What is your coolest, most useful piece of gear for under $200

[gatorbrit]

So what is it? For me, I'd have to say its my little Vox 15 Watt valvetronix amp.

 

[kidsmoke]

don't have a lot of toys, but my Cube 30X is pretty useful and it cost me less than 200, but my first reaction was to say my RC-2 loop station

 

[Tig]

Hard to choose among these 3 pedals...
BYOC Boost/OD-2, BYOC Mouse 2.0 Distortion, MXR Carbon Copy

To make up for my indecision, I'll mention my most useful gear for under $20... The Hercules Guitar Auto Hanger:

 

[gatorbrit]

To make up for my indecision, I'l mention my most useful gear for under $20... The Hercules Guitar Auto Hanger:

I love these guitar hangers, although I don't have the locking ones - I need to look into those - I could use another.

 

[Tig]

I love these guitar hangers, although I don't have the locking ones - I need to look into those - I could use another.

I love the security and ease of use.

 

[kidsmoke]

I love the security and ease of use.

I can only assume there is no Washburn headstock in that photo because it is never at rest....

I've got a Hercules floor stand with that same mechanism. Love it!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Hmm. I was going to say either my Looper (which I do not use enough) or my ZYS Mk. II. and low and behold, a ZYS, MK.II is for sale used now!

If I was not limited to my own gear, I might say my son's Peavey Vypyr 30. Pretty darned useful and sounds darned good for under $200 new.

 

[Tig]

I can only assume there is no Washburn headstock in that photo because it is never at rest....

I've got a Hercules floor stand with that same mechanism. Love it!

You are good!
The Washburn is in the floor stand, plugged in and ready for close combat, as it should be. :R

 

[Eric]

Hmm...lots of options here. I'd say the one that has served me the best and that I've wrung the most use out of would be my Tech 21 Sansamp GT2. Other pieces of gear are neater or more novel or newer or possibly more versatile or whatever, but I use that little pedal a ton. Definitely worth the $90 I spent on it.

 

[ZMAN]

IF you went a little higher say 225 I would say my Super Champ XD. Can't say enough about this amp.
I guess I am so high on it because I was looking or an amp to fill a specific set of needs and it nails every thing I wanted. Your results may vary.

 

[vroomery]

Absolutely without question my BYOC OD2

 

[bcdon]

Useful? Under 200 bones? These are indispensable

 

[poodlesrule]

Useful? Under 200 bones? These are indispensable

bcdon post loaded very slow, and I was half-awake... :dude
"Super Slinky" did not help!

(Hint: it's visual!)

 

[hubberjub]

I bought a Tech 21 Power Engine this summer for $175. That was definitely a worthwhile investment. It made my pedal steel setup much easier.

 

[gatorbrit]

IF you went a little higher say 225 I would say my Super Champ XD. Can't say enough about this amp.
I guess I am so high on it because I was looking or an amp to fill a specific set of needs and it nails every thing I wanted. Your results may vary.

That's a great price for a nice little tube amp. I haven't heard much about those though

 

[aeolian]

I have a number of things under $200, but none that I find indispensable. On the other hand, the Fostex MR8 for $250 is the coolest gadget I have allowing me to make recordings that have excellent sound quality. The playing quality, though, is subject to my abilities.

 

[Robert]

I guess I will say strings.

Or the Squier '51, which I stupidly sold.

 

[gatorbrit]

I guess I will say strings.

Or the Squier '51, which I stupidly sold.

That would be $200 in 1951 dollars I'm guessing!!

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZMAN
IF you went a little higher say 225 I would say my Super Champ XD. Can't say enough about this amp.
I guess I am so high on it because I was looking or an amp to fill a specific set of needs and it nails every thing I wanted. Your results may vary.

That's a great price for a nice little tube amp. I haven't heard much about those though

I found my SC XD for $175, like new, in a local pawn. Iirc I paid another $15 for a new footswitch (they don't come with one, but get one).

I have ZERO reservations in unconditionally recommending this thing. I have used it every Sunday in church, and in my side "hippie" band that doesn't use a full drum kit. In those situations, I line or mic to PA to give it a little more fullness, but it's not absolutely necessary to do so. Further, I've used it in louder settings with full kits by essentially using it as a close stage monitor, then lining it out to a bigger tube amp in the backline, as in this photo below. The little SC XD is way over on the right, and a bigger Sunn 2x12 rig (60W '60's tube head into a DIY open-back 2x12 cab) is in the backline behind me:

In the "pocket change" category, this:

This thing is invaluable to me. Works for guitar and other instruments, and for electrics or acoustics. And since it uses the vibrations in the headstock, your electric instrument can be tuned with the volume down. Really great product. I bought it after going to an acoustic-oriented show and seeing every person onstage all night who played an acoustic-electric or acoustic-mic'd stringed instrument using one.

 

[NWBasser]

QUOTE]

Nice Brian, just cut out the bass player..oke

 

[deeaa]

Right now, easy question:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Nice Brian, just cut out the bass player..oke

Haha, blame my daughter, she took the pic. Obviously I didn't (as I'm IN it).

But just for you:

Btw, Richard, our bassist, played bass and toured with Marty Balin from Jefferson Starship/Airplane.

 

[deeaa]

But, aside that...my AKG414. Yes I know it's more like $700 value but I bought it for like 30. And another one is Marshall Jackhammer. Will never let that one go, been my go-to OD for years and whenever I think I have a better sound with something and A/B the Jack always comes at least on par. Like right now I got the Biyang tube OD and it does sound pretty kewl and tubey but when I A/B it with the Jackhammer I can't seriously notice any real difference except maybe the leads have a bit more tubey bell-like chime with the real tube drive.

 

[Jimi75]

Must be my Line6 Toneport UX1. It's a great recording unit with great software.

 

[Spudman]

V Picks and the Loop Station for me. I can't think of any one piece of gear that's done more for my timing, phrasing and creativity than the looper. No I didn't pay retail. That would put it over the $200 limit.

 

[markb]

Snark clip on tuner, no question.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=snark+tuner&x=0&y=0

 

[Eric]

Snark clip on tuner, no question.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=snark+tuner&x=0&y=0

I asked for one of these for Christmas, so that's good to hear!

What's the difference between the blue and black one? It looks like the red one is for all pitch ranges, but I'm not sure of the difference between the other two.

 

[kidsmoke]

Snark clip on tuner, no question.

curious, have you used other clip-on's previously? I have and I'venot found one I completely pleased with, but it sounds like you have!

 

[gatorbrit]

Must be my Line6 Toneport UX1. It's a great recording unit with great software.

I've actually still got my old guitarport - I think I got one of the very first ones! Its great for quick and easy playing with the computer.

I did mess with the Rifftracker software for a while, but frankly I've never found anything I recorded very inspiring!

 

[marnold]

There's precisely nothing else like it!

I mainly use it with the switches set as in the picture (TS-808 settings) with the tone and gain at about 8:00 and the level just past noon. It really makes my distorted tones through my Jet City more, well, rawk. I like the mid-boost and compression it gives, plus it keeps the repeats from my delay pedal from sounding clean.