Looking for a second hand amp for my nephew

[ingridswing]

Hi all,

Some of you met my nefhew Samuel in 2010 in Oberhausen. He is now 13, playing guitar and just ordered a Fender Mex Standard Stratocaster HSS, Lake Placid Blue. Not bad for a 13 year old boy, only playing for 2 years.
Now he is looking for a new (read second hand amp) for his guitar.

Does someone here have a good spare one which I can buy for him?
You can send me a PM or react here.

Tips and information are welcome as well.

By the way: he just started a band as well 

Thanks in advance!

Ingrid

[Fletch]

You'll find lots of bells and whistles with the many modeling Amps around, but I suggest a nice all valve amp - you are never too young to have one!

[Jackal]

***This thread should be moved to General Discussion***

Probably not so easy / more inconvenient to buy through here. I'm sure you have local variant of ebay in Holland. Check that out, or maybe there's a notice board in the local music shop with items for sale.

What he wants depends on what kind of music he plays and the budget. For most versatility and value for money, I'd suggest something like this:

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Fender-E-Gitarre-Mustang-II-Verstarker-40-Watt-Combo-Gitarren-AMP-gebraucht-/310379386277?pt=Amps&hash=item48440d95a5#ht_6643wt_1066

 

165 euros.

As Fletch says, all-valve amps are great, but they require more care and maintenance and are more expensive.


***ADD:***

It's worth checking out this little test, if inexpensive modelling amps are of interest:


Part 1
 

Part 2
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=EcXSmBXylWQ

[ingridswing]

Thanks for moving this topic Dan, it was a little late when I posted and din't have a proper look.

I am not into technical details so I hope to get some good information here. Because I am not technical e-bay or the dutch Marktplaats is a little risky I think. I can't be sure if something is a good deal, if the amp works well, if it's not an almost dead thing. Here I am sure I can trust people.

Thanks already for the info, I can have a better look with more information.

[Jackal]

Ingrid,

If you help us narrowing down the options, I'm sure we can help you find something. First of all, what kind of budget do you have in mind? Second, what kind of music does he play?

[ingridswing]

He is only 13 so I suppose he will be playing some pop/rock from the charts right now added with some oldies. He is definately interested in the music of the 80's and 90's as well. I know because I provide him all kind of CD's on his request ;-)

I am thinking about a budget of 200-350 euro, but don't hesitate to advice a little over this amount.
He just started a band with some schoolmates and is now complaining that he can't get over the drums.
And I feel a little guilty because I brought him into music, into guitar. Bought him a starterset 2 years ago to see if he really likes to play and he really goes on with it. So now he needs some better stuff.

I hope this information is already enough, I see him tomorrow and will ask him a little more about it.
He himself was thinking about a line6. I know nothing about it, but I suppose it's because they have affordable ones.
For myself I am a little afraid of buying second hand stuff, especially because I am not able to check the quality.

Thanks already for helping me

[Jackal]

I think you'll be able to get a lot of decent stuff for that amount of money.

As a boy who's "just starting out", I think a modelling amp is the way to go. It will not only give him a decent sounding amp, but also a lot of different amp models to choose from within the same amp. Not to mention a lot of nice effects, which are quite expensive to buy seperately. When his ear becomes more conscious about sound quality, he can upgrade to a more expensive tube amp or something.

So what to buy? The best thing to do is to go to a dealer with a good selection and try the stuff. Sound is of course first priority, but it's difficult to measure objectively as taste differs from person to person. Portability is also important. I guess he'll be lugging it around a bit, so it shouldn't be too heavy. It should be fairly simple to use. Some amps have hundreds of (and many useless) sounds that are tricky to access because of clumsy menu systems, so it's better to have a few great sounds that are easily accessible than hundreds that you have dig deep into a data bank to get at. It's possible to get amps that combine digital modelling and tubes, but tubes need to be changed every so often and must be handled with more care, so I recommend avoiding that for now.

From what I've read on forums and seen on YT, it seems a Fender Mustang III is a good option. It should by loud it enough too. Maybe a bit heavy (16kg), but loudness unfortunately often implies heavyness. BUT - go and test the stuff

[ingridswing]

Thanks for the info. He is playing music from mark knopfler (not fingerpicking yet) red hot chili peppers, greenday. So pretty much different stuff.

He already tried a fender mustang, he can't remember which number now, but had a problem getting a clean sound without effects out of it. Also tried a line 6 spider IV 30 watt which he found easier to handle.
I adviced him to wait till his own guitar had been delivered and try with that one.

But the more advice the better. So if you have backup for us feel free to share.
Thanks already for the info you all gave me

[Jackal]

No problem. A pleasure to help. I wish the amount of great and inexpensive modelling amps had been around when I started playing the electric guitar 20+ years ago ...

As for the clean sounds on the Mustang, I'm sure it's just a matter of removing the effects from the preset and then saving the preset in the databank (ask the guy in the shop or see the user manual (oh, no ...)). In any case, taking his own guitar to the shop to try a few different amps is good advice. (By the way, I recommend spending a few euros to have a guitar tech set it up properly. It's probably all right straight out of the box, but a bit of fine tuning and tweaking can work wonders.) From then on it's just a matter of finding something that he likes. If you watched those YouTube clips, you'll see that the testers gave the various amps very similar scores. No one REALLY stood out, so whatever he chooses, he can't go really wrong. Plus, if he's not happy, he can always sell it. After all, we are not talking about a 4000 euro custom made tube amp

Good luck! Any questions, feel free to ask.