You're sick of these, but i'm looking for an amp in the $500 range that's good for metal. I dont give a shit about anything else, just a good metal sound. (In the vein of Necrophagist, Decapitated, and the like, who have killer Death Metal tone...)

I'm eyeing the Engl E530. It looks like the best thing I can afford, plus it's a damn Engl. They DONT make low quality shit and stamp the name on it so it still sells (marshall, i'm looking at you)

I'd like to go rack, but in a simple way...ie one preamp, one power amp, and a few rack gadgets (EQ, Sonic Maximizer, Power Conditioner, and Multi-FX unit)

I know the E530 isnt MIDI capable, but i realllyyy dont wanna bother with MIDI at this point...i'm only 15, i just want a cheap preamp/head that'll do great for recording/live.

The peavey 5150 looks nice too...but i heard it's noisy as fuck...although that really wouldnt be a problem, i just need an idea of the tone it can get besides the "brown sound"...anyone wanna point me to some bands?

Besides that, right now i'm running a Randall RH100 (killer head for my level...) through a marshall MG. If i were to sell the shit excuse of a cab i have, how much money would i get out of it (ebay, mind you) and what's a good cab i could get with said money I get? (i want at least a 2x12)


Thanks.

well, for $500, a rack rig beyond a preamp & poweramp will be out of question...

and even then we're talking and ADA mp-1 with a small s.s. poweramp a few decent cables and a small/cheap rack case...

which wouldnt exactly be a bad rig mind you.. but it's cheap... a decent tube poweramp will run you no less than $300... and the ada mp-1 is the only good preamp for metal that's still way way cheap..

so i suggest you save up if you go rack...

actually i suggest you save up anyways... because for $500 you're definately looking at used and probably solid state. the crate blue voodoo is the only tube head that comes to mind for that price that can hit metal, if this was a couple months ago i would totally suggest a 5150, the noise? ha, not really much noiser than any other high gain tube head. the tones it gives? brown sound my ass, imo there is no good brown sound in that amp... but the brutal high gain stuff is definately there in spades.

for $600 you could probably buy a jcm 900 sl-x...

i dunno.

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Blue Voodoo.

I belive Decapitated used a 5150 on Winds of Creation, so you might want to check one out. And like XDX said... the brown sound is very achievable with JUST a 5150, but you can easily get tones like Exhumed, In Flames, and Unearth.

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I'm just getting the $500 for the preamp, that does not include everything else included in rack setups...i'll get it piece-by-piece, and just run the ENGL through my Randall 'til i get a power amp, and then leave those on shelves or something until i get a case, etc etc etc.

Thanks for the recommendations...

I was thinking of selling that shit MG412A i have for a cheaper crate cab...would that be an upgrade or a downgrade? (i'd use the extra money for the other rack shit i'd need)

well i guess you're pretty decided on the engl then...

for the cabs...

a cheapo shit crate cab is pretty much a step sideways in tone and quality from a cheapo shit marshall mg cab imo... but if you can make a profit from it then go for it.

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hehe...clever one there.

I've seen crate cabs go for like $100 on the 'bay....even less sometimes. I figure i can get away with $250 or so on the MG.

And yeah, i was actually verrryyyy close to getting a Behringer V-Amp Pro...some kid was gonna buy my Randall off me and i was gonna have enough money for that + a cheap ss power amp...but i just realized that why not just buy something that'll last me a lifetime instead of making small, small upgrades?

A Blue Voodoo holy shit, I just tried it at my Guitar Center for the first time, the 120B one, and that thing kicks fucking ass. I cranked it somewhat loud on full dist. and that thing sounds amazing considering that I just plugged in and started playing. The cleans were crystal clear too, didn't break up that much when I turned it up. Haha I played it with a Les Paul custom and it pulled off harmonics really nicely but I had to put it away cuz the faggot working there wanted me to put it back as soon as I was done. Didn't matter though, cuz I just pulled off a PRS and I seriously just sat there playing for like 2 1/2 hours. It was like ready to blow up when I stopped playing.

now you know my bliss

I wanna try a fucking 5150 now. What would you guys say would be better overall, that or the BV? They're the cheaper of the good amps.

Their completely different amps, Id say its easier to get a shitty sound out of the BV than it is to get a shitty sound out of the 5150.

The BV has less gain but a MUCH better clean, it seemed to take OD pedals well too.

With the wrong tubes and the wrong cabinet the BV can sound really shitty and thin.. just buzz, but with some JJ's and Vintage 30's the BV is a monster.

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Ohh StarWars guy....If you were to get one of those, what would be a good overall cab, and if you boosted them with an OD, how brutal/heavy/gainy do they sound?

I thought they stopped making 5150s? I heard they are bringing another supposidly better model than the 5150 out. How much do 5150s cost anyway?

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The Randall RM100M ia a badass amp too. That thing has balls!

