Combo amp under $400

C

CyanJaguar

New member
I am buying a combo amp on tuesday from GC and I was wondering what you guys recommend for an amp that can play a small venue and still sound good.

I am not spending a dime over $400 as I dont have a dime over $400 and Cant wait because my 30 day trial of my 15 watt crate is about over (nice amp, by the way)

So, kindly give suggestions. If I dont have any, I'll pick up the crate xt120r I have been looking at.

Thanks
 
I like the Roland Cubes ... the micro is great for practice and recording.

The Cube 60 should have all the beef you need; heck if you can get a monitor mix back the Cube 30 should be plenty for small clubs.

Both of those would be well under your $400 limit.
 
Blues jr

I was looking for a while in the same range. I bought the blues jr off ebay for 290. I played it at GC and fell in love with the tone. There isn,t a dirty channel so pedals are required if thats your thing. Tube all the way.
 
I would try to go with a twin speaker amp (2X12, not 2X10) , as apposed to the single speaker. You didn't really list what you are looking for in an amp, or what style of music you will be playing. I ALWAYS recommend a Boogie, but you will not find one in that price range. Check out the Line6. They have a couple different models with a lot of versatility. I am not a fan of amp modelers, but it seems like a good idea for a guy on a budget. The Fender is a really nice amp, but lacks versatility.

Also.... Might be a good idea to think about a used one. More bang for the buck. A used Fender Cyber would go for around $400. Could problably find a really nice second hand Line6 for that.
 
I need a key on my keyboard that's assigned to type "Traynor" every time I hit it. Great value for an all-tube amp. I think that the YCV40 is right in that price range. Excellent clean channel at moderate volumes, great crunch and boost channels at high volumes.
 
Keep the little practice for when you need one.

Buy a used amp. About a year ago I bought a used Marshall JCM800 50 watt split-channel 1x12 combo (4010) for $400. I guarantee it will kick the ass of most everything else in that price range. Marshall tube combos are great used values.

If you must have a new amp, those Blues Juniors sound good.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice. Here is how it went down:

I went to the GC to just fart around. I asked the guy what the best combo under $400 was and he pointed to the vox valvetronix 50 watt model(New $359). I played thru it and it was NICE.

Then I plugged into a Crate GLX120(used :$399 and it was really nice. Not as nice as the vox 50 watt tube SS hybrid but it had good distortion. It also had a footswitch and it would go louder than the vox. I was TORN. Could not decide the best value for me

So, this dude comes up and plugs into the crate. Dude says: this thing sound s muddy so when he leaves I plug back into it and it does indeed sound veiled -even messing with the eq did not fix it. So I plug back into the Vox and realize that the vox sounds cleaner but still had that veiled sound to it with the eq set flat.

So I started plugging into different amps. The peavey was clean but the highs were shrill.

Anyhow, I finally plugged into a used marshall valvestate 50 watt 1 X 12 ($399) and that was it. NIce distortion but still CLean. No veil on this sound at all. I played with the high eq and discovered that if I want the veiled sound I could turn the eq down and get it. I got all excited and asked him if they carried the new model. They did, and it sells for $529. Realizing that I might be getting a steal, I run home, try to get on this darn bbs and it was down. So I go to the Harmony-central review area and it had good reviews.

To cut a long story short, I am now the proud owner of a 50 watt Marshall Valvestate amp with a tube preamp, and I wish I could say I was happy. I love the sound but it just helped me realize that I still stink.

Thanks guys.
 
CyanJaguar said:
Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice. Here is how it went down:

I went to the GC to just fart around. I asked the guy what the best combo under $400 was and he pointed to the vox valvetronix 50 watt model(New $359). I played thru it and it was NICE.

Then I plugged into a Crate GLX120(used :$399 and it was really nice. Not as nice as the vox 50 watt tube SS hybrid but it had good distortion. It also had a footswitch and it would go louder than the vox. I was TORN. Could not decide the best value for me

So, this dude comes up and plugs into the crate. Dude says: this thing sound s muddy so when he leaves I plug back into it and it does indeed sound veiled -even messing with the eq did not fix it. So I plug back into the Vox and realize that the vox sounds cleaner but still had that veiled sound to it with the eq set flat.

So I started plugging into different amps. The peavey was clean but the highs were shrill.

Anyhow, I finally plugged into a used marshall valvestate 50 watt 1 X 12 ($399) and that was it. NIce distortion but still CLean. No veil on this sound at all. I played with the high eq and discovered that if I want the veiled sound I could turn the eq down and get it. I got all excited and asked him if they carried the new model. They did, and it sells for $529. Realizing that I might be getting a steal, I run home, try to get on this darn bbs and it was down. So I go to the Harmony-central review area and it had good reviews.

To cut a long story short, I am now the proud owner of a 50 watt Marshall Valvestate amp with a tube preamp, and I wish I could say I was happy. I love the sound but it just helped me realize that I still stink.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

That's pretty funny because I was going to suggest the Marshall AVT50, since I own one, but I knew the price was over $500 new, so that's why I suggested the Tech21 Trademark 10. The Marshall Valvestate's are great little amps and you'll have no problem at all keeping up the volume level in decent sized club, especially with the closed-back design.

Congrats on your new Marshall. :)
 
One Suggestion....
Might wanna put an outboard EQ on that. Even if it's just a Stomp box EQ. I have NEVER played thru a Marshall that didn't desperatly need one. Cheap investment, big difference.
 
Toker41 said:
One Suggestion....
Might wanna put an outboard EQ on that. Even if it's just a Stomp box EQ. I have NEVER played thru a Marshall that didn't desperatly need one. Cheap investment, big difference.
Click to expand...

I agree... but only if you need to get anything else but a "Classic Rock" or Metal type of tone. You're definitely not going to play any twangy Country or Blues tunes through an AVT50 without some amount of EQ on it.

Good call, though. :)
 
Even though I have an outboard eq pedal, I wont be using it with this bad boy because, as buck62 said, it produces a nice classic rock and metal tone which are the exact tones I am going for.
 
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