Silly Amp Question

For just $200, I'd have so say you'll get a sub-par amp. Look to spend $400-600 and get an amp you will grow with. Why do I say that? When I first started playing I bought a bass amp for like $250. It sucked. After playing a few years, I bought a Fender Hod Rod Deluxe for about $500 used. It was the best purchase I ever made.

I know you're on a budget. But you cannot expect to have a good sound for less than $400. If you are reallly tight, buy a Fender Pro Jr. I can't help you more than that.

Assuming you are playing guitar, not bass ...

I will disagree with Dennis. I own and actively use a Cube 30, MicroCube, Fender Blues Junior (higher end version of Pro Junior) and sometimes my much larger tweed tube amp, I rarely hesitate to do small to medium gigs with the Roland Cube 30. it is a surprisingly good amp that does clean really well (classic Roland Jazz Chorus sound), has some pretty darn good modeled amp modes and is good for quickie effects: trem, chorus, flange, delay, 'verb. it even thickens up with an overdrive pedal. especially if you are a new player, the Cube 30 is a great deal -- and when you move to something larger, keep the 30. you will continue to use it. if the Cube 20 is the version with the four small drivers (aka "speakers"), I recommend you go with the Cube 30 or 30x for better bass response.

the Vox (Valvetronics?) equivalents to the Roland amps are def worth trying out as well. I've heard some really nice tones out of those.

I'd go to a music store when it is during a quiet time and try a few practice amps before you buy. Bring your guitar and play with the settings. Try the different effects. Maybe you can get the music store to take your current amp in trade. You may not get a lot for it, but some places do that. Good Luck!

I have a small solid state amp which is like 10 or 15W can't remember but I can tell you DON'T BUY IT, the tone is horrible.

Sorry forgot to mention it is a Fender.

I have a small solid state amp which is like 10 or 15W can't remember but I can tell you DON'T BUY IT, they tone is horrible.

have you actually played through a Roland Cube, Chris? if so, which models?

I'm a tube amp addict, which means my amps are usually fairly pricey. But I gotta go with gnease on this one. I've played through the Roland Cube amps, and for the price, they are very nice. I've also got a fondness for Vox Valvetronix amps. If I wanted an amp in your price range, these are the two I'd be looking at.

I'm looking to upgrade my amp in the near future, possible as a birthday present to myself. I'm looking for some guidance on my search as I'm still a complete newb. . . .

I'd also like the amp to be small/portable enough so that if I want to take it to a friends house or something its not very difficult for me to grab by myself. I'm probably looking to stay around $200 or so, but I'm hoping to get something that will work for a general smaller/practice amp for quite awhile so hopefully I can find something in that price range.

I've been looking quite a bit at the Roland Cube amps (possibly the Cube 20X??) as they seem to include many of the basic features I'm looking for at what seems to be a decent price and I've heard great things about them in various places. Any other suggestions or recommendations?? Other thoughts on the subject?

The Roland amps are right nice, as are the Vox Valvetronix amps.

I'm going off on an entirely different tangent and suggest an Epiphone Valve Jr. half stack

Why? Because you're learning, and the VJ is about as basic as an amp gets. You can plug straight into it and be forced to concentrate on your technique, and learning how to play your guitar to get good sounds out of it. That's one of the reasons I love mine. If something doesn't sound good, I know it's because I'm making it sound bad. Too many guitarists learn how to play their effects rather than the guitar.

The other reason I love my VJ is that it's a good rugged little gig amp that takes stomp boxes well. I can load in without breaking my back, get a good overdriven sound without blowing my ears out or overwhelming the rest of the band, and can let the sound person take care of making sure I get heard. Plus it's fun to watch the jaws drop when they hear what comes out of my cheap Epiphone amp and Squier Tele.

I have both a solid state and tube and for sound quality the tube is better.
However the solid-state has a lot of features that I like.
This 15W amp has some features that I like: built in tuner (press a button and it displays the tuner), headphone jack, metronome, background rhythms and drum beats, multiple effects, input jack for mp3 player, extra input for second guitar, 16 pounds (comes with a strap for carrying it) . . . here's a link that lists more of its features.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-G-DEC-Guitar-Digital-Entertainment-Center-103022554-i1145457.gc

The Roland amps are right nice, as are the Vox Valvetronix amps.

