Who's using a modelling amp at home ?

[jim friar]

I need an amp for my music room at home - something smaller than a half stack !! LOL. I'm thinking about grabbing a modelling amp - I had one before - a few years ago - and at the time I liked the VOX VT series best. Any tips on what the latest and greatest is - something with built in fx also- 30 - 50 watts.

 

[cosmodog]

I was using a Fender Mustang III until recently. The models are quite nice - but then the "fizz" hit me (I'd been going fine for many months without it). If you're not familiar with it, a quick search on here or the Fender forums will yield tons of complaints. Seems it doesn't affect the Mustang II model in the same way, so maybe that's an option for you.

I'm laying off modelling for a while. I've since switched to my pedal board through a Vox AC4TV and am happy with that for now.

 

[jackio]

lot like the Fender Superchamp XD. I have one, and it is good. What do you do in your music room? What are you wanting?

 

[bish0p34]

I have a Vox VT at home and I love it. I got the VT80 with a 12 inch speaker, and it hold up with a full band at practice too. I had the 15 watt version before, and I loved that as well. My old line 6 collects dust, and I feel that Vox is far superior with it's tone.

 

[dspellman]

The Mustangs seem to work pretty well.

I have a Pod XT bean stuffed into a single 12" 18W closed-back Atomic Reactor. This is what Tom King was hawking before the Axe-FX came along. The amp is an 18W EL84 tube amp carefully tuned to "have no opinion." That is, it and the speaker are supposed to be relatively flat in frequency response. There's a bay into which you can put one of three different modelers (the Pod XT Bean, the Behringer and a Vox model) with an adapter. The speaker will actually handle up to 200W, and I've used the things as passive 1x12s on occasion, but with the Pod stuffed into it (and yes, the new Pod HD bean will fit), this is a VERY simple and compact combo amp that has a HUGE range.

The 18W version is good for home use, though if you like you can certainly mike it for gigging. There's a 50W (6L6s) version of the 1x12 as well as a 50W 2x12, which is...uh..huge-ish for a 2x12 combo. That one's nearly as large as a 4x12 (about 4" taller and it'd be there). Great bass response.

The good news here is that once the Pod is in the bay and hooked up, all you have to do is walk in with the thing, plug it into the wall, plug the guitar into the amp and turn it on. All connections to the Pod are handled internally. If you have two of these you can run stereo OR mono. If you want to run a pedal board, the FBV Express will give you bank switching, a tuner display and an expression pedal as well as a tap tempo setup, and all you add (cord wise) is an ethernet cable that runs back to the Pod. It gets all the power it needs from that. Ditto the FBV Shortboard, which gives you pretty much complete control over anything the Pod does.

 

[dougb415]

My Mustang III has no fizz. Takes pedals well, if that matters. $299. I traded an old guitar in, got mine for $20.

 

[Figaro]

My Mustang III was a recent one and didn't have the fizz. Hard to beat for $299.

 

[forgivenman]

The Mustangs seem to work pretty well.

I have a Pod XT bean stuffed into a single 12" 18W closed-back Atomic Reactor. This is what Tom King was hawking before the Axe-FX came along. The amp is an 18W EL84 tube amp carefully tuned to "have no opinion." That is, it and the speaker are supposed to be relatively flat in frequency response. There's a bay into which you can put one of three different modelers (the Pod XT Bean, the Behringer and a Vox model) with an adapter. The speaker will actually handle up to 200W, and I've used the things as passive 1x12s on occasion, but with the Pod stuffed into it (and yes, the new Pod HD bean will fit), this is a VERY simple and compact combo amp that has a HUGE range.

The 18W version is good for home use, though if you like you can certainly mike it for gigging. There's a 50W (6L6s) version of the 1x12 as well as a 50W 2x12, which is...uh..huge-ish for a 2x12 combo. That one's nearly as large as a 4x12 (about 4" taller and it'd be there). Great bass response.

