Hi guys,
so I retook up guitar at the start of the year and have been playing a blackstsr ID Beam as I needed something small to run bass and guitar into.
But I have been thinking recently about getting something bigger and a bit better. As good as the Blackstar is it is limited and doesnt take pedals too great (get weird clipping with some gain sounds). Also the bass settings on it were awful so Ive bought a headphone bass amp instead.
Anyway - was looking at nabbing a new amp. Needs to be cheap and loud enough to play over a drummer at jam sessions without breaking up (want a clean bluesy type job to run pedals into). Was looking at no more than £250 so I know that will almost exclusively limit me to second hand.
Was looking at Peavey Bandit 112 (get a good write up and some folk on youtube love them, can be had for £120 or so on Fleabay) but don't know the difference between red stripe, silver stripe, etc.
Any other suggestions would be very welcome.
Just so people are aware. I have no idea what any of these words mean.
Comments
I’ve always been seriously unimpressed with modelling amps. I did get a Mustang IV v2 a while back to satisfy my curiosity after a lot of interesting reviews. It’s actually very impressive. £120 got me a 150 watt, 2 x 12, stereo rig with a lot of pedals built in.
It holds about a billion different sounds but it’s very easy to isolate the four or so you might like and stick to them without worrying about all the chaff.
http://www.jetcityamplificationstore.co.uk/product/jca20hv/
plus some kind of begged or borrowed 1x12 or if you can stretch to it;
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_g112vintage.htm
It's the real thing, well made and a pro sounding rig.
The JetCity with harley benton's a good call as above.
As is the Bandit..
My 2 cents would be an older Valvestate Marshall. I have an old 2x12 V265 which is great. Think when i got it it was £110. It's light enough to move, loud enough to drown a drummer and can also work nicely at home.
Orrr... go on ebay/classifieds, look whats available in your budget then post them here and let everyone have a good argue discussion. Winner takes all.
Good luck!
15 minutes from where I live. Very tempted...
But, the Session knocks spots off the Bassman for tone. so Bassman gone...
Interesting...
Or go to a rehearsal studio and try all the cheap but reliable amps they will have in - probably mostly Valvestates and Bandits anyway. The old Valvestates seem to keep going, I'd say they have more of a sonic imprint than a Bandit. For me the OD channel but with gain relatively low then push it with pedals as required.
Excited!!!
Ditched the Catsbro pretty rapidly afterward. Bloody awful thing.
1. It's bigger than expected. Weighter too. Solid build amp with not a slither of wear on it. Lovely.
2. Feck me jaysus it's loud - definitely won't need an extension cab any time soon.
3. Sounds lovely. Definitely needs a drive pedal though - my ToneCity Golden Plexi on the clean channel sounds 1000x better than the inbuilt drive channel. Will see what it is like with a TC Spark (should be on it's way) and go from there.
4. I can't find a user manual for this version online - but can for the version before and the one after.
Enjoy
For now though I might get a few cheaper XYZ-in-a-box type drives - thinking an AC30 type thing if anyone knows of one?