Best recording amp under 200 dollars?

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michael_lifshit

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What would people recommend? I have a yamaha pacifica 112, and a piece of crap amp, that I want to sell and get something better, but under 200 dollars. I was looking at some marshall ones. All I really want is a good clean sound and a nice distortion, not too heavy, just smooth. I dont need reverb or anything really, I figure i can just pick up a 15 dollar reverb pedal and itll be most likely better than any 200 dollar amp's reverb.

So basically I don't care at all about volume or anything as it is simply for recording, I just want the nicest tone I can get for this price.

I tried searching and couldnt find anything specific to this, everyone is always talking about practice amps and dont mention tone.

Thanks.
 
I don't think it'll happen in a showroom. You get what you pay for and good sound doesn't equate with $200.

Look for used amps; a friend of mine picked up an old Fender Blues DeVille for $200. It had been in a cellar and the tweed was rotted and mildewed, but the amp works and the speakers were not obviously compromised. He pulled all the electronics out, ripped off all the covering, cleaned and painted the cabinet and has a functional amp.
 
Treeline pretty much nailed it. What style of music? You might check out the little Epiphone Valve Junior or Valve Special. I've heard they are a little noisy, but have decent tone. I have yet to try them personally, though. Roland, Fender, Vox, Marshall, etc. all have amps in that pricerange, which you should definitely try out. Tone is a very subjective thing.
 
Used, small tube amps. Guitar Center has the Epiphone Valve Junior new for $99 right now, but that's a very particular kind of sound - great, but limited. But over the last 15 years, every major vendor made EL84-based small combos that are easy to find for under $200. If you can find a Trace-Elliot Velocette in that price range, snap it up! Otherwise, small Peavey and Fender amps are great, too.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRAYNOR-GUITARMATE-YGM-3-COLLECTORS-DREAM-NR_W0QQitemZ7402541085QQcategoryZ10171QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This sounds like exactly what you want. It has a nice clean sound below 5 and 5 and up gets you into some very nice sounding (in my opinion) tube distortion. Crank it to 10 and you get these awesome square sounding warm tones.

p.s. If you can't tell I love these amps. Not to mention they are WAY cooler than a Peavey. btw it has real spring reverb that in my opinion is at least equal in quality to that of the Fender Twin Reverb.
 
I think I'd probably go with the used Peavey...I'm not really a Peavey fan, but at that low of a price I think that will be the best working, best sounding option
 
TECH 21 TRADEMARK 10! ITS MADE FOR RECORDING, AND THE DISTORTION/OVERDRIVE CHANNELS ARE SWEET, + A TOP NOCH ACCUTRINICS REVERB TANK! + LOADS MORE, IM SELLING MINE, CHECK IT OUT...www.tech21nyc.com
 
For that kind of money, couldn't you find a cheap box that works and spend another 100-150 on some cheap digital multieffects? I don't think you could get something like what you have, but you could probably have a much better sound with the effects...

?

Otherwise, I tend to lean towards a Pee Wee- won't have character but you'll get some boom
 
TheRockDoc said:
For that kind of money, couldn't you find a cheap box that works and spend another 100-150 on some cheap digital multieffects? I don't think you could get something like what you have, but you could probably have a much better sound with the effects...
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EEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheap amp + cheap multi-fx = cheap sound. Like that nasty pseudo-metal buzzing noise teenage boys make in music stores.
 
I wont be playing any crazy hardcore metal or anything, just some mellow distorted tones for lead like gilmour type sound, but obviousl that is just what I mean I would be going for, I dont expect to come any where NEAR. And I realise I wont get amazing sound, but it is all the money I have. I would rather that than nothing.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
 
michael_lifshit said:
I wont be playing any crazy hardcore metal or anything, just some mellow distorted tones for lead like gilmour type sound, but obviousl that is just what I mean I would be going for, I dont expect to come any where NEAR. And I realise I wont get amazing sound, but it is all the money I have. I would rather that than nothing.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
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I would go play the Valve Junior. It might work for you. The key is to play it first though.
 
I think I will go play the valve junior. However I would want some sort of overdrive/distortion, just mellow smooth. And it doesnt seem to have any. I would also want some reverb.

I guess I would buy a cheap distortion pedal and reverb pedal. Can anyone recommend a good one? CHeap is best. But I just want smooth tone.
 
michael_lifshit said:
I think I will go play the valve junior. However I would want some sort of overdrive/distortion, just mellow smooth. And it doesnt seem to have any. I would also want some reverb.
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You mean because it only has a volume knob?

:rolleyes: ;)


Don't over think this, when you start playing it, make sure the guitars volume is on 10. Then try some different volumes on the amp. Once you have tried some different volumes on the amp, find a good one that is nice and loud and then use the guitars volume knob. (and don't be afraid if the guitar has to be on 2)

Welcome to the world of a tube amp. :D
 
really? I mean I have heard of like overdrive like that, but I didnt realise it was how most people actually distorted their guitars. As you can see I have been playing the guitar for about 5 years without caring at all about tone or anything just in my basement, and dont know a thing about guitars, even after 5 years of playing a lot. SO yes. thank you for clearing that up. I am used to always having to have my guitar at 10.

SO I wont be needing a distortion pedal to get some nice gain out of it? That is very cool. And I guess then I just need some reverb.

By the way what is the difference between the valve junior head and the combo? The combo is barely more expensive, is it just more powerful? If that is the case the head is good enough for me.
 
michael_lifshit said:
really? I mean I have heard of like overdrive like that, but I didnt realise it was how most people actually distorted their guitars. As you can see I have been playing the guitar for about 5 years without caring at all about tone or anything just in my basement, and dont know a thing about guitars, even after 5 years of playing a lot. SO yes. thank you for clearing that up. I am used to always having to have my guitar at 10.

SO I wont be needing a distortion pedal to get some nice gain out of it? That is very cool. And I guess then I just need some reverb.

By the way what is the difference between the valve junior head and the combo? The combo is barely more expensive, is it just more powerful? If that is the case the head is good enough for me.
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The head doesn't have a speaker, so you need a cab to hook it up to. More versitile, but may or may not be as convienient for you.

The head version also was release with a slight reduction in noise, and I don't know if they have implimented that into the combo yet.

Just trust me. Crank that amp all the way up.


Try out a reverb pedal at the shop with the amp. It might sound good it might not. Just make sure you try it at all volumes with the pedal to see if it suits you.
 
Oh ok yeah, so what exactly is a cab and where can I get one and how much do they usually go for? any good cheap reccomendations? I might end up just going for the combo so I have a speaker, as I am kind of lazy and poor.
 
Actually, the speaker in the Valve Junior combo is a Weber, and pretty darn good. Lots of people try to "upgrade" and wind up going back to stock. It's not going to have a lot of booming bottom end, but it's good at what it does.

And yes, before there were distortion pedals and "gain" knobs, there was just turning amps up loud! Any good tube amp, turn it up and it distorts. Back off the guitar's volume, and it cleans up. Some of the greatest amps ever made only have one or two knobs. The worst thing to be said about simple tube amps is that they WILL show you every little bit of slack in your technique! Anyway, that Valve Junior will distort like crazy. It's actually kind of hard to get a clean tone from it. Use a nice single-coil pickup (Strat or Tele) with it, and it'll give you that David Gilmour tone, no problem. Add a little delay pedal for more of that sound.

If you get the Valve Junior (or any small tube amp), I'd recommend upgrading the tubes. Avoid Groove Tubes and Ruby Tubes and other "graded" brands, and get some nice JJ or Electro-Harmonix tubes instead. It'll make a big difference.
 
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