u/DoorframeLizard

Hi there! I'm looking for a recommendation for an amp that I can use at very low volumes in my room. The genres I'm interested in playing are post-hardcore, hardcore and metalcore - namely stuff like Alexisonfire, Underoath, Every Time I Die, The Chariot etc. As far as I'm aware most of those bands are "TS in front of a JCM800" guys. I am based in europe and I'd prefer to stay on the budget side of things (up to the $500 area). I'd like something I could eventually use for practice with my friends.

When I say low volumes I don't mean "neighbors will probably let me get away with it", I mean normal conversation levels. I live with other people in the house, pet birds, my ears are pretty sensitive and I don't like being loud around the house in general. I am not huge on using headphones but I would prefer the amp to have a headphone out just in case.

I'm currently using a Blackstar Debut 50R and though it does satisfy my needs when it comes to volume, I find that even on the 5W mode I don't have much wiggle room when it comes to volume and most of all, I just do not like how it sounds. I've tried various pedals in front of it and no matter what I cannot get a mid or high gain sound out of it that doesn't sound like it's coming through a metal pipe underwater. It doesn't seem to like distortion pedals and the SD-1 I picked up recently doesn't seem to work much better at all. I've thought about remedying it with other pedals but I feel like at that point I might just look for a different amp.

The amps I've considered are the Bugera G5 Infinium, Marshall DSL1HR and Joyo Zombie II. I also really like how the Orange baby amps and the Super Crush 100 sound but I'm told they're too loud for my use case. Does anyone have any experience with any of those amps and could share their thoughts? I've read mixed things about the various Marshall DSL amps and I've just not been able to find a conclusive answer - some people say to get the 20 instead, some people say the 40 combo is easier to manage.

Please no "if you spend 2x your budget you could get [pro-level 100W tube amp]", no Katana (I just do not like how that thing sounds at all), no amp sims, I'd prefer to avoid the big tube amp + attenuator route too.

I don't mind Solid State at all as long as it feels responsive and sounds good. Matter of fact I'd probably have better luck with SS amps, it just seems way harder to find good info and demos on specific ones because everyone seems to be all about tubes.

Thanks!

Hi, first post here. