New amp

[Rosemary]

I upgraded my MicroCube to a Cube 40XL today as it was a good choice for my level being not too expensive and also it doesn't take up too much space although this room is getting more and more crowded.

I haven't found the optimum settings for Shadows music yet and would be very interested to hear if anyone else has the same amp or similar and what settings they use. I also have a Zoom G2.1Nu with Charlie Hall's EFTP patches. At the moment I'm playing fairly cautiously as it's quite a bit louder than the other one but once I get used to it I'll post a demo recording.

Eventually I'll get a really good amp and rearrange the room to fit it in but this one is more versatile with EQ and other settings so should suit me until then. I'm also planning to keep the MicroCube as it's such a portable little amp and the batteries last for ages - and the sound is pretty good too.

Best wishes
Rosemary

[RUSSET]

Hi Rosie,
I haven't tried a Cube 40XL, but am a bit concerned that it seems to aimed at those requiring more modern & maybe heavily overdriven sounds, rather than the vintage '60s sounds that we are happier with. I'm sure you will find an appropriate 'clean' amp model in there somewhere & would be interested to hear your comments after you have given it a good workout. A friend of mine had the Cube 60 model a few years back, & found it to be a great amp.

Regards, Tony.

[Bill Bowley]

Rosemary,

At the rate of progress your guitar playing is making I would say it might be time for Tommy Emmanuel to start looking over his shoulder!

Regards

[Rosemary]

Hi Tony and Bill
Tony: Yes I think so too and I'll need to get a VOX or something one day . This one has the same settings as the MicroCube I'd been using except with EQ & other features and I'm hoping the tone will improve a bit on what I had as a result - especially by tweaking the EQ settings and perhaps as it's more powerful I'll be able to get a better volume/gain balance (I don't really know how all this works but have noticed marked differences with only minor adjustments). Also the solo settings can be saved which will be good when I finally find one I like. The setting I was using on the MicroCube was mainly Brit Combo but I've heard Black Panel used with an excellent result when played on another Cube. There are lots of effects too but I'll take it slowly and get to know the basics first

Bill: Thanks for your comment about my progress. It sometimes seems very slow to me but every week something becomes a bit easier Incidentally I only missed by a few minutes seeing Tommy Emmanuel in a city music store earlier in the year.

All the best
Rosemary

[RUSSET]

Hi Rosie,
I bought a Fender Superchamp XD last year & have been thrilled with it. It is an all valve 15w combo with a 10" speaker & is really light to carry. It has a Fender (Black Panel [ Twin ]) clean channel, & a digital amp-modelling channel with about 12 amp models on it from early Fender Tweeds, Vox & Marshall etc., through to several Hi-Gain modern amps. It also has an Acoustic modeller, so I can be Bruce playing the Rhythm. There is also a full complement of digital effects to chose from including three echoes, three reverbs & Chorus, Tremelo, Vibrato etc, with a knob that allows you to decide how much of it you add in to the clean signal. I find the Fender Clean channel excellent for Hank sounds with one of the echoes added. It is a great home/rehearsal amp, & would probably be loud enough for small venue gigs too. There is also the Vox 'Valvetronix' range too, which are also worth checking out. The Superchamp is retailing in the UK for around £270. Not sure what that is in Ozzie dollars.

Tony.

[Bill Bowley]

Tony,

That would be $433AUD this morning, not bad for Fender.

A handy 'money changer is available free at http://www.xe.com/ucc/ for anyone who wants one...................

[geoff1711]

Have a look at the Fender G-DEC range, if it's only for home use the 15 should be ok if not look at the 30, sure it has everything from clean to metal when it arrives but you can tweak all 100 patches to suit what you like, and it has the advantage of being able to store backing tracks as WAV, MP3 or MIDI.

What this means is that you can sort out a sound for a song store it on a patch along with the backing track, so when you go back to it you hit start either on the amp or on the optional floorboard on one of your stored patches and away you go.

I looked at the Cube range and was very impressed, but I think the G-DEC is better.

The models it comes with are mostly American but you edit it all via Fender Fuse on your computer, and even download other peoples ideas as well if you wish.

I've had backing tracks for years but for home use the effort of setting up all the bits and pieces, balancing volume etc was just more than I wanted to do for a quiet plunck in the evening, with the G-DEC you only have to plug your guitar in and headphones if you want to be quiet and away you go it's all stored ready and waiting.

It also comes preloaded with various jam tracks.

When I saw it in the shop I really couldn't get my head round how versatile it was, but having had the 15 for 3 months now I'm thinking of getting the 30 as well.

Does it do absolute accurate VOX 1960's models? maybe not, but does it produce some really good guitar sounds? yes it does.

Geoff M

[Rosemary]

Hi Tony and Geoff
Thanks for the amp advice. I'm saving your messages for future reference along with those I received last year when I first got my Strat.
I have a long way to go before I find the best settings on the Cube 40XL but posted a quick test recording in Sound Files at
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4660

I also need to make some time to read the manual as it might save time in the long run:)

Best wishes
Rosemary

[Strummer]

Hi Russet...I currently paly a Vavletronix AD 30 VT. It is an excelent amp and I would suggest Rosie can do no worse than use one of these. Excellent amps in my opinion. However, i do seek the 'Holy grail' somewhat. I'm trying to locate a Vox AC30 at a 'reasonable price' if I can. I would then try to find the best alternative to a Watkins Copycat, though what that is these days I just haven't a clue?
You don't have any ideas do you?

[keithmantle]

Hi Russet...I currently paly a Vavletronix AD 30 VT. It is an excelent amp and I would suggest Rosie can do no worse than use one of these. Excellent amps in my opinion. However, i do seek the 'Holy grail' somewhat. I'm trying to locate a Vox AC30 at a 'reasonable price' if I can. I would then try to find the best alternative to a Watkins Copycat, though what that is these days I just haven't a clue?
You don't have any ideas do you?

Hi , Yamaha magic stomp, Quadraverb Plus-GT-Q2-Q20 all with Charlie hall EFTP according to what you can afford if you don't want to sort out the correct echo patterns yourself (which is very difficult!) price range £150 to £600 approx