Need Help Deciding

Okay heres the deal. I am Looking for a Good Metal Amp. I ahve some ideas on what do get but I would like some feed back as some of you may have played on these amps. I play everything from Pantera to Metallica to Vai to Satriani to Creed to Slayer to Deftones to Nirvana to Silverchair to Iced Earth to Death to Cradle of Filth. I am currently playing through a Ibanez S1520BP Prestige with a EMG-81 in the bridge and a EMG-85 at the neck. I am Playing through my computer with Amplitube into 2 large PA speakers. I HATE THIS!! JAMING WITH FREINDS IS A PAIN...AND THE DAMN PROGRAM HAS A VERY BAD CRAPPY NOISE GATE. With that being said...here is what I am looking at:

SETUP OPTION #1
Peavy JSX Head w/XXX 4x12 Cab
BOSS GT-8
Morely Badhorsie Wah

SETUP OPTION #2
Krankenstien Head
Krankenstien Cab

SETUP OPTION #3
Line-6 HD-147 w/Matching Cab
And the Top Floor Controller for the HD-147

These are the three setups I am looking for...
#1-Sweet Amp, not sure if it gets those mean tones for metal hence the GT-8
#2-Heavy Amp, not sure if it can get as sweet tones as the JSX
#3-HD-147, Very versitle Amp but not sure if it can get Very Mean AND Very Sweet.

The Clean channel has to be Shimmering! I love a good shimmering Clean channel. I hope this info will give you guys enough info to help me decide what setup is the best on for me.





[Edited on 2/3/2006 by Violentpanda]

I've played the HD147 and I liked it alot. I own a Spider II combo amp and the cleans are really sparkling. I've always liked line 6's soft play. If it doesn't hit hard enough with the crunch you could always get a pedal. I've never played the other two so I can't compare but I did like the HD147.

I can't say this enough......Marshall JCM 800.

Looks like you have a mean budget. Here's what I'm running through and I recommend it big time.
Mesa Boogie Triaxis V2 preamp (as used by Petrucci and Hetfield among others)
Mesa Boogie Simul-Class 2:90 poweramp
Eventide Harmonizer H3000-D/SE (comes with the Vai and Satriani presets)

You'll need two cabs to go to benefit from the stereo effects in the Eventide and a good noise gate (Rocktron Super Hush or ISP Decimator).

I researched this setup for a long time and did my homework on E-Bay, I managed to get good deals on each item and now I have a kick ass setup. Mind you, it took a while and it wasn't cheap but in my opinion it was well worth it. The Triaxis in particular is by far the most flexibile piece of Mesa gear out there.

However, I also have a Marshall 100DFX for recording some lead parts. I love the Marshall sound for lead but it hasnt a patch on Mesa when it comes to powerful rhythms. For recording I also use a Palmer PDI-3 (D.I.) speaker simulator, this adds a nice edge to the overall tone and simplifies the whole process.

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Originally Posted by: ViolentpandaOkay heres the deal. I am Looking for a Good Metal Amp. I ahve some ideas on what do get but I would like some feed back as some of you may have played on these amps. I play everything from Pantera to Metallica to Vai to Satriani to Creed to Slayer to Deftones to Nirvana to Silverchair to Iced Earth to Death to Cradle of Filth. I am currently playing through a Ibanez S1520BP Prestige with a EMG-81 in the bridge and a EMG-85 at the neck. I am Playing through my computer with Amplitube into 2 large PA speakers. I HATE THIS!! JAMING WITH FREINDS IS A PAIN...AND THE DAMN PROGRAM HAS A VERY BAD CRAPPY NOISE GATE. With that being said...here is what I am looking at:

SETUP OPTION #1
Peavy JSX Head w/XXX 4x12 Cab
BOSS GT-8
Morely Badhorsie Wah

SETUP OPTION #2
Krankenstien Head
Krankenstien Cab

SETUP OPTION #3
Line-6 HD-147 w/Matching Cab
And the Top Floor Controller for the HD-147

These are the three setups I am looking for...
#1-Sweet Amp, not sure if it gets those mean tones for metal hence the GT-8
#2-Heavy Amp, not sure if it can get as sweet tones as the JSX
#3-HD-147, Very versitle Amp but not sure if it can get Very Mean AND Very Sweet.

The Clean channel has to be Shimmering! I love a good shimmering Clean channel. I hope this info will give you guys enough info to help me decide what setup is the best on for me.





[Edited on 2/3/2006 by Violentpanda]

Krank will give you the metal edge with a distinct sound. Id go big, and spring for an extra 4 by 12 cab to make a stack, that way you can nail"em from both sides of the stage to enhance the distruction!

Please just do yourself a favour and try an Ibanez Thermion head and cab
Its 120 watt head, with a 4X12 cab, loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s.

Its the only Ibanez amp worth a look, and their first tube amp as far as I know...but I tried it up against the Hughes And Kettner Warp X (Warp 7, but full tube) and a Hughes and Kettner Trilogy (which is a Chinese Triamp).
It blew them both away! it's really good...just give it a try and see if you like it