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[Fordman65]

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[Findthetone1]

Dunno about a Twin but I’ve done a DRRI with high gainers with great success. I can only imagine a Twin would sound even bigger. But they are heavy so if he’s gigging or going to jam sessions he may get tired of lugging it around

 

[Findthetone1]

We were looking at the new Fender twin tonemaster. Digital, light weight and evidently sounds great

Yeah I’ve heard really good things about that series. I don’t think you could go wrong with that setup. You’ve got a great platform to build on and can always change pedals for what you’re feeling. However, the pedal world, especially boutique can be a HUGE rabbit hole.

 

[bubbastain]

I’d go Fender with dirt pedals. I reluctantly just sold my 60’s Teisco Checkmate 50, which was Teisco’s version of a Fender of some sort, and it was the best pedal platform amp I have ever played. Every distortion pedal I had definitely sounded better through that amp than through the clean channel of other amps. I’m also interested in that new Fender amp.

 

[godgrinder]

We were looking at the new Fender twin tonemaster. Digital, light weight and evidently sounds great

You probably want to try it with some pedals first, not sure how its digital preamp reacts with dirtboxes?

For under $1000 it's worth looking into older silverface Bassman heads. These are usually $600 and he'd have some money leftover for a 2x12" cab.

 

[JackBootedThug]

there's a kruse modded twin head conversion on my "semi" local craigslist. that would be the one....

 

[SpiderWars]

I like the clean+pedals approach but imo a Fender Twin is more than he'll need and bulky/heavy as hell. IME, you don't want a great chimey clean tone for use with higher gain pedals, you want a neutral slightly dull tone. Also, generally speaking you don't want a bright cap on the volume control, many Fenders have a Bright switch to remove it but Deluxe Reverbs don't, it is always in circuit and can get fizzy on top with gain pedals.

Also would recommend trying the Sansamp Character pedals. I have a Liverpool and it's perfect for taking that dull clean tone into all sorts of low gain, difficult to acheive tones (it is Vox-flavored). They also have a Blonde pedal for getting old Fender tones.

Also, I like layering gain pedals. I have a compressor, then a Klon clone set really low, then the Liverpool, then a BE-OD deluxe (not set for super high gain on either channel). Lots of shades of grey in there.

 

[Rick Lee]

Boss Katana until he really knows what he wants and has the chops back up to speed.

 

[bubbastain]

Boss Katana until he really knows what he wants and has the chops back up to speed.

This. Totally forgot about the Katana.

 

[Findthetone1]

Boss Katana until he really knows what he wants and has the chops back up to speed.

Honestly, for the money and quality of the tone this is probably the best suggestion. Katanas are no slouch. I had the Artist combo but don't deal with deep editing so I felt I wasn't utilizing the amps potential so I unloaded it and went to the DRRI and pedal route. In the end I think I'd been better keeping it. Even using the core sounds it was really fun.

 

[cardinal]

Does he need to footswitch between them?

If not, I'd rather go with something like a Marshall 2204 or a Vox AC30-type (with a master volume). Either will give really really nice, dynamic clean tones. And both are capable of great, rock crunch, and then a OD pedal can push them over into high gain.

I've not had great luck trying to go from clean to high gain with just a pedal, but as you can see from this thread, seems like other people make it work.

And for what it's worth, I played on of the Deluxe Reverb Tone Masters and LOVED IT. Sounded great. Did not try any pedals with it, but that was a nice sounding clean amp.

 

[Racerxrated]

We were looking at the new Fender twin tonemaster. Digital, light weight and evidently sounds great

You probably want to try it with some pedals first, not sure how its digital preamp reacts with dirtboxes?

For under $1000 it's worth looking into older silverface Bassman heads. These are usually $600 and he'd have some money leftover for a 2x12" cab.

This.

 

[sleewell2]

i'd much rather a helix, quilter and guitar cabs.

so many choices of amps and effects. great tones with a band or by yourself at low volumes.

 

[Shask]

I would say an EVH 5150 III 50W. with a 212 cab, and a few effects pedals would be a very strong rig that can easily be had under that budget.

 

[311boogieman]

Really, any one of these suggestions are pretty good. It just comes down to what how he's going to use the rig (gig or not) and how picky he is with his tone.

Pure modeler + FRFR
Clean amp + pedals/modeler
2 channel amp

I was actually going to suggest something like an Egnator or EVH or hell even a Rectifier. I can get some damn nice chimey tones on the clean channel and certainly rock tones on Clean Pushed all the way up thru OD Channel + toggle on my Rectoverb head.

But really I came here to say that your friend needs to physically try some of these options with the guitar he plans to use in a place where he can get some volume going. I think I would contact my Guitar Center and literally ask for an appointment for the loud room and get some of these different scenarios lined up in there.

Last idea - speaking of Egnator, he could look for an MTS or TOS amp and get the desired modules.

 

[skullfxr]

What about a Rivera knucklehead 100. The original. The cleans are amazing and super pedal friendly, and the OD channel is solid AF. I got mine shipped under $700.

I would recommend a fender bassman over a twin reverb for a pedal clean amp. I have a SF twin reverb and several bassmans. Bandmasters are nice too. I prefer them over twins for a pedal platform

 

[panhead]

original shiva

 

[thenine]

Don’t forget Revv G3 and G4. Outstanding heavy gain pedals. I recommend one or both of those and a 2204. Add a tube screamer or whatever. Boom done.

Later he can add a stereo chorus and another 2204 and run a stereo rig! Sooner or later he’ll be one of us with tons and tons of gear!

 

[petejt]

I think it depends a lot on the speaker/s than just the amp, particularly when you want that thump and chug.

If you can get a clean combo amp that has a pair of solid powerful speakers, then a high gain pedal into it could work quite well.