[heffergm]

Hi all,
New to the forums here, although I confess to lurking for a while.

I'm posting because I'm looking to put together some new gear and I'd like opinions. As a little background:

- I played for about 8 years (12-20) seriously, and then pretty much stopped, sold everything. I'm now 32, and have only picked up the guitar a few times in the intervening years. I've started playing seriously again, at least as much as my crippled fingers seem to allow me to.

- I never got very heavily into the gear side of things, hence my post. I used to play, long long ago, through and ADA MP1 into a giant Ampeg tube amp/cab of some sort (it was free). I managed to get some good sounds out of the MP-1.

At present, I'm playing through a Line 6 Spider II 120. I'm just using it for practicing, but I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with the sound. There's a pretty substantial lack of the tone I'm looking for. It's way too crunchy for me... I want powerful, punchy, with plenty of clarity. Think Satriani or Vai... different sounds obviously, but plenty of clarity.

That said, here's my hope:
1) I can run something into the Line 6 to give me more tube flavor. Maybe an old MP1 would do the trick?

or

2) should I just relegate the Line 6 to the bedroom and build another setup that I use to jam in the basement with friends on occasion. The Line 6 is plenty loud, but as I said, I just don't like the sounds I've gotten out of it. After lots of fiddling, I'm still unhappy.

I don't needs tons of volume. I don't mind paying for quality, but I don't have any need to go over the top either, since I'm obviously not up to gig'ing standards after the long layoff. If you were looking to build something that would allow for some expansion later on if you needed to, what route would you go?

I realize this may be a little vague, but the bottom line is I don't know how to put a good setup together, hence the post. Hope you can provide some advice!

Cheers,
-grant

[7slinger]

I'd build a new rig...I'm ready to relegate my flextoneIII out of my bedroom entirely

as far as something new, I don't know what to recommend in the low volume range for satch/vai sounds, but I'm sure somebody else will chime in

...also your price range would help out

[garcia3441]

Check out our directory of amp and cab makers.

Amp/Cab Maker Thread

[heffergm]

Originally Posted by 7slinger

I'd build a new rig...I'm ready to relegate my flextoneIII out of my bedroom entirely

as far as something new, I don't know what to recommend in the low volume range for satch/vai sounds, but I'm sure somebody else will chime in

...also your price range would help out

Budget isn't really an issue, but I don't see any need to pay for something completely overkill for my situation if you follow.

When I said "low volume", I just meant I don't need a million watts.

[metalfiend666]

There's a lot of great sounding stuff in the amp/cab list. I'm hunting for a new head myself, hence me starting to compile it, and I've listened to a lot of the soundclips on the sites.

Although the Spider is regarded as being not too great a sounding amp, the Pod XT (or XT Pro rack unit) is pretty much found in every professional studio as they sound really good. There's a huge amount of tones available from the unit or downloadable from user site that should get you everything you want.

You can hook it up to a low powered tube poweramp like a Mesa 20/20 or Marshall 20/20 (both available for reasonable money used) and run into a stereo 2x12 cab (or 4x12 if you want a bigger cab) which would allow you to jam with your mates or even still use it for home practice. I currently run a Digitech GNX4 into a Marshall 20/20 powering a Marshall 2x12 at home for instance. If you start gigging and want a louder amp, just add a bigger wattage tube poweramp. Maybe a Peavey Classic 50/50 or Marshall 9100.

[heffergm]

Thanks for that suggestion, I'll keep it in mind. I was starting to lean towards something like a Peavey JSX head and a small cab. Overkill perhaps?