[Music] Need some advice on a Guitar Amp Head for heavy gain tone

[wariofan1]

You can NEVER go wrong with any kind of Marshall head or cab for that matter. They have my absolute favorite tone of all time, especially if we're talking THAT kind of budget (assuming my maths don't fail me in algebra). The distortion channels feel and sound great, and just with fiddling with the settings you can make it sound like an whole other amp too! Also, since you were worried about the clean channel of the Peavey I can guarantee you that Marshall amps not only tend to have the most relaxing clean channels, you can also make it sound like one of the most haunting clean channels ever. Ofcourse I'd suggest trying out all possible heads at first before deciding on anything, just saying that buying any kind of Marshall head is always a good buy, and combining it with a Randall cab is a sure way to kick ass!

[Tore]

First, a quick lesson in regards to tube/valve amp volume.

After a certain point, wattage does not necessarily represent volume. A 50 watt amp is much louder than a 15 watt amp, but a 100 watt amp isn't much louder than a 50 watt. Once you get into higher wattages the watts represent headroom more than volume. Headroom is the amp's ability to remain loud while clean.

When you pump up the amp's volume the power tubes eventually start to clip the signal, resulting in power tube distortion. You can think of power tube distortion as the tone of a cranked Marshall JTM or JMP. It's a little loose sounding with lots of mids, basically it's that crunchy Classic Rock tone. Higher watts means you can go louder before the signal clips. This is why the old Fenders that people use for clean tones are 65+ watts--they need to be high wattage to stay clean.

Most modern metal guitarists use 50+ watt amps (typically 100+) even if they don't need the loud cleans. This is because the tight and bassy distortion tones that modern metal is built upon is pre-amp tube distortion. Metal guitarists want to void power tube distortion because when combined with preamp distortion it flubs out the bass and gives the EQ a weird mid hump. Therefore a high wattage amp with lots of headroom will afford them the most volume with the least power tube distortion.



Now, being AUD really fucks thing up Australia always gets screwed over with amp prices. Here's a few that might be in your price range:

Peavey 6505+ is one of the more common entry-level high gain tube amp heads. 120 watts, loosely based on the Soldano SLO 100 crunch circuit except with a more American voicing (meaning 6L6 tubes, flatter upper midrange, tighter bass response). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RT9Zce3fKs

Blackstar HT-100 is a 100w British high gain amp with circuitry based on the post-JCM900 Marshall amps. They have a bit more upper midrage and a rounder bass. They have a "voicing" control that alters the midrange curve to be more "british" or more "american" and as such is pretty versatile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_rWhL6IyIE

Krank Krankenstein Jr or Rev Pro Jr, 50 watt amps. I personally don't like them much but some do. I think Dimebag Darrell and Brendan Small (from Metalocalypse) both used Kranks at some point. Rev Pro Jr 50 and Krankenstein Jr 50.

Egnater Vengeance, 120 watt. American amp, lots of gain. A fairly new amp, only been on the market for a year or two. Half power switch (60w mode and 120w mode), independent EQs for both channels, built in reverb, and lots of switches for things like mid cuts and bass boosts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD4MOWWJuqs&t=1m45s

Peavey 6534. Same as the 6505 except with EL34 tubes instead of 6L6s. Slightly more british flavor, looser bass, wider mid hump, warmer cleans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmEnpwhfd80&t=2m1s

Marshall JVM205H. 50 watts, modern british tone. Some like, some don't. I actually like it but Marshalls are overpriced in the States, just listing it here in case Marshalls have fair prices in AU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQDHzmmvDxA

[Simonzi]

So far, I've seen the bands Periphery, Northlane, and Parkway Drive listed, as well as a music video linked for Killswitch Engage.

Scour your local classifieds for a Peavey 5150, or 6505.

[Amity]

First, a quick lesson in regards to tube/valve amp volume.

After a certain point, wattage does not necessarily represent volume. A 50 watt amp is much louder than a 15 watt amp, but a 100 watt amp isn't much louder than a 50 watt. Once you get into higher wattages the watts represent headroom more than volume. Headroom is the amp's ability to remain loud while clean.

When you pump up the amp's volume the power tubes eventually start to clip the signal, resulting in power tube distortion. You can think of power tube distortion as the tone of a cranked Marshall JTM or JMP. It's a little loose sounding with lots of mids, basically it's that crunchy Classic Rock tone. Higher watts means you can go louder before the signal clips. This is why the old Fenders that people use for clean tones are 65+ watts--they need to be high wattage to stay clean.

Most modern metal guitarists use 50+ watt amps (typically 100+) even if they don't need the loud cleans. This is because the tight and bassy distortion tones that modern metal is built upon is pre-amp tube distortion. Metal guitarists want to void power tube distortion because when combined with preamp distortion it flubs out the bass and gives the EQ a weird mid hump. Therefore a high wattage amp with lots of headroom will afford them the most volume with the least power tube distortion.



