Which amph? (screaming solos content)

[Katastrophe]

I've posted a poll...

Out of the ones mentioned, which one would you pick?

Jet City 20 watt combo
Bugera V22
Fender Super Champ XD

Peavey Bandit / or Envoy
Fender Mustang III
Roland Cube 80XL
Line 6 Spider IV 75 watter

Here are my parameters,

1. Live in an apartment, though it's fairly well insulated from sound. I don't hear my neighbors playing REALLY loud music, but I do hear Godzilla stomping around above me from time to time...

2. It's gotta be loud enough to gig/jam with, but quiet enough for home practice.

3. Versatility is a plus, but not everything... as long as I can get "clean-ish" tones and a "Marshall-ish" lead/rhythm tone, I'll be happy.

4. Effects are great. I love 'em... But I've spent so long without them that I'd just use a couple (reverb, chorus, wah), and I can add them later, depending on choice.

5. Never had a full tube amph before... I'm comfy with solid state, but those glowing bottles of goodness intrigue me!

I should, after all the advice I've given out, be able to just point and pick one. But I'm finding that the choices are making me dizzy. Help me out, Fretters!

Once it is narrowed down a bit, I'm gonna head over to GC and try the top three out, and pick one from there. Your vote counts, as I won't have time to play 'em all.

This amph WILL get screamin' solos, so no recommendations for a scrathy soundin, broke edison cable, dirt in the pullgain, 999999999999 times out of 100000000000000 amph to turn on amph, please!

Thanks!

[marnold]

I think you know what I'd say. I'd look at the Jet City JCA22H. It's got all the goodness of my JCA20H plus an effects loop and the SLO channel!

[bcdon]

How about the Vox VT30/50 or Mesa Transatlantic?

[sunvalleylaw]

I can only say what I would be looking at. I have not the experience with these amphs to vote for THE one for the screaming solo. Of the modelers, it seems the Super Champ is well liked here and proven. But I would be going down to the guitar store to compare the Bugera and the Jet City myself. Happy Shopping!

[kidsmoke]

I chose the SCXD, but it's also the only one of these that I've played. Of these, based on press, like SVL, I really want to try the Bugera and the Jet City. I recently started a thread inquiring about first amps, and the response for the SCXD caused me to go and mess around with one, and I was very, very impressed. Don't know how you can beat if for the price, and you can get it blonde!

As for gigging, don't be thinking you need outrageous power! A 15 or 20 watt tube amp puts out a ton of sound. I know a few working musicians who pay their mortgage with a 22W Deluxe Reverb. Also, I'm a huge Roland fan, but I can't imagine that 80 watt is practical to move around, and would put out huge sound (but it's a bit pricier too, no?)

I really think you should check out the SCXD, and I bet you can find one pretty cheap as well. Less than 200 at the GC i was in last week.

[SuperSwede]

Hey Kat, I voted for SCXD but I would recommend that you check out the Vox VTxx amps as well (the new ones with pedal effects seems like a nice choice). No scrathy sound and full of screamin´steely dan solo sounds,

[ZMAN]

I voted Super Champ. I have both the Super and the Vibro Champs. The Vibro is perfect for home use. The Super would do for a small gig. I would give the Mustang 3 an honourable mention. They are 40 SS watts and very versatile. It is the most "tube" sounding SS amp I have heard. If you get a chance, get one of the guys at the local shop to run you through the Fender Fuse software, while hooked up to the amp and guitar. It will blow you away. As far as the SCXD is concerned I have said this before. I have a 65 Deluxe, a Marshall DSL 100, a Blues Junior special edition, and I have the use of a Vibrolux Reverb. Mated with my DD20 Giga Delay and a board full of Fulltone pedals. These little XDs are right on the money when you compare them AB to the real thing. With nothing but a Guitar and cord.
16 voices and 16 effects. The only drawback is that you cannot do presets with them. If you go to another voice you have to change the gain, volume or bass treble to suit the tone you want. Most have one or two voices they like and it is an easy switch and tweak. The XD has a clean Channel but it also has the same channel (3) that you can use with the built in effects.
Another added bonus with them is that normally noisey p90s sound quiet through them. The way the signal is processed seems to filter out the hum. They are really good in stock trim but you can change the speaker, tubes and set the bia. This allows you to mod the amp to your tastes. I picked up both of mine used for 125 Vibro, and 225 C Super.
I saw the Mustang 2 at a local Can. shop for 219. I can't remember the price on the M3. Lots of good stuff from Fender.

[Lev]

I have a Mustang 1 and cant praise it highly enough. I brought it to a Jam yesterday and one of the other guitarists I was jamming with opened up a laptop and ordered one on the spot after hearing the tones in mine. I can only imagine the 3 would be a monster of an amp.

[pedalbuilder]

I voted for the Jet City combo. Second choice would be the V22, but I can't get over my distaste for Behringer on that one. I am a bona fide 'tube amps or no amps' type, so keep that in mind, but I would specifically recommend against the Line 6 . . . I had a Spider III, and I have friends with the Spider IV and it just isn't a good amp line.

[oldguy]

Fender Super Champ XD.

If you get to try one out, plug it into a 2x12 or 4x12 cab if possible.
I think you'll agree it's gig worthy, and it's sounds good at low volume in the house also. It's a cool little amph w/ the built in models and effects.
Duffy did a speaker swap in his and loves it. I left mine stock, but if I want louder I have the 2x12 Avatar cab loaded w/ Celestions and the 4x12 Epi cab w/ Lady Luck speakers.

