Beezerk

Which one cuts the mustard when it comes to metal?
I'm looking into a small head for practice and these two seem to pop up in searches.

From what I've seen of the Krank it's right up my street however the Blackstar always gets good reviews but is it a bona fida metal amp?

Opinions on hese two would be appreciated

souperman08

If you can afford it, I would say go for the Krank. What kind of metal do you want to play?

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ragingkitty

Neither. Get the Krank Rev Jr Pro.

The Jr isn't quite in metal territory. The Pro is the way to go.

Why not the Orange Dark Terror or the #4 signature?

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Beezerk

Thanks mate, I play mainly thrash to sludge to black but that doesn't really help does it lol.
The Krank is top dog at the moment, looking at Youtube clips the Blackstars need a pedal to get it to kick proper ass but I may be wrong on that.

I'm currently using a Randall RH150 which I got stupidly cheap, don't get me wrong it sounds good but the bass is just too overwhelming, even with bass at 1 and an eq pedal cutting most of the bottom end it's too much to record with without it sounding a total mess but that's another story.

AndyGray

I would agree with ragingkitty here, the Orange Dark Terror is an amazing head with the ability to play the type metal you are looking for.

I know it looks a bit tiny & weedy but it produces amazing tones.

Beezerk

Yeah my mate was talking about the #4 Orange head the other day, it does sound absolutely stonking.
Thing is I'm thinking about buying 2nd hand which kind of limits my options to only a few heads.

AndyGray

Give it time & one will appear. I waited 3-months to get the right used guitar at the right price.

Beezerk

Wise words

dementiacaptain

I think the rev jr. Handles metal incredibly well, even without a pedal. It isn't oozing gain like a 6505 or a rec, but it's a pretty gainy sombitch. Even so, I will always recommend the pro, the extra control on the clean channel is worth it. The dark terror would also be good, obviously I prefer the krank (see sig) but the orange is beastly. I haven't tried the #4, but I'm sure it rips

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bluestratplayer

Baron Snott watt Is what you really want.

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Beezerk

I thought you were taking the pi$$

Then I found this...http://www.baroncustomamps.com/snott.php

dementiacaptain

If you have the cash I would definitely jump on the snot watt. One of the main appeals of the Rev Jr. is you can pick them up for 300ish all day on guitar center's used site, but the snot watt is where it's at for small and high gain. Grab it if you can get it.

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ExDementia

That thing sounds ****ing awesome. I wish I had that kind of cash lying around.

Well, I did just get paid....

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MatrixClaw

Snott Watt is cool, but I don't understand the big deal about super low wattage amps recently. If you're playing metal, you don't want all that saturation - You want big transformers and big tubes, for a big sound - Metal tone comes from the preamp, if you can get a little power tube saturation, that's great, but the more you add in, the more loose your tone gets. I'm sure the Snott Watt sounds good, but there's several great sounding amps in its price range that make spending that kind of cash for 5W seem pointless

Go for the Rev Jr + Boost, or the Rev Jr. Pro, both great little amps that actually have enough power to be useful

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ExDementia

It's for bedroom playing and recording. You can't crank a 50-120w amp in your room to get that tone. I'll disagree with you here and say that tube saturation is important for metal. At least for me it is.

That being said, I would never actually spend that much on a practice amp. Well, not any time soon.

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MatrixClaw

Since I nearly exclusively play in my bedroom and run a studio out of my home, I'm going to disagree with you there, as well.

Volume is really relative to the user, when someone says "bedroom levels," it's honestly a pointless term - I might be able to turn my amp all the way up, whereas you might be able to turn it up just past talking levels. For the sake of this conversation, though - A 50W amp is only twice as loud as a 5W amp is, not 10 times as loud, as most people seem to think.

Most amps do sound a bit better when they've got a bit of saturation from the power section, but for metal, you don't want so much that it's causing your tone to become loose and muddy. Just because the amp is lower wattage, doesn't necessarily mean it will sound better than a higher wattage one at low volume.

If you're playing rock where you need that saturation, then I'd agree that a low wattage amp in the house is probably the way to go, if you can't turn up too loud. However, for metal, by limiting yourself to a low wattage amp, you're really limiting yourself to a lot of great amps out there, that sound just as good as the low wattage amps do, at low volumes.

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dementiacaptain

Honestly I am just recommending the snot watt at this point because I think it sounds better. That being said, I have never seen one in person, so I could be wrong. As far as the small amps craze, it is more about portability to me. If I am going to just do a quick jam with some friends, I don't wanna have to drag my great big old combo or V3 to just hang around and BS.

I think that low wattage amps in general (read: 5 watters and their ilk) just kinda sound bad. I love the krank but even that can be lacking in the low end dept., and it has some of the bigger transformers I have seen on a small amp.

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ExDementia

I see what you're saying Matrix. That's why I wish more people made good 1 watt high gain amps. Even a 1w cranked is still way too loud for my definition of bedroom playing. BUT you're absolutely right. A high wattage amp can sound awesome at low volume.

However, I play my V3M on 22w mode with the gain at about 5 so I can get that good saturation in while playing with the band without getting too muddy. I still only have to turn the volume up to 6-7 though. Maybe it's just me, but I love that saturated sound for metal.

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tubetime86

A one watt high gain amp would sound terrible. I don't think you do get what he's saying if that is your immediate reaction.

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