What guitar combo for a home studio?

[Gertok]

Hey, I don't play guitar but figure I might need some combo amp for clients that don't have anything. m... so something budget i guess really don't know what to get... solid state or tube driver size....

[brandondrury]

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I'd recommend something like a Fender Champ, Fender Pro Jr or Fender Princeton. The Mesa Boogie DC-5 is a great amp for the money, but if you can't afford it the Subway Rocket is pretty damn cool as well. I really like the old Marshall stuff, but most of that is in the big, non-budget category.

I'd avoid just about anything in the music catalogs. I've not heard any good, low budget amps that came from the catalogs, but there are certainly plenty of great amps out there if you are looking and know what to listen for.

Brandon

[Gertok]

My budget is 200 max. I figure I am getting an amp to help clients that don't have their own. So I am not sure if I should get something with DSP or not...

[brandondrury]

I am not sure if I should get something with DSP or not...

I still haven't heard a guitar amp with DSP that was usable. However, you should hear my Fender Bronco I snagged for $175.

Fender Bronco: The Guitar Tone I've Been Looking For | Home Recording Blog

I'd HIGHLY urge you not to get a toy out of Musiciansfriend. This digital stuff simply does not work yet. From what I'm hearing, you'd be better off with direct guitar like Guitar Rig 2, Guitar Rig 3, and Samplitude than buying some $200 DSP amp.


Brandon

[Gertok]

Guys at another forum told me to save and get either Peavey classic of fender Blues Jr. I can snag classic for a 250-270 of ebay, so I will just take that into account. And use my friends cheapos, what can i do when i am not charging people money yet.

[Charlie_M]

I think the classic 30 does what it does very very well. I think of that as a moderate gain, clasic rock sounding combo that has competent cleans. In that range it'll be hard to beat.

But...do you really need one? Most guitar players will have their own amp. If you do go for one, classic is great. Even less is the valve junior. It's not my cup of tea but lots of guys really like it.

Charlie

[Gertok]

Don't you have to have an inhouse equipment? I just got a ludwig accent drum set with sabian B8 cymbals fo a hell of a deal, just to have in the studio so that
it is always ready for the client. I don't know... 8-)

[Charlie_M]

Originally Posted by Gertok

Don't you have to have an inhouse equipment?

That's a good question for Brandon.

I really can't speak to what one has to have on hand for paying clients to use... I just have a little rig for my own use at home... never had a client except myself.

I just know that as a guitar player myself (hobbyist) I can't imagine a professional guitar player not being a very particular pain in the ass about having to have his own rig all set up his own way with his own amp, pedals, guitar(s), etc...

If you take a step back and look at the bigger picture (the totality of the music), we guitarists are a little silly the way we obsess over amps, pickups, pedals, etc... but it is certainly the nature of the beast. Might depend on genre to a certain extent too.

[brandondrury]

I can't imagine a professional guitar player not being a very particular pain in the ass about having to have his own rig all set up his own way with his own amp, pedals, guitar(s), etc...

You are right....but I can't imagine a professional guitar player. I've never met one. I'm sure there are at least 7 guitar players who pay the mortgage with cash made from guitar playing.

So, for the non-professional guitar player you run into a situation of "state". In what state is the guitar player in. Your options are:

- Has no clue about "his sound".
- Has some idea of his sound...barely.
- Knows that he is not happy with his sound.
- Knows he is very close to his sound.
- Has his sound down pretty damn well.
- Has his sound down so well that you may lose a finger touching it.

I guess this applies to all instruments. Having great gear that works well in a recording session will make an improvement in all situations but the last two or three. Because the source is about 98% of the recorded sound (mics, preamps, compressors, etc generally make up the othe 2%) the sound of a recording can be radically improved in the top 3 or 4 situations. Of course, that brings up the issue that if they don't know "their sound" they may just suck. That happens quite often. If you can get a band where ever instrument is the last one, you toss up the mics, hit the red button, and take a nap. In these "nap" cases is when you get the free time to start dicking around with fancy mics, fancy preamps, etc.

I can't count the # of times my guitar amps have saved my ass in recording sessions. I wish I had me a Fender Jazz bass and maybe a DW drum kit too, but I never got around to buying those.

Brandon

[Charlie_M]

Wow - very interesting. I wasn't thinking that the guys in the bottom 2 categories (or their bands) would very often turn up ready to pay for recording time. But, then again, I suppose if you take a step back and look at recording from a business oint of view, it probably makes sense that the lower end would be where most of the demand is. That seems to be true of pretty much any business.

To the OP: given what Brandon is saying (he would know) I'd say consider that classic 30 if a classic rock, or blues/rock kind of thing is what you're looking for. For cleans I'd describe it as competent, probably not anyone's favorite but nobody would barf on it either (except a fender guy who has to have a "fender clean" and he'll bring his own most likely). It won't do high gain stuff on its own and I have never heard one with a dirt pedal on the front but that would be the way to get that amp into a high gain regime (in other words it is doable even if it's not that amp's strong suit). If you're planing to record mainly metal kind of stuff it's probably not the best choice.


Charlie