Which amp?

[Bob63047]

I am condisering 2 amps, Mucstang GT 40 and the VOX VT 20X.  Both seem quite capable of doing a lot more than I need in this stage of my learning but I like the idea having choices.  Opinions of either of these 2 would be greatly appreciated.

[Blue Dog]

I read up on both amps . They sound good . Alright reviews. The only thing that i didnt like is the small speakers . i have bought amps with small speakers . and the sound suffers bad. i have a rule never buy a amp that has under 12 inch speakers.  The boss Katana 50 watt is a great amp. i have one . All i need for a amp . Good luck and choosing one . Let us now what you find. 

[Randy120]

I agree with Blue Dog about the small speakers. I would recommend at least a 10" speaker, and a 12" is better for air movement. 

In your price range I might recommend something like this. At 40 watts into a 12" speaker the Fender Champ might be too loud for small spaces.

Fender Champ 40 

Marshall Code 25

Vox VT40X Same thing as 20X with 10 inch speaker and more power. 

Vox Superbeetle The Superbeetle is a little more expensive, but I like it.

[NeilES335]

On 12/11/2018 at 7:52 PM, Bob63047 said:

I am considering 2 amps, Mustang GT 40 and the VOX VT 20X.  Both seem quite capable of doing a lot more than I need in this stage of my learning but I like the idea having choices.  Opinions of either of these 2 would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry I don't have an opinion of these amps per se; but after watching the review of the Voc VT40X it looks pretty complicated to me. Are you a person who likes to fiddle with settings looking for a certain tone? How LOUD do you want it? I learned that the wattage isnt necessarily indicative of volume, nor is digital vs tube or speaker size  For home use personally I'd think a 10 " speaker is plenty. There are some small amps with smaller speakers that have great sound. My only advice is; KISS.... (Keep It Simple Silly) 

Here is Sweetwater's Amp Buying Guide; I hope this helps some; https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/guitar-amp-buying-guide/

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

for home use I would think all you need is about 5w tube (15w solid state) and a 12" speaker.

that's a small amp.. if you're talking more than 12w tube.. it's way too loud for a house unless people really like your playing

[Randy120]

Practice Amp for Home Use by Desi Serna

[Harryv]

Good article Randy, I had a THR 10 just like the one in the article. It's a great choice for bedroom volumes and silent recording. Can't really say anything bad about it. 

[Bob63047]

That’s a good article.

[John Wells]

They're both modeling amps, which seems to be what you want. The VOX at $180 vs the Mustang at $250 seems the most economical if coin is a concern. They both have great reviews. Lotsa luck.  

[Tom M]

the boss katana would be a great choice too. I have the vox vt50 i got for my son and its decent and fairly big and loud. the advantage of the boss is that it has all the boss effects built in. I don't know how much you want to spend. for the money its hard to beat the boss katana. 

 

 

[Mike Hoodenpyle]

I have both a Fender Super Champ XD (the model before the X2), and a Boss Katana 50. Both are great amps. The Super Champ is pretty versatile, but I mainly use it for clean tones, which are really good. It has an acoustic setting, designed to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic. That feature isn't great, but I guess it would be serviceable if you're into that. The Boss is even more versatile. It has an acoustic setting that's actually designed for acoustic-electric guitars, not for an electric to simulate an acoustic. I bought the Boss to leave at church so I wouldn't have to take an amp twice a week for rehearsal and performance. I have an A/B switch into the input jack so I can go back and forth between an electric and an acoustic, and a foot switch into the back panel to change channels accordingly. Very handy, and it sounds great.

[Old Guy]

Here's the thing with the Mustang GT amps. They are modeling amps first and foremost. You won't really get the sound you think you will right out of the box, and sometimes tweaking the GT can get a little daunting. Ultimately, if you have no experience creating presets on a modeling amp of some kind, I discourage people from getting something like the GT.

That being said, if something tat can do a lot in a little inexpensive box is what you're looking for, have at it, but expect to spend some time learning the controls and adjusting things so they sound good to you. It is not a plug and play type of situation at all.

The biggest thing I see with online reviews of these types of modeling amps is that the reviewer pulls it out of the box, plugs it in, and hates it. Mostly because they aren't willing to dive deep into it to program the sound they are looking for. Or they haven't read the instructions at all, and haven't followed the company guidelines for updating the firmware within the product. With the Fender GT series, the FIRST thing they tell you do is update the firmware, which can be done either reomitely, or via USB, but you need to to do this with a computer or laptop around. Unless you want to download the firmware onto a USB stick and then upload it from there. And expect to have to update that periodically, as modeling amps are a work in progress, and are constantly being upgraded.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Old Guy

[Randy120]

I have long experience with modelling amps. My first amp is a Fender G-DEC 30 which models a lot of amps, and many effects. The amp itself is capable, but it takes some work to get to the sound you want. The flaw in the G-DEC is it has all the options buried in a multi-layer menu. The amp is fully customizable, but it takes some work. The first thing I did was setup a simple clean setting as my main setting because I wanted to know I was playing notes correctly in early practice. The amps and effects were overkill early because I had no idea how to use them. A raunchy overdrive expects you to play in a certain fashion which is hardly appropriate for a learning guitar player. It was a lot less expensive than buying a lot of effects pedals. There is a lot of capability in this little amp and after years I can finally enjoy some of the effects, but I never enjoy using the menu.

More conventional amps have simple controls for volume, gain, treble, mid, bass, and maybe reverb. These are the kind of amps most of the professionals use. The effects are added later.

I now have a Fishman Loudbox Mini acoustic amp, and a Peavey Classic 30 II which both have simple controls with minimal effects. Of course I had to buy a couple of pedals, and it will only take one more purchase to equal what I spent on the G-DEC. I also consider adding multi-effects pedals which have menus and options, but give you a lot of capability in a single box.

What goes around comes around.

Visit a music store and play around with the amp you are considering to make sure it is right for you.  

[Bob63047]

I seem to be leaning towards the Boss Katana 50.  Looks like a much easier amp to use than the 2 I mentioned.

[Six String]

I've heard nothing but great reviews on them and the online demo's I've seen have been impressive as well.

I think so long as you are not looking to recreate a specific amp tone, you'll be very happy with it.