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Post by colchar on Apr 8, 2010 16:04:33 GMT -5
Before I start let me say that I have only recently started playing guitar again after years away from the instrument and play simply for pleasure – I will never be anything more than a hobbyist. I currently play an Epiphone G-400 SG through a Marshal MG15 amp but, as my playing improves, I expect that I will want to add some effects (not many, just basic stuff like reverb, etc.).
My question is this – should I buy pedals to add effects or should I return my amp and buy one with built-in effects?
As I will only ever be a hobbyist there is no need for me to buy a tube amp - I would buy either the Marshall MG15FX or the Marshall MG30FX as I figure it will be cheaper to return my amp and buy a new one. However, if I can find decent but inexpensive effects pedals that give me what I want then I will buy them and keep my current amp.
Recommendations/suggestions from more experienced players would be appreciated.
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Post by 469roadking on Apr 8, 2010 16:39:34 GMT -5
Well, I'm not quite an effect junkie but I'm not far off. If you are going the hobbyist route you might try a multi effects floor unit. You can get a ton of presets on most units and the opportunity to mess around with user options. Plus you get modeled sounds out of most also and they can sound better than most practice style amps as long as you're not using your guitars volume knob for subtle changes in tone. Vox and Boss make some pretty cool ones and you can pick them up used at a good price. Me.....I run tubes, 4 levels of OD, compressor, chorus, tremolo, delay and volume pedals. Good luck with this, I think it's a great idea as it opens up your creative juices when you hear new things.
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Post by basementrocker on Apr 8, 2010 18:10:58 GMT -5
You have to get a tube amp!!! Just because you are a hobyist doesn't mean you can't appreciate the sound of a great guitar through a REAL tube amp. Don't sell yourself short, you deserve the best get a tube amp and turn it up to 11.
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Post by colchar on Apr 8, 2010 18:25:50 GMT -5
You have to get a tube amp!!! Just because you are a hobyist doesn't mean you can't appreciate the sound of a great guitar through a REAL tube amp. Don't sell yourself short, you deserve the best get a tube amp and turn it up to 11. Price would be an issue there!
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Post by basementrocker on Apr 8, 2010 18:53:48 GMT -5
not really. you can buy a fender blues jr. all tube amp for around $500 an it is a truly great sounding amp. Go to a guitar center and give on a try- it will put a smile on your face!!!
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Post by gasman on Apr 9, 2010 0:14:38 GMT -5
The most inexpensive GOOD tube amp you can buy IMO is the Fender Champ 600 for $150. It sounds great, but only has a volume control. The higher the volume, the more breakup it has, so you could get a great overdriven tone with it set at high volume and control the actual volume with your guitar volume controls. It takes pedal well also. I have an inexpensive Danelectro FAB distortion pedal that works very well with the 600. As for effects, I only have a mult-effects guitar processor - the Digitech RP50, which sold for $50. The RP50 has been replaced by another model, but it sell for the same price. It's good for the price. I'm not that much into effects, that's why I don't have individual effects pedals. When I do use effects, the RP50 is good enough for me.
