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What's a good first amp

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kidsmoke

kidsmoke

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I've got a freind who needs an amp. Here's the story.
She's been playing acoustic guitar for several years, plays piano, sings, even does open mic's etc. Has a beautiful solid wood Takamine AE that she uses.

Well, yesterday she took the plunge and went to the darkside, and bought my newest Idol from me. As you know from other threads, this is a great LP style guitar with Duncan SH-1 '59 neck and a TB-11 CustomCustom bridge p'up.

She has no amp, and asked what she should get. Another guitarist friend told her to pick up a BJr. Certainly, an excellent amp, and she can afford one. But for someone with NO electric guitar experience, but who isn't a beginner guitarist, I wonder if a good quality modeling amp (Vox, Roland) isn't a better place to start. It allows her to explore a broader sonic spectrum without huge investment, then, after finding what direction she may want to go, she can spend the money on a high end amp and pedals for that flavor.

What's your opinion?
 
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Tio Kimo said:
I wonder if a good quality modeling amp (Vox, Roland) isn't a better place to start. It allows her to explore a broader sonic spectrum without huge investment, then, after finding what direction she may want to go, she can spend the money on a high end amp and pedals for that flavor.

What's your opinion?
Click to expand...
I agree. I have a Cube 30X, and really enjoy experimenting with the models and effects, which is way more fun than my previous non-modeling, no-effects amp.
 
Tio Kimo said:
I've got a freind who needs an amp. Here's the story.
She's been playing acoustic guitar for several years, plays piano, sings, even does open mic's etc. Has a beautiful solid wood Takamine AE that she uses.

Well, yesterday she took the plunge and went to the darkside, and bought my newest Idol from me. As you know from other threads, this is a great LP style guitar with Duncan SH-1 '59 neck and a TB-11 CustomCustom bridge p'up.

She has no amp, and asked what she should get. Another guitarist friend told her to pick up a BJr. Certainly, an excellent amp, and she can afford one. But for someone with NO electric guitar experience, but who isn't a beginner guitarist, I wonder if a good quality modeling amp (Vox, Roland) isn't a better place to start. It allows her to explore a broader sonic spectrum without huge investment, then, after finding what direction she may want to go, she can spend the money on a high end amp and pedals for that flavor.

What's your opinion?
Click to expand...

I think you're on the right track with modelling amps. They have a wide variety of sounds on tap, and can be useful if a player doesn't know what kind of sound he/she likes yet.

My vote would be for the Roland Cube series. The Cube 30x is a nice starter amp, although my personal preference would be the Cube 80x because it has a 12" speaker.

Keep in mind that solid state amps don't sound better if you crank them up like tube amps do, so with solid state you want more power to give you head room. You don't want the amp to clip at all.

In fact, I would recommend against a tube amp as a first amp just because they require maintenance, i.e., changing tubes, etc.
 
Absolutely the way to go, T.

Heywood's suggested Roland Cube is a good one, particularly for the reason Tung points out to go S/S, and as you're thinking Roland/Vox. I've sampled but not had a Vox or 3, but I had a Cube 30 for a while, but now I have a MicroCube. That and a Boss ME-50 or similar mult-Fx unit can cover a ton of ground with minimal need for a rocket science setup.

Now that she has the option to express herself thru an amp not only with the Tak but with an excellent 'dark side' instro, less limited than the average LP-type with the Idol's VCC allowing her to explore a range of humbucker/singe coil pickup settings... what's her primary use/need?

Home amusement, practice? Maybe jamming with a friend(s) at home or at get-togethers? Home or outside Studio Recording? Songwriting Tool?

Or is playing out more perhaps a bit more than occasional open mics in the cards? Steadier gig? Larger than cafe or sub-100 seat bar venues?

The Micro is fine for just noodling around the house, and shines as a home recording tool, but probably too limited for playing out. The C-30 fits well with all of the above applications. If bigger venues might happen, she might consider going to a C-60. With either of the latter ones, or with any such amp, definitely go with the dual footswitch option for simplicity's sake.

