Practice Amp for under 200$

[zrockisaddictin]

All right im looking for the best amp i can get for under 200$ with great distortion, the more wattage the better but its not that vital

i play metallish things and solo stuff like satriani, and a tube combo would be nice though i doubt there are any for the price quota

please im gonna pair it up with an ESP MH-400, help me out

[Mark-o]

Zrock...
Check out the VOX AD30VT/AD15VT. It's a combo tube hybrid amp. Tube in the preamp. I own the AD30($250ish) and it's a great little amp for the $ and offers a lot of flexibility because it's modeling amp. It can crank out good metalish distortion and clear clean soundsplus the effects are decent. My only complaint is that on some of the the seetings the low end is a bit flabby.

BTW I jam with a guy who uses a 200W Crate and a drummer- the little 30W Vox can hang right in there.

[noisedude]

Actually - the valve in the Vox AD range is in the POWER AMP stage. That's kinda the point of them, the whole 'Valve Reactor' technology. I would suggest that the metal sounds (the 'Nu-Metal' model in particular) are not their strongest point either ... nothing wrong with them, but not up to the quality of some of the clean sounds and the jangly AC15/30 models.

For a REALLY cool practice amp, look up a Laney LC15 or LC15R. It's a Class A tube amp, so despite being 15W it REALLY kicks out some volume (and sounds better the harder you push it). The best thing is you can hook it up to a 2x12 or 4x12 cab for gigs, and it will sound awesome! They might be a little cheaper over here cos they're a British company - they're under 200 quid, which normally equates to about $250-300 USD ... but see what you can find.

The Vox amps are unspeakably cool, and I would recommend them to anyone (I have the AD15VT myself) ... but you should try one first to check out the high gain sounds for your musical style.

Nik