jammin1
Member
Just found this demo today. On the higher end price wise for minis but sounds great! 
MrDowntown
Well-known member
Christmas time is coming...and like most i get gift cards and such. And this year i'm trying to get family and friends focused in on the same type of gift card. So at this point budget is really an unknown. I'll get all my cards, and what little cash i have after Christmas and see what i can do....which could very well be nothing but wait. 
However, as we sit here now...i'm certainly looking at NIB mini's that are in the 600-1200 range.
I agree the lbx seems a little redundant as i do have the 50w already. But I (should) be able to push the lbx a little easier, with less volume...at least that's what I think. The 50w sounds good at low volume, but much better with a little push to it.
Light and easy to be portable....not really a big deal.
2 channels would be nice, and the clean channel, it doesn't have to pristine. The footswitch on the lbx isn't all that impressive, in comparison to some of the others i've seen; ironball, splawns 22w models, to name a couple.
I really am partial to the hot-rodded marshall tone/feel. the freidmans, brays, splawns, bigger boxes...even that dude Michael R/T and what hes done with his marshalls sound good.
I appreciate all the feedback. I've got to spend some time this weekend going through the different amps listed.
However, as we sit here now...i'm certainly looking at NIB mini's that are in the 600-1200 range.I agree the lbx seems a little redundant as i do have the 50w already. But I (should) be able to push the lbx a little easier, with less volume...at least that's what I think. The 50w sounds good at low volume, but much better with a little push to it.
Light and easy to be portable....not really a big deal.
2 channels would be nice, and the clean channel, it doesn't have to pristine. The footswitch on the lbx isn't all that impressive, in comparison to some of the others i've seen; ironball, splawns 22w models, to name a couple.
I really am partial to the hot-rodded marshall tone/feel. the freidmans, brays, splawns, bigger boxes...even that dude Michael R/T and what hes done with his marshalls sound good.
I appreciate all the feedback. I've got to spend some time this weekend going through the different amps listed.
K
kunos
Member
oh man there are so many great amps in this category it's really hard to go wrong. I owned/own many of these, here's my thoughts on the amps, in order of preference:
ENGL Ironball
IMO, the best all around. Great, tight, smooth but rich tone. I currently own this and not planning to get rid of it. The powersoak is awesome to play it at home at super low volume.
Friedman PT-20
Probably the best tone-wise. One channel, does one thing only but it does it great. It needs a pedal in front to get into insane EVH-like levels of gain but it cleans superbly with the guitar volume. Very very tight super hot rodded plexi tone. I own this one and it's not going anywhere.
EVH 5150 LBX
I had this for a couple of weeks, returned because of a faulty effect loop. Value for money it's easily the best if you don't need clean tone. It's ridiculously good. Very smooth distortion, lots of hi-mids, simply insane amount of gain. It's a mystery how they managed to get so much gain into this and keep it clean and musical.
Orange Jim Root
I had this for about a year, did not love it. A bit fuzzy and hairy (not as much as the Dark Terror below), TONS of bass, very very loose bottom end. I was very happy when I got rid of it.
Laney IRT Studio
Still have this one, trying to sell it tho because I never use it. Insanely tight but a tad harsh, super versatile tho, tons of features 2 channels (but really 3), included footswitch, power soak, 1W mode (fantastic for low volume), DI (sounds so so though), great clean tone.
Orange Dark Terror
Had it for about 2 years. Simply unusable for me. Fuzzy, buzzy, grainy ball of nonsense. I hated it with a passion. Nope nope nope.
ENGL Ironball
IMO, the best all around. Great, tight, smooth but rich tone. I currently own this and not planning to get rid of it. The powersoak is awesome to play it at home at super low volume.
Friedman PT-20
Probably the best tone-wise. One channel, does one thing only but it does it great. It needs a pedal in front to get into insane EVH-like levels of gain but it cleans superbly with the guitar volume. Very very tight super hot rodded plexi tone. I own this one and it's not going anywhere.
EVH 5150 LBX
I had this for a couple of weeks, returned because of a faulty effect loop. Value for money it's easily the best if you don't need clean tone. It's ridiculously good. Very smooth distortion, lots of hi-mids, simply insane amount of gain. It's a mystery how they managed to get so much gain into this and keep it clean and musical.
Orange Jim Root
I had this for about a year, did not love it. A bit fuzzy and hairy (not as much as the Dark Terror below), TONS of bass, very very loose bottom end. I was very happy when I got rid of it.
Laney IRT Studio
Still have this one, trying to sell it tho because I never use it. Insanely tight but a tad harsh, super versatile tho, tons of features 2 channels (but really 3), included footswitch, power soak, 1W mode (fantastic for low volume), DI (sounds so so though), great clean tone.
