In your position I would definitely consider a Kemper profiler Stage, it will do anything you want and more. There are profiles for more or less anything that you are likely to need from anything to squeaky clean glassy sounding cleans to absolutely wild high gain metal and anything in between. It can be coupled with either their powered speaker system, an amplifier of your choice or through a PA system.
Then you could spend the rest on anything you want!
For what it can do this is an interesting interview to watch! https://youtu.be/kMPWxinxmoI
I had considered one of those or one of the competitors in that space, but in the end, a desire for simplicity won out for now.
I ended up choosing a used Fender Blues Jr. IV for an even smaller chunk of change. The sound is a huge improvement over what I had and with a LOT less fiddling to get there (as compared to my previous amp where I fiddled and fiddled and fiddled and got close, but never got quite what I wanted). Most importantly, it sounds better at the lower volumes I tend to play at and has the ability to adjust even quieter. I played my old amp at the absolute lowest volume it could put out. The volume knob went lower, but there was a sharp cutoff where it went totally silent.
One of those is still an option down the line, of course. But I definitely have what I want for now. And I ended up using the rest of it to put towards a completely new HVAC system in my house a little sooner than planned (completed yesterday morning) to fix a lot of problems the builder left behind. Hoping to see a big drop in my electric bill.
Sensible choice, much as I like expensive amps I had to think about what I was using it for. I have a 5W tube amp that attenuates to 1W and 0.1W so I can set everything up full and still get a nice saturated sound through a Harley Benton 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion Greenbacks. At 5W it would blow the windows out
But my main source of fun is a Sonicake Matribox multi FX that is itās own interface so it goes into GarageBand on my iPad and gets used for all sorts of stuff. These days it almost makes my Amps redundant!
This is the result of something fairly recent - https://youtu.be/WtHbR1mwoBM
I only hope to get that good. Such a nice track you shared there.
Well after I started this thread, I learned of another boutique amp builder in town who makes amps that are less than half the price of the one I shared in my first post. Still over 2x what I spent on that Blues Jr. but it looks like those amps are built around the entire idea of using some kind of pedalboard (or completely clean). Thereās only a couple knobs on them. Want EQ adjustments? You need to use a pedal for that. Want reverb? Pedal. Distortion? Pedal.
But they do sound really good. I was briefly tempted. But the builder was phasing out his smaller model (no discounts, though) and finding one to try out first was not going to be easy. His replacement for that smaller model isnāt quite done yet, as far as I can tell. Most recently, looks like heās been focusing on getting these in the hands of reviewers to drum up some attention. Looks like you can order one now, but local pickup isnāt an option yet?
Thanks, yes that was a fun track to create, it was more complicated than I originally intended, I had to export part of it and bring it back in via midi so I could add to it!
That 15W amp is one to die for, absolutely stunning! Itās got that nicely saturated break up that sounds so smooth - but itās loud! A 15W amp like that with a 12ā speaker will move a lot of air, it would blow your windows out!
Iām pretty sure the Blues Jr. amp could blow my windows out if I pushed it. The thing that concerned me about the Marla amp, especially after seeing how the Blues Jr. with a master volume could sound nice at lower volumes, is that it only had a single volume knob and that Iād definitely want to try it out and see how it performed with the volume down low.
My wife and I were chatting a bit about a little gig she played with her uke club on āPlay Music on the Porch Dayā recently. Her uke club was playing at a brew pub that was in an old theater from the 50ās. They kept all the seating, the stage, and the screen so they could be an event space. It was a pretty substantial space. Sheās played in spaces almost as big, but which had sound systems she could use and didnāt need to rely on anyoneās personal kit. This place is probably the biggest space sheāll ever play in that doesnāt have an existing sound system for her to plug into.
Most of the time, her uke club was just having a group jam, projecting their songs onto the screen, and it didnāt matter how loud anyone was. But they had a stretch of time where they offered space for individual and small group performances. The venue wasnāt really offering their own sound system, so the group mostly relied on its own sound system (some kind of small PA) that they use for their usual small performances at farmerās markets and such. It was NOT up to the task of the space.
This was really obvious when one guy brought his own Yamaha THR amp that did a MUCH better job. I donāt know which one it was, but that shape is pretty distinctive.
It prompted some discussion about whether her little acoustic amp would be better than the groupās PA (it probably wouldnāt - we got that one with smaller spaces in mind) or whether the Blues Jr. would (it most certainly could).
the one she has is for even smaller ukulele festival type venues. Itās the little 10w Fender.
Sheās been paying attention to a lot of the smaller acoustic acts we see around town and has noticed that most of them bring their own entire sound setup with them. Mixing board, PA, microphones, all of it. If she gets into doing her own shows, thatās probably where she will end up going for live stuff. For now, she mostly just does open mics where that gear is all provided by the host.
the smaller electric bands we go see typically use a combination of amps (for instruments) and a PA (for the mics) and the Blues Jr. can handle that sort of thing. The Blues Jr. seems to sound a LOT better with an acoustic instrument plugged in than my old solid-state Fender Champion, so sheāll probably use that in a pinch.
Iām personally a good bit farther away from doing any kinds of live performances - even open mics. And the first time I do one of those, it wonāt be solo - Iāll be performing with her so she can handle the singing.
I theoretically do have access to $4k for guitar stuff and I would buyā¦
nothing, because I already have a bass, an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar Iām attached to, a vintage synthesiser and a (free) DAW with (free) drum kit plug-in, and (free) guitar effects plug-in. I also have the (free) BBC Orchestra plug-in, which is utterly excellent, and various other plug-ins.
If I had no option but to spend the money, Iād maybe buy:
A Peterson strobe tuner, because Iāve got interested in guitar set-up recently
An Eventide harmoniser, because I fantasised about having one when they first came out
A Shure SM57, with stand, for adding vocals one day
I have no intention of performing again, but were I to do so, it would probably be with a modeller and FRFR cab. I cannot cite specific models.
