D
Drew
Active member
I've been on a long unsuccessful search for a small, relatively inexpensive amp for a weird little weekly gig I have. I need a footswitchable clean channel and gain channel and the amp must have either an fx loop or on-board fx.
So far I've tried a Roland Cube 60, a Vox AD30VT, a Mesa F-30, a Line 6 Flextone III Plus, an H&K Edition Tube 20 and a Tech 21 TM60.
All of them have great clean sounds but only the Tech 21 has a gain sound that was even in the ballpark. That amp was just lacking a little sustain on the lead channel or else it would have been perfect. I tried boosting it with a pedal but that just added noise and compressed the signal.
Every other amp's lead sound was either fizzy, harsh, grainy or metallic sounding. How Rob Math can get a great lead sound out of the Vox AD30VT in that gearwire video is beyond me. He's MUST be a great player!
I asked this question on another forum a few months ago and Gainfreak suggested a Flextone II, but the Flextone III was so "hollow" sounding no matter what model I tried or how I tweaked it that I can't imagine the Flex II would get me where I want.
For the gig I'm currently using a POD 2.0 into a Marshall acoustic amp supplied by the venue and that works better than any of the amps listed above--but the lead sound still sounds "muffled" no matter how much treble I dial in.
I'm looking for a fat sustaining lead channel and a decent clean (think Neal Schon). I was hoping for a 1x12 combo as the set up time is very short and I don't have time for too much running of cables and plugging in a pedal board.
Anybody have ideas? I use an Anderson Classic SSH with a Floyd. My main gigging amp for my usual band is a 77 Marshall that Mark Cameron modded in to a 2 channel monster. But using that set-up is not an option.
I was hoping to stay under $600 and am not opposed to stepping on a pedal plugged in to a clean amp for a lead sound but that approach has never really worked for me in the past.
Thanks for any ideas. I never realized I was this particular.
So far I've tried a Roland Cube 60, a Vox AD30VT, a Mesa F-30, a Line 6 Flextone III Plus, an H&K Edition Tube 20 and a Tech 21 TM60.
All of them have great clean sounds but only the Tech 21 has a gain sound that was even in the ballpark. That amp was just lacking a little sustain on the lead channel or else it would have been perfect. I tried boosting it with a pedal but that just added noise and compressed the signal.
Every other amp's lead sound was either fizzy, harsh, grainy or metallic sounding. How Rob Math can get a great lead sound out of the Vox AD30VT in that gearwire video is beyond me. He's MUST be a great player!
I asked this question on another forum a few months ago and Gainfreak suggested a Flextone II, but the Flextone III was so "hollow" sounding no matter what model I tried or how I tweaked it that I can't imagine the Flex II would get me where I want.
For the gig I'm currently using a POD 2.0 into a Marshall acoustic amp supplied by the venue and that works better than any of the amps listed above--but the lead sound still sounds "muffled" no matter how much treble I dial in.
I'm looking for a fat sustaining lead channel and a decent clean (think Neal Schon). I was hoping for a 1x12 combo as the set up time is very short and I don't have time for too much running of cables and plugging in a pedal board.
Anybody have ideas? I use an Anderson Classic SSH with a Floyd. My main gigging amp for my usual band is a 77 Marshall that Mark Cameron modded in to a 2 channel monster. But using that set-up is not an option.
I was hoping to stay under $600 and am not opposed to stepping on a pedal plugged in to a clean amp for a lead sound but that approach has never really worked for me in the past.
Thanks for any ideas. I never realized I was this particular.