Which Behringer V-tone?

[Glacies]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...M108-15W-Modeling-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=480698

or

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-VTone-GMX212-Stereo-Combo?sku=480731

I pretty much had been set on the 2x12 amp, but the thing is this:

I'm a starting guitarist, will most likely never gig, most of what I do is sit in my home office and strum around.

I want a modeling amp so I don't have to invest in pedals and I'm afraid of tubes because I don't want ot have to run them too loud at home.

 

[tunghaichuan]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...M108-15W-Modeling-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=480698

or

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-VTone-GMX212-Stereo-Combo?sku=480731

I pretty much had been set on the 2x12 amp, but the thing is this:

I'm a starting guitarist, will most likely never gig, most of what I do is sit in my home office and strum around.

I want a modeling amp so I don't have to invest in pedals and I'm afraid of tubes because I don't want ot have to run them too loud at home.

One thing that comes to mind is that 2x12" speakers is going to sound much better than one 8" speaker. I've never tried either but if I had to guess, I'd say that the smaller amp sounds boxier and "smaller."

Another thing: solid state amps generally don't sound better as you crank them up. IOW, they sound about the same at low volumes as they do at moderate volumes. This is an advantage for you as you get mostly the same tone at lower volumes for practicing at home.

With tubes, they do sound better as you crank them up and get the power tubes working. That's why all there are all the attenuator and similar circuits to get the cranked tube amp tone at low volumes.

tung

 

[mechanic]

What type of music will you be playing mostly?
I have the GMX1200H which is the head version of that 2x12 combo.
Its a very versatile amp for what I play BUT its clean setting is terrible.
If a good clean tone is what you want I wouldn't get that 2x12 combo.
There is also quite a bit of latency when switching from one channel to the other if different effects are loaded on the 2 channels.
Not a big deal when practicing at home but not a good thing in the middle of a song when playing out.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Glacies]

It seems I play a bit of everything now. Classic rock, blues/jazz and this week I've been fooling around with some reggae. I tend to focus on blues.

Thing is I'm trying to find a pretty versatile modeling amp that I can play in my office but can still take to my neigbor's garage.

 

[markb]

Have you considered a VOX AD30VT or even a Roland Cube 60? They have much simpler effects but are both well regarded for tone. They're pretty loud but sound good at lower volumes and have a much better rep than the Behringers.

 

[Glacies]

Have you considered a VOX AD30VT or even a Roland Cube 60? They have much simpler effects but are both well regarded for tone. They're pretty loud but sound good at lower volumes and have a much better rep than the Behringers.

I will take a look today when I get some downtime. Thanks.

 

[markb]

Sorry, I should have suggested the Cube 30x. They're both around $250 at MF.

 

[Duff]

Why not mention

the Fender Super Champ XD? It's a tube amp, not a bad thing, but small at 15 - 20 watts to sound good at home level and it has Quality effects built in and models about ten Fender amps plust the british and higain. Who would know better how to model Fender amps than fender. The effects are real good too.

It has a good ten inch speaker, is light enough and is very reliable and can easily be upgraded.

It costs 299 at most all the places. Well worth it and is seen by many to be superceding the Blues Jr. and Pro Jr.; as noted by many on the Fender Forum and the famous Bill M endorses it fully and has taken it under his wing and is considered the guru of the SCXD. Previously and maybe still he is the guru for the Blues Jr and Pro Jr and is super knowledgeable concerning all three of these amps. Go to the Fender Forum and read the SCXD thread, about a thousand pages long:

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=648268&offset=1585

Many of the models are set up just like the original amp and you have to adjust the volume and eq and so forth to get the vintage sound out of it. You just don't turn dials. For instance some of the models sound very quiet when you switch to them, that's because you need to turn up the volume and adjust the eq to emulate that amp. A LOT of the models are awesome if you ask me. I play that amp very often and it is really a great amp.

That's about half the price of a Blues Jr. or Pro Jr. and is acclaimed as being a super great amp.

Also, how about a Blackheart 'lil Giant combo 3/5 watt amp or stack with the small cabinet. Just get a small RP90 outstanding multipedal and set it on your desk, no pedal on this one, and tweak the great controls to get all sorts of super great models? Then you can use that multipedal with any amp you choose.

Behringer is a decent amp but these two mentioned above are great amps. I mean really great amps, as many of us know. Either one of these small tube amps will keep up with a garage jam session with room to spare.

My Blackheart 'lil Giant blows my mind when I play it thru my Epi Valve Jr little cabinet. The sound is so full and clear and satisfying. And when I hook it up to my 4 X 12 Epi So. Cal. LARGE cabinet, it sounds incredible.

The Super Champ XD however, is small and very portable and packed with super great sounds. It is a super value that I'm highly surprised hasn't jumped up in price already, as the Blackhearts have. That Fender is one incredible little amp and a joy to play thru straight up with no pedals. Plenty of models and effects built right in and very high quality as I mentioned before. It might look small next to a Hot Rod Deluxe, but it's a small price to pay for an amp that has a great Hot Rod Deluxe model in it and a great Bassman model, and so many other specific Fenderr greats of the present and past including two tweeds. I have a HRDx and it is a really great amp but it also cost around 800 dollars.

