Guitar Heads, prices and what you get for your money.

[devreaux]

Sup guys!

When it comes to how much heads cost, what exactly is it that gets better when you pay more? All i see are additional channels and knobs.

My friend decided to go for a Randall RH-150G3Plus http://www.thomann.de/se/randall_rh150g3.htm

and the most expensive Randall head on this page is this Randall V2 : http://www.thomann.de/se/randall_v2h.htm

At what price range do the heads start to get really good? It seems like there are just other functions and more power when you get to the highest price range. Ofcourse it's all about personal preference, but it should be as it is with guitars, once you get over a specific price, the guitars for a specific brand just starts to get good, like Jackson's JS-series = crap, but when you come to the DKMG's and DK2's there aint much difference between them and a soloist.

[Twitch]

I have both a Randall RH200SC, Titan AND the V2. I LOVE the V2, and a 2nd is the Titan. The RH200 is starting to lose favor with me. The V2 is my favorite amp of all that Ive had so far. Ive had Marshalls and Carvins and many others all tube heads but the V2 sounds best to me so far. Id never buy another all tube amp again so long as I have the V2 unless its an ENGL Powerball or an Uberschall.

[6string40]

I don't think it's 100% accurate with either amps or guitars that once you hit a certain price range, everything is good and everything else is shit...for the most part sure, you get what you pay for, but there are expensive duds and there are inexpensive gems in either case as well. I think in either case though, you're looking at $1000 to $1200 as a good starting point new and $700 to $900 used. But again, there are killer amps to be had for less, like a Carvin X100b coming in at $749 direct or a Jet City JCA100 on sale right now at MF for a mere $599!

Depending on what kind of music you play and what kind of tone you're after, ask around on here and there will be plenty of opinions and helpful replies.

[zeegler]

The primary factors that determine the cost of an amp are 1: name brand, and 2: country of manufacture. While there is some truth to the mantra "you get what you pay for", that doesn't mean that the most expensive amp is either the best sounding amp out there, or that it is the most reliable and well built. By the same token, the cheapest bargains are not always the worst sounding, least reliable amps. There is an insane amount of cork sniffing snobbery and one-up-manship in the guitar playing community, not to mention mind numbing stupidity. Add to that the fact that many people will either extol the virtues, or bash without mercy a product that they have never actually tried personally, based solely on what they have heard from others, then you're pretty much on your own when it comes to figuring out what is good, and what isn't. You could stick a Diezel logo on the worst sounding amp in the world, and there would be plenty of people ready so shell out 3 or 4 grand to buy one.

Having said all that, a lot of it comes down to personal preference, and what works best with your own playing style. There are plenty of good deals to be had, for amps that arguably sound as good as the higher end boutique stuff, but you have to find what works for you. For example, I bought a B-52 AT-100 brand new when they first came out. The first run had an issue with the reverb circuit optocoupler, and I ended up taking mine to a well known and well respected amp builder for the fix (for which, instructions and parts were supplied by the manufacturer). He said that the AT-100 was one of the best new amp designs he had seen in years, and that the build quality far exceeded that of many domestic manufacturers. Keep in mind, that the AT-100 was designed by Bruce Egnater, built in China, and cost me $599 brand new. I recorded several sound clips of the amp, which I posted on another forum. Not one person had a negative comment to make about my clips, yet in plenty of other threads, you would hear plenty of people ready to bash the AT-100, saying how crappy it sounded etc. I ended up trading that amp, and have regretted it ever since.

Currently I own a Soldano Hotrod 100+, and while it is one of the best sounding amps I've ever played, the amp I play most, is a Rhino Beast that cost me $200, because it just sounds that damn good.

The real answer is: either follow the herd, and play what other people tell you sounds good, or experiment, ignore the name plate on the front, and the price tag, and let your ears tell you what sounds good.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

I don't know what your tastes are, but something around $1000 to $1400 USD (here in the US) should get you as good as it gets. You could pay much less for a very good amp too.

[devreaux]

okay, i like the tone Dann Huff had in the Giant era.

I've heard alot of different tones from the 5150 and the JCM 800, but the 5150 seems to be more versatile as a lot of modern metal bands uses them.

don't like newer mesas and oranges (well for clean strat the orange is awesome) sounds to modern for me

but when i use my friends peavey bandit 112 i can go from very modern metal tones to more classic rock tones, and the marshall jcm800 and the peavey 5150 are sure as hell the amps that i think sound most 80's, so maybe a 5150 will be the right choice for me?

just dont want it to sound too modern

[ulijdavid]

okay, i like the tone Dann Huff had in the Giant era.

I am definitely not an amp expert. I also thought that Dann Huff had an awesome sound. But, remember that was in the 80's at the height of signal processing. If you truly want that sound, I think you may have to go the rack route.

