Help Me Find My Tone - Amp Recommendation

[VitaminG]

the Laney Ironheart is a nice sounding amp with a built in attenuator. I believe the 60w version can be taken down to 1w? Versatile amp too. Most demos online demonstrate its capabilities as a metal amp but a friend is using it for classic rock. So the clean & midgain tones are very good

[beachjammer]

I recently got a Peavey Triple X combo that is pretty nice. I scored it for $300 and it's 40 watts. Takes EL34 or 6L6 tubes, has a series footswitchable effects loop and reverb. It's three channels and the clean channel was specifically designed to take pedals from what I was told. Supposedly that was a requirement by Satriani when he used them before his signature amps came out. The other two channels have a TON of gain and the volume is very controllable for bedroom levels IMO. Just another option to think about.

As far as the Randalls go, didn't hey make a small el84 based version that would take one of the MTS modules? That one might be an affordable option as well.

[roodyrocker]

The Bogner Ecstasy 101b and Randall RM 100 may be 100w amps but they both have good master volumes on them. So yeah, I'd play them at home. Now that we know the budget is around $600 that eliminates the Bogner. For the Randall MTS stuff, there are tons of modded modules which can be pricey but I have some stock Randall ones which sound great. I've even gigged that RM 100 with stock modules. I've used Blackface for cleans, XTC and SL+ for distortion. I'd look for a used Randall RM 100. Another option in that range is the Marshall JCM 2000. That's another amp I've used for gigs as well as home use and a used one is certainly within the mentioned budget.

[VitaminG]

As far as the Randalls go, didn't hey make a small el84 based version that would take one of the MTS modules? That one might be an affordable option as well.

yea, the RM20. There was also the RM22 which takes two modules

The RM100 would absolutely get it done. As Rudy says, they have a good MV and sound good playing at home. You could find one with modules in your price range. I gigged for a while with stock modules - Blackface, Recto & XTC. When money allows, you can always look at upgrading to modded modules. The sky's the limit with this amp.

[Axewielder]

See if you can demo an Axe FX II and step through the presets. There are hundreds in there, and they will give you a good idea of what "real" amp has the tone you are looking for. It's a helluva lot easier than demoing a hundred real amps, or sifting through the random recommendations you are going to get on the interwebz.

[chrisf]

What are these modules you all are speaking of?

[veemagic]

There are some good recommendations in here, but without knowing what kind of tone you'd like to start chasing, its going to be a long, long process. I mean are you a Marshall guy, or a Mesa guy? Some simple questions like do you favor the british sounds or the american sounds could at least get you pointed in somewhat of a direction.

[DonP]

+1 to RM100. I have the Lynch Box version with 10 modules. Very flexible and solid made.

[Hellbat]

See if you can demo an Axe FX II and step through the presets. There are hundreds in there, and they will give you a good idea of what "real" amp has the tone you are looking for. It's a helluva lot easier than demoing a hundred real amps, or sifting through the random recommendations you are going to get on the interwebz.

That's close to what I was going to write, but I think the hard part is getting a chance to demo an Axe 2. I have a pretty small circle, but nobody I know has ever seen or heard of one other than mine. Granted, only maybe one person I know has ever heard of Periphery either.

[warlok]

I'm gonna throw my hat in for a RM50 or RM100. Had MTS since 2010 and I don't see me changing anytime soon.. Or at all..

What are these modules you all are speaking of?

Randall MTS system is a series of amps (18w, 50w, 100w) that are basically a tube power amp and fx loops in a head that accepts tube preamp modules. Then there is the saparate rack preamp that accepts the modules to use with a separate power amp. RM100 and RM4 are MIDI controllable too. Google it and you'll see. The modules are designed to emulate different amp tones. Like Recto (Mesa Rectifier), SL+ (Marshall), XTC (Bogner Ecstasy), Blackface (Fender clean), etc. They do a good job and the modded modules (From Jaded Faith, Salvation, etc..) do an amazing, if not perfect job for the most part.. It's been discontinued but there is lots available still.

[Newc]

Budget = $600
AxeFX = $3000

Educations are free, people, everyone go get one.


If your future intent is to develop a tone you can go live with on a stage/with a band, then you're going to have to work at stage volumes to develop it. That 4x12 is visually impressive, but honestly it's overkill for bedroom "turn that shit down before I call the cops!" levels. You have to get all 4 speakers moving, which means more power, which means more volume. The tone changes according to how much the speakers move and how the cabinet resonates.

As well, guitar amps do not require a lot of power to get a lot of volume, because of the frequency range they dominate. You can hear a 100w amp from farther away than a 50w amp, but at 30 feet in a bar not miked, they sound pretty much the same.