The good news here is that once the Pod is in the bay and hooked up, all you have to do is walk in with the thing, plug it into the wall, plug the guitar into the amp and turn it on. All connections to the Pod are handled internally. If you have two of these you can run stereo OR mono. If you want to run a pedal board, the FBV Express will give you bank switching, a tuner display and an expression pedal as well as a tap tempo setup, and all you add (cord wise) is an ethernet cable that runs back to the Pod. It gets all the power it needs from that. Ditto the FBV Shortboard, which gives you pretty much complete control over anything the Pod does.

This is my setup as well. Sounds great and extremely flexible.

 

[Axe-Man]

I need an amp for my music room at home - something smaller than a half stack !! LOL. I'm thinking about grabbing a modelling amp - I had one before - a few years ago - and at the time I liked the VOX VT series best. Any tips on what the latest and greatest is - something with built in fx also- 30 - 50 watts.

The Line 6 DT series seems to be the best modelling amp atm. 25-50 watts. I thought it sounded pretty impressive when I test drove the 50 watter.

 

[JohnSS]

I prefer the Peavey Vypyr or the Roland Cube for small home modeling amps. Spider is ok, but I much prefer the Vettas, which are way overkill for home. Mustang and Vox are also good, but much prefer their larger Cyber Twin and Valvetronix cousins. The Peavey and Cube small versions sound the same to me, qualitywise, as their larger versions.

 

[cratz2]

When I can turn it up, I play through a Dr Z Carmen Ghia but it's sitting right between a Fender Vibro Champ XD and a Vox AD60VTX. They each have their strengths though there's no doubt which amp I'd keep if it could be only one.

In addition to being a little louder of course, the Super Champ XD has a little more complexity to the sound compared to the Vibro Champ XD but for quiet Fender tones when everyone is asleep... I think you could do a lot worse than either of the XDs. Had a Mustang II for about a month. It's more versatile as I think it can get into high gain more believably than the XDs and of course the effects are more tweakable but for straight up Blackface tones, I think the XDs are better.

 

[AXXA]

I used to have a Peavy Vyper 75W amp, and it actually sounded pretty good to me. The thing I miss the most about it was its leslie sim effect. Lots of great sounds, but that rotary sound was cool. I sold it for like $125 and sometimes I think I should have kept it for its sheer versatility.

I was loaned a Vox Valvetronix amp years ago, I think it was around 60-80W or so, and it had some good sounds too.

 

[argylespots]

i just bought a fender mustang 1 and i'm really enjoying it. it sounds pretty good and it a lot more dynamic than i anticipated. i really havent figured out all the functions yet, but for $99 it is really usefull around the house.

 

[Chicago Slim]

I couldn't bond with the Vox or Roland modeling amps. At low volume at home, I would always hear that fizz, as a note would decay. I've been very happy with the Fender SCXD. It's simple to use, and has a very good sound at reduced volume. My buddy has used everything at church from Fender DSP's, Twin Reverbs, to Peavey Vypyr's, has also switched to a SCXD.

 

[axelicker]

Mustang 5 here, quite happy with it for $200. I find myself playing mid-gain tones more than I ever did with other modelers too.

 

[stringman340]

Line 6 Flextone III XL. This amp is quite the jem, I've had some ask about what kind of tubes I was running. With something like 33 amp models, over 15 cabs and modulation/delay pulled from the likes of the DL4, etc., it can be a tweaker, but you'll find yourself scratching your head in delightful surprise when you get it right. Though you would probably want a closed-back cab if you're into metal. BTW, 150w (w/master though) stereo w/stereo fx loop and mic sim direct XLR out. And you can tap into a bunch of hidden features via free edit software off their website, and even share with others.

 

[losergeek]

I have a Vibro Champ XD at home and althought it's not 30 watts it's louder than I need and find that it's simple controls are just enough to keep me interested without actually needing to learn a bunch of settings and programs.