But if the Blues Jr has a potent appeal, then to avoid the hassle and distraction of tube amp maintenance, the SuperChamp SD things has been raved about a bunch here. I've never had a chance to plug into 1, but it seems like a contender to consider.
 
tunghaichuan said:
My vote would be for the Roland Cube series. The Cube 30x is a nice starter amp, although my personal preference would be the Cube 80x because it has a 12" speaker.
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I've always been a fan of Roland products, and the Cube X series amps are a great bang for the buck. Tung is right about the 80x being a step above the others with its 12" speaker, but the 30x is no slouch for a first, or practice amp.
 
wingsdad said:
But if the Blues Jr has a potent appeal, then to avoid the hassle and distraction of tube amp maintenance, the SuperChamp SD things has been raved about a bunch here. I've never had a chance to plug into 1, but it seems like a contender to consider.
Click to expand...
In reading this thread, I had almost forgotten about the SuperChamp XD. I've never played one, nor have I played a Roland, but from what I know (read: online opinions), the SCXD might have an edge.

I still remember getting into electric guitar, and if I was guiding myself through it again, I'd probably opt for a good modeling amp or comparable like Roland, SCXD, Spider IV (hey, reviews of them are good!), Vox VT series and/or Tech 21.

See which one she gets the hang of first and is easiest to get a good tone out of. In my experience, potential is not as important as usability in the beginning stages. You'd never want to give someone a Boss GT-10 or Mesa Boogie amp if they were just starting out, because they take so long to tweak.

Keep us updated, if you don't mind, and good luck!
 
If the Fender SCXD is too much to spend, I'd consider the new Fender Mustang 1 for $100 or maybe a Vox VT15.
Add $100 for the Mustang 2 or VT30.

EDIT: Missed the part about expenses not being an issue, so my vote would be the Fender SCXD for a cool first amph.
 
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Thank for the feedback. I myself have a RC30X, and use it all the time, great little amp, and the reason I suggested it to her. I appreciate the broader range of exposure here, I know Vox and Fender, Crate and others make amps in this category, but I've not played many. Can't see a small SS ampo being much better, especially when you consider the JC (clean) channel. It is simply awesome.

But hold the press, that 40XL has a f*#&@ng LOOPER ON BOARD?!?!?!
AND it costs 60 bucks LESS than the 30X?!?!?:thwap

That's amazing. I had told her to consider a looper, as I found it a tremendous help when I transitioned to electric. The Boss loopers are great, and made by Roland. If it uses that same technology, all for 200??? Insane.

Keep it coming. Other suggestions are welcome.
 
Eric said:
Keep us updated, if you don't mind, and good luck!
Click to expand...

I will! And I've sent her the link to this thread, so she may be lurking before long. Except, I think she actually works when she's at her desk, instead of surfing all the links I send her.....poor thing.
 
Tio Kimo said:
I will! And I've sent her the link to this thread, so she may be lurking before long. Except, I think she actually works when she's at her desk, instead of surfing all the links I send her.....poor thing.
Click to expand...
She has some sort of mental condition, I take it?? ;) Godspeed, new electric guitaress!
 
Yeah, I just learned about the 40XL a few days ago, and at $199 it's a frickin bargain. I have a feeling that the other brands will have to lower their prices to compete. It looks like SS guitar amps are going the way of other consumer electronics with more features and ever-lower prices.

Edit: The 40 appears to be the replacement for the 30. Kewl!
 
The Cube would be a great beginner choice. Not only a wide range of amps and effects but, more importantly, a transparent interface. No menus, no patches, no red/green voicing variations, no software editing, just knobs and switches. Plug and play.
 
+1 on the Super Champ XD. Light and easy to carry, one cord and probably the best modelling of any amp I have heard. I own most of the amps that it is modelling and did some extensive A/B Testing and it sounds as good as 2500 bucks worth of amps and pedals. 299 and you can get it in Blonde from GC.
 
The Super Champ XD hands down. The absolute best tone, versatility, features and bang for buck in that price range.
 
New guy here, so ignore me at will, but I am going to humbly disagree with all of the modelling amp sentiment here. Not that there's anything wrong with a modelling amp, but I always recommend that people start out with a solid, basic clean setup and learn to play with that and grow from there.

One thing that a lot of people who are new to electric guitar seem to do is lean on their equipment. If you can get a great sound by pushing a button, you are less likely to learn about picking dynamics and using your guitar and amp volume and tone controls to get the sound you want. For me, I know it was years before I ever touched my guitar's volume knob - I was playing Boss digital modelling rigs and almost any sound I wanted was at my disposal. Plug me into a clean amp, though, and all of my inadequacies as a player shone through. Once you have the skills though, you can make these digital toys sound fantastic!

