[s7eve]

I need some advice on what to buy.

My practice rig at the moment is guitar cable pluged into Macbook Pro running Garageband with 15W Logitech 2.1 desktop speakers handling the sound. Not ideal I know.

I am planning on purchasing a Line6 X3 live.

What do you recommend I get to handle the sound?

This is for practice so it will mainly be low volume but occasionally it will get cranked.

In the future I will get a good power amp and cab but I think that is overkill at the moment. I'm just learning and most of what I try to play sounds pretty terrible so for the moment it's better if I am not too loud.

Thanks in advance.

[7 Dying Trees]

I'd just get a decent sounding practice amp. If you are getting an X3 live, then all you'll need is a solid state amp with an effects loop. Simply plug the pod into the FX return bypassing the preamp stage, and then you'll just have a power amp.

That or get one of those velocity power amps to go with the x3 and then buy a 1x12 or a 2x12 to play it through, that way you have a modular set up and can upgrade as you go along

So yeah, a velocity power amp (fairly cheap) and a 1x12 cab will do you fine for the moment

[s7eve]

Thanks.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I want the ability to go stereo if I wish.

Is the Velocity power amp stereo, I noticed it was two channel but I got the impression you could only run one channel at a time.

I was thinking that people would either recommend me a power amp and cab/cabs or maybe some decent monitors.

I have no idea what is good gear though, so I am also looking for advice specific models that people have had experience with.

[7 Dying Trees]

The velocity, is stereo, just had a look online

Basically, if you are buying an xt live, then you'll want a power amp to run it through. Tube power amps will sound better, like a mesa 20/20 or so, but they'll be VERY loud. Most rack power amps are all stereo, so you run the two stereo outputs from the xt into the velocity.

In a cab then I'd probably find a 2x12 with a stereo input, so you can choose to go mono or stereo depending.

Cab brand wise, I've always been fine with marshalls to be honest, and they shouldn't be too much. Of course it's always nicer to have fancy cabs, but most of the time you gig etc you end up plugging into a marshall if they're provided...

As for good gear, never buy cheap brand stuff unless it comes highly recommended. Cheap normally means it'll die pretty quickly and you end up replacing it all the time.

[s7eve]

for more opinions/options.

[God Hand Apostle]

For practice rig you could do;
POD x3 > Tech 21 PowerEngine 60

Havent seen them around lately, but I think Donnie or Shannon used run a couple PowerEngines and said they got a good sound with line 6 stuff.

[FoxZero]

lol right now I just run my POD through my PA system. It's solid state and 350watts so I can be uber quiet or I can not let the drummer hear himself. The speaker has a 15" driver which results in inaccurate midrange so I prefer to use headphone when I'm by myself.

I guess that doesn't help too much but if your band does have a PA that would work fine.

lol if not go for the same setup that was brought up by 7 Dying Trees. I'm doing the exact same thing. Except I'm getting a tube poweramp and an Orange 4x12.

[s7eve]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm definitely decided on the X3 live, I'm starting to sway towards a power amp next, I don't know if it would be tube or solid state.

I have a cheap set of sony headphones but I don't really like to use them as as the spl seems higher. My old PA amp has died and it's not worth getting repaired again, my monitors have died and I killed my nice speaker set not to long before those so I'm going to be looking for sound for my PC at the same time.

The next few months are going to be expensive.

[FoxZero]

Yeah, that sucks. I had an ok solid state amp for rehearsals but the speaker blew and the amp wasn't worth fixing (itsa Behringer, nuff said). I sometimes run multiple guitars through the PA so it really helps me out. Itsa nice Carvin set up so I don't see it breakin any time soon. I also run my PC and CD player through it

I use Sony headphone as well. I love em for at the gym but mixing they're horrible. I have so much upper mids which I hate for my tone. I usually use a combination of them and my PA speaker for mixing. But other than that there great for playing by myself since they're so clear.

If you need a rig for band practice a tube poweramp would work great as with solid state I seemed to need so much headroom to get over the drummer and still maintain clarity. An affordable tube poweramp and sterio 2x12 cab would work great. I'm sure Avator would be a great option for a cab.

[s7eve]

I don't need anything for band practice yet, I'm a while away from being good enough for that.

This is just for home use.

Volume isn't a problem here as I live on 4 acres and if it's too loud for the family I can just go out to the shed, the main reason for wanting to keep the volume down is so no-one can here how bad I am.