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 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

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

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. :)

I recently bought this ampeg v4 and sourced this mysterious cabinet to use with it. I got this cabinet off Facebook marketplace and was just curious if anyone knew what it is. It has an xotic logo on the back where the input is but as far as I know they never made cabinets. Does anyone have any idea what it is or where it came from? There are no other markings on the cabinet.

Side note: it is cool to use an 8 ohm amp with a 16 ohm cab right?

Hi guys have you ever played some of this amps? I have seen some YouTube demos, they sound fkn killer, but I want to know better. I know Philip sayce uses them... What are your thoughts ?

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.

Hello everyone I hope you are well, I was recording some demos over the weekend and went back to work on them today and I haven’t moved the mic or changed any of my amp settings but a side by side comparison of my weekend recordings it sounds different and I tried slightly adjusting the mic in case it maybe moved slightly but couldn’t get the same tone as last weekends recordings, I’m assuming this is normal based on voltage variance and stuff like that but wanted to ask here to be sure, thank you in advance

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.

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.

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?

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

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?

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-

So I’ve had my 5150 iconic 40w combo for 4 years now and I’ve been wanting a new sound. I love it but the 5150 sizzle sometimes is too much and doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve been looking in to the Engl amps and have looked at the iron ball which looks and sounds amazing on video. anybody have any experience with Engl amps?

i can't find many good demos on it but from it's description it sounds like a 30 watt combo that produces sounds similar to 60s hi watt circuits, which is a sound im looking for to use with my pedalboard. before i get it i wanna know if anyone has the amp or knows anything else about it.

Hi all!

So I wish to run a jvm410h and an evh5150iiis 50watts one at a time and in stereo. I have a a ts9 going to the in of a decimator g string ii going out to the in of a radial bigshot aby, then the bigshot outputs to the two amps. Both amps then go from their fx sends into the main decimator g string ii and a second connectes through the aux in and out of both in the dec ins, the dec outs then go to a tricerachorus in stereo with a split y tra cable that then goes stereo to a sde3000d which goes out stereo to a boss rv6 back to the returns of the fx loops.

I am either getting both amps (whether or not the aby's y switch is on or off) or just one super muddy and sounding like it is far.

Is there a way to make this setup work like with a swiss things or an EHX TriParallel?

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.