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I'm looking to buy a small amp to take to music college with me (I'm going to study Jazz).
I'm looking for something small but powerful, and versatile enough to give a good clean sound to my archtop (Hofner J17), but also be able to handle more modern, overdriven sounds, like Scofield. I'm going to buy a Proco Rat to handle the overdrive/distortion itself.
Because I'm going to be a student, I want it to be small enough to be easily portable. I've heard AERs are good, but would they be ok for more contemporary sounds? Budget is around the £500-600 mark.
Cheers guys
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05-15-2012 12:41 PM
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Roland Cube 80 XL would be the safe bet. A lot of good sound for the money and available everywhere.
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I actually own a smaller Roland Cube (20x) at the moment, I'm looking for an upgrade. It's not a bad amp, but at lounder volumes, it starts to break up, sometimes in louder rehearsals or big bands.
I might take a look at the bigger models, but I'm looking for something smaller than the 80x, it looks too big to carry round on a regular basis.
Any other suggestions? Just looking for a few ideas to go out and try.Last edited by joeplaysguitar; 05-15-2012 at 01:10 PM.
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I use a fishman loudbox artist that seems to fit your requirements quite well and falls quite a bit under your budget. Versatile, loud, clean, small, light. And if you use a pedal for distortion, your basically all set. It's an acoustic amp, but it has two channels, phantom power for mics (and some processing gear) as well as effects and most important: a knob to control the tweeter, that allows you to turn it off completely and basically have a regular guitar amp.
There is no ONE single amp that will be perfect for all situations, though. You'll have to decide what features or negative aspects are important to you. If you can go and listen to many of them at some music store, that would be the best option. I'm sure others here will chime in with their opinions on what suits their tastes.
good luck!
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Zt Club + pedals
maybe a Quilter?
I wouldn't do AER for anything other than a very natural, acoustic sound...same thing for AI...these amps are one trick ponies...albeit a very nice trick...
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Thanks guys, checking them out now. Are Quilter amps only available in the US? I'm from the UK.
I've just come across these - Mambo Amp.
Anybody know anything about them?
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Fender Super Champ XD or X2. Very versatile, great clean channel sound with nice models and effects, tube warmth, light weight. Should be easily available for a good price. Great bang for the buck (or quid).
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I would not recommend AER or Fishman to use with a RAT... By the way the new RATs are not like the old ones Scofield uses.
What's your definition of light? To me the 80XL is not light (or good sounding)
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+1 ... this or a Mustang - really good for small money.
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I'll definitely check out the Fenders - I usually use a Blues Deluxe, but it's way too big to take to college. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
A bit off topic, but want to know a bit more about the RATs... Are the new RAT 2s any good, or is it worth paying more for the RAT 85? Are they anywhere near as good as the old ones?
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Some months ago I bought a RAT and did my homework - the 85 RAT is just a big ripoff... REALLY! 250€?! The schematic is available on the net, my tech said it would cost 30€ in parts from Banzai.... Any good tech can build you an exact replica of the pedal, Banzai even carries the LM308 chip! Originally Posted by joeplaysguitar
I ended up with a custom RAT made by a local guy with original circuit and chip plus a lot of other options... for 90€!
On the amp subject I also once looked for the same you did... the answer: jazzmaster ultralight. The head goes in any gigbag and the cabinet weights 6 kgs. Loud, excellent sound, very versatile, good reverb, even usable OD... but you must look for used ones and they can be unreliable sometimes.
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Thanks for that, I'll do some more research
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Jazzmaster Ultralight looks great, but it seems to have been discontinued...
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The Fender ProSonic is a great sounding amp but they can get expensive.
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Are you going to use the Rat with your archtop.I might have to try that.The Beano Boost pedal is pretty cool.
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I have to agree with others who recommend the Super Champ XD, or X2 as it's now called. I am pretty close to picking one up for myself. I normally play a Vibrolux Reverb but for rehearsals and very small gigs it's a little much to haul around. I have tried the XD and found it to be a nice sounding amp that's also very versatile. It's cheap too. It will be my next amp until I can afford something like an Allen copy of a Princeton.
