zucky22389

You and I have both seen this sort of thread a TON of times but I really need some help here. For reasons in which I don't need to discuss, I'm sick of playing my guitar through Line 6 solid state amps. I've graduated from a puny 15w Spider II to my current 75W Spider IV among others in my 6 years of playing guitar and I've had enough. It's time to move into the realm of real tone. I just stole a like-new Orange PPC212 cab for $400 the other day, now it's time to shop for a head. I've seen the "Noobs: What Amp?" thread sticky and I will discuss all information now:

Budget: It's a little tight but I feel as if I have decent dough to work with. I'm willing to pay about $800 MAX. I really don't want to go over that digit. Just cannot afford it. (I know, getting into Mesa territory)

Genres: Whoa. Uhhhh mostly overdriven stuff I suppose, although I dabble in about everything. That being said, I'd rather have a head that had amazing distortion, and meh cleans over a head with amazing cleans, and terrible distortion. Disturbed, System of a Down, Deftones, come to mind. Much of my originals are Alterbridge-esque with fingerpicked cleans followed by a heavy chorus.

New or Used: Definitely up for either. If I can get a helluva great deal going with used then why not?

Home or Gig: At this moment I will be playing this in my bedroom and to jam with drums. It's an absolute necessity that this amp needs to be able to keep up with a heavy hitting drummer in a 20x20 jam room. The Line 6 could not. This needs to. I've played live but currently don't have any short term plans to. It's a goal of mine to get back out and do some shows though. I would want to use this head for that (and probably my cab too)

Closest City: This sucks. I'm about 1 solid hour away from any music store that would have any decent gear, and about 3 hours away from Chicago.

Current Gear: As stated I have an Orange PPC212 with V30's, an ESP LTD 500 with JB/57's, a G&L strat, and various pedals.

Heads that I've looked at/played: Blackstar HT-20- I was SET on this head without doing much research until my gear-head buddy really warned me about the longevity of Blackstars. He suggested a Mesa Mini Rectifier- theyre quite expensive (even the used ones, wtf).

Krank Rev Jr. - Gain channel sounded nice, but is the clean channel really even usable?

Jet City JCA22H- They're ugly, they're made in China, but the dude I bought the cab from swore by them. Said they truly kick ass for the price.

Peavey 6505+- Don't know much about these but the power and price seem to be right on target for what I want.


Thanks in advance for any help. I'm so grateful for this site and this forum that you could start a flame war about Kesha and I wouldn't even care.

Cathbard

You should be able to score a mighty fine JSX head for that.

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Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

Robbgnarly

You can get used Mesa Single recto/dual recto/rectoverb/tremoverb for yor budget. Look at Guitarcenter's used section they have some killer deals. you can get the rectoverb and single recto for $600ish most any day.
There is also the Laney GH50/100 or VH100 are worth a look and the Marshall JCM2000 DSL50/100 are good amps and the JCM 900 SL-X is worth a look.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

romeozdistress

You can get the biggest jet city heads too for that price. and the 6505 heads start at $500 used. then you got the other peaveys like xxx and jsx. you can probably get a majority of the krank heads for that budget. ive been looking around alot. look into those.

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Agile Al-2000
Peavey Vypyr Tube 60
Peavey Vypyr 15 (eminence alpha 8a)
Boss NS-2
Electro Harmonics Big Muff

Cathbard

That cheap, Rob?

Definitely the Mesa then. The discussion now should be "which of these Mesas would suit best?"

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

TremontiAddict

I think a Dual Rec would be ideal if you're patient. I've seen them go for $800 before.

zucky22389

I did see a Single Rec on GC used for 850. I'd prefer the dual though. Tremonti, I think you're right. I might as well just wait a bit longer, save up a little more, and try for the dual rec. The dual rec was that "halo" amp for me when I started playing guitar.. it'd be amazing to own one.

zucky22389

@Rob- Before I purchase anything I will definitely look into the JCM 2k. For some unknown reason, I haven't been a huge fan of Marshall (Maybe like a Ford vs. Chevy thing? idk?) but I'll brush that aside and give it a chance. Thanks.

TremontiAddict

A single rec would be a nice amp, but if you're going to spend that much money you might as well remove the "I wish I had the dual rec instead" thoughts. I know you said you're in a pretty bad area for music gear, but do some looking around there while keeping an eye out on Guitar Center's used site. You'd be surprised what you'll find. There's a music store about 40 minutes from my house that actually has a dual rec for $800. I might splurge for it if I already had a nice 2x12 like you, but I don't. lol

zucky22389

Ahh, yeah the Orange was listed on Clist about 40 minutes away from me and I couldn't resist... I guess it wasn't that big of a "steal" at $400 like I made it seem but I'm happy with it!