Orange Dark Terror
Had it for about 2 years. Simply unusable for me. Fuzzy, buzzy, grainy ball of nonsense. I hated it with a passion. Nope nope nope.
F
Fuego
New member
Maybe just a difference in the potentiometer's sweep?Speeddemon":164q9x00 said:
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CaseyCor
New member
I finally got a chance to play the Mark V: 25 a couple days ago, and I really dug it. I'm a Mark series fan, though. Ran it through a new Mesa 1x12, which also sounded pretty nice. I noticed a pretty big volume jump between the modes on channel 2, which I didn't like. I dialed it in on IIC+ mode, then switched modes. The volume jumped up a bit on Mark IV mode and even more on Extreme.
I had to get it opened up a bit to find a high gain sound I liked. At 8' o clock on the master, it was really thin (assume no volume=7'o clock). No amount of EQing seemed to get rid of it. Bringing the master up to around 8:30/9:00 ish fixed that problem instantly. The bottom end filled out, and the feel of a Mark series lead channel suddenly appeared. I was still at "quiet" volume levels, but starting to push it. Not TV or conversation volume by any means. Couldn't hear a word from my girlfriend or the guy working there, both standing right next to me. The master is really touchy, as per most every Mesa amp. This amp could do with a Global Master, IMO.
I had the EQ knobs pretty much all set to 9 o' clock or slightly under. I didn't find any use in going over that on the controls. On the graphic, I started at the classic V shape with the 750 slider a couple notches above the bottom. Wasn't feeling it there, didn't have the punch or clarity I was looking for. I took the 750 slider all the way down and found it. I tried playing around with 750 a bit more, but in the end leaving it all the way down was the best at the time. Pushed the 6600 down just a hair to deal with some fizz, and found a very useable tone. This was in Mark IV mode, which I preferred. It had more balls to it, I guess. I liked the low end in Mark IV mode. Didn't play with Extreme much, was having too much fun with IIC+/IV. I had very little trouble dialing in a good high gain sound, but as I said I'm a Mark series guy. If you don't have experience dialing one of these in, it can be a bit frustrating.
The Crunch mode on Channel 1 is pretty cool! I got some nice rock sounds out of it really quickly. You can crank the gain up and get some very pleasing high gain sounds too. Turning on the EQ brings a lot of versatility out of Channel 1.
Switching Channel 2 down to 10 watts cuts a bit of volume, but again the tone thinned out. I did manage to dial it back in, but it wasn't perfect. Channel 1 Crunch Mode at 10 watts was cool, though. I liked that setting for just over the edge of breakup sounds.
I was playing a '58 VOS Les Paul, a '59 VOS, a brand new Private Stock PRS owned by the guy working there, a 2006 Gibson Explorer, and this crazy Gibson V. 2008 Guitar of the Month model. "50 Year Commemorative Flying V". Second entry down on this page.
http://gearpipe.com/featured-post-gibso ... -detailed/
Overall, I was really impressed. I would love to have one at home. I think I'd like the Mark V: 35 even more, but sadly they didn't have one in stock at the time. If the 35 can get those sounds at the same volume level plus the extra versatility, then I am on board.
I had to get it opened up a bit to find a high gain sound I liked. At 8' o clock on the master, it was really thin (assume no volume=7'o clock). No amount of EQing seemed to get rid of it. Bringing the master up to around 8:30/9:00 ish fixed that problem instantly. The bottom end filled out, and the feel of a Mark series lead channel suddenly appeared. I was still at "quiet" volume levels, but starting to push it. Not TV or conversation volume by any means. Couldn't hear a word from my girlfriend or the guy working there, both standing right next to me. The master is really touchy, as per most every Mesa amp. This amp could do with a Global Master, IMO.
I had the EQ knobs pretty much all set to 9 o' clock or slightly under. I didn't find any use in going over that on the controls. On the graphic, I started at the classic V shape with the 750 slider a couple notches above the bottom. Wasn't feeling it there, didn't have the punch or clarity I was looking for. I took the 750 slider all the way down and found it. I tried playing around with 750 a bit more, but in the end leaving it all the way down was the best at the time. Pushed the 6600 down just a hair to deal with some fizz, and found a very useable tone. This was in Mark IV mode, which I preferred. It had more balls to it, I guess. I liked the low end in Mark IV mode. Didn't play with Extreme much, was having too much fun with IIC+/IV. I had very little trouble dialing in a good high gain sound, but as I said I'm a Mark series guy. If you don't have experience dialing one of these in, it can be a bit frustrating.
The Crunch mode on Channel 1 is pretty cool! I got some nice rock sounds out of it really quickly. You can crank the gain up and get some very pleasing high gain sounds too. Turning on the EQ brings a lot of versatility out of Channel 1.
Switching Channel 2 down to 10 watts cuts a bit of volume, but again the tone thinned out. I did manage to dial it back in, but it wasn't perfect. Channel 1 Crunch Mode at 10 watts was cool, though. I liked that setting for just over the edge of breakup sounds.
