Hey all,

I've been playin guitar for about 5 years now and I am looking to upgrade my equipment. Currently I am using a Jackson Dinky with EMGs, a Boss MetalZone and a Fender FM half stack or something. There is an Ibanez RG1570 coming in the mail this week so that should be good.

I really don't know anything about gear what so ever, so pretty much anything you say to contribute will help me.

Would a new head be a good idea? Or would a whole new stack be better? Is a rack a good investment? Does a good rack get better tone than just using a nice amp and a stomp box? Stuff like this is what I would like to know.

Thanks.

taking it from your name you like in flames. and that sort of tone, just sell your fender half stack, your jackson, and ur metalzone. Pickup a used 5150 get it re-tubed with jjs pre and power, get it biased for about 30-35ma and get a used marshall cab or randall xl cab. With that ibanez and the 5150 it would slay.

Thanks for replying.

As gnarly as all that sounds, I just don't know all this guitar gear jargin. What are "jjs pre and power", "biased", and "30-35ma"?

"JJ pre and power" are types of tubes that make any tube head work, sorry that was my fault, it just i think gives the 5150 the best type of tone. Biasing to 30-35 ma should be done after you re-tube you head. Usually most people get it dont when they change there tubes, but peaveys are biased cold which means the tubes arnt getting warm enough to get the best tone outta the peavey. If you get a amp tech to do it for you, just get him to put the tubes and do the biasing and such. IMO 5150s are one of the easiest amps to dial in as well so if you dont know alot of stuff about gear, at least you can still get a good sound with the amp.

OK, cool, thanks man. I'll look into this stuff.

Ditch the metalzone. It's useless for anything but homepractice.
The Jackson isn't bad probably, but you might want to sell it if you need more cash to get gear.

I'd say you want a decent high-gain tube combo or halfstack, so you can ditch the Fender FM too.

Some affordable and decent combos/halfstacks you might want to look for is a Peavey 5150/6160, maybe an Ampeg or Crate Blue Voodoo, Engl Fireball/Thunder/Screamer combo, or Engl Powerball if you can afford it, or Engl 530 preamp with a nice poweramp if you don't mind going rack.
You could also go for a Marshall JCM800 and a OD pedal like a tubescreamer.

Remember to look into second hand first. It's much much cheaper, there's not much risk of wear or defects as getting second hand guitars are, and if you sell it again you get as much back as you paid for, maybe even some profit if you buy and sell inteligently.

If that's too much hassle or you don't have enough cash, you can still ditch the MT2, get one of those high gain tube distortion pedals, and save up cash until you can get a nice *clean* tubeamp to pair it with.

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