Home practice amp for a beginner guitarist ?

baldy

Being in the process of just upgrading my cheap & nasty LP copy to a Pacifica 611 (which should be with me today whoo hoo) my thoughts have turned to a practice amp to replace the very cheap amp I have.
I will probably be buying used & don"t have a big budget so would welcome suggestions as to what amps to look for.
Classic rock, NWOBHM, guitar driven chart stuff sort of sounds ?
Oh & I don"t have any pedals yet.
The simpler to use the better in my case.

Legionreturns

Katana 50 second hand. No brainer as it has all the pedals you'll ever need built in.

Neill

If you have no thoughts on playing in a band anytime soon, you could do a lot worse than a Yamaha THR, 5 or 10. 

BRISTOL86

Both excellent suggestions. The Katana is bigger and more traditional looking, the THR10 is very small and stylish but packs a massive punch for its size but is more expensive and will probably cost you second hand what the Katana will be new. 

They both have a wide variety of built in effects so you should be able to get all the tones you want for now from either. The THR10 comes with detailed tone editing software for the PC if that’s your thing - not sure if the Katana has similar. 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/boss-katana-ktn50-electric-guitar-amp-combo-ktn50

https://www.andertons.co.uk/yamaha-thr10-guitar-amp-gthr10

baldy

Neill said:

If you have no thoughts on playing in a band anytime soon, you could do a lot worse than a Yamaha THR, 5 or 10. 

I doubt that I will be playing in a band ever !
By the time I get my head round playing they would have to wheel me on stage 

baldy

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
The Katana is definitely one to consider & is cheap enough to buy new rather than looking around for a used one.

BRISTOL86

baldy said:

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
The Katana is definitely one to consider & is cheap enough to buy new rather than looking around for a used one.

Always a bonus if you’re new and aren’t too confident yet buying used gear. Ring around a few shops and say you were looking at the Katana 50 but it’s a little out of your budget and is there anything they can do...you may get yourself a decent deal!

baldy

My nearest shop sells everything full RRP & won"t budge on price.
The next nearest is a PMT & they have the Katana 50 discounted at £163 which I doubt they would go lower on ?
Anyone have any experience of a Peavey Vypyr 15 watt, older model not the latest V3 ?

BRISTOL86

Always worth an ask whether there’s anything better they can do (though they (PMT) were a proper pain in the ass on Friday when I spent nearly £2.5k and they barely budged) so maybe not! 

Stavros

I only started playing a year ago with a Fender Champion 20, Mrs Stavros bought me a Boss Katana 50 for my birthday and its a big step up. I think it’s a great little (ish) amp, small enough to practice at home, also has headphone socket and line in, but big enough to gig a small venue - like you I doubt I will ever need this! It can be as simple or as complicated as you like just use the built in sounds or download a whole host of different ones from the internet.

baldy

I have been offered the Peavey Vypyr 15 watt (earliest version I think) for peanuts, well not actually peanuts but £10.
I have only played a few chords through it (I can only play a few chords) but just wondered if it was worth getting rather than buying it & in a few months wanting/needing to upgrade ?
I am assured that everything on the Peavey works fine.

BRISTOL86

For £10 seems a no brainer to try it out as you’ll always get that back if you don’t like it. 

Jalapeno

It'll do, it is what it is.  Probably (don't know, but as with every other small amp I've had) will sound fizzy & boxy.  Another Yamaha THR fan here.

ICBM

baldy said:

I have been offered the Peavey Vypyr 15 watt (earliest version I think) for peanuts, well not actually peanuts but £10.
I have only played a few chords through it (I can only play a few chords) but just wondered if it was worth getting rather than buying it & in a few months wanting/needing to upgrade ?
I am assured that everything on the Peavey works fine.

Buy it.

It's actually quite a decent little amp for home practice - it's not the best-sounding thing ever, but it has a wide variety of usable sounds and effects, especially more rock-oriented ones.

They sell for about £50 in a shop so unless it's totally trashed you'll probably make money on it if you later upgrade to something else.

Plectrum

NWOBHM = Marshall. The true no brainer for you is a Marshall CODE 25. It's even got a preset called NWOBHM

When you've got 20 minutes to spare check out the Marshall CODE Artist Playthoughs at



and hear what CODE is capable of in the hands of pro players.

Stavros

BRISTOL86 said:

They both have a wide variety of built in effects so you should be able to get all the tones you want for now from either. The THR10 comes with detailed tone editing software for the PC if that’s your thing - not sure if the Katana has similar. 

Yes, Boss Tone Studio: http://www.bossus.com/blog/2016/12/29/boss-tone-studio-editor-katana-amp/

baldy

It"s my stepsons old practice amp.
I wouldn"t want to make money on it & if it"s worth £50 then i will give him £50 for it.
I just want to get something that will last me as I hopefully progress as I bought a cheap LP copy & have not been able to get on with it at all so have just bought a used Pacifica 611 off here.
I won"t lose out on the LP copy if I sell it but I think that it was a waste of time buying it now.
My own fault I know.
I don"t want to buy an amp that is unsuitable that I then have the hassle of selling on as well.
I would rather buy something now that I will keep a good few years as hopefully I will the Pacifica.

BRISTOL86

If you have the budget then I’d go for something like the Katana. It’ll come with a warranty, and offer you more options than the Peavy. 

ICBM

baldy said:

It"s my stepsons old practice amp.
I wouldn"t want to make money on it & if it"s worth £50 then i will give him £50 for it.

Probably negotiable - Ebay completed prices are between £25 and £70 (which I think is too much), and probably average around £40, but it's definitely worth more than a tenner. I think the shop I work for sold one recently for £49.

baldy said:

I don"t want to buy an amp that is unsuitable that I then have the hassle of selling on as well.

I don't think so - it's definitely not a "great" amp, but it's probably a good place to start because it has so many sounds and options. Even if you do later upgrade to something better it's the sort of thing that you could keep for jamming or for playing quietly.

baldy

Unfortunately I have the budget to spend a lot on a practice amp but am deliberately trying to limit myself as it would be all to easy for me to get carried away & buy something with features/sound that I will never ever use or appreciate & that would be far far to good for any level of playing ability I am ever likely to reach.
I just want something with a reasonable sound, reasonable option of effects/amp models & that is easy to use & will last.
I am not into downloading anything from the net so the simpler the better.

BRISTOL86

baldy said:

Unfortunately I have the budget to spend a lot on a practice amp but am deliberately trying to limit myself as it would be all to easy for me to get carried away & buy something with features/sound that I will never ever use or appreciate & that would be far far to good for any level of playing ability I am ever likely to reach.
I just want something with a reasonable sound, reasonable option of effects/amp models & that is easy to use & will last.
I am not into downloading anything from the net so the simpler the better.

Sounds like you won’t go far wrong with either the THR10 or the Katana in all honesty. Neither require a computer to use but both have the option if you get into more advanced tone shaping.