Happy With Your Cheap Amp?

[Heinrich Kollner]

I bought a $350 Crate gt212, that amps hi gain dist was amazing when i played it in my room or wherever, but when i recorded with the amp i noticed that there is alot of fizz and no matter what i did, that fizz didnt go away!! and i hate that amp now!!!!!

[gradgt]

Originally Posted by Heinrich Kollner

I bought a $350 Crate gt212, that amps hi gain dist was amazing when i played it in my room or wherever, but when i recorded with the amp i noticed that there is alot of fizz and no matter what i did, that fizz didnt go away!! and i hate that amp now!!!!!

It's probably not the amp! Make sure your gain is as low as it can be while still giving you the sustain you need. Also some tips for mic placement for less fizz- try placing it at a 45' angle toward the speaker, rather than perpendicular, and try placing it between the middle of the cone and the edge of the speaker. Where it sounds a little darker. If you go with a darker spot, it will sound less fizzy you can brighten it up with EQ and it will sound less fizzy. Also you can try cutting the real high frequencies, this is where the fizz is, try cutting from like 5-6k and up.

Also, the ROOM makes a big difference. I remember I used to get so pissed when I would try micing my amp in my room... my room is just your average suburban house room (probably the worst to record in). I didn't think it would matter since I was close micing the cab but it does. You should try cutting out the high end reflections in the room especially the wall opposite of the speakers, you can put up foam, blankets, etc. Also, give your speakers some distance between them and the wall opposite to them. When I used to try recording when my cabs speakers were too close to the wall they were facing, even though the wall was padded, it would sound bad. For instance, I built an isolation box for my guitar cab, and the recording sounds better when I leave the door on it open than if I close the door. Even though the door is padded with 3" wedge foam, there's still some wierd reflection that happens and makes the sound much worse than if I just let it 'breathe'. So give your speakers some distance to the wall.

Anyways this is what I did to help get rid of the fizz. I'm not a scientist and I don't really know what I'm talking about but this is what worked for me!

[brandondrury]

I bought a $350 Crate gt212, that amps hi gain dist was amazing when i played it in my room or wherever, but when i recorded with the amp i noticed that there is alot of fizz and no matter what i did, that fizz didnt go away!! and i hate that amp now!!!!!

The tricky part here is figuring out if you just don't know exactly what to listen for in the room or if there is a flaw of some kind in the chain (amp, mic, mic placement). I'd like to think I'm pretty okay at all of the above and would immediatley know if an amp is going to record well and I usually know where I'm gonna stick a given mic.

Now, if you aren't in a similar boat (I'm not sure) the advice above is pretty solid.

With that said, if there is a problem with amp tone, I almost always go to the amp first.

Brandon

[harkowitz]

i have a couple cheap amps that have great tone.

suprised no one mentioned old fender champs. you can get em for $250 on ebay.
I actually have a musicmaster.... its a little better being 15 watt, push pull with a 12" speaker. but i dont think many people would reconize it. i got it for 170.

how bout a 140 buck epi valve jr? do a few of the many mods out there to tweak it to your like. I got the head version with the matching cab from a old bandmate for 200. could have talked him down but he needed the money. im sure you can find similar deals out there.

[jtees4]

I am extremely happy with my cheap and "not real tube" Fender Superchamp XD!
And, yes, I am an old guy that has played on everything since the late 60's. I do not miss carrying around my Marshall Major stack in the least! Granted the XD is not powerful enough for a large gig or a loud drummer...but for that I'd still use a fairly small 35-45 watt combo.

[DT Chris]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I'm curious how many people have sub- $1,000 amps and are 100% happy with them. I come from the camp that you can get buy with a very cheap guitar if you have a great amp. So, I'm usually skeptical of cheaper amps. I'm big on my Rivera Knucklehead or 1971 Marshall Superlead.

What do you think?
Brandon

I wouldn't know if I would happy with it or not. All of my recordings are using my Fender M-80 (circa 1994). I'm more interested in perfecting my chops and songwriting/practice than getting the best tone out of it.

