Okay, so I'm into metal, I love to tune down (pretty much play in nothing but B now, both with a 6 and 7 string, also tune the 7 down to A), and I run a small recording studio as well as I'm putting together a band in hopes to play live at some point.

So I want an amp that I can jam with, record with, play live with... And preferably one that can handle loud, low notes (like A).

How many watts is the bare minimum? I'm hearing 100 from some people, and 150 from others. Sadly I'm on a tight budget so I need to look in the 500 and less price range. (and I'm talking Canadian dollars). Also, I don't really use any pedals or anything, just clean and distorted tone, so as long as I can get a good clean sound and a good distortion (I like a good mix of low and high end with as little mid as possible). I'm hearing Randall would be a good bet.. I played with a marshall last week that sounded decent. I've also played through a Line6 Flextone III which sounds good, except when recorded, although that could just be my bad mic placement on that take.

I'll let you guys reply and answer any questions you may have.

Cheers

Buy a Blue Voodoo. Excellent amp and you should get one for $500 or less on EBAY.

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Recommendations? The Gear Forum.

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500 canadian dollars is about 350$USD? That's a fairly steep price range. You won't find anything decent that's giggable in that price range unless you buy used.

Do you want it in head or combo format? Keep your eyes peeled for one of these on US/Canadian ebay auctions:

Crate Blue Voodoo - BV60(60W combo for around 300$), BV6212(60W 2x12 for around the same)
Ampeg VH140C 2x12 combo - 300-400$USD
Crate Stealth GT 50 - Combo amp, 300$ ish.
Some SS Randalls.

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Just take your guitar into Guitar Center and start playing on the amps. Its the best way to find out what you're looking for.

Soeru just recommended the Ampeg to you, as he recommended to me last week. I second that recommendation.

I got lucky, and found an Ampeg SS-70 used about 4 days ago, and am very happy with it. very good distortion.

The SS series is just the earlier version of the VH series...

Unless his local stores have any older/discontinued used amps, for that amount of money he's not gonna find a great deal of reasonably priced new amps. If I just had to buy used in that price range I'd get a Tech 21 Trademark 60 or 30, as I had a 30 and it rocked(but probably not enough volume for a full size gig without a cab/slave amp of some sort. But the sheer amount of good amps you can find for stupid cheap 2nd hand nowadays just make it less appealing, the Tech 21's are still amazing though.

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Ok... Fine...
Take your guitar to a bunch of pawn shops...

If you had the money I woudl greatly suggest a madison... They are a bit pricey however they make good equipment... framus also. Heres the link for the madison head and cab I would suggest.Madison Divinity
MAG-V412 / V412 SLANT

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man... you can't be serious

heres the problem:

this HAS to be a joke.

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why are they bad?
nvever heard of em

If I'm wrong please correct me, but I think they are clones of the Marshall JCM2000 range but just made with cheapo chinese parts. The JCM's are bad enough without ultra-crappy components.

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The preamp and power section is mostly cloned verbatim, but the power section is not, they messed up when they made/cloned that so it makes huge popping noises when channel switching...

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that and they have worse reliability problems than behringer. Behringer's tend to have a 2 year lifespan... once you hit the 2 year mark, its bound to die if it doesnt on the day it turns 2 years old.
With madisons, they only take 3 months tops to blow out. Their floor amps are nice because theyre the actual hand made ones, but they dont sell those, they only use them to sell the cheap chinese ones. If you get one for live play, make sure you get at least 3, you WILL need backups, AND be ready to spend ALOT of money on repairs and replacement parts.
oh, and by huge popping noises, he means louder than your playing popping noises. imagine. chugchugchug SNAP!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111!!!111111! chug chug chug

Jcm 2000's are FAR more reliable than these. The only problems they have is the reverb tanks blow out if you shake them too hard. Solution: treat it nicely like a glass sculpture, not a bag full of meat.

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I guess this is stricktly a matter of opinion... but than again im guessing your some amazing musician who happens to know everything and thinks that you are right.. all hail this douchebag. but seriously give em a try its not always the equipment it also helps to be able to play... try it if you like it... go you.

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Yeah, thing is its not a matter of opinion, Madisons are crappy because they are built cheap. End of really, the JCM2000's don't sound great so I doubt cheapo componentry will make a magical difference. And yes the_bleeding knows what he is talking about.

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3wnd:

Im looking at my madison Omen right now and not only is it still playing great... it hasnt given me any problems. Between that and my '85 Kramer Vanguard I dont have complaints about sound... Its all opinion. What do you guys know about warmoth's reliability for bodies and whatnot?

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No, hes right, Madisons are built like Pintos. If yours is still going, go knock on some wood.

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