In need of a new amp

[patrick89]

Hey everyone!

Two days ago my amp broke down. At first I was like FINALLY!!, a perfect excuse to upgrade! (It was a really bad, cheap brandless box of firewood) but a couple of minutes later I realized that I first need to save up a lot more since I bought a car.

Now since I really need a new amp, I decided I wanted to get another practice amp until I could buy a proper tube amp at the end of this year.
I was hoping you guys could give me some advice.

I was looking at modelers because these would probably help me figure out what I would like in my next amp. I know they don't sound like the real deal but otherwise they wouldn't cost over 10 times less.

Some metal and rock bands I would like to play the songs of in the coming period would be: Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Bullet for my Valentine, Guns 'N Roses, Foo Fighters and such. I also enjoy some bluesy stuff but that is less important than the rock and metal tones.

Budget is around €200 ($270-$300) and it will be used for home use only.
I live in the Netherlands and the used market is not that good over here.

What would you suggest me to get?

EDIT: I'm new on this forum so if I break the rules in this thread please let me know!

 

[Rhust]

however the other day I heard a great amp that I couldn't believe the price on... the Kustom 5H basic tube amp, takes pedals like mad, 5 watts but loud, I saw a deal early in the week that was the head and a matching 1x12 cab for $135... I'm not sure of the availability over there, but the price/value is good... and there's a lot of modders here if you want to add a tone knob, gain knob, etc...

also if you can find a vibrochamp xd, vox 20VT or peavey vyper 15 these are good modelers, imo...

 

[patrick89]

Thanks for the reply!

I can't find the Kustom here yet but I will continue to look for it.
A new Vox VT20+ is about €145/$195 here and the Vypyr 30 goes for around €170/$225. Would the VT20+ be suited for rock and metal? Also the Vypyr 30 has an 12" speaker compared to the 8" of the Vox. Is that a big difference for these range of amps?

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

If you can find a used Fender SCXD, grab it. It sounds like what you're looking for, to me.

 

[patrick89]

If you can find a used Fender SCXD, grab it. It sounds like what you're looking for, to me.

I found 2 of the Fender Super Champ XD (I assume u meant these?) for a nice price I guess. One is €200 and the other is €250, have seen these more often on the used sections but never figured they would do metal since it's a fender amp (maybe stupid to assume fenders aren't suited for metal, just the things I heard on the net a lot). But would I be able to get some nice metal tones out of it (perhaps with a boost)?

 

[ed1996]

I have a vox VT50 and it is incredibly versatile.

 

[singlecut]

Narrow down your choices and then go used

youll double your buying power

new is for suckers

 

[rjwilson37]

I love my Mustang III, it helped me find some great tones that led to my first great tube amp.

Here is a couple of my clips, recorded with the free Ableton Lite recording software that comes with the amp through a USB cable to my computer. All effects are built right into the amp, this is all the amp.

http://www.rj-zero.com/misc/guitars/soundclips/tearsdontfall_20120211.mp3

http://www.rj-zero.com/misc/guitars/soundclips/godsmack_20120210.mp3

http://www.rj-zero.com/misc/guitars/soundclips/fatstrataboutlove_20111005.mp3

 

[Rhust]

I found 2 of the Fender Super Champ XD (I assume u meant these?) for a nice price I guess. One is €200 and the other is €250, have seen these more often on the used sections but never figured they would do metal since it's a fender amp (maybe stupid to assume fenders aren't suited for metal, just the things I heard on the net a lot). But would I be able to get some nice metal tones out of it (perhaps with a boost)?

I know what you are thinking, but the xd series is not your grandfathers fender... Hell I get metal tones out of my 64 with a stomp box.. The xd is a sweet series of amps, tube, but modeling very nice, versatile.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I found 2 of the Fender Super Champ XD (I assume u meant these?) for a nice price I guess. One is €200 and the other is €250, have seen these more often on the used sections but never figured they would do metal since it's a fender amp (maybe stupid to assume fenders aren't suited for metal, just the things I heard on the net a lot). But would I be able to get some nice metal tones out of it (perhaps with a boost)?

Yes, they're modeling amps and have a pretty good Marshall tone:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHQK05_6UCs]Fender Super Champ XD 03 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a1ehEQQ-Rc&feature=related]Fender Super Champ XD and Epiphone Les Paul - YouTube[/ame]

Depending on how "metal" you need to go, it should hang in there, but you might need a pedal to help it.

I don't own one, but I have played through them. Keep an eye on this thread, because quite a few members own these and should be able to give you a more detailed answer.

 

[patrick89]

Thanks for the answers,

Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I had some busy days. I will check out that amp more. Looks good for sure!