Amp Recommendation

[zuzu]

Hey guys,

I am trying to find a good sounding solid state amp for practicing.  Here's some background info....

I currently have a Trace Elliott Brat 30 watt, which is a good sounding amp but just doesn't have alot of distortion and really needs a booster infront of it for heavy gain, I use a Marshall Bluesbreaker II pedal on the "boost" mode.  Also, no channel switching via footswitch.

I also have a Marshall MG15DFX, which again is a good amp but the small speaker can make it sound kind of thrashy, plus it doesn't have channel switching via a footswitch, which I really want!

At the moment I'm using a Roland Cube 30, which is OK but I find it hard to get a reasonable volume for playing in the house - even on the lowest setting I find it a little too loud plus some of the models don't sound the best to my ears.  I always use the Metal or the Classic settings.  The clean is pretty good and I can change channels with a footswitch.

The other amp I have, which I use alot, is my Vox AD30VT.  This is OK sounding but it lacks clean options and it's supposed to be very unreliable, although I haven't had any problems with it yet. 

So, what I'm looking for is the following -

*  A low wattage but good sounding SS amp for use in the house.  I don't play gigs and never will play gigs so having a loud amp is useless to me.  I'm guessing that anything below 30 would be suitable.

*  It has to have two channels which I can change using a footswitch. 

*  It has to be a combo amp. 

*  It has to be capable of high gain for metal and hard rock styles.

*  It should clean up nicely when I roll down the volume on my guitar.

*  Sound tube like.

With all this in mind, can anyone recommend something that sounds decent?  Maybe I'm asking for alot here.   I was thinking of the Peavey Transtube amps, I see that the Envoy 110 looks pretty good, although 45 watts may be too loud, even when I have the volume down low, would this be the case? 

I was also looking at the Peavey Bandit 112 amp.  I see that you can drop it down to 25% wattage via a little control on the back, would this make it suitable for house playing levels ie TV volume levels?

The thing is, I live in Northern Ireland and the music shops here do not carry a wide range of amps.  I will have to order the amp without trying it first so I need to get something that is guaranteed to fit the criteria I've set out.   

I don't really know of any other cool SS amps from any other companies so if anyone here can guide me, I'd be much obliged!

Thanks

Zuzu.

[teemuk]

I was going to recommend Randall's RG-series but then I re-read your post. They sound pretty good, even when clean - however, they are quite "high power". Anyway, you will likely find out that most amplifiers are too loud anyway: A 100W amplifier is only about two times louder than a 10W amplifier - assuming they use speakers with equal sensitivity (SPL). Even my 1/2 watt amplifier is too loud for "bedroom practicing" that doesn't disturb neighbours. As it's puny 4" speaker is cannibalized from an old TV it literally has "TV volume levels" - a level of a TV that disturbs neighbours. Imagine how much noise a TV makes if you crank it to "10"...

It might be that you are looking for a wrong thing (amp). Maybe you should focus on finding a decent sounding and "quiet" speaker cabinet instead.

Amplifiers with power that is less than 1W are even decently "quiet" but they generally do not have the features you are looking for - and definitely are incapable of providing clean tones. It is unfortunate that a good guitar tone usually walks hand-in-hand with electric power ("clarity") and speaker cone area ("low frequency response"). Couple a high power amplifier with a typical large speaker and you have volume levels that make your ears bleed.

Generally, an 8" speaker is about the minimum one can use for good tones with sufficient bass response but I'm quite sure you will not find one that would not be annoyingly loud even with one watt of output power. Check the SPL rating: It quotes the decibel level @1watt measured one meter away from the speaker. Some people might experience hearing loss even with sound pressure level of 75 dB.

If you need an amp for jamming with a band then I suggest you go for "high power". Most low power amplifiers are "entry level" crap: Built poorly with cheap components, not that many features in them and they are still annoyingly loud - but not clean enough to cut through when playing with a band, instead the distortion just cooks your speakers. For bedroom jamming I recommend either headphones (cheap but doesn't sound "realistic" and you can't "feel" the music as when standing near a blasting speaker), or (>60W) amplifier & miked isolation cabinet through decent studio monitor speakers (very expensive and might still sound "unrealistic" with decently quiet sound levels). Modeling amplifiers are one option but usually they have the same "loudness# issues as well.

Don't buy an amplifier without trying it - unless you can get it extremely cheap or with somekind of "money returned if customer is not satisfied" -deal.

[zuzu]

Hi Teemuk,

What do you think of the Roland Cube 25x?  I see that it has an 8 inch speaker and a power squeezer.....

Perhaps this would be suitable?

[teemuk]

I Haven't tried that amplifier so I can't comment anything about that, sorry. The cube-series is pretty respected and I have heard few live - they were used with acoustic guitars and once with electric violin. I have an impression that those are not a "metal" amplifiers.

You already seem to have at least two pretty respected practice amps: The Vox and the Roland. I have heard that Trace Elliott amps are pretty good too and I once heard one talented guitarist playing the Marshall MG15CD in a guitar store: He was awesome and that amp was good for serious shredding, classic rock and even for sentimental "clean" stuff. You should really take a deep look into yourself and figure out whether you really need a fifth amplifier or perhaps just an appropriate effect pedal, better guitar or perhaps more skills.

[zuzu]

Hi Teem,

Thanks for all your input, I've decided to stick with the Roland Cube 30.