Like zman said, though.......you switch models and you'll likely want to adjust some settings.
The optional footswitch is worth the $$$ for going from the clean channel to the dark side. :AOK

[tunghaichuan]

I voted for the Roland Cube 80XL. Although the Fender Super Champ would be a close second. The Cube has a ton (tonne?) of features, and a lot of power. It's going to sound pretty much the same until it is pushed to speaker distortion SPLs, which I don't recommend. A tube amp like the Jet City will sound much better if the power tubes are pushed a little bit, which means a lot of volume. Don't get me wrong, I love tube amps, but they really need to be pushed a little bit to get them to warm up. The Super Champ sounds very good and is very versatile. It is a real tube power amp with modeling built in, so it isn't a "tube amp" in the purist sense. Anyway, I think it would be hard to go wrong with either the Cube or SCXD.

[Duffy]

If you get the SCXD I suggest you consider installing an Emminence "Ragin' Cajun" speaker.

It has over 100dB sensitivity compared to the 95 or less of the stock cheaply made speaker. This means that the SCXD with the Ragin' Cajun is WAY louder than the stock SCXD and should enable you to play in a lot of reasonably loud bands. A few dB doubles the apparent volume of an amp and this increase comes entirely from your selection of a sensitive speaker. The tone is great as well and does not affect the sounds of the models overly.

I have already drownded out a loud drummer with mine and I must admit it was a real pleasure to observe him frantically waving me down as I leisurely moved over to turn down a little. It is really disgusting to have a drummer yell the obligatory, "Hey. Why don't you get a REAL amp!" at you when you show up with an underpowered amp. Plus the SCXD has a speaker jack out to plug into an eight ohm cabinet, four by twelve or whatever, for even more movement of air.

The SCXD has a few good effects built in but excells in the amp modelling area, where it has like eleven Fender amps modelled - and who knows better how to model Fender amps than Fender. Also included are high gain amps from other manufacturers and after some tweaking of the knobs, almost all of the models sound great to me. So I'm sure you will find a bunch of great models yourself.

This amp has a five year warranty, which is a relief, and probably evidence that it is built to last.

People that own the SCXD usually like them very much.

The Bandit is supposed to be a real good solid state amp. I have played a couple and have been amazed at how good they sound. A tube amp is cool to have though.

The Ragin' Cajun costs about 64 dollars US thru places like MF, no affln. You can put it in yourself without any worry, just press down REAL hard when screwing in the bolts when installing the new speaker. You have to compress the gasket material to get the threads to engage but once you do it bolts right up tight. Don't get longer bolts because they will go thru the front and wrap the grill cloth around them as you twist them in and mess up the grill cloth. Just push down hard - it will work. I did my own with no problem and the amp is awesome and loud. I really like that SCXD, as most owners probably do.

Good luck. Hope the info is helpful.

[Eric]

Since I've never played any of them, I don't really feel justified in participating in the poll. I sense that your tones interests are pretty close to mine, so I will say that of those listed, the one that interests me most is the Jet City, since it seems to be firmly in Marshall territory. I really think you could get any of those and be pretty happy, so keep us updated.

[markb]

When not using the pedalboard listed below, I'm using the "Metal" model on my Cube 60 for dirt and the JC for cleans. The Metal model is supposedly based on a Peavey 5150 and is very nice with tons of mids and sustain and it cleans up from the guitar. A bit of a pleasant surprise as I tend to shy away from anything labelled "metal". I run the gain at about 11 o'clock which is plenty for me. The Classic (Marshall) model is also very useful for crunchier tones.

[Waylanderau]

I voted for the Jet City, I tried out the JCA120 head a while back and it was pretty good. Clean and low gain sounds were amazing and it pulled off some pretty meaty classic/hard rock tones (Including the requsite screaming solos ;) ) However it just didn't seem to have the necessary gain and punch I wanted for heavier tunes. That's just me as a dedicated metal player though, for most other applications is would be very cool. Don't suppose I could talk you into trying an Ibanez TBX? They do 30, 65 and 150 watt combo versions of my head, I'd recommend going for one of bigger ones though as you get a couple of extra modes on the 65 watt and higher models.

[guitarhack]

I voted for the SCXD, which I own and think is fantastic. I haven't tried the others, but have a Peavey Express 112 which is very loud for solid state and sounds decent, but really doesn't have the warmth of tube amps. If you're considering used amps, a Peavey Classic 30 would be a great choice.

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for the replies, guys. A quick update: Over the weekend, my rear car tires developed two leaks, one in each tire, so we had to buy new tires. On top of that, my computer is heading south faster than I can fix it. Since I need the computer for school, we're gonna have to buy another one.

That severely limited the cash on hand for my amph purchase. I'm still getting an amph, but the winner isn't on the poll. I really wanted to have a shootout between the Bugera, Jet City, and the Super Champ XD (the front runners), but I'm gonna have to settle for a smaller amph. I gotta get back to playing regularly!

The winner in this 7 amph poll is option 8. I'll be ordering a Mustang I. It'll be good enough until I get enough cash to get one of the big boys. Your votes still counted, and those three are on the top o' my list when the right time comes! Thanks for the replies!

[Lev]

I dont think you'll be disappointed. The Mustang I is a very fine amp in its own right. I've had it a couple of weeks and it's really re-invigorated my playing.

[Katastrophe]

Good to hear, Lev. I can't wait for this little amph to get here. I ordered some picks, a cable, and some strings, too. Ordered it from AMS, via the affilliate link here at TheFret.

I'm also stoked about the FUSE software and recording. We'll see how it all turns out!

[Katastrophe]

Just checked tracking... My amph and accessories are in Philly, soon to be headed southwest.

To quote Tom Petty, "The waiting is the hardest part!"

[Eric]

Just checked tracking... My amph and accessories are in Philly, soon to be headed southwest.
Maybe I'll intercept them and...uh...make sure everything works properly...

[Katastrophe]

Wow, Eric, you are far too kind!