[jon_stggt]

I've been looking for future upgrades for my amp.
I only have a practice amp at the moment, Marshall MG10CD.
I've been looking at Behringer amp, the price is the attraction compared to the much more expensive Marshall equipment.
Anyone have any experience with Behringer?

[fly135]

You have to take bashing with grain of salt. I have the Art Tube MP preamp and like it. But you'll hear people bashing it as cheap and because of the low power has "plate starved" distortion. Which IMO is stupid because I don't use it for distortion. It's for amplification, not for FX. Nobody expects pro quality from a low cost unit. You just expect it to sound good and work well.

[P-90]

I suspect there are a couple of different things going on with the bashing. One is that, like a number of companies, their stuff isn't all done to the same standard; some models are a lot better than others.

Besides that, I think it depends on what sort of stuff you play, and which approach you prefer. I like the sound of an old Vox, played through Jensens with an open-backed cabinet, and those go well with my guitars. So that's what I have. I have tremolo and spring reverb, and depend on pedals for the couple of other sounds I want. I choose my pedals very carefully, so I always get exactly the tone I'm after. And that's that. I'm content to have my equipment do a few things perfectly, with the twist of a couple of knobs, but not everybody feels that way. And if I wanted to do Buckethead covers, I'd definitely be needing to buy/replace some stuff.

So there's kind of a philosophical minefield surrounding the issue. A given piece of modelling equipment may produce exactly the tones that some folks want, but fall short when it comes to other sounds. And different people are going to have widely divergent opinions on the utility of 8192 possible sound settings, regardless of how successfully they're emulated.

[ken.clark]

I use a Behringer X V-Amp. I don't play live so its plenty good enough for my cellar 'studio'. Loads on tonal variation from clean acoustic through fender twin, marshall to tube screamer, plus oodles of FX, reverb and delay possibilities. It also has a programmable pedal built-in (vol, wah, gain etc).

for 50 quid (UK £) new it was a bargain.

Bye

Ken

[Dhaygood]

I own a GM110 VTONE. I've had it for close to 2 years. No complaints. Very low volume on the clean setting even when cranked to 10. Fun amp!

[Andy S]

Originally Posted by Dhaygood

I own a GM110 VTONE. I've had it for close to 2 years. No complaints. Very low volume on the clean setting even when cranked to 10. Fun amp!

I just finished repairing a GMX110 Vtone. This little guy has PLENTY of volume!!! And loads of effects. I can get lots of different tones out of it. Neat little amp.

But, since I have had to deal with Behringer on this one and a couple of other items, I still say be wary.

If you are going to just stay in the house and play, or once in a while go over to someone else's place to jam, AND you're careful with your stuff, Behringer is a good deal for the money. (or just record directly or in a small studio)

If you are thinking of getting in a band and doing small gigs and moving about....be careful with the handling. Parts can be extremely difficult to get. Especially the input jacks of the amps with the effects. There is a small printed circuit board with a preamp on it attached to the jack. The jack itself has plastic threads that strip out easy. The knobs are very sensitive, too.

In my earlier post, I mention the Behringer stuff I use at church. So I don't dislike it for the tones. Just the reliability of some of the stuff and getting parts to fix it can cause some concern. (Also, I discovered the parts issues AFTER I bought my stuff)

So, like I said, if it's for playing around the house or at a friends, I'd vote yes. If it's for starting to do paid gigs, I would look for a bit better reliability. But then, you will have to pay a bit more.

And of course, these are just my opinions.....along with 89 cents (US$) you just might be able to get a cup of coffee with that!

[Dhaygood]

Andy....I agree, I would never gig with it. Small studio and recording directly....Yes.

[n2dablue]

I like the little 110. It was cheap, around $150.00 U.S., it is load for home use, lots of digital effects. I thought I was in heaven. Then I bought a tube amp. An Epiphone Blues Custom 30. Now I can play some crazy metal sounds on the little 110 and enjoy some bluesy tone on the Epi. Try the little 110, you might just like it

[flattop6g]

I have a Behringer amp. I have been nothing but pleased with it. From what I read the early Behringer pre 2002 (I think, I am not sure) was really substandard (IMO). I have a 15 W GMX 108 amp, I have had it 2 years and it was broke in properly and have had no problems. I do agree with the Behringer effects are great. I don't own on yet but a few of my friends do and they really like them. I have plugged into several amps and (IMO) a lot of the this amp is better than this amp stems from the user and user preference not the amp itself. Personally I have used crate amps (for example) and think the sound is terrible - but thats my opinion.

I also totally agree with fly135.(IMO) sound and quailty is what you make of it.

[Live Stone]

I have two Behringer amps. The V-ampire and the V Tone. For the money you can beat them. If you are gigging then you will want something with sturdier knobs or a good protective cover as the knobs seem to me to be a little flimsy. I like the V Tone with my digitech 350 pedal. Has a clean sound. I record in stereo with either amp. I think I paid around $250 a piece for them. I have been totally satisfied with the amps. I play clean for the most part. The V Tone is a little noisy static wise on certain dirty overdrive settings. I don't use those settings as I have the digitech which is clean if I want distortion. I say a bargain at the price. Of course I am going to get a fender twin soon. It is my favorite amp. But I am not disapointed with Beringer. I have other Beringer products I like . A small desktop mixer and a tube pre-amp running to my 16 track. Like them both. They work well and the price is right. The V ampire has a noise gate that I really like to take out unwanted noise. Works quite well.

Best of luck on your decision.

Danny