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yeah, go give a try to the Superchamp XD!
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The superchamp is 15w with a 10 speaker - not "powerful" imo and I doubt it's good for gigging (my blues junior was not enough for most unmiced gigs)
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ZT Lunchbox. You can fit it in a tote bag along with a binder, a realbook, snacks, a music stand, etc, and throw the whole thing over your shoulder.
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Look at zt acoustic lunchbox, i recently bought one new at great price super compact so taking it to college is a breeze tiny and only 5.5 kg , but add external speaker for big gigs cos they small but rated at 200w , i do small bistro gigs with my archtop a drummer with brushes and just the zt acoustic lunchbox using internal speaker and it's more than loud enough and yes the zt may not be the best amp you could own but definitely the best travel amp you could own in ratio of size to weight to power to features , ad the acoustic lunchbox has usable eq , 2 channels and a very average sounding but usable reverb,
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Wow I'm really impressed with the suggestions! I've been looking for a small amp myself to use at gigs & practice and I didn't check either the superchamp nor the ZT lunchbox yet. I'm glad I did now!
I'm a bit disappointed with the super champ that they have tried to add so much extra features to it! The fender tube sound in a 10kg package would've been awesome already ... I hope these extra features don't ruin it or take it the the modelling side of guitar amps (which I am done with). But from the youtube demo's it sounds pretty awesome.
The ZT lunchbox seems unreal! The other guitarist in our ensemble recently bought a vox AC4, and it really doesn't get over a drum without starting to break up, and the breaking up sound is not great at all I think (very harsh!). The only thing I'm worried about is if it takes pedals like a tube-amp would (probably not, but how far off?
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Great suggestions!
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I've just come across these - Mambo Amp.
Anybody know anything about them?
These are a new UK amp, designed by Jon shaw, and endorsed by Adrian Ingram & Trefor Owen. I have been using his 8" prototype for a few weeks now, and it's very, very impressive- weighs about 15lb, 160 watts, very warm polytone-ish tone, small enough to put in a rucksack. I've ordered a 10" model and will post a review when I receive it. I think Jon is really onto something with these amps, as it's really different from many of the ''acoustic'' amps available for jazz guitar; much richer and warmer.
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I own both the ZT Lunchbox and the Roland Cube 80X. There's really no comparison when you get to sound levels any louder than small rehearsal rooms. The tiny little 6" speaker on the ZT just can't push enough air to make yourself heard over anything much larger than a quintet. It also gets swallowed up in large rehearsal rooms.
The Roland, OTTH, is plenty loud to play with a 17-piece big band. I gigged with mine for the last 3 semesters in my college studies and was quite happy with it, other than the noise gate being notceable when I was practicing with it.
The Cube is about 32 pounds, IIRC. The ZT is 9 pounds, but if you're going to add an extra external speaker cab, there goes your weight and convenience advantage. And I spent $100.00 less on my Cube than I did on my ZT.
I actually might sell my little Lunchbox. Just not using it anymore.
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I'll definitely try the Superchamp - I think they've got them at my local music shop.
The Mambo Amps look pretty good. I've been in touch with Jon Shaw, and he says he could send me one on a few weeks trial... I'll try some others out first, then I might take him up on that.
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I you need the amp for concert, you should be able to amp it through the local PA. Originally Posted by joeplaysguitar
I recently made a rock gig with my band (3 guitars, bass, drums keyboard and singers) in a medium sized venue and brought my Twin Reverb (50w configurated) for that purpose, with a front mic picking it up through the PA.
The Twin volume setting never needed tp go beyond 3.
Hence the questionable need for a big and weighty amp
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Well, I know that some people will say pretty much anything for money (poiticians, tabloid journalists, etc.)...but when an amp I've never heard of picks up endorsements from two guitarists of whom I have heard and to whom I enjoy listening; well, that piques my curiosity no end. Originally Posted by joeplaysguitar
Reports and soundclips soonest possible, please!
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Has anyone tried the JHS Clover preamp pedal?
Yesterday, 05:41 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos