£500 Budget for Amp Head for Doom/Sludge - Choices Please!

[Riffmagus]

Evening All!

I'm putting together a doom/sludge jam band - and looking for some help when it comes to amp heads.

I've owned an Orange Rockerverb 100 and Peavey JSX in the past. Then, when all my band stuff dried up, I gravitated to recording and producing/jamming at home. With this I have been perfectly happy using my Eleven Rack for the last two years.

Then, I got a big 'itch' - to start a jam band. Based around my love for stoner/doom/sludge music. Nothing serious, just an instrumental guitar/bass/drums setup - with emphasis on groove, learning from eachother and mainly jamming.

As I start to get this ball rolling, I'd like to get a head that's loud enough to be heard over a drummer, but I don't want to lay out a lot of money. Heck, I don't have a lot of money. Very little infact. That's why I have set my MAX budget @ £500. This is just for an amp head - I'll sort and build my own 2x12.

So, when it comes down to doom etc - what do I like, and what would I want in an amp head. Solid state or tubes - I don't mind - it's what works. No real preference. Bass or guitar head - well, it's going to be used for an ESP with EMG's in D standard and a Custom Phoenix Pacifica with Bare Knuckle Warpig and sinner combos. The tuning for this will either be Eb or C# - not fully decided yet.

Here's a run down of some of my favourite tones, just to get in the ball-park....

So, do I need to look for a clean amp that will take pedals really nicely? I have some hand-made fuzzes and a maxon od808 to boost things. I'm not a fan of a lot of treble or bite - but that can be down to cab choice. I'm 99% certain to go with Greenback 25's for the head.

Any advice, for ANYTHING suitable would be great. If it's easy to get hold of here in the UK, even better.

Cheers,

-Riff

[Jake]

Those bands all channel the power of Satan through their amplifiers. So, first and foremost are you prepared to accept the Dark Lord, Satan, into your heart?

[Riffmagus]

*Blows out Black Mass candles*

Sorry Jake, I simply can't hear a word over the damned goat bleating....

"Mendes, will you pipe down please.....?"

*whips out sacrifical blade*

[VOLVO)))]

I like this guy!

[Jake]

Excellent start.

Next step is to track down one of these. I believe it is a 1985 model.

[tossom]

Keep yer eyes peeled for a JCM 900 SL-X model, should get one for about £500. 1 channel amp, brilliantly simple and bags of gain.

The 50watt version is model 2500 if memory serves, plus go for the EL34 power tubed ones - the 6L6 ones are a bit brighter.

[tombhex]

Laney AOR series, MAN!

[tossom]

^Good shout.  Possibly easier to find than an SL-X too, don't see them for sale too often nowadays.

[Riffmagus]

Excellent start.

Next step is to track down one of these. I believe it is a 1985 model.

I once scored one used - but the re-bias for the flux capacitor meant I had to sell my neighbours kids.

Good shout on the AOR.

I have just seen an Ibanez Toneblaster 100 head and cab on ebay for £125.....quite like the tone - but VERY metal. Might do some sort of nice Randall RG100es / Jimmy/ Kirk tones though...

[VOLVO)))]

Ampeg ss150 for those there tones.

[bitter]

I tried one of those Toneblaster amps out many years ago and was not impressed.

[aowron]

Considering that you live in the land of amps, you should be able to score something decent for ~£500

* I've seen 2203 JCM800:s go for around that kind of money here (Sweden), so you should be able to get one for £500 in the UK

* The Laney GH series should be the successor of the AOR series, and goes for less here.... you get the picture. Bit on the trebly side though (like Laneys in general)

* I've noticed that the MATAMP 1224 MKII goes for somwhere around £700 new (http://www.matamp.co.uk/matamp-1224mkii/, check the pictures taken from that magazine review). Only at 30W, though I believe that should be OK (my Laney GH50L can produce enough punch at half volume with a hard hitting drummer)

* I've seen Sound City amps on ebay for less than £500

* Ampeg V-4:s can be seen for somewhere around £550 here (I assume they go for around the same amount in the UK)

Edit: those Carlsbro amps seem pretty interesting also, heard something about one of those newer models (forgot the name of it) should be pretty plexi:ish. Mr. Foxen probably knows more about them

[Mr. Foxen]

I'll have an AOR going freshly basically serviced (as in I'll make everything work right as is, not totally revalve and recap, all sockets cleaned, but not replaced etc.) going quite soon. Bunches less than £500.

Same for a Sound City 120 but not so much less than £500, since I'll probably have to recap that. Bear in mind one you get on ebay will also need that work even if they call it 'working'.

£500 will just about get you my seriously nice vintage Carlsbro, but its penciled in for the Sonance recording, so will have to wait till that is done. It will also get you my Nolan, which is a really nice sounding amp.

If you can get to Bristol, you'd do well to swing by and try things out.

Edit: If you are making a 2x12, check out the Bill Fitzmaurice XF cab, you'll get more bang for your buck making one of those, or ripping the idea off. They are on my make list when I'm all done with current plywood makeyness.

