Need suggestions for under $600 amps

Okay, I have a small problem, right now I'm using this pathetic 10 watt laney hardcore, and its hopeless. I need to find a amp thats RRP is under $800 AUD(about $500-600 american) I don't want special deals at musicians friend or nything. I really don't know much about amps but I was really hopeing to get a tube amp but you guys know best so I'll take any suggestion. I'm happy for any amp no matter what genre its good for, so long as it has quality sound. It also needs to have the power to play in audiances of around 200.

Should I stick with marshall and fender, or are they ripoffs?

Hard to make a suggestion without knowing what's available in Oz and what they cost. Voltage differences and shipping costs would make it hard to get an amp from the US and gear prices vary considerably between continents.

I'm taking a look at the Peavey transtube amps, the 40 watt one in particular. It seems amazing for the price of $550 AUD even though its not a real tube amp. What are your experiances with Peavey and do any of you know if the transtube series are good.

I can't recommend the Vox Valvetronix heads enough. I love good tube amps too, but the Vox modeling heads on a good cab are incredible amps, and aren't too expensive. You simply turn knobs, hit 'write', and it's like having any amp you want X 100. They sound OK in the store when demoing them, but when you bring it home and spend time with it, you can dial up an infinite number of tones.

Some of the guys on here put a higher quality pre tube in it, and it sounds even more like a quality tube amp.

What about those Line 6 Spider amps? Not tube, but they do get some high marks in the reviews. Otherwise, some guys use a Fender Blues Junior and run it through an extension 2x12 cabinet for bigger sound if you need it.

Peavey Classic 30, Peavey Valveking, Used Carvin, Used Peavey 5150 ... do you want clean or grind as your base tone?

I have an 80w Peavey Bandit, but it's one of the new ones. IMO the older ones with the 'crunch' amp; 'thrash' buttons sound WAY better, and are still the transtube models. The new ones have vintage, modern amp; higain channels, but the vintage one is the only one worth using. The modern is just noisy mush amp; the higain is just noisy noise. You should be able to pick up one of the older ones for a couple hundred on ebay.

Edit: Pro Audio in Canberra have the new Bandits for $579. I would choose the Bandit over the Studio Pro because of the pre-amp out amp; power amp in.

I'll take a look at the bandits. I'm probably either going to get a peavey or a vox. I'm not to worried about the clean sound, something bright would be nice. What I really need is something kind of vintage rock but a little hotter which I will be using for lead. But that tone isn't required. So long as its not just for heavy metal i'm willing to experiment with it. What do you guys know about the Vox AD50VT and AD100VT, If I need volume that can be heard for small 200 person gigs should I get the 100VT? I'd rather not spend that much though.

I just saw a peavey classic 30 on ebay for $600 AUD, and its local to. Should I grab it?

Definately tube. There are tons of small combos (like a pro junior maybe cvhange the speaker for another 200) and u will rock

Whuddabout a used Sovtek Mig or Carvin head and a used 2x12 cab? Really anything that's about 50 tube watts with a 2x12 cab will rwak for gigging and you'll probably be happier with that then you will with a Bandit or some Line 666 poo. As long as the clean sound is ok you can always add a stompbox for dirt.

I'd look into it, but that type of stuff is hard to get in Australia. Even Ebay Aus doesn't have either of those brands of amps. I just heard sound clips of the Peavey classic 30, its what I've always wanted. It can do a murky cloudy kinda vintage sound and a hot vintage rock sound. Just what I wanted, a little out of my price range, but I'm going to try and get one used.

I'm still open to suggestions though. and do any of you know anything about the classic 30? The only downfall is it doesn't have a real clean, its murky, but I'll live with it if I have to.

get a 15 watt TUBE laney. Will blow that little ass 10 w solid state away bro. Seriously, i did the same.

I can highly recommend the Tech 21 Trademark 60.

It sounds great, it's versatile, it has excellent features, it's easily portable and competitively priced.


Originally Posted by Simon_FI can highly recommend the Tech 21 Trademark 60.

It sounds great, it's versatile, it has excellent features, it's easily portable and competitively priced.

Simon beats me to it...again

1 TECH21NYC TRADEMARK 60

That good hey? I'll have to find one to try this week. I've also contacted the guy whos selling the peavey classic 30 and offered him $700 AUD (about $450 american) for it, he just replaced the tubes and its about five years old, is that a fair price? He says theres no damage apart from a small surface mark on the top of the cabinat. How much money do you think its worth?

Marshall JCM900's go for cheap 2nd hand and they sound pretty good when boosted with an overdrive. We've got one in the band rehearsal space and it sounds really good. A lot of people slam these amps but IMHO they are sleepers.
I've come across about 3 different ones and all of them sounded good.

I can't believe no one has responded to your question about the Classic 30. It's a good amp. There was a recent discussion on this topic here. Great bang:buck ratio.

If you're looking for a great clean tone and get your overdrive from a stompbox, I recommend the Fender Hotrods, especially if you later replace the power tubes with Svetlana 6L6GC (Winged quot;Cquot;)'s. There's no sweeter clean tone on the planet...

not many of these mentioned amps are achievable for under $600AUD... from what I've seen in my perusing around the place (keeping my eye out for cheap tube amps too) that's a fairly reasonable price for a classic 30...