Best "Lunchbox" amp for metal and more.

T

Thisnameistaken

New member
Hey guys. Wondering if I can get some advice. Here's what i'm looking for.

I'm in the market for a lunchbox style amp head with the following features:

Great clean tone and lots o' tight sounding high gain.

Power attenuation/watt selection/power soak/whatever you want to call it.
I want to be able to practice at bedroom volumes, track on my computer, and be able to do small to medium sized gigs with it.

3 channel Foot-switch. No less.
I need to be able to go from clean to overdrive and then crank up the gain a bit more.

Anywhere from 15 - 50 watts should suffice for everything I want to do with it I suspect, but i'd prefer 20 +

So that's what i'm looking for folks. I've been checking out a lot of different amp heads for a while but all seem to be missing one of the things I really want, or just get complains about their clean or overdrive sounds.

Below are a couple I looked into and reasons why i'm hesitant to purchase.

The Carvin v3m. Seems like it could be a great choice for a good price, but I checked on some forums and people tend to be not to impressed with the sound of the distortion (Too compressed/unclean sounding I guess) and I want to make sure it's a great sounding amp all around. However, Being into metal, I believe compressed distortion would be what i'm looking for, correct?

Engl Gigmaster. I'd prefer the 30 over the 15, but sadly the 30 doesn't have the power soak feature.

Suggestions welcome! xD
 
Of this I am fully aware. However, there's a much smaller selection of the lunchbox style amp heads I specified I am looking for, and even less still that fall under my list of requirements. My budget is large enough to encompass any that suit my needs.
 
5150 III mini sounds like what you want.

I wouldn't get to hung up on the wattage of an amp when it comes to metal. More wattage gets you more headroom which is the type of gain modern metal depends on. This is why you hear higher watt gainers on a lot of modern stuff (like the Mark 3 for LOG, 5150 for in flames etc...).

FWIW: I have heard clips of the 5150III mini verses the big brother and preferred the clips from the mini more. I'm strongly considering selling my old sig 5150 for a 5150III mini.
 
there are dozens AND dozens of lunchbox heads out there now..



if you are HAMSTRUNG by costs....

then simply do a search at a few of the big name retailers (amazon, guitar center, musicians friend, sweetwater, etc) and find something in your price range.


mesa, vox, ampeg, carvin, ZT, traynor, orange, Hughes and Kettner, Eganator, Burris, VHT, jesus the list goes on and on...........
just look and shop.
 
i mean, you did say BEST....... for metal.

how can you get the best, if you're not dedicated to pay for it?
just sayin......
time to get serious.
 
I haven't seen any lunchbox style amps with a three button switch. Generally, when you are going lunchbox, it's because you are using it for recording, and when you're recording, a footswitch is largely irrelevant since you can just record parts separately. The Mini Rectifier is fantastic, but it only has two channels. The Dark Terror is also great, but it's only one channel. Dual Terror has two channels, but not as much gain. I don't see any three channel amps until you get to big boys like the Double Rectifier, really. Why exactly do you want a lunchbox amp? I think you are going to find that almost none of them fit all your desires.
 
GONZO-X said:
i mean, you did say BEST....... for metal.

how can you get the best, if you're not dedicated to pay for it?
just sayin......
time to get serious.
Click to expand...

I am I meant I can afford basically any lunchbox amp.

and basically i want the amp for recording. but also playing small shows.
 
ok, somewhere in the original post, there was a dollar figure listed, and i was implying that the number that was there, was NOT enough to get you what you describe.

that said, most lunchbox style amps are only going to offer 2 channels.
maybe some have a 'boost' switch, which COULD WORK AS A 3RD CHANNEL.

personally, i'd find a great 2 channel lunch box that has the best clean and drive channels that suit your need, and throw a couple of choice pedals into the mix.
voila, 3 or more channels.

i basically do this with my 2-channel mesa boogie mark2b, which is a 60 watt head, that i augment with an attenuator for low volume and recording, and a set of pedals.

it's only slightly bigger than a lunchbox. it's a short head.


The mesa mini rectifier seems to me to be the closest to what you've described.
Mesa Boogie's Mini Rectifier Twenty-Five
 
The head I suggested is 3 channel, foot switchable.

It's just not cheap. I would rather have a 5150III instead of the Rect mini, especially with the clips I have heard out of it. It's nothing like a real Rect.
 
Guitargodgt said:
The head I suggested is 3 channel, foot switchable.

It's just not cheap. I would rather have a 5150III instead of the Rect mini, especially with the clips I have heard out of it. It's nothing like a real Rect.
Click to expand...

You must be looking at different clips than I did, then. I own a Roadster and have played the Mini Rec many times. I love it. It's an absolutley killer little amp. It runs different tubes, so naturally it isn't exactly like its big brother, but it's damn close. Get out and play one if you can. I kinda still want one because it's so rad.
 
It's this clip (honestly though probably the best one on the net that doesn't feature some asshole going weedly weedly showing off their uber shred skillz) I'm referencing. It doesn't sound like a recto at all to me (as a recto owner). I don't know why on earth Mesa made the mini with EL34s, would have been smarter to go with 6L6s.



Also here is one of the 5150III (non mini, don't think he did the mini):



Here is a raw clip of the 5150III mini though:

Here is the bigger brother raw:


Here they are with some post eq (mini then big brother):



None of these are my clips. This is just what I have to go off. 5150IIIs seem to bring more bite to the table though.
 
Guitargodgt said:
It's this clip (honestly though probably the best one on the net that doesn't feature some asshole going weedly weedly showing off their uber shred skillz) I'm referencing. It doesn't sound like a recto at all to me (as a recto owner). I don't know why on earth Mesa made the mini with EL34s, would have been smarter to go with 6L6s.
....
None of these are my clips. This is just what I have to go off. 5150IIIs seem to bring more bite to the table though.
Click to expand...

Those original videos are part of what turned me on to the amp - keep in mind that he is using EQ in those. I can hardly tell a difference between the two clips there. Here is a better comparison, though the guy's voice drives me nuts:
Mesa/Boogie Mini Rectifier Vs Dual Rectifier Comparison Video - YouTube
It's using EL-84s, btw, not EL-34s. I will say that the Dual Rec is bigger, fuller sounding, whereas the Mini is a little brighter and midrangey. The Mini would probably work better for recording, actually, not just because it's quieter but also because I think it would cut through better. My point is, it's not exactly the same, but saying it's NOTHING like a Dual Rec is a little far-fetched. Put that video on in a background tab while you're doing something else and see if you can even tell which is which.

The 5150 is likely to be miles different tonally, so pick whichever tone you like better, but for the love of god, please sit down and try out some of these amps. The worst thing you can do is trust YouTube videos.
 
thebigcheese said:
saying it's NOTHING like a Dual Rec is a little far-fetched. .
Click to expand...
The reviews in Guitar Player and Guitar World and I think Premier Guitar also and all of them made the comment that one of the channels of that mini rec sounded a LOT like the bigger head.
I don't completely accept anything they say but I also find their reviews to have at least some credibility.
 
Time to go old-skool in this thread:

Gallien-Kruger GK250ML

Peavey Wolfgang through Gallien Krueger 250ML - YouTube

Oh, sure, it does not have three channels, but it meets at least some of the other needs: Works in the bedroom with it's HD on-board 6" speakers, drives a true 100 watts (50X2) to a pair of 412's- I've heard that, it's LOUD. Kick-it-down-the-stairs/chock the wheel of the tour bus tough.

Rag on it if you wish- but if you want one, we have one sitting in the amp closet at studio101nola.com, that gets little use. With some money, you could pry it from our grip.
 
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