good practice amp

[jonipop]

I need help just dusted off the Jackson and Charvels after about 15 years so I basicly suck what do you recomend for a good practice amp I would like a tube combo of some sort, also any drills or books to build up some speed? Thank You

[Cleveland Metal]

Honestly, if I had to get a home practice amp. Although I'm a dyed in the wool Tube guy, and own no modelling units, I'd probably look to Line 6 stuff. Sounds strangely good at low levels, records good, has lotsa effects and are pleasing to play.

Wish I had that stuff as a kid when I needed a nice home practice unit. Would have saved tens of thousands of dollars and countless headaches in the long run chasing a pleasing low volume tone.

[rjohnstone]

Yea... the Line 6 Spider II or III amps are great, low to moderate volume practice amp.
Good tone and decent effects.
They're not too bad cranked up either.

[jim777]

John Petrucci's "Wild Stringdom" is a great workout book to get your chops and speed back, and if you've forgotten your chops, the ultimate scale and mode book is Jack Zucker's "Sheets of Sound".
Welcome back

[Predator1]

Peavey XXX Super 40. All tube can be had on ebay for $300-$600 used.

[emperor_black]

Peavey XXX Super 40. All tube can be had on ebay for $300-$600 used.

Not good. Bought one for $475 on eBay with brand new power tubes, replaced all pre-amp with brand new JJ's high gain, still could not get a good smooth distorted tone. Sold it just after 1 month. Too harsh sounding. Not very good sound at low volumes either.

My setup for great sounds at bedroom levels... 5150 into weber attenuator. the 5150 sounds great at low volumes too. Wish they made a 1x12 combo.

[Sinistas]

Roland Cube of some sort.

[Psh511]

for around 100.00 you cant go wrong with the line 6 spider...I have one and it does sound surprisingly good, with kool built in effects

[CharvelRocker]

Depending on what you want to spend either a Roland Cube or a Line 6 Spider III.

[jonipop]

thanks so much for the info Ill check out line 6 and roland thank you!!!!

[Chad]

I love my Cube 30....got it for $135 from MF when the new version came out.

[CharvelRocker]

I love my Cube 30....got it for $135 from MF when the new version came out.

+1 I'm renting a Cube 15 so I can have a nice cheap amp to play metal with and that has a headphone jack so I can practice at night. It sounds GREAT. I also owned a Lien 6 Spider II and while it wasnt the greatest s, the effects and delay were good as were the clean and the Insane and Metal channels rocked. the New Spider IIIs simply kickass. When I'm trying guitars at Guitar Center its the amp I go to. They are awesome.

[emperor_black]

+1 on the spider amps. I TRY to go to the amps but some kid is always blasting the hell out of 'em at GC.

As far as the workout goes, try this 10 hour workout by Steve Vai

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/s/steve_vai/10-hour_guitar_workout_tab.htm

[jrnic]

I know you guys are going to laugh, but for under $200 you can get a Zoom "Fire-36" Modeling Amp. Yeah, I know, not what you would expect when other companies like Line 6, Roland, Marshall, etc are being mentioned here. But I have to say I picked up one on a whim from Sam Ash for $189 at this thing is amazing. They also have an 18 watt version for like $120. The Fire 36 has a 10" speaker and the Fire 18 has an 8" speaker. These things are great for the money. I use mine for low level fooling around late at night when everyone is asleep and you can get some really good sounds out of it from very clean to VERY high gain. If you have ever tried their Zoom 505II pedal, it is like having the insides of this pedal built into an amp. Same patches and programing. It really is great at what it does and for the price you can't go wrong.

I still have my Marshalls, and a Line 6 Spider II but for low level playing you can't beat it. Give it a try if you have a Sam Ash near you. I did and was so amazed I bought the Fire 18 right away, then a few weeks later I decided I wanted the Fire 36 so I gave the Fire 18 to my son and bought the 36. Very glad I did. I keep it on an amp stand near my chair and rock out a low volumes at night!

[mhalsey]

I have a Spider II..... excellent amp. I bought my son a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT to use during our recent move........ excellent amp as well. For variety of tones, I'd go with the Spider. For better tone, the Vox. It blew me away when I first plugged into it.