Amp for my Les Paul?

[LPguitarman]

Thanks for all of the input!

 

With so many choices' date=' I'm thinking that I may have to take a four hour drive and head down to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to actually be able to hear the differences between some of these amps.

 

If I hit up a Guitar Center, are they likely to have most of the amps that are being suggested, or does anyone know of a good place in Minnesota to go for a variety of amps to demo?

 

I do have a couple of concerns in doing this though... I am such a newbie (I've been taking lessons for a few months, but have a long way to go) that I may not be able to produce the sounds that the amp is capable of, and second I won't know what to do to test them.

 

I want something that I will be happy with as I continue to develop as a guitarist and not realize in six months that I should have gone with something else.[/quote']

 

If you go to a Guitar Center, ask the guitar manager to demo the amps for you. Get all the info you can from them. If they are anything like the salespeople at my local GC, they will take the time to show you many different amps. Or just plug you in and let you play away... Especially if they smell a sale, they will be at your beck and call.

[tlarson]

Ok, so far without listening to any other amps I know that I'm leaning toward the NOS Blues Junior with the Jensen speaker (that's what I use at lessons weekly,) but to throw a wrench into things... I just found a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue for $600. Would this be more powerful than I would want? Would I have to have it too loud on stage on a Sunday morning to get good tone out of it?

 

I'm thinking that the $600 on the Deluxe Reverb won't last long, so I may have to jump on this before getting to test other amps out... thoughts?

[RichCI]

 

I don't really want to go any more than the price of the NOS Blues Junior... If I have to I'd be willing to spend the $675 to get it new.

 

What are your thoughts on buying new as opposed to finding a used one on e-bay or craig's list?

 

Is this a bad idea with amps?

 

I'd definitely look for a used Blues Jr. I have one and, after a few mods (tubes, speaker, reverb tank), it's a pretty nice amp but I wouldn't pay $675 for a new one. I just don't think it sounds like $675 worth of amp out of the box. Since it's a pretty popular one for modification, the money you save by buying used can be applied to parts for experimentation.

[joelettinger]

[pwning]

Here's another option that falls w/in your target budget: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Marshall-Haze-MHZ40C-40W-1x12-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp-581910-i1445505.gc

[dwco]

I am a big fan of the Marshall, Vox and Fenders. Find what suits you the best. Do you not think it a shame that we cannot buy a reasonably priced Gibson amp to go with our guitars??

[FennRx]

i personally do NOT like the Blues Jr, no matter what edition it is. the BH is ok, but if you want drive, buy a pedal to go along with it.

 

i love the Orange TT combo and i got mine NIB on ebay for $600. the TT isnt for everyone though, esp if you want clean sounds. i might look into the Egnater Rebel or the Blackstar 5-HT.

 

tech21 makes good SS amps and they wont break the bank.

[Uncle Dave]

" just found a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue for $600. Would this be more powerful than I would want? Would I have to have it too loud on stage on a Sunday morning to get good tone out of it?"

 

If you mean overdriven when you say "good" tone, then the answer is probably yes. The tone will be clean until it is very loud. That is a very nice amp, but known for the clean tone. Just get a pedal for the crunch.

[pru56]

Hey I would say that you should take your guitar and go try out the amps. Find the one you like the best. They will let you plug in and try there out.