Anyway - my vote would be a good tube amp - the Blues Junior is a way to go, and there are other options as well (in that price range a used Traynor YCV-40 is a really nice option). She sounds like she's already a musician who likely understands tone and whatnot so once she's settled in she can thing about changing the speaker, adding effects, or whatnot and developing her own tone .
 
I almost went the modeling route for my first amph. In fact, the Vox AD series is what brought me here. But I ended up with a used Peavey Classic 30 (which I still would take over a Blues Jr.) as my first, after listening to a lot of clips (StingX's were key, among others), and have been extremely happy with my choice. I do enjoy plugging into my son's Peavey Vypyr modeler, which has a looper if you buy the pedal too. And it is a very good first amph for him, but I am quite happy with my C-30 as my first.
 
Yep they do. I got to play though one and next to one while I was playing through my c-30 a year or two ago. The Jr. was nice, but I thought I liked mine just as well and it was cheaper. It was more a subtle difference in flavor thing.
 
The question was, "what's a good first amp", and I think all of the suggestions are viable ones. I think we all can agree that there are many good choices, perhaps too many. Since this person is already a guitar player, she may have some idea which type (modeling vs non-modeling) she may prefer (I won't get into the tube vs SS argument). I do maintain that for a hobbyist who doesn't want the complexity of an amp and multiple pedals, a modeling amp is more fun, lessening the probability of getting bored with it vs.a one-trick amp.
 
Yeah, I sure didn't mean to get into a discussion of what economical tube amph or whatever. My only point in this thread is that I was a newb a couple years back, considered the modelers, and for me, chose the tubes. My son on the other hand really enjoys his modeling amph. Two good ways to go depending on what she wants.
 
I would never argue AGAINST a good tube amp, but my 4-yr-old Vox AD30VT has been an awesome first amp for me. I am forever playing around with the amp models, though don't use the onboard affects much since I got the M13.

A buddy of mine who plays out professionally has borrowed it for gigs several times, and he LOVES this amp. Small as it is, it has plenty of power for their application, it he said it plays like a $500 amp (though I did replace the stock speaker with a nice Celestion, so that makes a difference).
 
Pedalbuilder, I think I missed you when joining, so welcome aboard. Glad to have your input.

I hear what you're saying about learning with clean tones and just focusing on skill, technique and the like. I guess my thought was that for someone who is a musician, playing out regularly, and is now adding electric to their "pallet", maybe being able to explore a wide range of tones without a needing lots of gear would be a benefit.

One thing I love about my Roland is the JC120 clean channel, which is just amazing with the 59 neck in my Idol. And as you say, lays bare my imperfections.

Where this isn't a 13 year old who's getting it as a gift to "see if it'll take", the notion of noodling with all the various tones until they're bored isn't a concern. I Imagine that she'll use it to learn electric technique, then to mimic tones for certain covers as needed. After a while, it's time for upgraded gear.

and your comment about "good gear cheap" is spot on.

Yeah, I'm still not 100% which is best. There's a proJr at my school, new, for 250.00. that alone would make my mind up..
 
If you don't mind me jumping in late and asking a bunch of questions...

Will she be needing effects? Is she tech savvy? What style of music will she be playing on the electric?

Put me in for a ss amph with onboard reverb for a first amp. Simplicity is key here, until the player learns what they like / dislike about amphs.

I would suggest the following:

Peavey Bandit
Peavey Envoy
Vox AC 15 VR
Vox AC 30 VR
Tech 21 Trademark 60 1x12

Easy to maintain, have reputations for good tone, and have good cleans for learning.

Of course all the other recommendations are great, too... I just went with "simple to operate" as the overriding factor.
 
I would always recommend not to go tube with the first amph.
Most starters play a lot at home and it is important to have a good and diverse amp at home. Esepcially here in Europe, we have smaller houses and most people live in flats and you can get in severe trouble with a tube amp.

Full pleasure can be achieved with a Roland Cube, Vox AX 15/30 or a nice Line6 Spider.

A first real tube amph can be a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
 

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