Get yourself a 1x12 all tube combo, or a lunchbox head and 1x12 cabinet. It's still going to be louder than your neighbors/parents will allow in the house while they're sleeping, but it's also easier to build an isolation box for a 1x12 cab than a 4x12. Put it in the box and crank the head up to the point that you want the pedals to start contributing.

[chrisf]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Newc, I am wanting to develop my tone just to understand how it all works. I really don't have any desire to play live but you never know. I do like to feel the music of my 4x12 and my rocktron. I can make it punch me in the chest without it being too loud. If one of these small watt tube heads will not move it I am fine with a 1x12. Will the 1x12 have a nice bass punch? Honestly, I know nothing about tube amps and pedals.

So far I really like the H&T Tubemeister and BlackStar mini amps. The Mesa Boogie Mini seems like it would work too but it is a little high in price. I can get a 100watt head used for nearly the same price. I am only wanting a versitale bedroom tube amp that will take pedals. I found some vids of the Randall and it really will do it all but it is out of my range.

[VitaminG]

Budget = $600
AxeFX = $3000

Educations are free, people, everyone go get one.

It was recommended demoing an AxeFX, to get a feel for which real world amps might provide the tone the OP is after

[VitaminG]

I found some vids of the Randall and it really will do it all but it is out of my range.

not if you buy it secondhand.

As an example, here's a guy selling a combo & a head on the MTS forum. $450 & $400

http://mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19309

[Newc]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Newc, I am wanting to develop my tone just to understand how it all works. I really don't have any desire to play live but you never know. I do like to feel the music of my 4x12 and my rocktron. I can make it punch me in the chest without it being too loud. If one of these small watt tube heads will not move it I am fine with a 1x12. Will the 1x12 have a nice bass punch? Honestly, I know nothing about tube amps and pedals.

So far I really like the H&T Tubemeister and BlackStar mini amps. The Mesa Boogie Mini seems like it would work too but it is a little high in price. I can get a 100watt head used for nearly the same price. I am only wanting a versitale bedroom tube amp that will take pedals. I found some vids of the Randall and it really will do it all but it is out of my range.

A 4x12 cabinet will have more thump than a 1x12, mostly because it's 4x the size and has 4x the speakers pushing 4x the air. If you want to relate that chest thump to tone, you go right ahead and stick with that.

At bedroom levels, you're not missing out on anything by sticking with a modeler like the Digitech GSP-1101 or the Rocktron. You'll also have greater tonal versatility over one amp and even a handful of OD pedals, because the amp will be providing the core tone, while the pedals merely act as EQ shifts and signal saturators. While racks may seem overly complicated, they're generally set up as if you had all the real items at-hand - you need the pedals that will go into the amp that will go through a cabinet, and you need to adjust each pedal and the amp controls to suit your taste. Then you play around with putting a given pedal in the loop vs through the front, and do you want distorted chorus or chorused distortion, and do you want the wah at the front or the back, and on and on.

Then when you find one setting you like for one play-along session, you start tweaking and adjusting and rearranging all over again to match tones with something else.

I know you said you are looking for your own tone, but modelers model amps, not players. That Brown Patch doesn't give you EVH's tone, it makes your amp sound like his amp if you were playing through it. That Metallica patch sounds like you're playing through their amps. It's always your tone. Even if you buy a tube amp and a few pedals, someone else already has those, and you are still going to have your tone, even if you played through their identical setup.

Now, if you want to find a tone that you personally like, start anywhere, because it's what you're looking for. All we can do here is drop a few names and make outlandish suggestions and assumptions that you live in an area that has a well-stocked music store that would simply be overjoyed to let you monopolize their amp room and pedal collection in the hopes of getting you to drop 6 bills.

I'm not trying to be a doosh, really; tone is such a subjective matter that no two people agree on it. Randy had great tone because he's dead. EVH has great tone because we grew up with it and it was different back then. SRV had great tone because he ripped it off from Leadbelly. Metallica had great tone because it was different from what everyone else was doing. That guy who plays guitar for all those bands on the radio has great radio tone.

Tone-chasing is an expensive hobby. Begin by asking yourself what you feel defines "tone" to you. If it's the amp, go for it. If it's a given pedal, go for it. If it's a given guitar with a specific pickup, go for it. If it's the picks and strings, go for it. Chase the white rabbit into the hole, it's the only way to go.


VG: Are there any dealers who will let one demo such an expensive unit willy-nilly? And do those same dealers sell those in-store demo units as used and greatly-reduced after a thousand greasy-fingered tire-kicking heathens have had their way with it in a month?