Though IMO, it hasn't been so bad so far, though it's properties are probably not that conducive to getting a clear mix. It's hard to know if it's the amp or my lack of sound engineering experience. Most non-engineer people that have heard my samples with it don't seem to mind it - but then their opinions may vary because they take into consideration that it is a demo and not a pro-production and are commenting on the song itself.

I guess I would have to say, that I might not be too happy with the 'live' sound I get out of it.

But as far as being mic'ed in a good position and playing it through my studio monitors, I like the tone that I have.

[Guildpicker]

I use a Vox Valvetronix amp and i am really happy with it. I don't have to carry stomp boxes (That have broken down all too often in live performance) and a mess of extra cords. I have the 50 watt version and am completely happy. And it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.
I used to use Stack amps years ago.. I got tired of roadying the damn thing around. Combo amps are much nicer. Plus I don't play the big gigs anymore. Tho I will admit that stack amps sound nicer by virtue of the amp head being away from the rattle and vibration of the speakers.
But really isn't this a very subjective thing?
I own guitars worth a lot of money and I have some I paid very little for that I love more. Again it is all subjective.
That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

[Dmoy]

I recently got an Epiphone Blues Custom 30. It really is a beautiful amp, especially for the money ($549, free shipping from SameDayMusice). Super quality construction. Looks beautiful and weighs 71lbs. It's all-tube, including the rectifier and reverb. You can run it in Class A or Class A/B mode to get either 30W or 15W. It's got two 12" Eminence speakers. Sounds great and has received pretty much universal rave reviews. There's also a 50W head + 4x12 cab version called the So Cal 50.

Here's a link to more info: Musician's Friend - Epiphone So Cal 50 and Blues Custom 30 Tube Guitar Amps Hands-On Review at Musician's Friend

There's my $0.02 worth.

Dan M

[whiterabbit_the]

That's a very broad question in my opinion. There are TONS of things that need to be considered when purchasing an amp, and not everyone thinks of the same exact thing. That's like when someone asked you to A/B your iso chamber to an open room

Oh well, I'm game for this conversation, haha :P Keep in mind that the specific genre I work with is more around Metal and Hard Rock...that's a KEY point to my opinion

I'm a 5150 guy I love their tone for recording and live applications.

Now, Mesa's are an interesting thing...when I toured, I had an issue with a flight and they held my 5150 back...unfortunately I was not able to get a 5150 in time frame I wanted for the show, but I was able to get a Mesa Triple Rec....I figured, "Hey, it's worth a shot to try it out...everyone's pushing it and plus, this is only for one show! Why not?" WOW!!!!!! My tone sucked horribly that night....worst performance ever! hahaha

Onto the studio side of things...I've had a couple of bands that the Mesa sound worked for them, but I personally wasn't too fond of their individual sound...but the two amps worked beautifully together.

My personal experience with Mesa's has shown me that they seriously lack any balls...some AE's say it's the EL34's speaking versus the 6L6's...Mesa enthusiast say that I didn't set up the amp correctly...me, I think their amps blow, haha. I've never enjoyed playing on or even miking up a Mesa...everytime I track a band with a Mesa, I push them onto maybe the 5150 or the Krank (sorry, you can get a couple of their heads for under a thousand through CL )

Marshall's are also another interesting thing...I've never enjoyed the muddiness that is Marshall, especially when it comes to the genre I deal with. Yes, they can get hella loud for the live application, but that muddiness is really a pain. I've worked with several Marshall's in the studio as well as the live application, and the only one that ever came close to what I was looking for, was the SuperLead paired with an OD909.

Rivera's are great amps to work with in the studio...lots of great tones there I've also worked with the B52, and I would personally work with it before a Mesa....I seriously HATE Mesa's, hahaha.

One interesting note, MY personal favorite amp when tracking solos is the Fender Hot Rod Blues Junior! These babies sound beautiful for metal solos...plus, pulling one of these out will also give a different tone to the lead that helps it cut through the mix...and sounds smooth

--Aaron

[yukonaddie]

i have a 74 twin reverb that's great for many things(was sub $1000 when i bought it), and a little crate that's cool for some nasty rythm guitar. i've even recorded a solo by miking one of those camel cigarette pack-speaker amps...ok so that sounded like crap but i did use the camel amp for background swirly stuff and it worked great.