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Well they stopped making 'em and now the 6505's are coming out. And by the way, the reg. BV and the black ones are the same thing right? And why do they go for so cheap on ebay.

low resale value, they're just not in high demand. yes, the black ones are the same as the blue.

If you don't mind it not having MIDI, Peavey Fucking Rockmaster.

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Oh i think you'll eventually want something better then the E 530

but im taking your idea that i quoted, hopefully this summer ill get an Engl powerball and i will actually be satisfied with it to keep it unlike most of my other amps

Eddie Van Halen used an old Marshall tube head to get what we call today his "brown sound". Ironically, if you want to sound like Van Halen, a 5150 is an amp you probably should'nt use.

XDX speaks the truth, this amplifier can fill the air with absolute hate. And considering the different modifications you can get, it can only get better. Personally my absolute favorite market level amplifier.

But of course, they are really overpriced at the moment. Wait until the 6505 comes out and grab one of those on E-bay, those should be very inexpensive.

why's that?

hey dude i was just wondering wats the ada mp-1 like?, i keep seeing them on ebay and stuff for dirt cheap

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I own an MP-1. Stock through a decent tube poweramp they sound like a modded Marshall 2203 but also like a Fender Twin and a Roland JC120. They have three voices Clean, Tube Clean, and Tube Distortion. The clean is crystal clean almost sterile. The Tube Clean channel will go from a nice warm clean upwards of the area of a dimed Fender Twin-ish type tone. The Tube Distortion voice goes from a Marshall Bluesbreaker tone upwards of a Marshall 2203 with more gain(distortion). Talking much more gain than a standard Marshall.
The tone voicings are standard fare Bass, Mids, Treble, and Presence but the parameters of each is really wide with each shift in the spectrum enhancing the other tones. You really can't fuck up your tone with playing with the controls. The tone controls are really well thought out and designed well.

Has built in Stereo Chorus which is the best I have ever heard.

99 completely programmable channels, Stereo setup compatibility, MIDI in/out/through, effects loop(really transparent), headphones out(sucks), also probably one of the best features of this preamp is that you can switch it from line to instrument level output. Meaning you can use is as a pedal.

I run mine through the front of my Marshall 1959 and it screams.

It can also be modded. If you check out www.adadepot.com you can see all the mods availible for them. I installed the Mod3.666 in mine as running it through my Super Lead I needed something that had less mids as the Marshall is a bit overbearing on the mids. I also did the battery mod as the EPROM battery that comes stock in the ADA's is hard soldered to the circuit board. The battery mod installs a removable battery.

The best piece of gear to run through this preamp is a Sonic Maximiser through the effects loop. Even without any mods just this piece of gear in the chain unleashes this preamp.

For $120 and less you can't go wrong by picking one up even to check it out. This was the ultimate preamp in the 80's only being trumped by the Marshall JMP-1 and even thats debatable.

I actually considered the MP-1, but realized i'd have to mod it to get a more "brutal" tone...for some reason i'd prefer to have an amp that's fine on it's own...

If anyone has a stock MP-1 and wants to prove me wrong with a good clip or something be my guest..I'd love to have to spend less money.

anywho, I'm definately selling my Randall RH100 soon....who thinks I can get it sold for $250 on ebay?

though i don't have any clips... i must say that a stock mp-1 still has quite a bit of gain to it.

for an good example. listen to exhumed, one guy has an mp-1...

the 3tm is the mod to get for the most gain...

the 3.666 is more geared towards making it a bit less marshally and a bit more mesa-ish. imo it's more of an eq adjust ment than gain mod... though it still does add a bit of gain.

the dukanator mod is probably my favorite, it keeps more of the cool orgional tone of the preamp and just adds a lil somethin somethin.

and if you go through adadepot.com (send it in to them) they also do a few other light routine mods like cleaning it, the noise mod, new battery, ect...


what condishion is it in?

if it's almost minty you could probably get that... you might have to cut a deal with shipping though.

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i dunno dude.. its a nice preamp... pro quality...

but at the same time... i've played alot of "pro quality" shit... and being a rack nerd.. i'm warning you. once you go rack, you might never be completely satisfied with what you have... you'll always want something different than what you have.

it's not even that the gear you use isnt good. it's all in your head.

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Like i said, i dont wanna mod anything...just stock...


And my randall is PURE fucking mint, used less than a year, nothing on it. tolex casing is like new, knobs arent loose, everything's fine. I'd go 1/2 on shipping, or maybe even free.

and with the rack gear thing.... the way my money situation is, i'd LEARN to be satisfied...or something.

i dont have much experiance with anything besides a v-tone and a mesa/boogie (out of your price range) but i like both of them, the v-tone needs more distortion so i suggest getting that and a new pedal to go with it so it doesnt suck that bad, this is just my opinion though and probably not good for death metal like your asking for... basicly im posting because i can

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