Best guitar amp for 500?

[Jekblad]

Hey fellas, i have guitar rig 4, pod xt, and an all tube crate amp on the fritz. Need an amp for rock n roll gigging, leaning towards blues jr, but want to make sure i have an open mind. Looking for used amps, so i'm thinking 500 street price.

Thanks for any ideas. I play a strat, rock music. ACDC to John Mayer crap etc.

[chris vine]

An old Fender or if you can find one a Musicman, they always rocked my werld

[agent314]

The Blues Jr is great for cranking up and driving the tubes, but depending on how big the venues you'll be playing are, it might be a little on the quiet side (and granted it'll be going through the PA, but if you like using your amp as a 'monitor', it can easily get lost in the mix.)

Fenders can be extremely nice, but they can also have name-inflation on the prices depending on where you go, so take that for what it's worth.

Line6's are excellent for versatility and pretty decent as far as overall sound quality. I've heard of folks having reliability problems with them, but that's true of just about any amp, so be sure to look at reviews for any specific model you buy.

[acroberts]

+1 on Blues Jr. Grab used for $300-$350 and install the BillM mods for some extra mojo. 15W of tube power can get pretty loud, but if it's not loud enough, mic 'er up.

[UKRuss]

I was in the studio the other day and turned up with just my guitar and had to use the amps they provided. They had one of these:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=483720

OK, its solid state but damn it sounded great!, I mean really great. The amp sims on it were superb as were the FX and the control was excellent. I kept looking round the back to see if there were any tubes in there.

For this price new? Amazing thing this amp. Try and check one out if you can.

[madlab]

I was told this is a very nice tube amp for a very friendly price.
http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products ... ht-40.html

[lolalola]

Fender Pro Junior - I had a Blues Junior, but a gazillion and one people kept telling the Pro Jr was a better amp. Just is, I have no idea why... just souuuunds better.

[Jekblad]

I was told this is a very nice tube amp for a very friendly price.
http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products ... ht-40.html

nice. impossible to find small tube amps with FX loops in them, i love it.

[corneliusw]

definitely check out the ZT Lunchbox or Club:
http://www.ztamplifiers.com/
My Lunchbox has been unbelievably amazing at gigs recently and it's tone is comparable to some of my other tube amps. It really breaks-up well and has a great warm, big sound. And it's so tiny!??

[Jekblad]

dude that lunch box is awesome! gotta find one to play it

[mikemc]

do you have head and cab or is it a combined amp? Do you plan on getting it fixed?

The reason I mention this is if it is a combo amp, you could maybe get a nice head for your target price, and then re-use the speaker in your Crate by wiring a 1/4" jack onto it.

[Tone Deft]

Fender Hot Rod Deville, go used get more bang for your buck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Hot-Rod-Devi ... 439f167b40

I hope you're asking other forums as well, this place ain't so great for guitars.

[AceLuby]

Used hot rod deluxe. You can find one on CL pretty easily for under $500. Great amp w/ plenty of wattage. You'll need an OD pedal though, I'd recommend a cool cat drive pedal for $40. Guitar into that pedal straight into a loud HrdDlx is tone heaven for clean jazz to rock crunch.

[Jekblad]

Played a blues Jr at the gig last night. Didn't like it. Boss os2 over then into amp, but the boost only distorted the preamp instead of boosting the level as well. Fx loop needed. Either blues Jr is out.

Anyone ever play egnater rebels?

The other fender amp is a Meh for me. Too heavy, the other guitar play has one as well.

I'm not on othe forums tone but Facebook etc. Got any suggestions?

[KrisM]

My Ibanez Thermion TN120 was $600 used, but it's just a (albeit 120W o.O) head, FYI. Pristine cleans to the most brutal high-gain death metal, it's very versatile and responds to playing very well. It's not an amp for the sloppy You can also used the foot pedal to rout the FX loop back into the preamp to act as a boost if the lead channel is "too much" (or "not enough" LOL)

Paired with a 2x12 it's pretty easy to transport.