metal amps <$400

  • Thread starter Thread starter remps44
  • Start date Start date

Which bargain metal amp?

  • Ampeg Vh-140c

    Votes: 19 100.0%

  • Randall RH-50T

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Randall RH-100G2

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Crate GX130C

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Peavey Ultra 60

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Peavey Ultra 120/Plus

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    19
R
remps44
New member
i'm looking for a metal amp for under $400 with a crushing distortion and a decent clean channel. the cleans are secondary, the distortion is primary. i play a lot of killswitch engage, children of bodom, and in flames so a marshall on steroids tone would be nice but it has to have the ability to be scooped out to get that killswitch, shadows fall, or as i lay dying tone. i've narrowed the search down to a few amps.

1. Ampeg VH-140C newer style (rare)
2. Randall RH-50T
3. Randall RH100G2
4. Crate GX130C/140C (what's the difference?)
5. Peavey Ultra 60
6. Peavey Ultra 120/Plus

now i've personally never liked crate but i've heard good things about this amp. the ampeg is the rarest and most expensive of the bunch but tone is essential here. my budget is $400 or less. i'd love to hear your experiences and opinions on all of these amps. i'll list the rest of my setup if that helps anyone.

Ibanez RGT42 w/ EMG 81 (bridge) + 85 (neck)
Strat-style Guitar w/ Hot Rails (Bridge)
Boss GT-8
MXR 10 Band EQ
BBE Sonic Stomp (soon)

thanks
 
I've never tried one, but you can get Peavey Ultras for about that or less.
 
I've played the Crate and the Ultra. Both are killer fucking amps for being SS if you ask me. Both have tons of thump and chunky gain. Not Marshally, but definately good hi-gain. The clean are both pretty much the same. SS is never going to be some unbelievably clean.

Also DO NOT get a Sonic Stomp. I have one and honestly, it sucks ass. You turn up the process any higher than 4 and it gets really fake and gay sounding. Honestly it's a shit pedal IMO.
 
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Qweklain":65a14 said:
I've played the Crate and the Ultra. Both are killer fucking amps for being SS if you ask me. Both have tons of thump and chunky gain. Not Marshally, but definately good hi-gain. The clean are both pretty much the same. SS is never going to be some unbelievably clean.

Also DO NOT get a Sonic Stomp. I have one and honestly, it sucks ass. You turn up the process any higher than 4 and it gets really fake and gay sounding. Honestly it's a shit pedal IMO.
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Disregard this.

Peavey Ultras are tube amps, the 120 being 4x6l6.

I'd go with the Ultra, boosted crunch, eq in the loop.

What kind of cab will you be using?
 
VH140-C by far even though they cost $400 plus on ebay. I have heard the crate gx130-c is the same thing and they go for $150-$200, so that would be your best bang for the buck.

The ampeg VH140-C is easily my favorite metal amp, I prefer it over the mesa V-twin / 50/50 setup, single recto, dual recto, mark III, mark IV, TSL-100, randall RH-200, RM-100 mts, powerball, some other amps not worth mentioning cause they suck too much.

Get yourself a quality 31 band eq for the ampeg and you can get any metal tone you want, whether its scooped thumping dimebag, or screaming marshall thrash metal sounds, its all in the vh140-c :)
 
Ultra plus......Awesome amp for the money...


Got a friend with one, plays straight into it, and it sounds awesome.
 
where are you located. If this is an amp your considering and you can pick it up its not a bad deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PEAVEY-ULTRA-120-AMPLIFIER-HALFSTACK-BARGAIN-PRICED_W0QQitemZ280075881255QQihZ018QQcategoryZ38076QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

You could sell the cab if you don't need it for around $200 and have the ultra for $200
 
that peavey ultra is a great deal but sadly i'm more than 2000 miles away from new jersey. no body's a fan of the randalls? the cab i plan on using is a vader 212.
 
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remps44":46231 said:
that peavey ultra is a great deal but sadly i'm more than 2000 miles away from new jersey. no body's a fan of the randalls? the cab i plan on using is a vader 212.
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Actually I like the randall's. I played an RH100 G2 awhile back and really liked it. It was used and the price was under $200. I am guessing you are looking at the amp more for the gain channels but the clean was excellent as well. For $200 it was a great amp.

The RH50T I played with in the last few days, actually I went back in the store that had the rh100 but it was gone. They had a new RH50T and the amp sounded really good as well. Trying to remember back I think I liked the RH50T better, but for the price they were asking for the RH100 I would have walked out with the Rh100 if it was between the two.
 
If you are going to get a randall forget about the RH series they suck ass. You can find cyclones on ebay for $400- 450, and RG-80ES & RG-100ES are solid metal amps too. Your going to need a boost for the RG series though.
 
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flying_high":da034 said:
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Disregard this.

Peavey Ultras are tube amps, the 120 being 4x6l6.

I'd go with the Ultra, boosted crunch, eq in the loop.

What kind of cab will you be using?
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Ya, I was thinking XXL, not Ultra hahaha. I'm a dumbass. I've never played an Ultra.
 
Ampeg. I had one for awhile and It's a great metal amp especially for the price.

I had an Ultra Tube combo for a few years also. Wasn't to impressed with it and mostly ran a RP6 through it. Maybe an Ultra head through a cab sounds better?
 
if you are gonna go for the ultra, go for the ultra plus. it's pretty much the older version of the xxx.

i have one btw, great sounding amp.
 
I can't think of a better balls-out metal amp than the VH140C. Incredible high gain distortion, and a good clean.


VH140C.jpg
 
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flying_high":0b460 said:
if you are gonna go for the ultra, go for the ultra plus. it's pretty much the older version of the xxx.

i have one btw, great sounding amp.
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+1,000,000

All tube goodness. AWESOME amp!
 
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