Hey. I'm new and starting to learn how to play guitar, and I'm looking for advice in choosing my first amp. I'm looking for an amp that costs less than $300, new or used no difference. I was at first looking at Marshall but then I realized that some of their new stuff has a high price with decreased quality, and I've been told by friends that their solid state amps aren't as great as their tubes.

Anyway, I need an amp that sounds big and bold, not something that sounds like a toy. I'm an audio guy myself, and I've been through Live sound, car audio, hifi/home theater, etc, but this is my first guitar venture.

My question is, should I go for something like the Roland Cube 60? Telling by the price, it's not such a great amp, but is it good for starters? I need something loud enough for a room, say the size of a standard living room. I need something that sounds good and was built solidly too. Any Suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help!

If you can find a Peavey 5150 combo used, that would be an excellent amp thats more than you'd need to start, they usually run around $450 or so used around where I live. I know thats more than you posted, but you might as well buy something that you won't end up trading in at a later date. Or save for a bit longer and get yourself a decent stack or rack setup, just a bit of friendly advice.

Yeah get something with good distortion and more than one channel. That way you won't have to buy pedals for a while, unless you want to get into weird sounds and whatnot. I would recommend a Line 6 Spider 3 combo....but someone on here would impale me.

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well for a beginner, line 6 is pretty much ideal. It has tons of settings, decent tones, and sounds pretty good at incredibly low volumes... I actually like the roland cube though, it has a pretty decent variety of distortions for the price...but line 6 defiantly has better bang for the buck

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I have a line 6 head. I love it. I'm not a beginner....but I'm definately not a pro.....

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Thanks for the ideas guys! I've already been though all that "let me buy something cheap to start out with", and i've never enjoyed the outcome, weather it be for dj gear or car subwoofers.

I'm definitely ready to shell out a bit more for a better amp. I don't want to hassle myself at guitar center and get lowballed for my used gear, been there, done that. And I don't want to go through the hassle of selling and shipping my beginniner amp on ebay.

A friend of mine has a Line 6 and he started out a few months ago. I shall ask him what he thinks of it. So, what's better, a Line 6 Spider 3 or a Cube 60? Sorry if they are incomparable, im still getting used to the amp build types, their forms, and their functions.

I know nothing about the Roland...but the Line 6 is pretty good, and I've been playing for 4 years. (which isn't much of a statement....but it definately takes me out of beginner class.)

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I've found a Line 6 Spider 3 75watt Combo amp. Would this be solid? Also, will it be able to rock more than my room? It's priced at $300, which is the perfect price for me. I might even be able to pick one up for cheaper locally.

What do you think of this amp paired up with an Ibanez RG2EX1? Comments on the Ibanez too by the way. I've got an Ibanez RG280 right now, but the color scheme of the white with black striping on the rg2ex1 has got me all sold out!

spider 3, 75 watter for 300 is decent, it's listed at that at musicians friend i'm pretty sure...not sure if local dealers will do any better, online usually turns a better result in price.
Thing about line 6 is that most guitars will sound pretty damn close to each other, so it really doesn't matter, but the ibanez will sound great thru it, i have a GP1, and I've ran it thru a line 6 spider 2, essentially the same thing.
With a 300$ budget, probably will be the best idea, it can be a beginner to novice type of amp, i've been playing for about 11 years now, were i to get a solid state amp, it would be a line 6.
PS, what are your specs in the RG280? I've never seen one before, the RG2EX1 is a fairly cheap guitar, just wondering if you're better off sticking with your first.

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RG280????

I have a 270, I'm interested in the specs of the 280 as well.

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Hey, a new guy that speaks coherently and asks good questions! Welcome!

The Line6 Spiders are decent amps. When tweaked properly they are sound great at lower bed/living room volumes. I think one of those would be just right for you. You can get all sorts of clean, bluesy, rock, and metal tones out of it and the built in effects make pedals unnecessary. They wont hold up at band volumes but it dosent sound like that is a concern. I say go for it, just let us know if you need help with making presets!

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sorry, it's a typo. I have an RG270. Anyway, I think I'm going to go with the 75 watt Line 6 Spider III. It should hold me down for about a year or so, till i'm ready to upgrade or if I should decide that the guitar is not for me. Thanks for all the help again all of you! I'll let you know how the Line 6 is when I get one next week!

Has anybody else here tried the new tube spiders? I tried a combo down at the local guitar store, it sounded pretty nice. That might be a consideration if you haven't gotten anything yet, they weren't too pricey overall, and had great tones for being a Line-6.

I've heard good things about those Roland Cubes, though I've never played one myself, so it's all hearsay.

Though you realy want to look at an amp that has at least a decent-ish distortion built in. Saves your the money and ear torture of needing a pedal for that

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the crate blue voodoo combos come fairly cheap too if you look for them on e-bay

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