Amp sound

sean1968 · #1 April 3rd, 2007

Ok heres the deal. Im a Trivium / Death fan and i want a good heavy metal sound from an amp. I have a limited budget (spent all money on a crummy cheetah amp and my guitar) and I was told that a Roland Micro Cube would get me a good metal sound. Im also looking at a line 6.
The roland is more in my price range but i can maybe stretch a bit if i can buy online when the wifes out.
Cheers in advance.

If anyone could list some affordable amps here that would give me a good metal sound i would be really grateful.
I dont know a lot about amps in case you hadn't noticed
Cheers again

hb · #2 April 3rd, 2007

I think the Roloand Micro Cube is a good amp for it's price and I have read nothing but super things about it from reviews of the amp. I bought one and have an electric with two humbucker pick-ups on it and cannot play the low E and A string together without bad distortion on any setting. I took the guitar and amp back to see what the problem was and they said the guitar was just too hot for that little amp. They also said they see that a lot. Goes to show you, don't believe everything you hear!
Hope this helps,
hb

fly135 · #3 April 3rd, 2007

"...amp back to see what the problem was and they said the guitar was just too hot for that little amp."

You should of told them you had a volume control on your guitar. Sounds to me like the amp had a bad resonance, which could be a function of the speaker and.or the amp's EQ.

Sean, you can get that metal sound from either the amp's electronics or by adding a pedal. For cheap I recommend the Korg AX3G multifx pedal ($50 at Musiciansfriend, follow Kirks "Stupid Deal of the Day link on the sidebar). You will be able to get metal sounds from your current amp.

If you want an amp there are lots of recommendations here, including the Roland cube. So far my experience is that I don't want a combo with less than a 12" speaker regardless of the wattage. YMMV

hb · #4 April 3rd, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by fly135

"...amp back to see what the problem was and they said the guitar was just too hot for that little amp."

You should of told them you had a volume control on your guitar. Sounds to me like the amp had a bad resonance, which could be a function of the speaker and.or the amp's EQ.

Sean, you can get that metal sound from either the amp's electronics or by adding a pedal. For cheap I recommend the Korg AX3G multifx pedal ($50 at Musiciansfriend, follow Kirks "Stupid Deal of the Day link on the sidebar). You will be able to get metal sounds from your current amp.

If you want an amp there are lots of recommendations here, including the Roland cube. So far my experience is that I don't want a combo with less than a 12" speaker regardless of the wattage. YMMV

Yea, I know what you are saying, but these are good people in the know. We tried another new micro-cube and it did the same thing, then tried another guitar and it didn't have the distortion......in laymen's terms, they basically said that some guitars and amps just don't like each other!
hb

fly135 · #5 April 3rd, 2007

I would guess that the humbuckers probably have a boominess or higher ouput in the lower strings relative to the higher strings. So in a way you could say it's too hot on those strings or needs some EQ in front of the amp. The problem may be excentuated by the impedance matchup between the guitar and amp which could cause a resonant peak in those lower frequencies.

I guess it's simpler just to say it too hot. But considering that people intentionally buy "hot" pickups it could lead you to wrong conclusions about the amp and how well it works with hot pickups. My guess is that it doesn't tolerate "muddy" pups well. I have a stock Epi Dot that has HBs that I would characterize as a bit muddy.

hb · #6 April 3rd, 2007

Thanks....that's a little deep for my limited knowledge of amps and electric guitars, but I think I know what you mean.....are you in agreement that the guitar and this paticular amp could possibly be not a good combination?
hb

PurplePeopleEaters · #7 April 4th, 2007

I have a line 6 75 watt spider amp. You might want to go to a local store and look at that. It's got big enough sound to play at small gigs even. The only problem I have with it is that almost all guitars I have played on it sound the same.

Stratrat · #8 April 4th, 2007

HB - the MicroCube has a very small speaker. What you're hearing is sometimes referred to as "farting out" on the bass notes. A small amp with a small speaker is going to have some limitations - and handling lots of bass is one of them.

hb · #9 April 5th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratrat

HB - the MicroCube has a very small speaker. What you're hearing is sometimes referred to as "farting out" on the bass notes. A small amp with a small speaker is going to have some limitations - and handling lots of bass is one of them.

I hear what you're saying, but can you explain why when we plugged a tele into that same amp, we did not get near the distortion?
thanks,
hb

Stratrat · #10 April 6th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by hb

I hear what you're saying, but can you explain why when we plugged a tele into that same amp, we did not get near the distortion?
thanks,
hb

Assuming it's a standard Tele, that's because it's got single-coil pickups instead of humbuckers.....single-coils are nowhere near as "hot", and don't drive the amp as hard as humbuckers do....especially if your guitar has "hot" humbuckers that are made for metal/hard rock sound.

Dewy · #11 April 6th, 2007

I had a Gallein Kruger (sp?) back in the day with two 6" speakers... sounded like Mud with my Humbuckers. Most amps these days have 2 inputs.. a "high" and "low" compensating for input gain. Not sure which is which... I just swap them if the sound is muddy.

With my current combo I was concerned about the same thing... 8" speaker in a 20 watt combo amp made by Rogue. Sure enough it sounds like crap. But running thru my V-Amp 2 by Berhinger (also available thru Musician's Friend $99) I get Great sounds both Dirty and clean, from full tilt Shred to Dirty blues sounds. Not to mention the effects all sound amazing for such a low priced unit... Clean chorus and Delays... auto wah that sounds better than my foot powered one and 126 built in presets all modifiable.

So, while every link in the chain will certainly affect the overall "sound", careful examination will often show you the best path for the best price. No "One" combo will work for everyone.

jimbeaux · #12 April 8th, 2007

Having same problem with humbuckers (GFS) into MicroCube. Single coils sound okay.

When I go from guitar to Pandora PX4D to headphones, both guitars sound great. When I go from guitar to Pandora to MicroCube, the effects don't sound near as good. Something is lost, even if the MicroCube is on 'clean' setting with zero gain and no effects of its own.

Anybody got any ideas as to how to make it sound as good as it does on Sony headphones?

Thanx,
jimbeaux

sean1968 · #13 April 9th, 2007

Panic over. I have opted for, and bought a Line 6 Spider III 15 just waiting for delivery. And to see if it delivers. Cheers anyway guys

Stratrat · #14 April 9th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dewy

I had a Gallein Kruger (sp?) back in the day with two 6" speakers... sounded like Mud with my Humbuckers. Most amps these days have 2 inputs.. a "high" and "low" compensating for input gain. Not sure which is which... I just swap them if the sound is muddy...

I'm sure it varies from amp to amp, but FWIW - I just bought a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue (absolute heaven on earth for tone, BTW!), and the #2 input is the lower power one - it has a -6dB setting which works great for hotter pickups (i.e. 'buckers) and/or running effects in the chain. Both channels (normal and 'verb/vibrato) have the two separate inputs.