ive been playing not even 2 years yet... i have a 15w marshall amp and christmas is comming up so monies gonna come rollin in. i always have a need to spend money so im checkin out amps. i kinda dont wanna spend 400 dollers on a combo but thats about all you can get. do you think i should save some more money to like buy a half stack or something.

A head and stack are going to cost you more, no matter how you slice it.. -BUT- is it really nescary? Stacks come in usefull for the extra power and tone they punch for live shows and gigging. But if all you do is play privately, theres really no reason to go for one unless you happen to have the money laying around or something..

Combo amps are nice alternatives becuase they're smaller, and the features are usually pretty close to their head counterparts. You just dont get the big fancy speaker setup thatll make your walls crumble and add all that sweet sweet tone. Combos will cost you less and will (probably) work fine for what you need. But if you plan on going into gigging or playing with a band, id hold up for a stack, it would be more worth your money.

Of course, thats just my opinion, and since i dont play in a band or have much experience with stacks, im just talking out of my ass, someone whos tried both should probably try to answer this more accurately

i do quite a lot of gigging and at the moment i have to use other bands amps etc. So i m thinking of getting a Hughes and Kettner Warp 7 half stack as its fairly cheap for an amp and it sounds nice. Anyway i'd suggest getting a stack as they're more worth your money and u never no wen ure gonna join a band. So save up ure money

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yeah i still dunno yet... im seriouse about playing guitar but i dunno about a band, but you never know... i bet if someone ever offered me to be in their band i would take it.... and i cant gig with my little 15w... i was thinking about this thing
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7.../base_id/108862
i dunno where i would put a half stack in my house anyway...
is behringer anygood? they are pretty cheap.
heres a couple more
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7.../base_id/103079

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...l/base_id/75699

Im using a Bherginer Ultraroc GX110 (or something, i forget the exact model, whatever)
its a small 30(?) Watt RMS combo amp.

Bheringer is cheap, but dont be fooled, its all digital solid state tech.

The sound it gives out is..well... mediocre at best. Its generally toneless due to the fact its all digital. However, if you run an EQ pedal in the FX loop as i do, it can substaintially help matters. Running my MT-2 through it i can get some decent distortion from it, but thats about it. I definately prefer the tone my Solidstate Traynor has over this amps though, which is saying alot :P.

If you like effects, this thing is loaded with them, albiet they arent very controllable, the chorus and delay effects are quite nice, and rival what most pedals can do, but, again... they arent as diverse and cant be controlled as well as a real stompbox could.

Bheringer makes nice practice amps, but i really wouldnt buy them for anything other than that. Suposedly their pro recording equipment is top notch though .

Ive not much experience with other amps to give you any viable advice, but i can recommend to generally avoid bheringer.

Speaking of which, has anyone tried any of the Peavey 5150 series of amplifiers? Id really like to find out if they're any good, i really need to upgrade to something that has a slight resemblance of tone

the 5150, and 5150 II, are awsome amps, loud and mean. and if you are looking a high end peavey stuff, i would also recomend the xxx series.

but as far as the 1/2 stack vs combo, i play a full stack(thats 2 4x12's), and i can get more volume and power out of it than any combo.

i would suggest looking at second hand(used) amps.
you could come out of a used amp dealer store with a quality(used) tube halfstack for anywere from $500-$1500.

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Peavey 5150s are awesome. Heaps and heaps of gain, very metal tone. The clean is not super good but as long as you dont use clean alot (i.e blues) then its fine for practical clean intros and such. Adding chorus helps too.

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do i have to have a cab to play on a head? or do i need both.

go big or keep the practice amp
always use tube
and try as much gear out as you can to decide what you like.

and a sonic maximizer does wonders for any amp.

Fantastic
now ill just have to wait untill i win the lottery, or someone decides to shower me in money, then ill drop the $1200 canadian for one

yah i know... im just not gonna get a new amp for a year... ill just spend my money on somethin else more usefull, next year will be the year of concerts for me i guess.

i sure didn't win the lottery i just worked my ass off and saved all my money. it is worth the extra time to save and buy a really good amp then to just settle on what you can afford.

my used full stack wasnt much but it sounds like a million bucks

mesa vtwin rackmount preamp=$300
tube works rt 4250 power amp=$250
peavey road ready 4x12 cab with sheffeild 1290's=$200
crate 4x12(not sure what model because they dont make em anymore) with jensens=$150

thats my used tube full stack that is not only killer sounding,loud, and fun to look at, but it wasnt too much money either.

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ill just make it my goal to buy a amp, atleast like the xxl gear, by the time im 18

if i just wanted a half the stack whats the difference between a slant cab and a straight cab?

slant cabs have the top two speakers tilted back to project the sound more upwards making it usually seem louder to you(especially in 1/2 stacks)because they're pointed more up at you. straight cabs are usually used just as bottom cabs in full stacks, but some people like to use them in half stacks because they seem to give a deeper bassier sound, kinda like if you stand behind a closed back amp or speaker cab of some kind, it will sound lower because the speakers arent pointed at you, but they usually use the same speakers as the slant versions(like %95 of them).
with most cabs its not a huge difference, but when i'm just using one of my cabs, i use the slant one.

i'm sure theres more technical terms for this stuff and better ways to explain it, but thats a pretty basic idea. if you just want a half stack i would suggest a slant cab, but you might want to try some straight ones too, just to see if you like em.

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yeah alright