I need a crappy little practice amp!

Spaceboy

Well-known member
I can't seem to find a small combo that I plug into and makes me actually want to play. I've looked through the Egnaters, Blackstars, Yamaha TH, Oranges, Fenders, others here and there available at local stores, but so far nothing gives me a a decent medium/high gain sound with a telecaster. I've gone through some Fenders with an OCD in hand, thinking maybe a clean platform would do the trick, but nope. What little amps do you guys like? I'm sure there's some great stuff in the boutique world, but I'm trying to spend something closer to the $500 ballpark or preferably even less. I'm perfectly fine with solid state but usually digital modeling doesn't do it for me. I mostly play with a decent amount of crunch, not metal really, more vintagey/classic rock I guess. I want a single speaker, size doesn't matter if it sounds good.
 
Peavey Bandit Transtube. ONLY get the Transtube, the older ones. The new ones aren't as good. Usually around $100-$150. SS, 12" speaker combo, loud as fuck but sounds decent at low volumes. Usually throw a boost in front of it just to tighten up the low end but it doesn't need it. Cleans are good, mid gain crunch is good, boosted its a metal monster. Cheap and works. I usually throw a delay in the loop and switch back and forth between cleans and brootz...it's a lot of fun for me to play based on how it sounds and the fact that it's cheap as dirt.

EDIT: just re-read your post and saw that you're looking for more of a classic rock type tone. Check out the DSL40c. Great cheap amp and it's under your budget used...nice cleans, good mid gain tones and the clean channel on 10 boosted is instant old school thrash.
 
Line 6 Flextone III.

I used to loath Line 6 stuff, but after playing one of these I really dig it. Great for low volumes, you can find them cheap (~$200), has good fx so no clutter, sounds good. It comes in a 1x12 or 2x12. I use an SD-1 in front sometimes for extra gain and to make the attack sharper.
 
Why are you looking at good stuff if you want a crappy amp? Look for an old 80's Crate G10. It would be hard to find something worse.
 
I use a Vox Valvetronix with my single coil Strat, and it gives me high gain tones that are fun to jam with.
 
I would look for a used Rivera era Fender...the Super Champ in particular sounds REALLY good, but it might be over your 500 dollar price point...
 
Have you checked out the Randall Diavlo series, or the Peavey Valveking 20w which can be dropped to 5 or 1 watt. If all else fails get you an ipad and Bias/Jamup.
 
Love my MicroCube, an OD pedal on the "Classic Stack" channel does a pretty solid mid-gain/modded Marshall.
 
Spaceboy":1xl1k0r5 said:
I can't seem to find a small combo that I plug into and makes me actually want to play. I've looked through the Egnaters, Blackstars, Yamaha TH, Oranges, Fenders, others here and there available at local stores, but so far nothing gives me a a decent medium/high gain sound with a telecaster. I've gone through some Fenders with an OCD in hand, thinking maybe a clean platform would do the trick, but nope. What little amps do you guys like? I'm sure there's some great stuff in the boutique world, but I'm trying to spend something closer to the $500 ballpark or preferably even less. I'm perfectly fine with solid state but usually digital modeling doesn't do it for me. I mostly play with a decent amount of crunch, not metal really, more vintagey/classic rock I guess. I want a single speaker, size doesn't matter if it sounds good.

Marshall Valvestate. As a matter of fact, I have the 50 watt combo and use it to practice and play with the punk band I fill in for. Great for low volume stuff and shitty enough loud for punk rock :D !!!!!
 
Greazygeo":28vwoooz said:
Why are you looking at good stuff if you want a crappy amp? Look for an old 80's Crate G10. It would be hard to find something worse.

I dunno... This is what I started with.

gg20c.jpg
 
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