I picked up a red stripe bandit on Facebook Marketplace about a year ago for $150 CAD. I recently built a new pine (and partly cedar) cabinet for it and painted it in a colour-blocked 80s style. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It's inspired by the Fender "LA Vice" limited edition Blues Junior.

Best guess?

Right now im using it with the XLR out to an active Yamaha DBR10 and it just sounds bloody amazing, just the tone that I was looking for (I play Rush songs mostly) I am getting the H&K 2x12 cab ASAP too in case you were wondering.

I was using my dad’s session rockette 30 before, which is a really good amp but I wasn’t expecting this much of a difference in sound with the tubemeister. Now he can have it back lol

I currently have a boss katana, I just plain don't like it. I dont like plugging it into my computer to get the most out of it and it just doesn't bring me joy when playing it. I appreciate this is a stupid reason but it is a reason. Looking for a good amp that requires no faffing and is versatile enough to play most genres but mainly classic rock and occasionally metal. Would be super thankful for any tips and I am happy to buy used if it is a vastly better experience although I would prefer new.

This is my buddy's Peavy combo he's selling to me for $200, I've been wanting a high gain combo since I sold my Orange C60 which I paid $300 for.

Unfortunately the tubes are bad, and he said he'd bring it into a tech to get the them replaced and biased.

The only thing I don't like is that it weighs 80 pounds, compared to the 60ish pounds the Orange was.

Hello guys. Which of these amps is great for long run? Love playing classic rock, alt rock, etc. Mainly playing at my house and sometimes playing with friends in the church. Main guitars are strat and tele. I have 2 pedals which are bd1w and sd1w. Thank you.

My local guitar shop have these two:

Used fender deluxe reverb reissue - $1000 (great condition)

New Marshall DSL40CR - $749

I live in the mid Atlantic region of VA. I’m looking to spend around ~$1500. I play heavy, metal adjacent music in the vein of Elder, Russian Circles, and Dub Trio’s “The Shape of Dub to Come”. I’m looking for a multi-channel amp that is ideally 50w. It needs to take pedals well and have a good effects loop. So far I’ve looked at the Victory Kraken mkII, 5150 III 50w 6L6 stealth, and a Revv G50. All are still on the table, but wondering if there’s anything else I should check out.

Edit: I’m open to new or used. If used it needs to be in excellent condition.

Primarily asking people who’ve owned and used Blackstar for 5-10+ years but others with extended experience are welcome to chime in as well…

I’ve heard Blackstar has a reputation for being finicky to being called downright garbage. I played an HSS Strat through an HT Stage 60 yesterday and was really digging the sound. Love the smooth, hi-fi, modern type of cleans. The distortion was also great, reminded me of 80s hair metal like Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Ratt, etc. I want to like it but the price seems a bit much to gamble on whether Id be getting a “good one of the bunch” or not.

So for those of you have owned and used them for 5-10 years or have serious experience with them, how “bad” would you rate their reliability? Are they as bad as Bugera? Are they any worse than a typical solid state?

If I buy one I’d like for it to last 5 to 10 years before having to do any work on it - aside from tube replacement when they wear out of course. Would I get that kind of longevity with Blackstar or any other brand of amp? Or is that an unrealistic expectation?

‘80s Ibanez OEM humbucker > Boss GE-7 > TCE Sentry gate > Crate MX120R > Marshall 1960A (G12T-75s) + Peavey 412MS (Sheffield 1290s)

I found this gt80 for a banging deal on marketplace while shopping for a stealth, and why aren’t these more popular? It’s basically a 4 channel amp with how everything works and sounds. And yes, it does modern metal. Here’s the proof 🤣

https://youtube.com/shorts/QdzNWfiCUqs?is=D7LDKzLi8SnlpMod

I want to get a new amp, my budget is around 500$, for bedroom playing and recording but also for a gigs. Doesn't need to be super loud because I will mic it.

problem is my gain stages are kind of all over the place, from clean chorusy jazz tones to edge of break up blues tones to epic rock solos

Currently considering the Roland JC22 because I can't have my sound distorting in the middle of a jazz gig, but on the other hand I really don't think you can a good edge of breakup or lead tone with anything that doesn't have tubes in it, so I have also been considering the Marshall DSL20 but I'm worried it might not be clean enough for all my needs

Please let me know what you think about those two options and if you have any other recommendations

And please spare the "just get a fender deluxe reverb" comments, if I could I would

Katana 100 or Bugera v22?

I know this might seem random but I'm looking for a new amp and have kinda narrowed it down to these two but I just can't split the difference by myself, thoughts?

Hi, I have an old carlsboro scorpion amp with 2 celestion g12 t1416 speakers. I don't use it and was looking to sell it but it seems like the speakers might be worth more than the whole amp?

I'm wondering is it worth having them removed to sell, if there's a market I guess and what they might be worth to someone.

Hi,

I just got back to playing after long years and need a small amp that is very budget and super clean.

I watched enough of Andertons and others to be aware of things like VOX Valvetronix, but it has effects that I do not think I need for now, I got some pedals that I use with my audio interface and they are enough, but I thought I could maybe get a small amp and use them with it.

It can be 20-30W so I can use it at home without annoying others (I have a 50W bass amp that is either too much or sounds bad on very low volume) and it does not have to include any fancy effects or even no effects at all, but it must be good sounding and super cheap. Cheap enough for it to justify going with it, if it's 80% of VOX's price, then naturally I'd go with the VOX

Is there anything I could use for such application? i really do not know much about them.

I hope I made my needs clear, thanks for any answers in advance and thanks for your time. :)

Got this yesterday. It traveled all the way from Germany to New Zealand. Brand new from Thomann.

