I gig one every week and have done for many years (owned for 20 years). It has never let me down and never has an 'off' night.

Tbh, though, they do sound much better with pedals in front of them than the on board distortion.

impmann

Sorry duplicate post

ThePrettyDamned

EricTheWeary said:

Have you seen the new Orange ones? They are Crush Pros IIRC. The 60 watt combo looks like a good rock gigging combo

I heard about these a while back.  I hope they're made to be great solid state amps, and not just a budget orange...

I remember the Orange Rocker 30.  THAT was a budget (well, used) orange, yet one of the best sounding, too!

Drew_TNBD

I like those Valvestate amps, but I don't think they take drive pedals all that well, and there are not enough sounds in the box for me.

ThePrettyDamned

Just saw the chappers and captain review of the orange ones and they annoyed me - they only talk about it as a backup, and 'being loud', or for beginners.  I wish they'd talk about the ACTUAL tone of the thing.

It sounds okay, but they don't put enough gain on it for my tastes, I'd need a wee bit more.  Besides, I don't really trust their reviews...

EDIT: This one sounds much better, even though it's still chappers. It's for a different shop in the USA so maybe they record better? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LV84a-ppAw

IanSavage

I rather like the Fender Deluxe 90 / Stage 100, but really only as a pedal platform - the onboard distortion's a bit cack, but the cleans are lovely. 

daveyh

ThePrettyDamned said:

 

EDIT: This one sounds much better, even though it's still chappers. It's for a different shop in the USA so maybe they record better? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LV84a-ppAw

As he doesn't say anything, he's bearable although his playing is rather limited for demoing tbh.

EricTheWeary

IanSavage said:

I rather like the Fender Deluxe 90 / Stage 100, but really only as a pedal platform - the onboard distortion's a bit cack, but the cleans are lovely. 

Having done a support where I was given the headliner's Deluxe 90 ( bit of a vague memory this but pretty sure it was one of them and
 it was definitely a Fender SS combo) I had some significant problems. I was used to playing through my own amp (valve Laney off the ark) or rehearsal studio Bandit or Valvestate and using an OD or clean boost for solos.With the Fender it just utterly crapped out with too much signal in the front (and this is a strat with vintage style pick ups going in to a fairly mild boost). The guitarist in the other band was using a strat through a Boss Blues Driver but he kept the Boss at unity gain, so just using it as a distortion pedal (which sounded pretty awful but they had a horn section so he was fairly buried in the mix).