Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by robthemac »

If you want toobz: HT-5.

If you want solid-state, an old Katana will crush (get my coat etc) any of the entry-level SS amps from the big brands.
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by Danger Mouse »

Lots of Peavey Bandits floating around for your budget. They have been tweaked a it over the years, so probably the newer the better (red stripe seems popular), but still sound remarkably good. I wouldn't go as far as saying excellent, but for the money.

Edit: Jebus there's a lot of really bad reviews of the Bandit on YouTube... best I can find is Chappers being not quite as annoying as he normally is.

Last edited by Danger Mouse on Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by bender »

I like the symmetry of getting him a Peavey Rage :lol:

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by Danger Mouse »

bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 7:37 am I like the symmetry of getting him a Peavey Rage :lol:
Yeah scary to think how old the Rage and Bandits are, but of course so are we... :lol:
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by slash-ed »

bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 7:15 am
Jay wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:40 am Opsguy is selling a THR10 on TM
Cheers. I think a Katana or something like this will actually be a turn off to him. He’s not interested in exploring lots of sounds- just wants to turn on, set the gain where he wants it, and play. Too many options just makes him disinterested.

He also doesn’t want a desktop amp as it would take up valuable lego display real estate.
Last thing I'll say about Katana in this discussion, I promise!

I think that it's possible that by osmosis on the forum, you've absorbed a lot about the very in depth, tech-heavy features of the amp (the software editor, the million effects, hardcore parameter tweaking etc) but I will say that from what I've seen of the huge user base, for every person who deep dives into that side, there's equally another non-techy, set and forget type of user who has never in a million years wanted to plug their amp into a computer or tweak ad nauseam.

That's why Katana has been so hugely successful, it works on so many levels for so many different types of players.
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by jeremyb »

Fully agree you can use a katana as a normal amp without ever plugging in a PC, really easy to dial in a great sound out of the box and I tended to use mine more like a normal amp like that and wasn’t disappointed.
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by AiRdAd »

slash-ed wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:18 am
bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 7:15 am
Jay wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:40 am Opsguy is selling a THR10 on TM
Cheers. I think a Katana or something like this will actually be a turn off to him. He’s not interested in exploring lots of sounds- just wants to turn on, set the gain where he wants it, and play. Too many options just makes him disinterested.

He also doesn’t want a desktop amp as it would take up valuable lego display real estate.
Last thing I'll say about Katana in this discussion, I promise!

I think that it's possible that by osmosis on the forum, you've absorbed a lot about the very in depth, tech-heavy features of the amp (the software editor, the million effects, hardcore parameter tweaking etc) but I will say that from what I've seen of the huge user base, for every person who deep dives into that side, there's equally another non-techy, set and forget type of user who has never in a million years wanted to plug their amp into a computer or tweak ad nauseam.

That's why Katana has been so hugely successful, it works on so many levels for so many different types of players.
I agree Ed - it can be as simple as you want it to be :-)
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by griff »

Probably the odd one out here, but I still recommend the line 6 spider for beginners. I had the one with the drum machine and loop options built into the top panel when I started out. Everything is there, no PC needed, headphone out, aux in etc. Clean through to high gain.

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by bender »

slash-ed wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:18 am
bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 7:15 am
Jay wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:40 am Opsguy is selling a THR10 on TM
Cheers. I think a Katana or something like this will actually be a turn off to him. He’s not interested in exploring lots of sounds- just wants to turn on, set the gain where he wants it, and play. Too many options just makes him disinterested.

He also doesn’t want a desktop amp as it would take up valuable lego display real estate.
Last thing I'll say about Katana in this discussion, I promise!

I think that it's possible that by osmosis on the forum, you've absorbed a lot about the very in depth, tech-heavy features of the amp (the software editor, the million effects, hardcore parameter tweaking etc) but I will say that from what I've seen of the huge user base, for every person who deep dives into that side, there's equally another non-techy, set and forget type of user who has never in a million years wanted to plug their amp into a computer or tweak ad nauseam.

That's why Katana has been so hugely successful, it works on so many levels for so many different types of players.
Sorry, I don’t think I’ve been clear. That’s not what I meant at all. I just mean that he’s only very vaguely interested in guitar, and not interested in an amp with more than one voice at all. If I have to explain how it works beyond “this is distortion and this is volume”, he’ll switch off. I know this from having tried to get him interested in a Vox Adio.

I fully appreciate that I could set a Katana up for him and he’d be fine with it, and also that he’d probably get way more out of it long term, but he has a very narrow approach vector when it comes to getting and retaining his interest in this stuff.

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by bender »

Again- to be really clear, I’m not trying to dismiss a Katana- it is very high on my list of possibilities, and highly likely to be what I get for him for all the reasons Ed has mentioned.

I’m interested in other suggestions that might be a bit less feature packed, so that I have some other options though.

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by sizzlingbadger »

In that case how about the Orange Micro Terror
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by hamo »

bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 9:29 am Again- to be really clear, I’m not trying to dismiss a Katana- it is very high on my list of possibilities, and highly likely to be what I get for him for all the reasons Ed has mentioned.

I’m interested in other suggestions that might be a bit less feature packed, so that I have some other options though.
I think part of the problem with that question on a forum full of tone chasers is that we're all wracking our brains to come up with what will sound best. I reckon given your parameters, anything above cheap and nasty level should be fine? So that brings in the Marshall, Orange etc practice amps I reckon. I got a lot of mileage out of my old Marshall Valvestate, so if something like that came up used it could be good. Micro Terror also looked like a good shout, and I kind of agree with Griff about the Line 6 stuff (it might be a bit too feature packed, but it does the things it sounds like he wants to a reasonable degree for a beginner). Those are the brands I think of when I think hard rock/metal. Otherwise the simplest thing could be a good clean platform amp with a single dirt pedal to match. That way it's a kind of "dirt on/off" scenario, which is how I thought of it as a beginner learning Metallica songs with clean intros switching into distorted riffs.
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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by Sheriffdohboy »

Will always have soft spot for Orange Terrors, only issue is finding combos. TT15 and Rocker 15 combos are good amps and with power scaling. If wanting to start real small i remember being surprised by the Blackstar HT1

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by bender »

Sheriffdohboy wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 10:55 am Will always have soft spot for Orange Terrors, only issue is finding combos. TT15 and Rocker 15 combos are good amps and with power scaling. If wanting to start real small i remember being surprised by the Blackstar HT1
He has a cab already, so a small head isn’t out of the question.

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Re: Recommend me a practice amp for hard rock and metal

Post by robthemac »

bender wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:08 am
Sheriffdohboy wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 10:55 am Will always have soft spot for Orange Terrors, only issue is finding combos. TT15 and Rocker 15 combos are good amps and with power scaling. If wanting to start real small i remember being surprised by the Blackstar HT1
He has a cab already, so a small head isn’t out of the question.
DSL-1R head is great and cheap. If he doesn't want headroom and doesn't mind a bit of treble.
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