I was playing a '58 VOS Les Paul, a '59 VOS, a brand new Private Stock PRS owned by the guy working there, a 2006 Gibson Explorer, and this crazy Gibson V. 2008 Guitar of the Month model. "50 Year Commemorative Flying V". Second entry down on this page.
http://gearpipe.com/featured-post-gibso ... -detailed/
Overall, I was really impressed. I would love to have one at home. I think I'd like the Mark V: 35 even more, but sadly they didn't have one in stock at the time. If the 35 can get those sounds at the same volume level plus the extra versatility, then I am on board.
odysplob
New member
I've seen some solid recommendations so far, and I may have missed it but I don't think I saw what type of music you wanted to play specifically so here goes.
As others have said, best bang for your dollar probably goes to the JCA22H. Very versatile, Soldano designed. The Egnater Tweaker 15w is right around the same price though so I'd opt for this if I had a choice, the Tweaker gets real nice chimey cleans with what I thought to be a surprising amount of headroom for the wattage. On the "hot" channel with the bright switch engaged, it got me right near modern gain sounds using an SG standard with the 498t. 6505MH is one of my personal favorite "lunchbox" size heads, and that will get into modern gain territory for sure. Low noise even at scorchingly high gain lead tones, again with the SG standard. PT-20 really hits home at that modded marshall tone, I find it has the brown sound easily on tap and plenty more gain to go. I didn't find that it had too great of cleans though, oh well.
One I haven't seen anybody say yet, the OR15. The single channel may not be your thing, I don't have a problem with it at all between how good it sounds and how responsive it is to touch and picking dynamics. Not as expensive as most here and definitely not with the most features, I enjoy it the most.
For more of a high-fedelity clean, and perhaps early Korn style metal, the Tubemesiter 18 can't be beat. Well... maybe the mini recto would give it a challenge, but the TM is half the price... I feel that it captures the snarly German (*cough cough* Deizel) sound pretty well. If I were to walk away from this forum with any of the amps mentioned, I'd have a brand new Tubemeister. Just sayin'.
As others have said, best bang for your dollar probably goes to the JCA22H. Very versatile, Soldano designed. The Egnater Tweaker 15w is right around the same price though so I'd opt for this if I had a choice, the Tweaker gets real nice chimey cleans with what I thought to be a surprising amount of headroom for the wattage. On the "hot" channel with the bright switch engaged, it got me right near modern gain sounds using an SG standard with the 498t. 6505MH is one of my personal favorite "lunchbox" size heads, and that will get into modern gain territory for sure. Low noise even at scorchingly high gain lead tones, again with the SG standard. PT-20 really hits home at that modded marshall tone, I find it has the brown sound easily on tap and plenty more gain to go. I didn't find that it had too great of cleans though, oh well.
One I haven't seen anybody say yet, the OR15. The single channel may not be your thing, I don't have a problem with it at all between how good it sounds and how responsive it is to touch and picking dynamics. Not as expensive as most here and definitely not with the most features, I enjoy it the most.
For more of a high-fedelity clean, and perhaps early Korn style metal, the Tubemesiter 18 can't be beat. Well... maybe the mini recto would give it a challenge, but the TM is half the price... I feel that it captures the snarly German (*cough cough* Deizel) sound pretty well. If I were to walk away from this forum with any of the amps mentioned, I'd have a brand new Tubemeister. Just sayin'.
Speeddemon
Well-known member
That's actually the first lunchbox one I got...odysplob":qxy8aa5x said:
I've gigged with it (70's/80's classic/hard rock+heavy metal band), but after a while I grew tired of how the TM18 overly saturates a Les Paul's neck pickup tones. You really can't get a good Slash-like tone from it. I used the public secret trick of the EQ settings B/M/T=10/10/0-3.
The Ironball *does* do that specific open, bell-like tone, as well as being way more versatile.
One thing that the TM18 did really well, was a character-full clean tone.
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CaseyCor
New member
Dave Young from The Devin Townsend Project has been using a Tubemeister on their recent tour, and his tone is fantastic!
MrDowntown
Well-known member
A powersoak Seems like an important option. Are they basically like a built in attenuator? And do they really work? I'm equating it to a noticeable volume differential but not great tone differential; is that correct? Some of the better minis with nice powersoaks that work?
This thread is turning into a killer thread for me...thanks so much.
This thread is turning into a killer thread for me...thanks so much.
MrDowntown
Well-known member
OH...One very important thing I failed to mention...I'd like to play it through a 212. I wouldn't think that'd be a big deal...
GOHOINC
Well-known member
I like the Atma.
Progbusters
New member
i don't have others to compare but I like my Orange Jim Root Terror. It is small, loud and Orangey.