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Post by Happy Jack on Apr 9, 2010 2:11:32 GMT -5
You have to get a tube amp!!! Just because you are a hobyist doesn't mean you can't appreciate the sound of a great guitar through a REAL tube amp. Don't sell yourself short, you deserve the best get a tube amp and turn it up to 11. !00% agree. The biggest and best bang for buck would be to get a decent amp. The Marshall MG series are pretty poor amps Vox VT series, Fender Superchamp or Vibrochamp would provide with good sound and onboard effects There are a number of small relatively cheap 5W valve amps about Fender Champ 600, Epiphone Valve junior that will give nice tube sounds for not a a lot of money but you will need a overdrive pedal to drive the valves Don't be fooled by a 5w valve amp it will be loud - a 5w valve amp will be plenty for bedroom practice and I mean PLENTY I have multieffects units, single pedals and amp based effects and in my opinion pros and cons below AMP BASED EFFECTS: Very cheap and can be pretty good quality for the price. Not very versatile in some cases. You will soon get bored of them. You are spending money on effects rather then on the amp and you are spending money on effects you may not use. You will still end up buying pedals at some point MULTIEFFECTS PEDALS: Cheap for what you get. Most include modelling. Gives you plenty of options to experiment with if you don't really know what effects you want to use. Can suck tone (but that won't matter in an MG series amp ) You may find you spend more time messing about with the pedal then playing! Youy are paying for effects you will not use. Can be less easier to use then pedals if just using single effects without setting up patches or banks of effects. Great if you want to go straight into a PA. You will still end up buying pedals at some point SINGLE PEDALS: Expensive but will give you a better sound and a more specific sound then a multieffects. May work out cheaper if you only want a couple of effects as you won't be paying for effects you don't use. If you get bored of your pedals you can trade them. You can get some cheap pedals which sound OK Danelectro and Behringer for example. Many people slate Behringer but I have a couple of pedals which sound brilliant. As a starting point get a decent amp - most people on here will say valve amps - myself included - but BB King uses Solid State amps and his tone is pretty good. ;D I would say get a Vox VTxx or a Fender Super / Vibrochamp. You will get a decent amp and few effects to play with for not alot of money. Both amps will take pedals pretty well so you can still expand on them later. Obviously this is only my opinion Oh yeah remember the wise adage "Buy Cheap Buy Twice"
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Post by lesblues on Apr 9, 2010 2:58:51 GMT -5
Hi Colchar, Here's my tuppence worth. I started out with a Vox valvetronix with the built in effects and was really happy with it I thought it sounded brilliant and the effects were cool. As HJ says though I did find that I only really used a couple of the effects and never bothered with about 90% of them. The other major problem with amps wich have built in effects is that you can't always run the 2 effects you want to use at the same time. I recently bought a Vox seperate cabinet and small (4 watt) valve amp. The amp also has a built in attentuator so that you can reduce the output to 1 or 1/4 watts. This is as loud as my solid state vox which boasts a whopping 15 watts . My point is that the vox valve amp is quiet enough for home playing but offers a much better sound, imo, than the solid state. Also because of the attentuator you can play at relatively low volume but still achieve some very nice break up. I would suggest that if you are thinking of buying a new amp anyway, you should take the opportunity to look at the available smaller valve amps. Most of them, including the Vox I have come in a combo option too if you don't fancy the seperates. Regarding your question about effects pedals I would definitley opt for seperate pedals over built in effects. I have never used a multi effects box. However imo there is no comparison between individual pedals and built in effects. The difference in sound quality is amazing and individual pedals offer far greater versatility, both by using the controls available on each pedal and because you can choose which pedals to use in conjunction with any other pedal on your board. I don't use very expensive boutique pedals, far from it. I'm a hobyist player too. I currently have a mixture of Boss, Danelectro and Line6 pedals. Hope this helps. The main thing is to have fun
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nashvegas
Junior Member
American Standard 3 tone
Posts: 50
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Post by nashvegas on Apr 9, 2010 7:09:29 GMT -5
I have a pedal board with several nice effects and a Champ 600, etc.
THEN I discovered by Fender Vibro Champ XD. Tube amp. With built in effects. Low price. SOUND GREAT! No hum, that I can detect.
Check it out. I wish I had discovered it a long time ago.
