A while back in this thread, I asserted that the amp I was lookin' for would be used in a smallish (12X12) basement studio. I'm not a pro and won't be gigging this rig...just recording. What I started to understand is that given the size of this room, huge ammounts of power are unnecessary since these tubes want to be full tilt to make distortion with any kind of tone left to it. Inspite of the desired genre (70's & 80s' rock / metal), too much power (and I'm guessing here) means too much volume to get the tubes saturated to the point where that distortion is going to come from.
I bought two amps today.....JCM601 (ALL TUBE 1X12) which I'll have to wait a few days to arrive and a VS265R that I picked up tonight. This is a 3 channel half-breed. 65watt 2X12 with on-board chorus. Bought it mainly because I've got a four day weekend and was curious about these hybrids, AND because I couldn't stand to be without an amp for another week. Got home late with the VS and haven't plugged into it yet.
Someone suggested earlier on that I was in too big of a hurry to buy something. Guilty, I guess. I agree the best strategy is to demo as much equipment as you can to get an idea of which way you want to go. These days, time really only allows me to get a baseline of information from which I can spin the wheel...and that's pretty much what I did. I know the only bottom line is my own. I wanted to let you guys do the shoppin' for me, but just like cars, babes, beer, Harleys, TV dinners and toilet paper, everybodies got their own personal tastes. Who woulda thought!
I looked at everything everybody tossed out even if all I could do was look vs hear and here's what I saw:
Mesa Boogie....Sexiest peice of gear I've seen lately! But way outta my budget.
Vox...Visions of Beatles, Stones and Doors. Very cool but again, in the tube series, just more than I wanna pay.
Ampeg...Where do ya find anything that says "Ampeg" on it for less than a grand?
Peavey...
5150 combo was damned tempting but come on! I started losing focus of what my real needs were!
Crate...Blue Voodoo was tempting but you guys scared me away!
Anyway, I'm hoping that at 60watts all tube and no attatched gadgetry, this 601 will make my little light shine. Paid $400 and didn't feel like that was outrageous based on what Marshall tube stuff in general is bringing on Ebay.
Neighbors will be off to work in another hour, I'll let you know what I think of the "half breed" after I play with it awhile.
- Rick