Amp

[Dejan Sajinovic]

I´m just about to buy an amp but I don´t know wich one. I´m looking for 80-s toon, somthing like Racer X. What should I buy?

Also, do you know any great distortion pedals. I figure for me, it´s better to buy a distortion pedal and have amazing distortion than buy a multieffect and have pretty good dist.

Also is there any more effects recomended. I don´t like effects that much but are there any that are really important besides wah-wah and distortion?

[aiwass]

I'm also buying a new amp now, and I'm torn between a VHT pittbull and a Randall Cyclone. The VHT is like a Mesa but much more articulate, less noise, and much more gain. The Randall is soli-state, however kicks ass on most tube amps in terms of tone and gain, including Mesa. Both of these amps are great for distortion, and yes, they would fit well with the racer x tone. Go to Randall's web page http://www.randallamplifiers.com to find sound clips if you're interested. This thing has a really nice clean channel, and the distortion makes Mesa sound like a Fender Twin. As for VHT, they are practically impossible to find, and I have yet to find sound clips. If you're a tube freak, however, the VHT is the only way to go for shred.

And with one of these babies, you'll never need a dist pedal again. EVER!

As for effects, besides wah and distortion, delay is cool for solos, and chorus is a must for clean sounds. I use Ibanez tone-loks for both of these effects, and they are really amazing. The de-7 delay/echo is one of the best on the market.

Good luck!

[SLY]

For me a good amp means Marshall or Fender, I love Fenders clean sounds... also a good multi-effect will give you good distortion, but you can't go wrong if you choose a Boss distortion pedal.. I think for the Racer X & 80's sounds, a Boss DS-1 or DS-2 + a good amp will be good enough...

For other effects, the most important are : reverb, delay , chorus & noise gate .. and of course the most important effect after the distortion is a wah-pedal
Also you may like to have: compressors, limiters, flanger,phaser, harmonizer,whamy,vibrato,auto-wah,etc... but these aren't essential for everybody.

Anyway, I recomend a good Multi-effect, but their only disadvantage is no matter how good they are, I've never heard a good wah-pedal from a multi-effect ..

[Dejan Sajinovic]

What about GT5? I´ve heard that they are OK.

[fendermonkey77]

GT-5 is a great multi effects processor. However, in my experience, I've found that I get better tone out of single pedals vs a multi-effects unit.

[aiwass]

Dude, seriously! There are many great pedals out there, but NO PEDAL SOUNDS BETTER THAN A GOOD AMP! Modern high gain amps have just as much as if not more gain than any dist pedal. Plus, they have much better tone, and allow for much more subtle nuances in your playing.

[SLY]

GT-5 is great, but it's too old, there are 2 newer versions in the GT series, the GT-3 and the GT-6 ... I have the GT-3 and I love it, but of course I'll recomend the GT-6 bec it is the most up to date now.. also check out the Digitech GNX-3 & Roland VG-8.

I agree that Amp tone is much better than anything else, but getting a big full stack amp is too expensive (specialy for home use), so you can come very close by having a good multi-effect + a good combo amp.. also most of the great artist use pedals in their setups, Satriani only uses the Boss DS-1 for distortion, Steve Vai uses this pedal too..

[Dejan Sajinovic]

What about Marshall AVT our YCM 2000 series. I know that they are expensive but are they worth the money? I can forget about a Mesa B. ´cause they are way out of my economy status.

Are Laney amps any good.

PS. I´m after shred/metal sound.

[aiwass]

I'm telling you, if you want high gain, Randall and VHT are the top of the line. If you want a marshall, I've tried them both, and i can tell you that the AVT100 & AVT150 kick ass on the JCM2000s. They have an amazing crunch sound. If you want shred tone, however, marshall isn't a good idea. Shure, everyone uses 'em, but all the people who use them for shred use them with a pedal.

[Steve Lindsay]

I have a Mesa Boogie Mark 3 Simulclass and it kicks anything else I've played into touch, including Marshalls and Fender, Laney, Trace Elliot, Line 6 (yuck) etc

I use no additional effects, just me trusy Boogie and PRS and I'm always getting complimented on my stage sound. if you want smooth creamy ass kicking distortion then this set-up gives you it.

[Dejan Sajinovic]

There´s no way I can afford a Mesa B. But what if buyng a Marshall and play it through perhaps a Boss Turbo distortion pedal? What about that combination. I know that Vai, Satriani and even Zakk Wylde play with SD1 overdrive pedal. How good is SD 1 and is SD 2 better our does Metal Zone Boss pedal beat ´em both. Also what about Boss Turbo Overdrive.

Man I really want to buy great things/good price. My damn budget is so fu*ckin´ tight but I have to buy those stuff in order to become a rock star (laugh).

[SLY]

Well, if it was me who had to choose between these pedals, I'd go for the Metal Zone bec it has higher gain that satisfies me, but other people would prefer the DS-1 & DS-2 .... these pedals gives different kinds of distortion, I suggest you should try them all to choose which one you realy need, but for the '80s sound , the DS-1 is your right pedal..

Also think of a good multi-effect for versatility, if you buy a Distortion pedal, no matter how different settings you'll try, it will still have the same basic sound charactaristics of the pedal..

[fendermonkey77]

No better pedal than a good amp....AMEN!


And the GT-3 was the first in the series...I had one too. The GT-5 came out after that and the 6 came out this year.

[SLY]

Originally posted by fendermonkey77
And the GT-3 was the first in the series...I had one too. The GT-5 came out after that and the 6 came out this year.

No, the GT-5 was the first in the series, then GT-3 , then GT-6 ...
I'm dead sure of this, I have the Roland press releases on these products with the dates.
I know it's very stupid from roland to do a series of products using random numbers like these.. they should have introduced these series with ascending numbers...

[fendermonkey77]

Originally posted by SLY
Originally posted by fendermonkey77
And the GT-3 was the first in the series...I had one too. The GT-5 came out after that and the 6 came out this year.

No, the GT-5 was the first in the series, then GT-3 , then GT-6 ...
I'm dead sure of this, I have the Roland press releases on these products with the dates.
I know it's very stupid from roland to do a series of products using random numbers like these.. they should have introduced these series with ascending numbers...

Did some research....the man is right...I stand corrected. The GT-5 came out in January of 1996 and th GT-3 came out in January of 1999 I believe.

[Steve Lindsay]

OK you can't afford a Mesa Boogie - I was lucky enough to have a friend who's a recording engineer and was shfting his boogie - I got the offer of first refusal and didn't refuse! He even let me pay him in installments.

How about a Mesa V-Twin Pedal? It has 3 settings I believe, clean, crunch and lead. It has valve distortion so does a good job and, here's a wee trick. If you go to a valve specialist and just change the valve supplied to a better one, it's amazing the difference in sound you will get. I did that with my boogie and got better sound and less noise for the UK euqivalent of about $20!

[TheFalcon]

As far as pedals go, I think the Boss Metal Zone gives you the most gain, but is better suited for rhythm tones. The lead tone is lacking because of the low end attack on higher notes.

[aiwass]

The Ibanez smash box has much more gain and a better tone than a Metal Zone. Easily one of the best pedals out there if it weren't for the unreliable footswitch. Nevertheless, I suggest you buy an amp with good distortion instead of a pedal.

[Bardsley]

However, the GT-5 is a better, more expensive unit. The reson for the numbering is that they released the GT-5, then decided to release a cheaper, "consumer" version, so they called it the GT-3 to make it sound lower. The GT-6 is the latest, but from what I hear it is different to both of them again, and isn't necessarily "better" than the GT-5, though "I might be wrong".