Now, being AUD really fucks thing up Australia always gets screwed over with amp prices. Here's a few that might be in your price range:

Peavey 6505+ is one of the more common entry-level high gain tube amp heads. 120 watts, loosely based on the Soldano SLO 100 crunch circuit except with a more American voicing (meaning 6L6 tubes, flatter upper midrange, tighter bass response). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RT9Zce3fKs

Blackstar HT-100 is a 100w British high gain amp with circuitry based on the post-JCM900 Marshall amps. They have a bit more upper midrage and a rounder bass. They have a "voicing" control that alters the midrange curve to be more "british" or more "american" and as such is pretty versatile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_rWhL6IyIE

Krank Krankenstein Jr or Rev Pro Jr, 50 watt amps. I personally don't like them much but some do. I think Dimebag Darrell and Brendan Small (from Metalocalypse) both used Kranks at some point. Rev Pro Jr 50 and Krankenstein Jr 50.

Egnater Vengeance, 120 watt. American amp, lots of gain. A fairly new amp, only been on the market for a year or two. Half power switch (60w mode and 120w mode), independent EQs for both channels, built in reverb, and lots of switches for things like mid cuts and bass boosts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD4MOWWJuqs&t=1m45s

Peavey 6534. Same as the 6505 except with EL34 tubes instead of 6L6s. Slightly more british flavor, looser bass, wider mid hump, warmer cleans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmEnpwhfd80&t=2m1s

Marshall JVM205H. 50 watts, modern british tone. Some like, some don't. I actually like it but Marshalls are overpriced in the States, just listing it here in case Marshalls have fair prices in AU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQDHzmmvDxA

Hey Torethyr, these are all fantastic amps but in australia they're around 1400-1800+ and yeah thats a fair way off my price range haha

Also I understand the 50-100 watt thing now someone explained it earlier but i forgot to change my first post about it thanks

[Bigbazz]

Don't buy a Bugera, you will be happy with the sound until it blows up on you not so far down that road. Buy the real thing and get a used Peavey 5150 if you can't afford the new version (6505). If thats still too much for you then the Valveking will get you the sound with some tweaking. There is a reason so many people use the Peavey 5150/6505, live and on record, 1 is because they sound fucking awesome and 2 is because they are well built and reliable, and because of this they have become a legend in metal amps, though you could say they are too popular as a result (much like the mesa dual rectos used to be). Clean wise the Peavey 5150/6505 are not that great as standard, now the normal thing to do with these amps is to get them modded to bias the valves warmer, this reduces crossover distortion and massively improves the clean channel. The mod is cheap (probably cost you $15-20) and easy to do (don't try it yourself, you could die). You don't need to do the mod to the amp, but the fixed bias is very cold and is sucking back a lot of the potential of the amps sound.

Don't buy into the cheap ass Bugera copy versions, cheap parts, put together cheaply so that they can be sold dirt cheap, seen more than a few blow up at gigs while on tour and that reputation can be found in discussions all over the internet on guitar forums.


Outside of Peavey there are litterally a tonne of good amps that will do what you want, and you just need to fish around, there are some youtube videos where the guitarist from periphery is testing out a bunch of different amps, most of his playing is garbage though he plays that Djent stuff pretty well as you would expect.

Personally I play a Cornford Hellcat, and I would definitely reccomend the Cornford Roadhouse 50, in your price range, it would fall into a similar catagory of amp as the Marshall DSL, but in my opinion its a nicer amp than the Marshall. However, like the Marshall, it isnt really what I would call the best amp for the type of music you are wanting to play with your Djent Djent.


To put it simple, if you say American or British, for the heavier stuff you're going to be happier with the American sound, 6L6 rather than EL34/84.

[Amity]

Don't buy a Bugera, you will be happy with the sound until it blows up on you not so far down that road. Buy the real thing and get a used Peavey 5150 if you can't afford the new version (6505). If thats still too much for you then the Valveking will get you the sound with some tweaking. There is a reason so many people use the Peavey 5150/6505, live and on record, 1 is because they sound fucking awesome and 2 is because they are well built and reliable, and because of this they have become a legend in metal amps, though you could say they are too popular as a result (much like the mesa dual rectos used to be). Clean wise the Peavey 5150/6505 are not that great as standard, now the normal thing to do with these amps is to get them modded to bias the valves warmer, this reduces crossover distortion and massively improves the clean channel. The mod is cheap (probably cost you $15-20) and easy to do (don't try it yourself, you could die). You don't need to do the mod to the amp, but the fixed bias is very cold and is sucking back a lot of the potential of the amps sound.

Don't buy into the cheap ass Bugera copy versions, cheap parts, put together cheaply so that they can be sold dirt cheap, seen more than a few blow up at gigs while on tour and that reputation can be found in discussions all over the internet on guitar forums.


Outside of Peavey there are litterally a tonne of good amps that will do what you want, and you just need to fish around, there are some youtube videos where the guitarist from periphery is testing out a bunch of different amps, most of his playing is garbage though he plays that Djent stuff pretty well as you would expect.

Personally I play a Cornford Hellcat, and I would definitely reccomend the Cornford Roadhouse 50, in your price range, it would fall into a similar catagory of amp as the Marshall DSL, but in my opinion its a nicer amp than the Marshall. However, like the Marshall, it isnt really what I would call the best amp for the type of music you are wanting to play with your Djent Djent.


To put it simple, if you say American or British, for the heavier stuff you're going to be happier with the American sound, 6L6 rather than EL34/84.

according to this review they've "stepped up their game" and made the amps much sturdier and upgraded their materials