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Post by Happy Jack on Apr 9, 2010 8:10:52 GMT -5
I have a pedal board with several nice effects and a Champ 600, etc. THEN I discovered by Fender Vibro Champ XD. Tube amp. With built in effects. Low price. SOUND GREAT! No hum, that I can detect. Check it out. I wish I had discovered it a long time ago. Got to agree on this - I have a Super Champ which is pretty much the same and it is a fantasic amp. Great tone and great effects. I also agree with Lesblues comments - but unless you know what effects you want you don't know what to buy - hence in built effects or multieffects can help you in your choice
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Post by colchar on Apr 9, 2010 13:53:54 GMT -5
Well this seems to be a bigger decision than I had originally anticipated - thanks to all those with more experience for their opinions as they will definitely help me to make a more informed decision than I would have made by myself. So it looks like the first thing I have to do is to get a new amp. I will check the models recommended here but will also see what I might be able to find from Marshall as I have always loved them and would prefer, if possible, to buy another Marshall. Maybe I'll have to buy used instead of new as I expect that Marshall tube amps will be rather expensive. Maybe I'll look at any hybrid amps Marshall makes so that I can pay a little less but still get a higher quality amp. If I can't find a Marshall in my price range (as a poor grad student that range isn't exactly huge ) I will buy one of the other amps recommended here. As for effects, I think I will buy a multi-effect unit so that I can play around with it in order to discover which effects I like and will use. They can usually be found fairly cheap on Craigslist, ebay, etc. so it shouldn't cost me too much money. Once I've figured out which effects I like and will use, I will get rid of the multi-effects unit and will buy individual pedals. Thanks again to everyone for their advice - and further comments/advice are always welcome!
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Post by gasman on Apr 9, 2010 14:46:31 GMT -5
As for effects, I think I will buy a multi-effect unit so that I can play around with it in order to discover which effects I like and will use. They can usually be found fairly cheap on Craigslist, ebay, etc. so it shouldn't cost me too much money. Once I've figured out which effects I like and will use, I will get rid of the multi-effects unit and will buy individual pedals. I think you're on the right track here. With a multi-effects unit, you can experiment with different effects before you buy individual pedals. Like I said, I only have one of these (not counting my distortion pedal), and that's all I need. Another reason I don't have individual pedals (besides not being into effects that much), is because I hate hooking all sorts of cables up everytime I want to play. I just like to plug into my amp and play. If you do eventually end up getting individual pedals, you might think of getting a pedal board set up. There is a thread on here about members' pedal boards, so you might want to check it out at some point. Oh, and you're welcome on the advice, that's what we're here for. Everyone here likes to help, so if we can help, we will.
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wully
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by wully on Apr 9, 2010 16:07:50 GMT -5
Hmmm, lots of things to consider here... I fear for my wallet. I wish I'd found this forum before I started buying gear.
I spent my money ( a lot more than I should have..) on my guitar and bought a Roland Cube 30 as it got a good write up.. I hardly mess around with the settings on it now I've found a sound I like and to be honest don't give the amp a lot of thought.
(I do still get a big, pleasant kick every single time I pick up my guitar so I know that was money well spent. )
Once I get myself to a decent level with my playing - not anytime soon- I will treat myself to a better amp but next on the gear list is a loop station...
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Post by colchar on Apr 9, 2010 17:45:15 GMT -5
I hardly mess around with the settings on it now I've found a sound I like and to be honest don't give the amp a lot of thought. That's the most important thing isn't it? Finding a tone/sound that you personally like is what its all about! Really cool that you've found one that you are happy with right now. That's awesome and matters - a lot. I find that the more you like your guitar and like your amp/sound/tone/whatever the more likely you are to pick it up and play and thus improve. I'm at the same stage as you and would be stuck in a rut were it not for a recent purchase of a new guitar. I absolutely love my new one and cannot put it down (there is a thread about on the board somewhere). I find that loving my guitar makes me more willing to practice than I would otherwise be and even when I am feeling frustrated and like I am making no progress I still want to pick it up and play. An attitude like that can only help my development as a player and yours (getting a pleasant kick whenever you pick it up) will serve you well too. I am not anywhere near a decent level of playing yet but, as I mentioned above, liking your tone/sound/whatever plays a big role in, as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, getting your juices going so I figure I might as well start getting better equipment now so that I can grow into it and so that it inspires me to play and learn.
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wully
Full Member
Posts: 119
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Post by wully on Apr 10, 2010 15:21:20 GMT -5
I'm reading this really good book just now called 'Outliers' basically about success. One part of it states that to be really good at something- anything- be it golf, playing a musical instument or whatever is going to take 10,000 hours of practice. That works out at over 5 years of full on 37.5 hour weeks... So I know I'm never going to be really good at playing my guitar.
I do know that no matter how (relatively) good I get, I'm going to enjoy getting there.
I feel my Tele calling....
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