Decisions...Marshall MGDFX100 or JetCity JCA100H

[chrisolson]

Changing tubes like once a year at the very most, probably less, is not a big deal, and not all that expensive either. And seeing how the thread starter is nerdy enough to hang here and has been playing for decades, he probably knows how tube amps work and can help his son.

When it comes to amps, I would probably go for something used myself, something like any descent (JCM series probably) Marshall head. JCM 900s are pretty cheap for instance, have a descent amount of gain (could go super heavy with just an overdrive in front) and keep their value. Not my very favorite amps, but certainly very descent.

Well gee...I could help him on the JCM900. Mindstein - gonna be in the Twin Cities area any time soon? If so, PM me. I've got one (4102 100 watt 2x12 combo) I am putting on craigslist this week. I won't ship it, but I'd hang on to it for you.

[jdr94]

You may have already made a decision, but for the sake of being cheap i owned 2 or 3 mgdfx heads. Two died and the remaining one i sold before it could die on me. I dont know if i just got a bad batch, but i would stay clear of them. Just my experience.

[cjrocker]

jet city makes an awsome amp ;D

[Grim]

Get him the Jet City, 15 is old enough to handle the apparently enormous responsibilities that come with a tube amp.

[Nightbat]

the apparently enormous responsibilities that come with a tube amp.

Yeah I was scratching my head over all that as well

"Son, in one year you may operate a machine that weighs 2000 pounds and can accelerate you to speeds perhaps well above 120mph, used between similar vehicles, bikes and pedestrians,...

...but I don't think the time is right to carry the burden of having a 100 watt tube amplifier"

[jgcable]

Yeah I was scratching my head over all that as well

"Son, in one year you may operate a machine that weighs 2000 pounds and can accelerate you to speeds perhaps well above 120mph, used between similar vehicles, bikes and pedestrians,...

...but I don't think the time is right to carry the burden of having a 100 watt tube amplifier"

Spoken by someone who probably doesn't have kids.

[Hellbat]

Spoken by someone who probably doesn't have kids.

The correct answer in rock & roll is "None that I know of...."

[VitaminG]

Spoken by someone who probably doesn't have kids.

yea. And then it depends on the 15 year old. For most kids, low maintenance is better. A solid state amp isn't ever going to need retubing or time to warmup before you play, won't run as hot when the kid leaves a pile of clothes or magazines sitting across the vent, or a new OP transformer when the kid unplugs the cab to see if they can use it with headphones instead, or if they read on a forum that the sound is SOOOOO much more br00talz when you run the impedance at 16 ohms thru your 4 ohm cab.

[Nightbat]

Spoken by someone who probably doesn't have kids.

Right on the money

But you can still explain me the big deal when it comes to tubeamps and teaching your kid how to handle them properly, in comparison to teaching them how to drive 1 year later

[data187]

I know it's not one of your 2 options, but I would check out a used line 6 flextone (I, II, or III) which are pretty cheap on the used market. Solid state, sounds pretty good, gets pretty loud and has a ton of tones he can experiment with.

Btw, the Jet City amp is a cool little amp, way better sounding than the Marshall MG series.

[VitaminG]

Right on the money

But you can still explain me the big deal when it comes to tubeamps and teaching your kid how to handle them properly, in comparison to teaching them how to drive 1 year later

how many hours will you spend teaching your kid how to use & care for a tube amp? Will there be official & independent testing before they are granted their Tube Amp User's license? How many months will this whole process take before they are allowed to "take the amp out for a spin" on their own, and start to experiment with what the amp can do?

Give a kid a spankin' new tube amp and sit them down to tell them all the ins and outs of responsible tube amp ownership. Five minutes in and they'll be saying "yea yea, whatever Dad. That's the ON switch? Great, now let me play my brOOtalz!!!1"

[Frigo89]

when I first started dabbling in gear, I got a tube amp, with pretty much no knowledge of what to do or what not to do.

I never once had problems. Most of the instructions in regards to shit you shouldn't do is right on the head.

I have been using Tube gear on and off since I was about 12.

[jgcable]

how many hours will you spend teaching your kid how to use & care for a tube amp? Will there be official & independent testing before they are granted their Tube Amp User's license? How many months will this whole process take before they are allowed to "take the amp out for a spin" on their own, and start to experiment with what the amp can do?

Give a kid a spankin' new tube amp and sit them down to tell them all the ins and outs of responsible tube amp ownership. Five minutes in and they'll be saying "yea yea, whatever Dad. That's the ON switch? Great, now let me play my brOOtalz!!!1"

Thats almost what will happen. You left out the fact that impedance means nothing to a 15 year old. He will be plugging a 2 ohm ganged speaker combination into that amp and toasting it. Thats after he leaves it on with no speaker plugged in.
In one of the rehearsal studios I frequent they have several 1/2 stacks. Which ones do you thing are always getting toasted up by 15 year olds? The tube amps. The SS amps keep working and working. Hey, I am just giving my opinion. SS sounds good and lasts.
Why make a dad work even harder than he already does.

[VitaminG]

Thats almost what will happen. You left out the fact that impedance means nothing to a 15 year old. He will be plugging a 2 ohm ganged speaker combination into that amp and toasting it. Thats after he leaves it on with no speaker plugged in.

I covered that in my previous post. But since I'm on everyone's ignore list, no one noticed

[Nightbat]

how many hours will you spend teaching your kid how to use & care for a tube amp? Will there be official & independent testing before they are granted their Tube Amp User's license? How many months will this whole process take before they are allowed to "take the amp out for a spin" on their own, and start to experiment with what the amp can do?

Give a kid a spankin' new tube amp and sit them down to tell them all the ins and outs of responsible tube amp ownership. Five minutes in and they'll be saying "yea yea, whatever Dad. That's the ON switch? Great, now let me play my brOOtalz!!!1"

Funny, I had a dad who showed me how things worked to prevent me from destroying it, worked pretty well

Guess it's a matter of trust