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choose an amp for my bedroom jamming

3K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  Papsmear 
#1 ·
Well I'm now venturing away from tube amps. I'm leaning towards getting a good modeling amp. Of course I'm a metal guy. In the past I have had the Blackstar ID, spyder (yuck) and a vypyr. My first question befor I get off base is, we know I have a guitar with weak pickups, which did not go well with a tube amp so I'm looking at a few amps.....the next vox vtx looks promising, as does the Orange rt35, bit also the yamaha thr sounds really good. My price range tops out at 400 so im kinda limited but with none of those amps have a 12' it concerns me. I heard a sweetwater demo of the Orange and i was like wow. I was thinking I could always add a boost and the loop is a great feature. The yamaha just sounds like like a jcm. The rd5 had a 10' and it was lacking so im not sure which way to go.....that crunch on the orange was just killer but does it have any bass, but then again im a metal guy.....what do you guys think?
 
#6 ·
Exclusively for Bedroom? BIAS, REVALVER ,AMPLITUBE, Guitar Rig, TH3 ... it's really a no-contest

Even with decent PC speakers with subs will sound magnificent on these programs...there's really no need for an Amp these days in a bedroom-space realm...just go buy a $100-$200 Audio interface....that's it...you can even download bootlegged software, if you're BROKE
 
#7 ·
Hey Guys - First of all, I wanted to say thank you for helping me with all of this. But in the process of trying to figure all of this out, It has come to my attention that an amp is not the only thing that needs attention.
I do have a cheap guitar. It feels ok to play but the pickups are weak. But I do not have the money to buy another guitar for while, that will have to wait a while. So some attention will need to be devoted to that. So I either need to have the pickups replaced or I need to put an overdrive pedal in front of the amp to give it some good quality distortion and I can't afford to do both. So which would be best pickups or dirt pedal?
 
#8 ·
what amp do you have currently? There is no easy answer to this, are you able to go to a guitar store that stocks your current amp and take a few pedals into a room there and check them out with a similar guitar?

I would get a better guitar as it will likely sort your pickup issue. If you are not a cork sniffer you will be able to find something used for around 400 that has a set of EMGs in it and they will do great for pretty much any type of metal. Maybe look at the Ibanez iron label series.

Once you have a good guitar then I'd start looking at improving your amp set up. if you have a decent computer you can download some free plugins for amps eg Lepou as a stopgap.
 
#9 ·
I was on the same boat as you beginning of this year, picked the guitar up again after several years and now I wanted an Amp.. but something I could use Bedroom (home office actually) levels. Went to several stores and tried everything I could get my hands.. valves is to forget...hated the Cubes and Spiders and the BlackID lacked the massive distortion I wanted (yeah I love it massive).

The ones that impressed me most where the Vypyr's and Yamaha THRx but I was also used to what I could get on FREE Vst's and Reaper, and I can get a lot more on those than on any Modeling Amp, the main diference is, the Amps have a bigger Speaker and they move a lot more Air than PC/HiFi speakers, but even the Vypyr at level 2 was already wayyyyy to much for what I could get away with (I know theres a mod to make it Volume up more nicely)... At level 2 I though it was on 5 or 6... The THRx I thought it was too expensive for what it is, yes it sounds really great... but 300€ is a lot more than Im willing to pay for something with such small speakers.

I keep using Reaper and free VST's with Free Impulses even though I bought several Rosen IR's, but I almost always revert back to the free Catharsis IR's.

A friend of mine also recently got the Guitar playing interest again and he is also looking for an Amp, he wants a Vypyr but they cant be bought new in Europe nowadays, theres no Peavey Distribution. Already told him get a nice USB Interface (mine is Focusrite Scarlett Solo) get nice headphones (Sennheiser Hd380) if your Speakers suck and use your laptop. But he wants an Amp :)
 
#17 ·
I got a Yamaha THR5 last year and it's been brilliant. The best small amp I've ever owned. So many amps just sound terrible at low volumes but the THR range are all fantastic. Great cleans, great dirty tones too. I love mine. If I'm not using my Kemper at more serious volumes then I'm more than happily using the THR instead, especially late at night.
 
#20 ·
:hesright:

Killer little amps.
 
#18 ·
Out of curiosity... is it possible to send the output of Reaper VST's minus the IR to the Input of Solid State Amp?

Im asking because I might get borrowed for a couple weeks (or months) a 90's Laney Solid State. Used to have one long time ago (word Series I think) although the distortion was not bad, its not what we are used to hear today. Also from time to time it keeps popping up on local classifieds some Old Peavey's all made in USA when those things were built to last forever. They are mainly StudioPro, Backstage, Transtube, Bandit 112 (all with different color stripes).

Since one of the things I also miss is a Real Speaker I was wondering how feasible it is to use Reaper as a Pre Amp to feed the Solid State.
 
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