New Amp With Budget Take a Look

Hey guys, haven't posted for a while now but i've run into a dilemma. I'm moving into a dorm and cannot fit my half stack hence i need a combo that will satisfy me. The other problem is that im on a budget. I'm in the $200-300 range. I've been looking at some amps and am looking closely at the Spider II, Fender FM 212, Fender Dyna Touch III, Peavey Studio Pro II and the Peavey Transtube Envoy II. I'm not looking for something that will win me best guitarist of the year. I need something primarily to practice with and just satisfy my playing needs but also with a nice tone. Any suggestions? Oh by the way, i play mostly metal and rock but would be nice to have something i could pop jazz out with too maybe in clean with some pedals. Also i don't like that muddy heavy sound, i prefer metal more with a rock n roll high gain sound. Hope that helps. -=(

Have you thought about a pod and a pair of headphones ?

I have a guitarport which i know isn't exactly a POD but still. I prefer having the real thing. I enjoy having pedals and such.

I have a peavy transtube 112 efx(witch im tradin in to get the 212), the distortion is a little ifffy (prob should get a diff tube), but does sound good if you use a distortion pedal, i use a digitech grunge pedal and it sounds great, the clean channel is pretty clear too. Its also packed with a lot of effects. Its like 430 but deff worth the money. Has a headphone jack to, no ex speak jack though(thats why 212) and it comes with a pedal,too.

Originally Posted by: Dr_simonHave you thought about a pod and a pair of headphones ?

I am going to second that. Chances are, some of your buddies will want to study once in a while ... or they might like COUNTRY MUSIC more :mad:

I know I may get flamed for this, but I only endorse gear that I own or have tried extensively... I just picked up a Behringer V-tone GMX210 for 199.00USD out the door from my local GC (they matched Music123's price).

I know that there are people who are going to say that they don't like Behringer, but in this particular situation, this was the best deal I could imagine. I needed another amp for my students to plug in to. Before the Behringer I had a Peavey Ultra 410 and a Hughes & Kettner Triamp 1/2 stack. Both are tubed, so I like to keep both relatively low on hours (and wankers).

Granted, the amp has a few shortcomings, mainly in the volume section. Tone-wise, I have found that I enjoy recording with it line in to my gear.

Bottom line, it may not be as fully featured as some of the other modeling amps out there, but the tone and features are incredible at a 200 dollar price point. Would I pay $500USD for it? No... not worth that, but for a budget practice amp, I think it really does a nice job.

I just used it to record a goofy little blues riff thing for the Listening Post in these forums... Click here for my dmusic artist page to check out the song

Listen to the guitar tone on here... that is the Behringer GMX210 going mono line in to the mixer, straight into Sonar. I think I added a tiny hint of verb to the final mix and that's it...

Just my $0.02 :-)

I think there is a lot of snobbery about Behringer kit.

Is it the best that money can buy ? Well no.

However if it does the job you want it to, well why not !!

They make there money by ripping off other peoples research and selling in bulk to the masses. I don't think this is good to move technology forward however it certainly makes it more accessible.

I agree with you... I know that they come about their low price point by using tech that other R&D departments have come up with...

... on the other hand, I am a musician and one who does not have alot of free cash moving around. As with most gear moves, it comes down to the best thing for the budget. When I was 16, Zoom pedals were the bomb. Then, I started playing more, my budget increased, and I started moving to rack gear.

There are some things I do not compromise on and I get the best that my money can buy, there's just some times that you need something cheap that does the trick. This is a good niche that I think Behringer fills. They remind me of OLP in that regard. Is it something I would gig with? No. Is it a playable piece of gear at a good price point? Yep. Does it blow away alot of other things in that price point? Yep.

There is alot of snobbery and nose thumbing at Behringer... I think it's relatively unfounded. If I was 13 and saving up money for an amp, this Behringer for 200 smokes the cheap 25W Crate combo I could afford then for nearly the same price.

:-)

[font=trebuchet ms]Lurk on eBay. A late-60's-to-early-70's Traynor YBA-1 Bassmaster head can be had for ~$300. A Magnavox-era Ampeg V-2 head may run a bit more - say ~$400. A used 2x12" or 4x12" cab shouldn't cost more than $300.

That gives you a rig you can do amazing things with for as long as you want to play. And you've still got some coin left for a couple of pedals.[/font]

I really appreciate all the help. I've been playing for 6 years and in my opinion its a big shame that i can't buy myself a really nice tube combo but moving out and all i'm running low on cash and space is also an issue. Iamma check out the behringer amps and see if it fits my sound needs. I'll keep ya updated and hopefully i'll get something worth the cash.