Just some ideas to think about. I've got a Behringer GM110 that I like but it only cost 98 new. For your price range there are some really great amps out there that you may find worth checking out. I wouldn't be afraid of tubes, for the stationary use and minimal transporting around you are going to be doing it won't be too hard on them. And the SCXD has only 2 tubes. Inexpensive to replace. But you get that great tube sound.

Duffy

These are a couple great amps to compare to the Behringers.

 

[Glacies]

Duff, thanks for taking the time to give me all of this information. I will look up these models. Some of them sound a little complicated so I may be asking ridiculously simple questions about how to properly run these when I finally get one.

 

[Duff]

Great

No problem with the Fender Super Champ XC, it is as simple as a regular amp with the regular controls and has two channels. So to start all you have to do is turn it on, put it on channel one and turn up the volume, far left dial.

The Blackheart Little Giant head has about five knobs, very, very simple with volume and three knobs for the treble, mid, and bass: four knobs total. Two togle switches, one for on/off and the other to switch between three and five tube watts. Three watts is louder than you will need. Then you can get the cabinet with the twelve inch, I think speaker, from either Epi's Valve Jr. cab or the Blackheart cab. Both inexpensive and great sounding and light.

You will be glad to get a good amp to start with especially if you are only going to have one amp. It is your choice completely, but I'm sure you would probably find that Fender SCXD to be one outstanding amp to have. Both are cool looking amps, especially the Blackheart. The Fender has more capabilities and is more traditional looking with a huge range of potential sounds. Something you can grow into as you develop.

We will be glad to help and if you go with the Fender, that thread I sent you has all the great help you will ever need; the Fender Forum is a good site as well, just not as good as this one, lol.

Duffy

 

[tunghaichuan]

No problem with the Fender Super Champ XC, it is as simple as a regular amp with the regular controls and has two channels. So to start all you have to do is turn it on, put it on channel one and turn up the volume, far left dial.

I liked the SCXD when I tried it out at Guitar Center a while back. I thought the models sounded pretty good as well as the FX. It is very versatile and you can get nice OD tones at low volumes.

One thing about the SCXD: it is on Fender's do not repair list. It has a five year warranty, so if anything goes wrong Fender will just give you a new one. I would not mod it or do anything to void the warranty. Those amps would be very hard, if not impossible to fix. And even if it could be fixed, it wouldn't be cheap.

If you get the SCXD I would check to make sure that even something as simple as swapping out the tubes yourself doesn't void the warranty.

The Blackheart Little Giant head has about five knobs, very, very simple with volume and three knobs for the treble, mid, and bass: four knobs total. Two togle switches, one for on/off and the other to switch between three and five tube watts. Three watts is louder than you will need. Then you can get the cabinet with the twelve inch, I think speaker, from either Epi's Valve Jr. cab or the Blackheart cab. Both inexpensive and great sounding and light.

I like my Blackheart amps, but tonally they are kind of limited. The treb/mid/bass tone stack eats up a lot of gain in the two stage/single 12AX7 preamp so it is not a gainy amp. I find the Valve Junior to have a much better cranked tone. But then again, a 5W tube amp in a small room is very loud. You'd need some type of attenuation.

The Blackheart is a good choice if you pedals for OD/distortion sounds.

You will be glad to get a good amp to start with especially if you are only going to have one amp. It is your choice completely, but I'm sure you would probably find that Fender SCXD to be one outstanding amp to have. Both are cool looking amps, especially the Blackheart. The Fender has more capabilities and is more traditional looking with a huge range of potential sounds. Something you can grow into as you develop.

We will be glad to help and if you go with the Fender, that thread I sent you has all the great help you will ever need; the Fender Forum is a good site as well, just not as good as this one, lol.

Duffy

I'd also encourage you to check out the SCXD. As much as I like the VJs and Blackhearts, the Fender is much more tonally versatile and sounds very good.

tung

 

[Duff]

Tung

Did you get my email?

Duff

 

[Glacies]

Did you get my email?

Duff

talking to tung or me?

 

[TS808]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...M108-15W-Modeling-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=480698

or

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-VTone-GMX212-Stereo-Combo?sku=480731

I pretty much had been set on the 2x12 amp, but the thing is this:

I'm a starting guitarist, will most likely never gig, most of what I do is sit in my home office and strum around.

I want a modeling amp so I don't have to invest in pedals and I'm afraid of tubes because I don't want ot have to run them too loud at home.

There are alot of different choices out there in terms of modeling amps these days. If you're going to go for the Behringer, it might also be worth it to look at the Peavey Vypyr series which is in a similar price range.

You can also probably find a used Vox AD50VT in that range, or even look for a used Line 6 Flextone.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the amps mentioned so far, and I think the build quality on the Peavey, Vox, and Line 6 amps are better than the Behringer. The biggest criticism I've seen about the Behringer is build quality...the knobs supposedly snap off pretty easy as does the input jack.

 

[Duff]

Another option not mentioned.