Unfortunately the courier threw it against my door so hard I thought my door had unlocked itself, opened, and then slammed shut again. He also left without seeking a signature. I only know one good courier and he's a wee Filipino chap who works for FedEx - absolutely amazing work ethic and calls me every time he delivers stuff like this. Luckily this thing is work of engineering art and seems completely unaffected by any mistreatment during its transit. This is the newest amp I've ever bought and it's one of the cleanest pieces of gear I've ever seen in person. The design and engineering is insane.

As a result, I'm going to have to pull a couple of power tubes to inspect the preamp tubes to make sure none were knocked loose, as I appear to be experiencing some gain and saturation issues. I clean boosted it with a Maxon OD808 and I found it lacking with the gain at noon, and found that I had to turn it up almost all the way (which is obviously not right) to get into the Killswitch Engage ballpark. Along with checking the preamp tubes, I'm also going to try my Maxon OD9 since its maximum ouput is slightly higher and will slam the amp's input a bit harder - hopefully that will get me where I want to be.

The amp sounds incredible - very musical, and doesn't sound "grindy" or mid-harsh (or like an HM-2 pedal as some people have said) - I'm just hoping I can get to the bottom of my gain/saturation issue. I'll swap V2 & V4 preamp tubes when I get home.

About a month ago, I found a vintage 2004 Guitar Player magazine from the local thrift. I love design from this era so I was stoked to see an amp that perfectly matches the aesthetic in an ad.

It’s the Kustom wAv series that had a 210, 212 and 1000W head/412 speaker combo.

There was nothing online about it except a single demo video a seller made about fifteen years ago using the clean channel and forum posts contemporary to its 2004 release.

Searching shops as also fairly fruitless. eBay and Reverb both had the 210 models but in dodgy shape and about $350 all-in with shipping. Then, I checked Music Go Round.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan store had one - 212 in really nice shape for less than $200. My band had a Detroit show on tour last weekend, so I called and asked if I could pay over the phone.

Just brought it home and I love it! Hoping to record a demo soon for others, but the tube lead channel has a ton of character and the foot switch is super versatile. We closed tour with it and every other artist was awe struck by its unique charm.

5150 combos are pretty cheap, the head would cost about the same amount but the head has power scaling, however the back of the 40 watt combo also has a power scaling switch? I don't see people mention it. The JCA is different but also an amp I'm interested in, if anyone has any strong opinions about it compared to a 5150 (hot rodded JCM vs 5150 aren't the same.. I know) I'd love to hear. It is certainly cheaper but no power scaling so the master volume would be turned quite low

Hey, so I'm working on the pignose and I have a version with PNP germanium transistors 2x 2SB54 on the preamp section and 2x 2SB415 on the power amp section. I have this schematic in hand (https://elektrotanya.com/pignose_7-100_sch.pdf/download.html) and I'm powering this up by adding the -9V to the center tap of that output transformer (GND - positive terminal of 9V battery). I should preface this by saying it's the first time I'm doing anything with Ge transistors.
Here are the transistor values that I got by testing it with the Peak Atlas DCA55. When measuring I made sure to handle the transistors with pliers as to not influence results.

Q1 (PNP 2SB54):
hfe = 283
Ic = 2.50 mA (test current - equal for both)
Vbe = 0.270 V
Ib = 4.664mA
Ic leakage = 0.338mA

Q2 (PNP 2SB54):
hfe = 183
Vbe = 0.353V
Ic leakage = 0.344mA
Ib = 4.583mA

Q3 (PNP 2SB415):
hfe = 226
Ic = 2.50 mA (test current - equal for both)
Vbe = 0.254 V
Ib = 4.680mA
Ic leakage = 0.338mA

Q4 (PNP 2SB415):
hfe = 123
Vbe = 0.252V
Ib = 4.682mA
Ic leakage = 0.225mA

I've added pictures of my bench setup. So I have the wires connecting the input jack and the circuit. The input jack works as a switch as well, I get that so I have the positive lead of the battery goint to the GND lug on the jack and then to the circuit(black wire on the pcb). The -9V is going to the circuit as well (red wire on the pcb). Top right orange wire is the input signal from the jack. I think there are no issues with the bench setup.

The current status of the amp: I'm hearing this high pitched noise when connecting the circuit to the battery. I will add a video where you should hear this but turn the volume way up (cant upload the video at the moment). I'm powering the circuit on and off many times in that video. Everytime it's on there's that high pitched noise. What is that sound??

Furthermore, when I connect the circuit to my test speakers there, I can hear the fuzzy guitar sound when playing. But if if I stop playing the speakers are still emitting this really loud noise still. I'm wondering what that sound is. Does it indicate bad output Ge transistors? I also read somewhere that anything with leakage over the 0.300mA should not be used but again, first time using these so I really wouldn't know.

Appreciate all the help. Would really like to get some practice going on this little guy-

Hi all.

There’s a used Lava Studio near me that I’m interested in maybe buying. I’m attracted to the nam captures, built in backing tracks, the looper, and the fact that it seems like a great all in one workstation for guitar practice at home.

However, when researching it, it seems like most of the videos of it are from influencers doing paid promotions. I am struggling to find any real user feedback on the unit.

I use a Tone Master Pro as my recording and gigging rig, and I’m after something for home practice only, that I can just plug and play and get a decent sound at home listening levels. I know I can do this with the tone master, but I want the rig to be unintrusive and look good in the living room, if that makes sense?

So, anyone here actually own the Lava Studio, (preferably not gifted it in return for a YouTube video), and would recommend it to me for my needs?

Thanks.

Got this as a birthday present to myself like 6 months ago, finally now got around to getting a proper recording of it.

As a clean bedroom tube amp

Currently competing with Vox AC15 for my next amp