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Ok, back on topic.
Last year I went amp shopping. I was looking for a rig for my bar band, so I was in the 50 watts and under market. I tried many different brands and models; Egnater, Fender, Peavey, Vox, H&K, Rivera, Bugera, Marshall, and Blackstar to name a few. To be honest, the Marshall Haze was pretty weak in the sound department. The GC I was in that day had the Haze set up right next to the Bugera V22 and the Bugera sounded a whole lot better to my ears, and the dude that was with me too (but he's a bass player, so...). I was really blown away by the fact that a company with a spotty reputation at best was producing better sounding stuff than the mighty Marshall, and at half the price. The Bugera was actually going to be my choice (I was as surprised as you), until I tried a Blackstar HT40.
For $650 I ended up with a brand new 40 watt 1x12 combo with two very USABLE channels (I'm looking at you Fender and Marshall), and a good tonal palate with fairly simple controls. I've had it for about a year now and I'm still in love with it. Soon I'm gonna retube with some good quality el34's and I'll probably change out the pre tubes as well. I haven't tried it yet, but am probably gonna swap out the 70/80 for an old Celestion G1275 that I have lying around and I'll report on that too. Oh, and it sounds absolutely effing killer through my 4x12 with greenbacks.
I also have a Marshall 6101 (the blue 30th anniversary model) that has become my at home practice amp. It can sound really good, but with three channels that each has it's own eq settings it's just a little too much to deal with on the fly with a cover band, and Marshall cleans are just not that good IMO. Plus I've had major issues with this amps reliability. This was a very expensive impulse buy several years back that I regret, and I'm waiting for the economy to bounce back so I can sell it for somewhere even close to what I paid for it.
Now, that being said, I will never, ever give up my JCM800 when it comes to my original band. Nothing compares. Unfortunately, it's a one trick pony, and it's way too loud for bar gigs, but that trick is just so goddamned sweet !
Last year I went amp shopping. I was looking for a rig for my bar band, so I was in the 50 watts and under market. I tried many different brands and models; Egnater, Fender, Peavey, Vox, H&K, Rivera, Bugera, Marshall, and Blackstar to name a few. To be honest, the Marshall Haze was pretty weak in the sound department. The GC I was in that day had the Haze set up right next to the Bugera V22 and the Bugera sounded a whole lot better to my ears, and the dude that was with me too (but he's a bass player, so...). I was really blown away by the fact that a company with a spotty reputation at best was producing better sounding stuff than the mighty Marshall, and at half the price. The Bugera was actually going to be my choice (I was as surprised as you), until I tried a Blackstar HT40.
For $650 I ended up with a brand new 40 watt 1x12 combo with two very USABLE channels (I'm looking at you Fender and Marshall), and a good tonal palate with fairly simple controls. I've had it for about a year now and I'm still in love with it. Soon I'm gonna retube with some good quality el34's and I'll probably change out the pre tubes as well. I haven't tried it yet, but am probably gonna swap out the 70/80 for an old Celestion G1275 that I have lying around and I'll report on that too. Oh, and it sounds absolutely effing killer through my 4x12 with greenbacks.
I also have a Marshall 6101 (the blue 30th anniversary model) that has become my at home practice amp. It can sound really good, but with three channels that each has it's own eq settings it's just a little too much to deal with on the fly with a cover band, and Marshall cleans are just not that good IMO. Plus I've had major issues with this amps reliability. This was a very expensive impulse buy several years back that I regret, and I'm waiting for the economy to bounce back so I can sell it for somewhere even close to what I paid for it.
Now, that being said, I will never, ever give up my JCM800 when it comes to my original band. Nothing compares. Unfortunately, it's a one trick pony, and it's way too loud for bar gigs, but that trick is just so goddamned sweet !
incidentally, i used a valvestate half stack for years with no probs at all. the tone comes from your hands first after all.
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