[font=trebuchet ms]'sorry about that. I got you confused with another guy who has a budget of $700-800.

Yeah, go with the best bang for the buck.[/font]

hey, I just recently got the Fender FM 212R, and it has a great clean sound, if you throw it into the drive channel, and then the 'more drive' channel, you can get a pretty metally sound... and if you push the 'mid contour' button, it should get rid of that muddiness... it comes with a footswitch... the only problem that you might have with this amp is that it is loud!!!!! seriously, if you are in a dorm, and you crank the volume to 2, you will probably be heard next door... and I don't think it has a headphone jack, so you are probably better off getting something smaller, or something with a headphone jack

I also have encountered Berringer snobbery, Rogue snobbery, crate snobbery
even Peavy snobbery. I don't care. I play a guitar that I built from scrounged parts and plywood. I love it and take a considerable amount of pride in that I built it myself; not only that it sounds better than most 1k Fenders and plays almost as easy as a Gibson. We do the best we can in this life, so I try not to let the tides of fashion wash me into the well of selfpity. I do play a Barringer Bass amp and to me it sounds great and is real loud!!

Well said, ake...
I have students come at me all the time telling me stuff like "My friend said that I need a Mesa Boogie amp and a Gibson Les Paul (definitely not the cheapo Epi's) in order to sound good."

What I like to do to them is pick up their Squier strat, plug it into a 200 dollar amp, and rip open with it. I feel it's important for guitarists to realize that the gear is not the be-all end-all of their sound. A good guitarist can pick up just about any reasonable piece of gear and sound like themselves.

You should play what feels good and allows you to be true to yourself and your playing. I own 14 guitars... not a single Gibson in the bunch. Is it because I hate Gibsons or cannot afford them? No, it's because I just don't feel comfy on a LP. Closest I get to a LP is my MusicMan Axis (which is not close at all).

Hey guys, i completely agree. I'm actually real glad there is finally a forum where people aren't into buy "Gibsons and a Marshall JCM800 or else you are nothing". As an update i actually went in today and bought an amp. I had a few that i tested out because i didn't want to rush into anything since this will probably have to last until i have my own house. I tested out the Marshall MG30DFX combo and it didn't sound too bad. It was running for $270. I decided to also test out the Behringer GMX210 Stereo Combo and it sounded pretty good for a $200 amp. It has a good amount of effects which aren't all that bad. It sure as hell kills the crates in sound. Next to it though was a Vox Valvetronix AD15VT. I'm not sure if you guys have looked at this amp. Supposedly its the new series from Vox to bring tube amps at a cheaper price. I plugged in and man it was real nice. The tubes aren't anything crazy compared to your more expensive tube amps out there but it beats the solid states from $100-$400 easily. It comes with 11 amp models and 11 preset effects which are all pretty good. (if anything i didn't agree too much with the distortion but even then i play with a pedal. I got mine for $200 flat with a 2 year warranty. And by the way the 15 watts go pretty loud, i'm use to playing a 100W half stack and i'm satisfied with this. I just wanna thank you guys again for your help.

Oh by the way, any suggestions as to what to cover the amp with? I was looking for signature Vox covers that fit my amp but the closest it came was the 60 watt model but its way larger. My house is consumed by dust and vinyl is a b!t@* to clean. Thanks

one of my friends has the spider 2 212 combo amp and it sounds great with my fender and ibanaz The amp has lots of effects and can go really loud without losing its tone.line 6 has a version of that amp for 200-300$

I am quite a big Behringer fan, I have owned a few of their products and they have all worked great for the purpose I bought them, and they cost a whole lot less than Line6 or Boss stuff, now I am not anti-Line6, and I own some Line6 products as well, but I honestly think that if it is just for practice and messing about, the differece between a V-amp and a Pod is not worth the price dif.

As for the amp, I like the pod and phones idea, although the Spider2 series is absoultely awesome...also maybe look at a Roland cube or even a Marshall MG series amp.Personally, I think the Fender Frontman line is absolute crap!

Originally Posted by: Andrew SaI am quite a big Behringer fan, I have owned a few of their products and they have all worked great for the purpose I bought them, and they cost a whole lot less than Line6 or Boss stuff, now I am not anti-Line6, and I own some Line6 products as well, but I honestly think that if it is just for practice and messing about, the differece between a V-amp and a Pod is not worth the price dif.

As for the amp, I like the pod and phones idea, although the Spider2 series is absoultely awesome...also maybe look at a Roland cube or even a Marshall MG series amp.Personally, I think the Fender Frontman line is absolute crap!

I'm sorry, I just have to comment on your signature... if I was 12 inches, I would be more man then most men in the world... if you know what I mean! ;)