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I wholeheartedly recommend a Blackstar ID series amp. I've got the ID260 and not much touches it for volume, reliability, tone and versatility at the price range.

I think it sounds great and I never have to worry about cranking for tone at home or worry about the valves wearing out. The presets and different emulated valves give you some real range. Have a look at these practice vids of my band (shitty playing but it gives you an idea of it's versatility).

It sounds much nicer than the MG Marshall amps the other guitarist is using and I never have to turn volume up past 5 or 6 to match the drummer. Here's a few videos of me using it in a live situation and at home.


This one shows how well it cleans up with the volume on the guitar turned down - 4:15 is the dirty channel with the volume turned down and slowly turning it up
[youtube]http://youtu.be/rhJtWnv-eIo[/youtube]


General dirty tone
[youtube]http://youtu.be/rYGEMapK1RU[/youtube]


More metal downtuned tone at home. Forgive the talking as it's the channel I share ideas with my band.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/s9PfOvAvfUQ[/youtube]


Direct out for recording sounds great too
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/614 ... stuffs.mp3

Or...you can just save up and buy a Morgan 30/800 head and call it a day. It's modeled after an AC30 and a JCM800, all in one amp!

Yeah, AC30 ^^ I've been using VOX for a couple of years now and the versatility of those amps is amazing! I can get lovely cleans out of it, but also great rythm tones with an overdrive pedal with a lot of volume boost in front of it. Add a separate booster and you've got a great lead tone! Love those amps, probably the most underestimated brands ever.

Hey Andy, need some more help. I'm completely clueless about ohms and matching heads and cabinets. The JCA has an output of 20 watts into 16 ohms or 2x 8 ohm speakers, and the Boogie 1 x 12 has an impedance of 8 ohms. Is it safe for me to pair the two, or would it cause minor/severe damage to both. Thanks again! Just want to make sure I get this right and don't ruin anything

Yep, you can connect the speaker cab to one of the 8 ohm outputs on the amp. There are two 8 ohm outputs in case you want to connect two speaker cabs. But since you'll only have one 8 ohm cab, you can connect one of the 8 ohm outputs from your amp to that cab.

Also, just in case your amplifier ships to you before the cab, DO NOT turn the amp on without having the speaker cabinet connected to it. Turning on an amplifier without a speaker load connected to it can damage the amp. So just make sure your cab is connected before turning it on.

I saw some pics of your amp on Facebook a few days ago. Had a chance to play it much? Thought I'd check back in here and see how you liked your setup.

Absolutely love it man, thanks for the suggestions. My tone is 1000x better than before! Still working on getting a solid Overdrive tone, but the clean is pretty sweet

That's awesome man! You have a great cabinet too and that's really helping your tone. Take some time to play with the EQ on the second channel, and you should be able to get a good hard rock tone. In the future you can always add a couple pedals like an overdrive and an EQ pedal to help tighten the response up a bit. Glad to hear you like it!

Alrght, debating what to do for Black Friday. Looking at getting the platinum PRS SE 245 Standard or the Bugera 333XL INFINIUM amp head. Thoughts???

I bought a Peavey Vypyr VIP3 100W. Love it. So many tones for a beginner like me w/o having to spend a ton on pedals. And it packs a punch.

I just heard the Yamaha THR 10x. It surprised me , on how good it is. It's a small practice amp, but it sounds unbelievable. I know I would of never thought of Yamaha for a amp, but the sounds were really good. Thinking of getting one for my bedroom. Anyone have one? I know they come in a couple different models, and they are affordable. Has anyone used one?

I haven't played the Yamaha before. For the price, I'd compare it to amps such as a Peavey Vypyr, Roland Cube, or one of the smaller Blackstar amps. All seem like good options to jam around with.

Ahart: The only major downside to Bugera I've found is their quality control. I believe it's better now than it used to be, but the old running joke was "purchase alongside fire extinguisher" They copy Peavey circuits using cheaper parts, so the tone is usually good. But I would buy from a reputable dealer with some sort of warranty as a precaution in case it breaks down.

So I have upgraded guitars and I'm thinking of upgrading amps one of these days (guitar gear is a sickness) to a 2x12 cab (would love an Orange, but might go Jet City) and a lunchbox head. Probably the Orange Micro dark. Would love any thought or feedback on these.

Guitars:
LTD EC-1000 FM (amber sunburst finish, with JB/59 pickups)
Epiphone Les Paul 100

Amps/gear:
Peavey Vyper VIP III 100
Peavey Sanpera II foot contoller

Look into Avatar Speakers for a 2x12. I've heard good reviews and they're typically a little bit cheaper than getting one from Orange or Mesa, and you can pick from a decent amount of speakers to put of the cab (2 of the same or 2 different ones). I guess they're still in business, I just haven't been on their website in a while and they're a smaller company.

I haven't played the micro dark before. Assuming it's like the micro terror with more gain since that's what their dark series is typically known for. I don't know too much about lunchbox heads to be honest. I've been out of the loop for a while on what new gear has been coming out lately. Just been busy with school and work to go gear shopping (but you're making me miss it lol).

Yeah, it's like the micro terror. But it has an effects loop built in, and has more gain and reverb. I was looking at the Orange cr120 head, but I really don't need that much power living in a quiet residential neighborhood.

What kind of pedals do you recommend? I really thinking (eventually of course) about a pedal tuner, wah, OD, and a flanger. Those are the majority of extra sounds I like. But I'm new to all of that.

I'd recommend an OD like a tubescreamer. I don't use them for gain really, just as a boost to the gain channel on the amp. If you turn up the gain on the OD pedal and the amp both it can sound mushy.

I like chorus pretty well, but when it comes to effects the only one I really love to have is delay. Everything else is kinda optional to me based upon your playing preferences, but delay is a bit of a must have for me. It makes for some great clean tones, and you can get some cool effects with high gain too depending on how you want to use it.

I keep it pretty simple with pedals. Put an OD in front of the amp and throw a delay in the effects loop. You can throw a flanger in the loop if you like the types of sounds it can give you.

Have a good chunk of money coming my way in August thanks to leftover scholarship money for the upcoming college semester, saving over half of it but I plan on treating myself with the rest. Looking at getting an upgraded guitar considering I'm a music major with a big emphasis on performing and studio work.

I have a Tremonti SE with Mark's signature pickups as well as the Tremonti SE Custom. I'm addicted to PRS at this point, the playability is just top notch, and those are Korean made. It's time for an American made guitar, so I'm looking at this:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ ... snS2020404

Absolutely love the finish, the fact that the scale length is the same as my other guitars and it's still a singlecut. Has anyone played one of these before? And if you have, are they a noticeable upgrade from my other guitars and how do they compare to the higher end PRS American made guitars as far as tone and playability?

I have a friend who owns one of these (he's a Jackson guy & owns 20+ guitars) and he loves it. Haven't heard it for myself. But yeah, Sweetwater owns his firstborn child I think. Maybe his second as well.

I broke down and bought the Orange Micro Dark. I have been writing my own riffs and parts for a few weeks, and I wanted something gainy and easily portable to record at my brother's on his software. I got a discount from musicians friend, and couldn't pass it up.

Just heard Mr. Tremonti going through his gear for tonight's release party/concert at a facebook live stream. He was talking about the PRS Archon being his backup amp.

Guess what?

He's working with PRS on his signature amp!! Coming next year probably. So... thoughts?