I'm looking to buy a practice amp for my Les Paul copy. It would be used around the house and I don't want to spend more than $150...any knowledgable guitar players here who could recommend something? I'm thinking about the Fender Frontman 25R.

Also, are there any decent, semi-intelligent guitar forums on the net, where I could ask questions like the one above and get good help? The few I've found have been ridiculously unmoderated and mostly illiterate.

For under $150, that's pretty much as good as you're gonna get. Fender makes a pretty decent inexpensive amp.

Line 6, who I also think makes a pretty good amp, has a few models in the $150-$200 range if you don't mind stretching your budget a little bit. The nice thing about the Line 6's is that they have built in effects (that actually sound decent) and amp models so you can tweak the sound of the amp. That's especially fun if you're just messing around at home.

Check out musiciansfriend.com or music123.com too. They always have specials and closeouts, and you can get some decent gear for much cheaper than your local music shop.

Just for closure's sake I ended up buying a Vox Pathfinder 15R. After scouring the forums and asking lots of questions, it appears to be a favorite amp of many. I'm told that many pros, who're used to playing vintage $1500 tube amps, think it sounds great and choose it as their "hotel room" amp. And it was only $120. So far I'm loving it.

And to answer my own question, guitargeek.com is an extremely knowledgable, well-moderated forum for these things, for anyone who's interested..

and thanks eric, I did end up getting the amp from musiciansfriend.com

Well, my first amp was a Fender Frontman 15 watt. It was a great first amp, but i'm not impressed with Fender's lower-end stuff. For mid to low range amps, I'd look into Crate or Vox. They come pretty loaded with effects, and can get pretty loud with ut destorting at all. I now play a Crate RFX 120 Watt Combo amp, and am looking into getting a Fender Blues Jr. or a Fender Deluxe tube amp.


Musical experience;

Piano - 6 years
Guitar - 5 years
Bass - on and off
Drums - 1 year

Nice choice, also check out www.harmony-central.com they have a huge forum with alot of users.

Well, a few months later and I have a Fender Pro Jr. It's perfect for what I wanted -- no bells and whistles, just 15 watts of tube sound, a volume knob and a tone knob. I got one in brand-new condition on ebay for $200. It may be "low end" for Fender, but as I'm finding out, many, many people consider it one of the best amps Fender has ever made, dollar for dollar. It's kind of like a modern day Champ -- a simple, low-wattage tube amp that just sounds really nice.

I'm told that while its big brother the Blues Jr. has a few more features (12-inch speaker, master volume, and reverb, which apparently kind of sucks) the Pro Jr. has superior tone. Something to do with the caps and output transformer used. I believe it. It sounded pretty nice in stock form -- but I put in a Weber Vintage speaker, and some NOS tubes (Brimar, RCA, Tungsram) and it truly sounds as good or better than $1000 amps I've heard, just with less power and a narrower range of tones (without any pedals...)

And with a Sparkle Drive overdrive pedal, DD3 delay and Holy Grail Reverb...It sounds utterly professional.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Commontone,

quote:

Originally posted by Commontone:
And with a Sparkle Drive overdrive pedal, DD3 delay and Holy Grail Reverb...It sounds utterly professional.

Ahh, another person who knows the joys of the Sparkle Drive!

If you are looking for an good amp at a small price, it doesn't hurt to check the used section at small, local shops. I had a store in my town that was going out of business, and had a an amp on consignment, being sold by a junkie who needed (drug?) money. Basically, neither party cared as long as it got sold.

It is an original, early '90s Fender Blues DeVille, worth nearly $1,000. Tubes, reverb, 4 10 inch speakers, etc, all in a gorgeous tweed cloth. I offered $200 for it, and it was mine.

It sounds like a dream with my Telecaster and Jaguar, and I honestly wouldn't take any other amp over it.

oh i started to play guitar a week ago! i play with a classic guitar by yamaha... now, i'm able only to play songbird and don't look back into the sun by the libs

Stick with it. Remember, most punk rock songs can be played with only three chords!

i know i know guy...but if between a sound and one another 10minutes pass...it can be a problem ahahah

I have been a guitarist for eight-ish years. The funny thing is I wanted an electric guitar desperately. And so for three years I labored and at last, the holy grail was found! A little Fender Squire with a wah-wah pedal due to incorrect assembly . And then I lost interest in electric guitars. I shun electric stuff. I like grand pianos over keyboards (except when I'm playing Intervention, when you need a pipe organ handy, and it's a lot easier to just have a keyboard that can reproduce that), I prefer my three Ovations (6-string acoustic, 12 string acoustic, and mandolin [Love the little thing! ]) to the family electric guitars, and I'd rather fiddle with a song on my guitar than record anything. Oddly enough, I like bands like Adult. and Devo...

Anyway, I'm unplugged and it's great!

No love for guitarists here? Or should we just pack up and move to the music forum?

I came to know from my friend that many antique shop owners dealing with musical instruments are there in this forums.. you may contact them..



____________________

Jack darson


It's no secret that Fender makes great guitar amps, but which one is the best? We think it's the Blues Junior. Find out why.


http://fenderbluesjunioramps.com