I thought it might be Maya, but just had to through it out there.
Besides, running through various gear over the years is part of the fun of elec. guitar I think.
Iāll make one final suggestion though.
While Iāve not tried one, the Fender vibro champ reverb caught my eye after I got the princeton. Only somewhat cheaper (but not by a lot, still very expensive imho), but the lower wattage I will say has me kinda intrigued. The lower wattage would be some less loud. I think I could like that amp as once in a while I do like to get the natural tube breakup and the champ Iād guess would do that at lower vol. than the princeton. Just my one last thought for a amp that donāt meet your stated needs.
I do hope ya find a amp that suits your needs.
Ya got 79 comments on many possibilities.
This day and age, there is likely something that fits your needs near perfect Iād guess.
Have fun with your search and Iāll guess that where ever you land will be just what ya need.
Iāve been following your thread and had procrastinated about posting as what I had to say I didnāt think was what you were looking for. But, I just couldnāt help myself when Alan @oztelemann posted about it never ends. And I agreed with that.
Just keep in mind, sometimes, less āisā more.
Itās the conclusion Iāve come to for the sounds I want to make.
Food for thought.
Iām gonna add my own two cents as well. I have Mustang LT25 and itās a great home amp. It wonāt be your one and only amp, because it has limitations, but for that stage it ticks all the boxes, at least in my list. It has a lot of effects and premade tones, more than enough. It sounds good and it looks good imo (may not be important for you though). But it doesnāt have a ton of different features which I believe is a good thing, because it distracts more than helps. So LT25 is a solid choice and the price is very reasonable.
I also ordered Spark MINI, because I need a little amp, but it hasnāt arrived yet, so I have nothing to say about it.
I honestly think this is going to be my choice. Going to pick up this week - my Strat will be here this Sunday and the LT25 ticks off all the boxes for now.
Iām thinking ya made a wise choice Maya.
I got a friend that went though many amps and guitars. The mustang is where he landed and he sold everything else.
The mustang fits his needs.
Bet your near beside yourself with the wait.
Yer gonna have too much fun when it gets there.
Yes, agree 100%. Just had a look at the LT25 and it looks to be a perfect amp for a beginner. You can play with the presets and work out what effects you like/need. A great starting point.
This might be my next amp when I upgrade from my little Vox. I also like you donāt need a phone app to manage it.
The app may be handy, but I also prefer to have the full control within the amp. However you can connect it to the PC and adjust precets with Fender Tone app that also has more premade ones.
Youāre right it does and I am torn. I love that it has an effects loop and everything else about this amp. However, it is $300 (twice as much as the Fender LT25), larger in my small space, and twice as heavy as the LT25.
Maybe a Black Friday deal will materialize in the next couple of days swaying my decision in the Orange direction.
The Orange Crush 35RT is a standard amp but itās has Analogue circuitry, this means that it behaves very similar to a valve amp. Hereās a link to the manual:
Donāt let its output put you off, a 5W valve amp would be just as loud!
The other reason I suggested it is because you donāt need all of the effects most of the modelling amps have, and theyāre a bit inflexible about how they can be arranged in the signal chain on lower end models, this can sometimes mean that you donāt get the sound quite right that you want. Finally the biggest reason is that you probably wonāt need to get a different amp at a later date, these days you can get some very decent inexpensive effects pedals, and buy them as and when you need them.
I think itās important to note that a lot of these decisions will depend on the sort of music you ultimately want to play. At this stage you donāt even have an electric guitar, so itās very early days. Thatās why I have been suggesting you go cheap and simple until you get a feel for where you are going with it.
In my case, I started my journey with a Squier and the small Vox Pathfinder 10. But someone had also given me an old Digitech multi-effects pedal so I was able to play with all the delays and tremolos and distortions and wah-wahs and so on. I quickly realised I wasnāt into that sound and all I wanted was a bit of compression and reverb. So I bought a reverb pedal and a basic compression pedal, and a tuner. I mostly play with headphones and the Vox is still doing me fine.
Exactly. But I think itās better to have those options rather then not. You can find a couple of presets that sound good and just use them without tweaking any settings while leaving a room for more tones if needed.
Yep, fair point. I guess I needed that multi-effects pedal so that I could work out that I didnāt need it.
Iāve enjoyed compiling my pedal board though and it certainly has a more āpersonalā feel to it. For example, I read in a Justin newsletter a while back that a seller in Kyiv was still open for business so I resolved to buy something from him as a way to send some money to Ukraine. That is where my MXR reverb pedal came from and I love it.
To add, a modelling amp tries to model the sounds of other amps using digital emulation, hence the term āmodellingā.
They usually also include modelling of effects pedals. The Katana, for instance, has the equivalent of about 65 effect pedals (things like vibrato, reverb and delay) built in. Amps like the Fender Mustang and Line 6 Catalyst are similar.
Some people love this, others donāt want it.
The reason an effects loop is useful in an amp like the Katana is if you want to use the onboard effects with a looper. This normally requires the looper to be wired after the effects, which is where the effect loop is (at least it is on the Katana).
With a standard, analogue amp, you donāt have all the built in effects (sometimes reverb or vibrato but usually thatās all) so the need for an effect loop is diminished.
Hi Maya, fellow Grade 2 beginner here. I know far less about amps than you, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Personalities also come into play - I like to focus on a few specific things at one time without a lot of distractions - and we may be different! With that disclaimer out of the way:
I got my first electric about a year ago. Just researching and selecting the guitar was fraught for me, though much of that was due to lingering supply chain issues due to COVID. I decided early on that my primary current goal is to become proficient at playing guitar. For me, that means forming chords, making changes, learning technique, playing songs and riffs, studying theory and rhythm, that sort of thing. With that in mind, I decided to use the simplest amp at my disposal (in my case, my husbandsās older Yamaha THR-10.) I set it on Clean and play. I will play around with the few settings on this amp, and certainly will buy a fancier amp at some point, but right now I want to put my energy into learning to play. There is much advice aimed at beginners in other threads on this forum that suggests just that.
Iām excited to follow your journey, whatever path you take!
