Crate Amps

I happen to like the Line6 spider, although I consider it a little more than a practice amp. For a *really* little amp, I've got a Crate MX15R, which is surprisingly good. Every other Crate amp I've ever heard sucks big time. Consider a Carvin. They're not bad.-Richie
 
stay away from crate. They don't record well. They sound good in your bedroom because they produce the sound you hear on a cd. The sound on a professonal cd did not start out that way. It is the end result of the mic, preamp, eq, compression, mastering. If you start with a sound like that and put a mic in front of it, you're screwed. The line 6 will give you better results if these are your only choices.
 
They're not my only options, but they are available locally.......and cheap, which is gonna be a real issue for me soon (just got made redundant) so I'm making the best of what money I have left. I've had a look for Carvin, but they don't appear to be so readily available in the UK...well not in Scotland anyway.

All I'm looking for is a reasonably priced 15/20w amp that records well, especially for a heavier sound. I used to have a Fender 15w but it was too harsh, I'm looking for a warmer sound.
 
i have a crate vintage club 25w all tube amp, and i like it very much. very sweet and loud amp. i use it for rehearsal and recording. i play jangle pop, and my main guitar is a rick 360. i use the vintage club for recording too, and it's pretty good.
 
Key part of your post is 'warmer sound'.

. . . and that means Valves.

See if you can find a s/h Fender Princeton that hasn't been 'master volumed'
 
From the look of his signature, I don't think that he plays the type of music that warants a Fender amp. It just won't cut it. He needs to be more in the Marshall, Mesa, Engle range of things. The closest thing he mentioned is the line 6.
 
Farview said:
From the look of his signature, I don't think that he plays the type of music that warants a Fender amp. It just won't cut it. He needs to be more in the Marshall, Mesa, Engle range of things. The closest thing he mentioned is the line 6.
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Lol, I'm not a death metal fan if thats what you mean. The nick comes from characters in my favourite books, Necroscope & Nothing, I just combined them. But you are right, I am looking to get a sound closer to the warm tones of the Mesa and JCM900 sound without the cost

Definately going to try out the Line 6 amps, they seem to have a lot of goodies built in that are not normally associated with an amp that size. And I'll try out the Marshall microstack, saw a secondhand one the other day.
 
if you're not recording from it then the crate is a good choice. i have one, and it sounds excellent in my room. ive also used it at some small concerts and rehearsals, and i can get plenty of good sounds out of it. i have the 30 watt version of the one you were talking about, and im sure the 15 has the same distortion and chorus on it.
 
Just so you don't think I am completely down on crate gear, If you are looking for clean sounds, Crates are great.
 
Check out the Orange Crush amps. They're right up your alley I would think. Orange is easier to find in the UK than in the US, so maybe you can find it, too? They will be way better than the crate for around the same money, a little more.

H2H
 
I've gotten some decent record sounds out of crates, though I've never really liked their built-in distortion. Also, the range of sounds from them seem to be pretty limited. If this is gonna be your main recording amp, I'd probably look elsewhere.

Line 6 stuff has always sounded cheesey and much crappier than whatever they're trying to emulate to me. I know a lotta people swear by that stuff, but personally I'm not a fan.

Fender tubes have always come out pretty nicely on recordings for me. The smaller solid states always seem to sound like poo, but this is, once again, just my opinion.

Orange stuff is amazing. I don't know anybody who's been disappointed by it. If I was in the market for some new stuff and had a budget, I'd definately look into it.
 
mini amp

any solid state amp you buy is going to dissipoint you, vox makes smaller sized amps that sound amaizing, the pricing is high, but. who dosent want a vox? also orange makes a few as well, crate and line 6, and the marshall valvestate.....stay away,
 
ive always dreamed of owning a vox. i have a crate. today i tried out a tiny 15 watt vox solid-state amp at the store, simply put... amazing! vox is the way to go
 
I've got a Vox Venue Lead 100, but to be honest I'm not that happy with it, I've had it for over 10 years (and probably gigged it to death) and maybe I've just outgrown the sound and am looking for something different.

I'm just looking for something inexpensive that can produce a nice recorded sound.
 
Clean sounds..

Farview said:
Just so you don't think I am completely down on crate gear, If you are looking for clean sounds, Crates are great.
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I've owned a shitty solid state crate as well as their Blue VooDoo - when applying volume, it clips too much, too soon - and neither of them are anything compared to my Peavey Classic 50 2x12 combo when it comes to clean; we're talking old fender black face style clean... but then again, it still doesnt beat my old Fender Champ Amp :o
 
I have a Vox Pathfinder 15 watt practice amp. It has reverb and tremolo.

This amp is amazing, I used it to play out at a few parties (and JamFest3) and no one could believe the tone of this little baby. The price is around 120 US.

I highly recommend this little killer.

Dave
 
use your envorement

i've been recording for years and the best little amps to use are these cube amps by roland. micro cube is a good amp you can isolate or stick in the bathroom to record. it helps that it's battery powerd and light. it is a modeling amp you can lift with your finger. try one out.
 
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