[liquidsmoke]

* The Laney GH series should be the successor of the AOR series, and goes for less here.... you get the picture. Bit on the trebly side though (like Laneys in general)

The GH is quite fuzzy compared to most high gain "metal" amps. It can do a metal sludge tone even with a bridge pup although like a lot of amps it's kind of a one trick pony once you get that gain turned up, it has it's sound and can only be tweaked so much. The treble bite is easy to reduce with the treble knob of course. Not a ton of low end but an eq pedal fixes that. Sounds way better in my opinion but also more fuzzy than the AOR I had but I think I had a less desirable AOR model. I can't say for sure how well this amp takes pedals but probably not much worse than similar amps by Peavey, Marshall, etc. It will do a fairly clean tone with the gain knob all the way down but you might run out of volume on the master that way.

[Riffmagus]

Seriously, thanks for all the info!
I'm really near to Brighton in the UK, so might pop into GAK and other places to try some amps out and get a 'feel' - and take a few pedals. I'm not in a huge rush as the rehearsal room I'm going to be using has a choice of Laney, Blackstar and Marshall stacks - so I will put those through their paces to boot.

I must admit, I am interested in some of the Ampeg/Crate old SS heads. Are there any new ones on the market that still cut the sludge mustard?

I'll lay off the Toneblaster on flea-bay - all the videos are too 'metal' when I can get that kind of tone from my Eleven. I'm really after something with a nice, responsive low end - and warmth in the tone.

[Volume]

Laney Supergroup or Klipp. I'd imagine they're cheap in the UK. Great amps that take pedals really well.

[Mr. Foxen]

I'm really near to Brighton in the UK, so might pop into GAK and other places to try some amps out and get a 'feel'

If you in Brighton, can probably hook you up with a dude so you can try some real amps.

Supergroups are expensive, and Klipps usually are too (although I've got one going that might just come in budget). Klipps usually need work, they used crappy caps and ran valves hard.

[liquidsmoke]

I must admit, I am interested in some of the Ampeg/Crate old SS heads. Are there any new ones on the market that still cut the sludge mustard?

Ampeg is all bass now and even the high gain metal crowd tends to hate the new Crate stuff. I would avoid.

[Riffmagus]

I'm really near to Brighton in the UK, so might pop into GAK and other places to try some amps out and get a 'feel'

If you in Brighton, can probably hook you up with a dude so you can try some real amps.

Supergroups are expensive, and Klipps usually are too (although I've got one going that might just come in budget). Klipps usually need work, they used crappy caps and ran valves hard.

Mr.Foxen - if you can message me with any info - I'm not in ball-park yet to go out and buy - but any contacts local to me would be awesome. If the 'golden' amp comes in - I'll make the ££ happen.

I must admit - I'm quite taken with the Orange Dark Terror and a decent 2x12....

[aowron]

I'm really near to Brighton in the UK, so might pop into GAK and other places to try some amps out and get a 'feel'

If you in Brighton, can probably hook you up with a dude so you can try some real amps.

Supergroups are expensive, and Klipps usually are too (although I've got one going that might just come in budget). Klipps usually need work, they used crappy caps and ran valves hard.

Mr.Foxen - if you can message me with any info - I'm not in ball-park yet to go out and buy - but any contacts local to me would be awesome. If the 'golden' amp comes in - I'll make the ££ happen.

I must admit - I'm quite taken with the Orange Dark Terror and a decent 2x12....

Considering how the Oranges are built these days, I would generally avoid them... see the gutshot of a rockerverb below:



Everything is PCB mounted, even the Laney GH-series which are at half price new are better built; at least they haven't mounted everything to one pcb, and the tubes aren't pcb mounted:


The "LO"-jack on my Laney has died, and even that will still probably be a pain in the ass to disassemble and fix. Considering that a Matamp, which is all turret board doesn't cost that much more new, makes it quite a sweeter deal

Edit: it actually looks like the orange might be built on two PCB:s, still though, PCB mounted tube sockets... *shudder*

[Czernobog]

New Orange are shit to fix.  Laneys work well for the low price.

[Mr. Foxen]

Considering that a Matamp, which is all turret board doesn't cost that much more new, makes it quite a sweeter deal

If Matamp is an option, do that. Some are PCB and mostly they are turret-track, which is a hybrid of PCB and turrets for best of both.

[Lumpy]

If you in Brighton, can probably hook you up with a dude so you can try some real amps.

How the fuck did this dude get 1000 smites?

[bitter]

I don't know. M&B mentioned it a while back over in gen. I guess the jam room's gettin' RAW?

[Volume]

Supergroups are expensive, and Klipps usually are too (although I've got one going that might just come in budget). Klipps usually need work, they used crappy caps and ran valves hard.

Ok. Around here Klipps are among the cheapest vintage heads (600-700€), Supergroups are just above that (700-900€).