I'm going off on an entirely different tangent and suggest an Epiphone Valve Jr. half stack

+1 the VJ def should be on the list for this price range.

greg,

No I've never tried the Rolands but I have a Hot Rod Deluxe that I use exclusively right now, I have been looking into a half stack of some type just can't get my head around laying $1000+ on a Marshall although that's the sound I'm really looking for.

I was looking at a Peavey Windsor cab which I beleive is a 4x12 and connect it to my Hot Rod to try and thicken the sound. I'm currently using a MIM Strat and the sound is a bit thin through that combo.

The other guitar player has a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails that we are going to put in the bridge this weekend on the Strat and I'm hoping that will thicken the sound a bit.

I guessing an HRD is not within his budget. so for $200 he can get versatile -- and surprisingly good -- tones (not just for solid-state) from Roland Cube and Vox Valvetronix, and less versatile, but great overdrive tones from an EPI Valve Junior.

Sounds like you want a 'bucker in your Strat.

Thanks for all the advice! gnease, yes this is for a guitar and not a bass - I just couldn't pass up the bass amp my friend was selling as it worked for general amplification and he didn't want much.

gnease, to address another of your points - the Roland Cube 20 doesn't have 4 drivers/speakers. In fact from what I can tell it is just a smaller version of the 30. 8" speaker instead of the 10" the 30 has and less wattage, but othewise seems to have the same features. The 15 seems to be short on features, and the MicroCube looks interesting but it seems like I'd be paying a premium for the option to use batteries which I don't see myself needing so that is pretty much out.

I took a quick look at the Vox Valvetronix and they do look promising as well. They seem comparable to the Roland Cubes, so I'll definitely have to check them out. I've looked at the Fender G-DEC amps before, and they seem to have everything I'm after but I'm just not sure about them for some reason. I'll have to check out the Epi VJ though as I know nothing about it. I should have clarified this in my first post, but I definitely plan on doing as aleholder recommended and trying out the amps I'm interested in to see which I like best.

On aleholder's point of "trading" my old amp; does anyone know if Guitar Center does this? I'll have to look into whether the local House of Guitars does it as well, but I have no need for the bass amp once I upgrade and don't know of anyone that would want it so it'd be pretty useless to keep if I can get a decent price for it.

The Cube 20 isn't just a smaller version of the Cube 30. The Cube 20 has a far smaller number of amp models most of which are targeted at those playing metal or heavy distorted music. The Cube 30 has a wider variety of amp models . I have one of these (the older Cube 30 not the newer Cube 30x which added a few features) and it's a good sounding amp.

The Epiphone Valve Jr. is mentioned above and IMHO it's only an ok amp and I wouldn't recommend it. I had one and I sold it off recently (bought it used and was able to get the same for it when I sold it). It does a decent job with single coil pickups but with humbuckers and P90s it's muddy and not so nice sounding. There are mods that you can do to make it nicer sounding but I didn't think it was worth it.

The Vox practice amps are pretty nice. I recently picked up a used little Vox DA5 (there are larger amps in the series and others that use similar modeling but no battery power). It's a little 5 watt battery or wall powered amp that is plenty loud enough for practice and jamming (maybe not with a drummer - it will depend). The sounds from it are pretty decent and the effects are alright too. New these are about $140 or so but you can find them used for about $90 (and if you look hard then for less). This is the one that I will use for things like guitar camps and going to a friend's house.

For just $200, I'd have so say you'll get a sub-par amp.

I'll have to disagree with this as well. The Roland Cubes are very good little amps, as well as the Vox Valvetronix that were mentioned. I also own an Epi Valve Jr, and love it. I'll also recommend the Vox Pathfinder amp which is 15 watts & about $120. Got one for my son last year and it's very nice.

Good luck on your search!