[devreaux]

I am definitely not an amp expert. I also thought that Dann Huff had an awesome sound. But, remember that was in the 80's at the height of signal processing. If you truly want that sound, I think you may have to go the rack route.

well I don't wish to COPY anyones tone

[mjtripper]

In the past couple years I was searching for a new amp and at first I was only interested in the amps everybody said were the best but after not being able to find my sound I decided to play every amp I came across and buy based on features and tone, not price or brand. I bought mainly used since I figured I was going to be trying it out for a few months and then selling it when I found something better. I would demo amps until I found one I like well enough, buy it, and then continue looking for something better that I would be totally happy with. I wanted two amps, a small combo that would play clean and have decent overdrive but didn't have to do high gain. The other would be a 50-100watt combo or head that would do high gain and clean. It took me a few years but I found the amps that speak to me and they just happen to be Riveras - a brand I had never heard of when I started my search. I bring this up to reinforce what zeegler already stated - play everything and ignore the price and plate. Buy the amp that sounds good to you and you can always replace when you find something better.

[Grim]

okay, i like the tone Dann Huff had in the Giant era.

I've heard alot of different tones from the 5150 and the JCM 800, but the 5150 seems to be more versatile as a lot of modern metal bands uses them.

don't like newer mesas and oranges (well for clean strat the orange is awesome) sounds to modern for me

but when i use my friends peavey bandit 112 i can go from very modern metal tones to more classic rock tones, and the marshall jcm800 and the peavey 5150 are sure as hell the amps that i think sound most 80's, so maybe a 5150 will be the right choice for me?

just dont want it to sound too modern

the 6534+ is more versatile and IMO more aggressive than the 6505+ ... IMO ofc

[Inazone]

The Peavey XXX (or its replacement, the 3120) will be more versatile than the 5150/6505, although it is a different tone. If you don't care about tubes, the XXL is also a very versatile amp. I bought a used one as a backup to my rack rig, but have started practicing and gigging with it. Paid $250 for it, which is about a fifth of what I have into the pedals and rack gear I used previously.

An amp's true worth is measured in reliability, in my opinion. I love the tones in the old ART Eighty/Eighty heads, but I've had two of them die on me. I liked the `70s Peavey Classic combos with a distortion pedal in front, but really needed (or *thought* I needed) a separate head/rack and cab for gigging. Those amps were monsters. For every person I know who is a Mesa, Marshall, Engl or VHT fan, I know someone else who has had one of those amps die on them during a gig or recording session.

[Spivonious]

As price goes up, you typically get more features and not necessarily a better amp.

Lots of people like the tone a tube amp gives, but there are also some very good solid-state amps, so don't automatically count them out.

I have found that I have my one sound that I like, so when I go amp shopping, I'm not looking for the four channel amp with built-in effects; I just want that amp that I plug into and smile. Examples are Genz Benz El Diablo 60 and the Vox AC4TV. I have a B-52 AT100 as well. Even my $80 Peavey Vypyr 15 sounds great.

The bottom line is that you can't listen to others. Just go to a store that has a wide selection and don't look at the price tags when you try them out.

[Frigo89]

I played a Randall RH300 yesterday, pretty much the exact same thing as the 150, just more headroom.

and it was very good, I was pleasently suprised. I was looking into a 150 a couple years ago and wound up getting a Peavey Ultra. Now the Ultra was miles ahead of the Randall for my needs, but the Randall was very good, and I could see myself getting one in the future

[jgcable]

This is what I think when it comes to amp head costs...
If you want generic tone you can get by pretty cheap.
Once you start looking for specific tones or boutique tones you need to pay alot.
For instance... some people feel the Peavey 5150 is similar to a Soldano SLO in tone and gain.
They call it the poor mans SLO.
If you are looking for generic SLO tone the 5150 is great for around $600.00 used.
If you are looking for REAL SLO tone you need to pay about $2500.00
There is a difference.

[zeegler]

This is what I think when it comes to amp head costs...
If you want generic tone you can get by pretty cheap.
Once you start looking for specific tones or boutique tones you need to pay alot.
For instance... some people feel the Peavey 5150 is similar to a Soldano SLO in tone and gain.
They call it the poor mans SLO.
If you are looking for generic SLO tone the 5150 is great for around $600.00 used.
If you are looking for REAL SLO tone you need to pay about $2500.00
There is a difference.

I agree John, in some cases that's very true. The SLO is probably the best example of that. However, there are also MANY higher end amps that don't have their own unique thing going on. VHT (Fryette) and Mesa do, but ENGL, Diezel, Framus, while being decent amps, I wouldn't go so far as to say, you couldn't cop the same tone out of something else quite easily (and for much less $).

Also keep in mind how many other factors affect your tone. One guy playing a Tele through a SLO, is gonna sound very different to another guy playing an EMG loaded Jackson through a SLO.