TremontiAddict

That's a pretty good deal on that cab from what I've seen. Seems like my craigslist is littered with 4x12 cabs, but I can never find a 2x12 with a decent speakers at a price I'm willing to go for lol.

JAHellraiser

I think an Egnater might be worthy to check out. Especially how you described your originals.

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trashedlostfdup

just a few brief thought's.

single recs and dual rec's are very different. a rectoverb is a single rec with reverb. the tremoverb is a dual rec with tremolo. the dual recs have a few different models. most would tend to lead you to the two channel model or tremoverb.

that is not worth settling for a piece of gear. every time i have saved a few bucks and got the cheaper model i was never happy until i got what i wanted. and in most case scenarios you lose even more money. thats why i will never settle. it only happened once though.

if you are doing the used.guitarcenter site, i would as a TON of questions. i had a problem with them. it was a ibanez prestige which was supposedly a stock and five star. it was supposedly in perfect shape. i had the guy look at fretwear, and details about the bridge and tuners and was told it was "complete and totally functioning. what i got in the mail was a prestige ibanez, with a retrofitted licensed Floyd (probably a $20 one from ebay), in it missing the back plate. that was not as told. so i had the option to replace. i picked up the second guitar today and love it. however i was out some money on shipping for the first one and i had to pay for shipping for the second one. they discounted nothing and its back on the site. be thorough and demanding.

i have bought probably 30+ things across the forums, (of course with some research) and been happy ever time. again person to person, no problem. i am sure some day i will get bit from somebody, but it really bothered me that it was GC. i honestly expected more from them.

tons of people have been happier with GC's used section. i does allow you to swap for like 30 days. basically all you risk is hassle and shipping.

but good luck. scour craigslist and the forums (rig-talk harmony-central the gear page here). i would be surprised if i couldn't find a dual rec for $800. maybe not a two channel, and maybe you would be happier with that. try everything you can though.

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lemurflames

So damn true. I've been wanting the brutal 5150 sound, but I keep screwing around with other gear and I always end up with buyer's remorse. I return the gear.

5150 III 50W incoming this year!

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Gear:

Peavey Grind 5 string
ESP LTD AW-7
Schecter Loomis NT
Peavey 5150 212
ProTone DeadHorse OD

JAHellraiser

That'll be one hell of a NAD

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Robbgnarly

yeah it really is suprising at what you can get used for ridiculously cheap. I just did a quick serch and the few mesa's that were that cheap are gone, but there are several single and dual rectos for <$900 right now and a stilleto for $799. hell they have a Krank 1980 for $799 and I really want it


TS, I was never a big Marshall fan, but I bought a JCM 2000 DSL100 last aug and I am very suprised at what a good versitile amp it is. If you have never played one you should at least test one out. it has good cleans and really nice gain ch's.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

ihartfood

WHAT. sweet.

that's the way you should go right there, TS. or a used 5150 III mini.

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romeozdistress

ive noticed the jet city 100 watt heads are going for like $350-$600 used man. take a look at those.

__________________
2008 LTD EX-400
Agile Al-2000
Peavey Vypyr Tube 60
Peavey Vypyr 15 (eminence alpha 8a)
Boss NS-2
Electro Harmonics Big Muff

zucky22389

Thanks for the responses and input.

@Tremonti: yeah 212's are a bit more rare. The day after it was posted, I drove and bought it =D. The next day he posted a 212 rectifier cab for the same price and I'm wondering if I shoulda went Mesa... Hehe, I'm happy with my Orange though. Thing's built like a shit brickhouse and I can't wait to hear it when I actually buy a decent head to power it.

@trashed- Bummer about your Prestige, man. Good thing they accepted it back, though. If I'm spending 700-900 on an amp head it best be exactly as they describe it, damnit! Can they send it directly from the store it's at or will they send it to your closest GC and require a pick-up?

Yeah this time there will be no compromises (Well, a little because of my $$$ range). This very second, the thought of saving a little extra cash and being patient and finding the best Mesa dual rec for the cheapest dollar sounds like the plan. Going off that, are there certain years and models to go for and/or avoid? Some people swear by the early 90's models. Some prefer the newer models because of the improved effects loop, etc.

Thanks guys!