Metal Rig

S

skweeks

New member
I posted basically the same message hear a few months ago, about what guitar head I should get... now there are some more/new people here, i'm closer to purchasing, and I narrowed it down (slightly).

The deal is I play in a metal/hardcore band and am looking for a new head. I have a 50 watt (would like more power) Marshall JCM 800 (1 channel... no distortion without a pedal). What i'm looking for is something reliable (it will be gigged), probably tube, 100+watts, 2+channels, good distortion/gain, and preferably with an effects loop (although not absolutely necessary). I don't really use many effects besides distortion (the amps gain is what i'd like to use for this), chorus, and some eq.

My ideas:

Marshall - one of the jcm2000 models. they seem pretty expensive and i haven't been able to really try them out yet. any input?

Peavey - 5150.. a lot of people in my genre of music use these, but i haven't been able to try out out yet nor find a price for a new one... does anyone know if there really is a difference between the I and II models (i couldn't find anything besides the label). I heard that they aren't all that reliable in my previous post here, but I know a bunch of people who play out with them and haven't mentioned any problems....

Crate - Blue Voodoo... seems like it's out of the running too me... heard better sounding amps, and a lot of people told me they are unreliable

Mesa - Double Rectifier. I haven't found anywhere in the area that has one (nor any people... although i'm sure there are some), plus they are very expensive... should i keep looking for one to try up or are they not worth it?

Rack Setup - I really don't have any reason to prefer rack over a standard head since I don't have any other rack gear, but if anyone has any suggestions for a rack setup, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance.
 
The JCM2000's are AWESOME. I love 'em. Expensive, but loud as hell and reliable. They (like most amps) sound fuzzy andundistinguished at low volumes, but crank it and your heart will stop. I am a fan of the Mesas, but they might not be worth the price if no one near you carries one. As far as rack stuff goes, I know a band that plays metal/rapcore stuff and both their guitarists run J-Stations through power amps into Marshall cabs. They sound AWESOME. One of them plays 7-String and has such killer tone, the rythym guy plays an SG standard, and he cuts through the mix incredibly. I think the use Peavey Classic 50/50's for power amps. Picking an amp, just like any other musical thing is all about preference. I can't tell you what you will like, just what I will. Go try them all, and turn them UP. See which one you like the most and can afford and put out the $$.
Jake
http://www.worthlessmusic.com
http://www.creation16.com
 
What about the Warhead?

Have you heard about/tried the Randall Warhead? I've read lots of good things about it... it supposedly has 2 channels, and the distortion is supposed to be mean as hell. When they first put these out, there were factory defects on the first run of them that caused all the amps to blow (which the factory took care), and that's probably why they haven't gained much recognition. They are a thousand though, and I think one of these will be my next amp purchase.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Randall/Warhead-01.html

Oh yeah, and it was co-designed by Dimebag Darrell. I could picture the design process and communication:

Tech guy: okay, we raised the gain and increased the.....
Dimebag: MORE DISTORTION!!!!

*two weeks later*

Tech guy: Okay, now the power is up to 300 watts, and we matched the impedence to.....
Dimebag: MORE DISTORTION!!!!

*a month later*

Tech guy: This time we...... oh well, it doesn't matter, more distortion, right?
Dimebag: ................ MORE DISTORTION!!!!
 
What about the Line 6 Flextone HD ($800 @ samash.com) & Flextone II ($1000 at Musicians Friend). At 300 watts and an incredible amount of channels (4 on board... 36 apparently with the foot controller thing), it's more than I really need. However, the extra power and channels don't seem to be a disadvantage, and with models of mesa boogie dual rectifiers, marshalls, and solandos... it sounds good. Any comments on this amp?

Thanks again.
 
I play out with a Flextone Duo (it sucks for playing out, only 2 10"s). It has the same sounds as the HD. I think it osudns good. It's gonna get bashed non-stop on this forum by the tube-amp fanatics, but I've heard nothing but compliments on my sound. I went to a studio where the engineer had never played anything but tube amps, and he was like "Whoa! That is some killer tone" after we had mic'ed up my Flextone (I never said I liked running direct). The 36 channels are not too much when the amp has almost every effect you're gonna want built right in. You'll see that if you get it all you'll be bringing to gigs is the amp, footswitch and a max of like 2 pedals. I highly reccomend that, probably the most of all other amps. I think its much more practical then tube amps, (less problems can occur). My friend plays out of that JCM2000 and I wouldn't mind having it, but I wouldn't give up my Duo. I thought you only wanted Tube Amp reccomendations -
"probably tube" was how you put it.

Jake
http://www.worthlessmusic.com
http://www.creation16.com
 
Laney's are the way of the future (Well mine anyway)

I wouldn't go on my opinoin cause my only amp is a squire 10 watt practise amp, soon to be upgraded to an all tube stack.mmmmmmmmm.

But i'm going for a Laney, check out reviews on harmony central cause they sound cool (In writing that is, not having heard them) they do a GH100TI ( i think) hmmmm the TI stands for Tony Iommi designed for him, and marilyn mansons guitarist also uses one (of some sort). They've won me over, i suggest you give them a looking.
ta
 
Yeah, check out those Randalls!!

Randall amps are quite cheap in comparison to other brands and you get a lot for what you pay in my opinion... I'm still kickin myself in the nuts for not buying a Randall 100w head that I saw in a guitar store locally.
 
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