Home practice amp for a beginner guitarist ?

mbe

BRISTOL86 said:

Posting pictures is a bit of a faff on here. Are you on mobile or pc? 

If on a mobile add a space after you’ve pasted the link in 

Slaps forehead moment 

markj

I’d go with the Katana over the thr. I’ve got a friends katana with me at the moment, it’s a great amp for practice. I once bought a thr it was horrible, luckily the shop I bought it from gave me a complete refund.

BRISTOL86

markj said:

I’d go with the Katana over the thr. I’ve got a friends katana with me at the moment, it’s a great amp for practice. I once bought a thr it was horrible, luckily the shop I bought it from gave me a complete refund.

What didn’t you like about the THR? I thought it was absolutely superb for it’s form factor. Obviously if you want it to sound and feel like a valve amp you’re going to be disappointed, but I think it does what it’s meant to do really well.

Rocker

My 'stuck record' suggestion is to use the Peavey, find the cleanest sounding setting and then concentrate on your guitar playing. Leave the sound alike sounds until you can play chords without dead strings or buzzes. A clean sound will reveal everything so use this to your advantage. Work on those chords, scale patterns, pulls and hammers, bends etc. When you get the basics right, then play around with the distortions and look at amps. Lots of time before Nirvana or AC/DC....

pmbomb

re "for a beginner" I've 14 months in so still at that stage. one omission with the THR10 is no effects loop so I can't use my looper nicely. it discourages me from using the looper at all, which is unfortunate. 

pmbomb

FWIW I get around the lack of an FX loop/looper using the iRehearse slower-downer app on my Mac, and I sometimes buy backing tracks from karaoke-version. HTH.

pmbomb

"As I can"t even play yet then it would seem to me that borrowing the Vypyr for a few months so I can get to the point (hopefully) that I can get a half recognizable simple tune out of it "

If you work at it you will have something pretty good much sooner than that - don't put yourself down, have patience, and confidence that time playing will pay back, even if it's not a fast feedback loop.

baldy

Rocker said:

My 'stuck record' suggestion is to use the Peavey, find the cleanest sounding setting and then concentrate on your guitar playing. Leave the sound alike sounds until you can play chords without dead strings or buzzes. A clean sound will reveal everything so use this to your advantage. Work on those chords, scale patterns, pulls and hammers, bends etc. When you get the basics right, then play around with the distortions and look at amps. Lots of time before Nirvana or AC/DC....

I have borrowed the Vypyr.
I am using it with the amp model on "Brit", effects on "Bypass" with the Lo at about 10 "o"clock, the Mid at about 3 "o"clock & Hi at about 1 "o"clock".
I have the pre gain at about 12 "o"clock & the post gain at about 9 "o"clock.
How does that seem ?
It sounds pretty clean to me.

bingefeller

What about Katana Mini?

baldy

bingefeller said:

What about Katana Mini?

I am going to give it a few months with the Vypyr then decide if I want to continue with that or get something else like maybe a Katana 50.

Rocker

baldy said:

Rocker said:

My 'stuck record' suggestion is to use the Peavey, find the cleanest sounding setting and then concentrate on your guitar playing. Leave the sound alike sounds until you can play chords without dead strings or buzzes. A clean sound will reveal everything so use this to your advantage. Work on those chords, scale patterns, pulls and hammers, bends etc. When you get the basics right, then play around with the distortions and look at amps. Lots of time before Nirvana or AC/DC....

I have borrowed the Vypyr.
I am using it with the amp model on "Brit", effects on "Bypass" with the Lo at about 10 "o"clock, the Mid at about 3 "o"clock & Hi at about 1 "o"clock".
I have the pre gain at about 12 "o"clock & the post gain at about 9 "o"clock.
How does that seem ?
It sounds pretty clean to me.

I am not familiar with the Vipyr but, to these ears, a sound like early Shadows electric guitar is clean. Vox AC30, Fender Twin - those type of amps will give a clean sound.

BRISTOL86

Important thing mate is to get a bit of practice in little and often, remember 10 mins a day better than 8 hours once a week. 

Hope you're enjoying the Pacifica!

paulmapp8306

baldy said:

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 ?

the katana at 163 in a no brainer.  you wont get anything better for close to that imo.

baldy

BRISTOL86 said:

Important thing mate is to get a bit of practice in little and often, remember 10 mins a day better than 8 hours once a week. 

Hope you're enjoying the Pacifica!

The 611 is fantastic.

markj

BRISTOL86 said:

markj said:

I’d go with the Katana over the thr. I’ve got a friends katana with me at the moment, it’s a great amp for practice. I once bought a thr it was horrible, luckily the shop I bought it from gave me a complete refund.

What didn’t you like about the THR? I thought it was absolutely superb for it’s form factor. Obviously if you want it to sound and feel like a valve amp you’re going to be disappointed, but I think it does what it’s meant to do really well.

The cleans are okay the drive channels are poor sounding.

baldy

Well bringing the Vypyr downstairs to the living room to practice with then taking it back is a chore.
Because of this I have been mainly practising using a Vox Amplug & headphones.
This however is not ideal as far as I am concerned for various reasons.
Other than the Yamaha THR are there any other small practice amps that don"t really look like an amp as Mrs baldy won"t let me keep an "ugly black box" in the living room ?
The THR certainly seems like it would fit the bill but seems quite expensive for what it is ?
Open to suggestions.

olafgarten

Vox do a Pathfinder 10 in Denim.

Brocco

I have one of the original Fender G-Dec 15w amps which I find is perfect for practice at home. There are 50 amp/effect presets paired with appropriate drum loops and bass lines (many aspects of which can be changed/adjusted should you be so inclined). There are a further 50 unlocked memory slots which allow you to select, combine and store your preferred combination of the modelled amps/effects/drum loops/bass lines included. You can connect your phone/tablet/computer and headphones. It also has an in-built tuner and the ability to change the key of the loops provided.  It may be worth considering.

Fifty9

I went for a thr5 which I’d recommend as a great practice amp given the small form factor, great quality of stereo tones - particularly clean - and the headphone option. A few effects etc to toy with but practice doesn’t need so much in that regard imho.

steer

It sounds like the THR is ideal for what you want. I certainly like mine, which sits in the corner of our lounge and Mrs Steer has not complained about it once. If price is a concern, the THR5's are a bit cheaper than the THR10, but I understand that they sound pretty much the same (the THR5 name is misleading, they are the some power as the THR10). I paid extra for the 10 mainly so that I could save presets - but in reality that is a feature that I don't use very often. 

Other compact alternatives: Nearly every busker you will meet has a Roland Cube of some kind. Blackstar also do a micro amp (the Fly), but I have not tried one.