I'm finding I'm playing less and less, mainly because I'm starting to dislike my tone more and more. I don't have a whole lot of cash to spend, but I'd like to upgrade to a decent practice amp. I've been reading some reviews, but would like some metaltabbers opinions on what to look for. Yes, I realise you need to play around with an amp before purchase, but I'd like to have a few in mind to try out first.

I play mostly prog/power metal, aswell as some death metal. Not looking to spend over $300, but if the amp's amazingly good, I'd be willing to break that limit.

Thanks.

we have had a big discussion on this. it should all be uner decent 2X12, and Crappy amp help

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Roland's Cube series probably has the best sound, power, and versatility you're gonna get in an inexpensive practice amp.

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^ Agreed, go with the Roland Cube 60. It's only $80 more than your budget.

Cube 30 will do the job fine, trust me. Go and try it.

make a list of amps, go to a store, try them out.

Roland cubes
Marshall MG's (i like them for stoner rock, but they dont get heavier)
vox... the modelling kind... valvetronix?
line 6 spiders or whatever
peavey rage/bandit/whatever <-- good for metal
Crate practice amps (i dont think you'll like them)
even check out the orange crushes hahaha.

just go play everything.

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agreed.

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I grabbed a Peavey bandit 112 for 275 on ebay brand new, a steal. It's pretty good, brutal distortion, sounds a little muddy at times, but is excellent at low to mid volume. It starts to sound cheesy at higher volumes, but it's a cheap SS amp, so that's expected. It is a tad noisy if you dime the gain. Overall it's a good amp for me right now. You should check if there are any deals on it.

I tried those roland cubes too. They were very nice, and I think I actually liked them a little more than the bandit, but the bandit was just such a good deal that I went for it.

I also tried those Crate practice amps. They sucked, I actually bought one and returned it. Also, do not get duped into buying a metalzone pedal. They are not good either, although I have heard people put them to good use in a more complicated situation. Probably not for you though.

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The Tech 21 Trademark combos are far superior to all the modeling stuff. A 1x12 would be perfect.

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Cannibal Corpse has the metal zone on their gear list (http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/equipment.php)... I always wanted to try one... Why do you say it's no good?

+1. Infinitely superior to all the Cubes and that other shit.

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The cubes will end up just like you are now - you play less and less because you feel it gets shittier and shittier.

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Yeah I particularly advise against the cubes... sure they're priced ok, but if you've been playing for more than a year they're just going to sound like rubbish, and they're built very cheaply too.

And Stormrider, buy this immedeately:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-CRATE-STEA...1QQcmdZViewItem

All tube, kickass high gain sounds, after all it was designed by Lee Jackson. Plus it's 50W tube, so it can get extremely loud too, and can easily overpower many drummers. They sell for under 300$ all the time, that's pretty cheap there.

Or:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PEAVEY-BRAVO-11...1QQcmdZViewItem
Also high gain and all-tube. 25W RMS, insanely loud too with great tone. They sell for 200-250$.

Or:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Crate-Blue-VooD...1QQcmdZViewItem

Great too but they're a little unreliable.

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Cube's are not cheap, trust me, go fucking try one out before listening to anyone else out there. If after you try it, and you don't like it, fine. Try the Cube 30, not only does it have good Metal tones considering it's size, it's also battery powered. This amp doesn't just have 2 channels....it has about 7 or 8 models that sound different and can cover styles from Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal.....It also comes along with decent sounding effects too. You can't ask for anything more for the price.

the cube 30 is not battery powered (only the micro cube which is maybe 5 watts?). cubes sound great and they're plenty loud for their size, but they don't have quite enough gain for getting that thick, sizzling brutal dm sound. i don't care a lot for the onboard efx, but the delay and reverb sound great. if you didn't know how much they cost and tried one out or better yet, heard somebody playing on one, you would probably think it was a higher end combo. yeah, usually less expensive gear sucks, but clearly not always.

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Hold your horses buddy. I have played the Cube 20, 30, and 60 as well as many other combo amps in the same price range on my search for an affordable loud combo for playing out. I was THOROUGHLY unimpressed with the cube series. I have nothing against solidstate, in fact I love it, but DSP/digital modeling combo amps are really the lowest of the low, they sound horrible IMO and should to anyone who's developed even the slightest taste in tone. The EQ on em is practically useless as it doesn't shape the tone much, so if you don't like the Recto model it has you're pretty much fucked, because you can't do much to tweak it. They are built cheaply, and the speaker will crap out in a matter of months if you use it extensively, it already even sounded farty at TV volumes on all of em, the 60 had more headroom though...

But for the price of the Cube-60 you can get so many other infinitely better amps 2nd hand. Under 300$ will get you a Crate Stealth, Peavey Bravo, Ampeg SS-70 or Crate Blue Voodoo combos. All sound incredible, all have tubes except for the Ampeg. It's unfortunate that you can't find new amps that sound as good as those in stores these days. If you want to get the best out of your money for an amp under a grand these days you really have to look around in the used department. You probably won't be able to find these amps easily outside of ebay, so you may not be able to try them first hand, but take advice from someone who's spent a long time looking for a decent inexpensive combo. If you buy any of those you won't be disappointed, I think I'll be buying a Peavey Bravo within the next few months.

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Wtf do you mean hold your horses? I wasn't even talking to you. Like I said, I couldn't care less what you think about it, I'm telling the guy who asked, to go try it out.

yeah but not everyone likes to spend the money they've saved up on used shit.

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Then why to people spend so much money on vintage and USED amps? I saw a fucking Matamp GTO go for 2100 used, when its only about 1700 new. Or Sunn Model T's which were 300 new, going for 1200. Even the Model T reissues which stopped production in 2002 were 900 new, and these days they go for 1000 used.

Or heres another good one, USED les pauls from the 60's and 70's going for as much as $30,000, when at the time they were only 300-600 new. Or a Gretsch white penguin which was $400 new in the 60s, going for $80,000.
My ass people dont like to spend saved money on used shit.

They dont make things these days the way they used to.

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nothing truer than that

(metal as well )

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