Opinion Appreciated

[Anomancer]

Hello everyone,

I've been trying to do some research, and searched through this forum as well (nobody really asked anything exactly like this before), but was wondering what your advice might still be on the following three questions:

1) What would be a good beginner's guitar amp? I'm thinking of between $100 to $200 price range for practice purposes.

2) Kind of along the same lines, what would be a good, little mixer for PC recording purposes? I've gotten pretty much mixed reviews about most mixers...and there's so many out there it can get intimidating.

3) What is there to look out for when buying an amp? What should I test out? Know any good "buyer's guide" websites (something I have had little success finding) for amps and mikes?

I apologize of these questions seem vague. I am obviously a noob and will appreciate and value your help and opinions. Thanks!

Best Regards,
Benjamin

 

[Low Country]

Really there are tons of amps in this price range. Go to MusiciansFriend.com, look up guitar amps and sort them from lowest to highest price. if something catches your eye, read the reviews for it on harmony-central.com. narrow it down to 4 or 5 amps with reviews that pique your interest. call the all the guitar stores in your area and see if they have that amp in stock. go in and ask to play it, you can even bring your own guitar if you like. whichever amp sounds the best for the money, buy it.

FWIW, the tech 21 trademark 10 is about $260, and it is widely considered to be one of the best practice amps you can buy.

low-end mixers ultimately vary little in quality. if you don't mind used gear check out pawnshops. pawnshops are always chock full of mixers for some reason.

 

[bdbdbuck]

For the amp, I suggest going to a pawn shop and try a few that are in your price range and buy the one you like. There's a 10 W epiphone tube amp at one of the local pawn shops here and they want $100 for it. I think it would be great for practicing and recording.

Mixers....I don't really think I'll get a lot of "Amens" here but for the money try the behringer "UB" series. They run around $100 also.

good luck,
bd

 

[thecongo]

For a cheap amp, look on ebay and around pawn shops for vintage tube amps and things like that. You can find them for a relatively low price, and they have high re-sale value for all the people wanting to pick up old tube stuff.

For computer recording, I'd get a USB recording device with a line input and invest in some guitar amp simulation software. Not like the real thing, but it's a way to start

When buying a new amp, I like to check if there's any excess noise coming off of it. Scratchy pots, dimly lit tubes, crackling noises at higher volumes, loose anything, messed up speaker cone, and most of all tone! don't buy something just because its cheap, look at all the features first and make sure it might be something you'd want to hold on to for a while.