AMPLIFIER- BEST PRO SOUNDING PEDAL PLATFORM AMPS FOR THE LEAST $$$$

 PEDAL AMPS 

WHY NOT USED? 

I have been looking for the cheapest 50 watt amp I could find. I wanted it for a back up amp. In my Prog Metal 3 piece there is limit to what will get you thru a gig if your main amp dies. At a small club it is unlikely the small rig for the vocals is going work to push your pedals direct and get by. LOL

So I needed a reliable used old school solid state 50 watt RMS amp. Modern amps use Type C power amps. A 50 watt Type C is about as loud as a 15 watt tube amp so I was avoiding that route. I decided to avoid a tube backup amp as tubes are like light bulbs they unexpectedly burn out.

Old timers that play a Blues gig swear by the old Peavey Bandit amps. Add to that

everyone from Metallica on up in the 80's used them in the studio on their famous recordings. The entire Swedish Death Metal scene/recordings started out with a Boss HM-2 going thru a Peavey Bandit 112 'Blue Stripe'.

Tube amps did not kill the Peavey Bandit's 'cool factor'. It was killed off by extremely pricey Gourmet tube amps. Do not get me wrong I love tube amps. I play a Marshall Plexi.

BIG BUT! I have to admit it is not better than the Peavey Bandit 65 I bought yesterday. It is just different. Think of the Peavey as gourmet vanilla ice cream but I prefer my Marshall gourmet chocolate ice cream:-)

POWER TOO MUCH TOO LITTLE

Last but not least. All the amps I recommend are 40 watts RMS or more. If they are solid state (old style transistors) they do not naturally compress the signal so 75 watts is not too much. In short the db level or 'loudness' is the same.

WHY?

In spite of the recent bullsh@t I am hearing from endless video's boasting amps that are 15 watts etc will do the job ...forget it. 

Yes many can squeak by with less but they are happy to think small time. I do not go and see a band grateful for second best ...I do not expect my audience to either.

Playing for an audience is like moving your furniture to a new home..  A small van may be OK ....but don't show up with a wheelbarrow!! 

If you are so big time you always have a giant sound system with a guy on the board that knows his craft then ignore me.

I am 74 and have played in small to medium size clubs for decades. Nothing has changed. The drummer of today still does not have a volume knob to turn down. The average rock drummer can drowned out anything less than 40 watts RMS.

Secondly the player on one side of the stage can not hear the guys on the other.

If you have to carry your own sound system it needs only be used for vocals. The whole situation becomes practical. All downsides are minimized.

Yes the 100 watt beasts are really too much and can even cause hearing damage but anything bigger than a 50 watt combo barely ever shows up in the inventory of your local Music Store. In short it is not an issue.

The golden amp should be 40 to 50 watts RMS capable of 119 db ...as is a drummers drums. Not more not less!

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THE AMPS

PEAVEY BANDIT (Made in the USA) 

The first Peavey bandit is actually a little lame. If you are looking for used do not worry they were only made for a year and the possibility of even finding one is improbable to the extreme. Everything from 1983 to 2004 is USA made and quite good.

THE BEST

A few are now collectors models and are very impressive.

> (1983-1987) Peavey Bandit 65

> (1984-1985) Peavey Bandit 112  'Blue Stripe'

> (2004-2005) Peavey Bandit 112  'Red Stripe' (Transtube Series II)

$50.00 to $500.00 USD
Used

FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE

They started out made in the USA in 1996 and are now made in Mexico. The USA ones are not made any better. In fact the latest model is housed in a tongue and groove pine box. 

All of the bad mouthing is about the dirt channel or that the spring reverb is too dark. 

WTF I do not care. I am a pedal guy I do not need the damn built in dirt chanel.

I also prefer the drama I get from digital reverb pedals so a spring reverb is never an issue.

The first one had a dirt channel that was trying to sound Marshall do to Marshalls amp sounds were monopolizing the market. The problem was Fender guys review Fender amps and wanted something sounding like an old Tweed Fender. Current models know have heading that way. Secondly the reverb is a classic Accutronics spring reverb unchanged for decades. They need a circuit in the amp to run them which is designed to taste as the tech is barely different.

The point is this is a 40 RMS watts serious pro tube amp that will not get drowned out by even a Metal drummer. Add to that most pedal makers voice their amps to sound good thru a Fender amp. Usually a Fender Deluxe. The bottom line is

for the average pedal you can not get a safer match.

Lately a few used Hot Rods' have showed up used for as little as $350.00 USD.

$800.00 USD

$350.00 & up used!

MARSHALL ORIGIN 50

So it is basically a Plexi 50 watt. I owned 2 original Marshall 1987 models so those that want to argue that can go F. themselves. What's more if you do the Dave Barber mod. Marshall put a microfarad 1 on on the first cathode so swap it out for a 10 or higher.They do this as they expect most of the guys buying the amp will use it at home using the dumbed down quiet modes and it works better. If you run it in the full 50 watt mode thru a Marshall 1960 stack beside a real 1987 amp the 1987 has a bit more bass. You can only notice it by the nut on power chords on the low E and A string. My advice is run it at 50 watts clean for pedals and get an attenuator to cut any volume. You really do not NEED the mod.

I got the head. I use a separate cab. First it is easy to move the head and keep it in mint shape and avoid bumping it and risking even jarring the glass tubes. You can even buy a real 4x12 1960a 4x12 used & cheap or us a light and small single 12 cab.

$800.00 USD
or the head for $550.00

USED? $450.00 for the head 
It has not been out long enough
for many used ones to surface.
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FINAL THOUGHTS

If you are a Fender guy get the Fender.

If you are a Marshall guy get the Marshall head and

a used cabinet.

If you don't know. Get the Fender used.

If you just don't have the bucks get the Peavey Bandit

.

All these amps can do a great job. Yes even the Peavey.

All may be keepers forever. All will stand in as a great 

backup amp even if in the future you buy a gourmet amp.

There is zero downside.