You know, another option that would be excellent for the office and home is the very inexpensive, 139 dollars, VOX DA5.

It has five solid state LOUD watts, but has a switch on the back to run it at 0.5 watts. 1.5 watts, or the full 5. It has a bunch of great amp models and a bunch of super great effects including autowah.

This amp is cherished by many on the Fret. It is little, has a chrome, "chromie" expanded metal type protective speaker grill, also known as a barbeque grill speaker grill, and a 6.5 inch speaker, but don't let it fool you, it's loud for what you want.

That two twelve inch speaker Behringer is going to be like mega super loud and might not sound so great at low volume or be hard to adjust to low volume.

The VOX DA5 has all kinds of connectivity and even has a microphone input with a separate volume control so you can sing along.

One of the most incredible aspects is that it runs off six C cell batteries for 30 something hours; or you can plug it into AC wall current with the included adaptor. Almost everywhere has it that carries VOX amps.

It has three way adjustable parameters for the effects, plus a separate gain knob, tone knob and master volume knob. It has a line out and a CD in. Plus it has tap tempo for reverb, tremolo, things like that where you just tap the button and it gives you the cycle rate based on the tap speed you press the button at.

It is inexpensive and highly rated.

A super choice for office, home and taking on picknics, trolling for some babes, etc. That portablity is great. Take it camping, etc.

Hope this inexpensive little gem is something you will want to consider. I imagine it would cut it in some low level garage jamming with a soft drummer. Problem is some of the drummers are Ball* to the wall types that like to slam and for that you need a big amp like the Behringer to be heard. At least around 100 solid state watts, that would be about 30 tube watts.

I use my Behringer GM110 for jam sessions with a fairly loud drummer and it is 30 solid state watts, drum room type stuff, not gig level. It puts out plenty of sound to not even have to worry and has a ten inch speaker and analog modelling and effects of quite good quality and is built expecially well for a Behringer and gets great ratings.
It costs 98 dollars at audioallies.com under musical equipment or pro sound or something, just type in Behringer on their page and you probably will find it fast. I have no affilliation with them.

This would be a great at home, garage jam amp with enough power to stand up to a controlled drummer not playing super loud. I don't imagine you will be playing with any super slammers anytime soon anyway. But some drummers only know how to play one way: LOUD. I think it comes from gigging. You have to be loud to mix with those big amps and PA's. Like Ringo used to play unmic'd when the Beatles first came out; unmic'd to huge audiences, like really huge audiences, Beatlemania, he had to hit really hard, probably had two ply drum heads like pinstripes or something.

The Ringo signature Pro Mark sticks are about two inches longer than regular sticks. Why do you suppose that is? Ringo gets underestimated. Did you know he was a star before the Beatles picked him up? A small time star but already had a lot of fans, etc., and a good band. Did you know McCartney taught John Lennon how to get better at guitar because Paul was a guitar player first and later volunteered to play bass when they needed a bass player? Harrison knew McCarthney and asked Lennon if he would like to meet him, Lennon being the band leader I guess you would ask first if you wanted to stay in the band. Lennon agreed, McCartney came over and Lennon and McCartney hit it off instantly, Lennon asked McCartney to join the band and the rest is history. So I guess we can thank Harrison for that. And now there are only Paul and Ringo and they are both "STARS", eh?, shining stars, even to this day.

Duffy, an old hippie

 

[Elijah]

I second the Behringer GM110..I own one also..beautiful clean channel (I like blues also) Also decent to record with.

 

[SuperSwede]

Why not check out the Tech 21 Trademark amphs? (The V-tones are rip-offs of those amphs).

 

[t_ross33]

You know, another option that would be excellent for the office and home is the very inexpensive, 139 dollars, VOX DA5.

It has five solid state LOUD watts, but has a switch on the back to run it at 0.5 watts. 1.5 watts, or the full 5. It has a bunch of great amp models and a bunch of super great effects including autowah.

This amp is cherished by many on the Fret. It is little, has a chrome, "chromie" expanded metal type protective speaker grill, also known as a barbeque grill speaker grill, and a 6.5 inch speaker, but don't let it fool you, it's loud for what you want.

That two twelve inch speaker Behringer is going to be like mega super loud and might not sound so great at low volume or be hard to adjust to low volume.

The VOX DA5 has all kinds of connectivity and even has a microphone input with a separate volume control so you can sing along.

One of the most incredible aspects is that it runs off six C cell batteries for 30 something hours; or you can plug it into AC wall current with the included adaptor. Almost everywhere has it that carries VOX amps.

It has three way adjustable parameters for the effects, plus a separate gain knob, tone knob and master volume knob. It has a line out and a CD in. Plus it has tap tempo for reverb, tremolo, things like that where you just tap the button and it gives you the cycle rate based on the tap speed you press the button at.

It is inexpensive and highly rated.

A super choice for office, home and taking on picknics, trolling for some babes, etc. That portablity is great. Take it camping, etc.

+1 I picked up a barely used DA5 for a bedroom/practice amp and it's a great little piece of gear.... amazed at how loud it can get. Lots of tones to play with, while not boo-teek, passable enough for practice, jams, even demo recording.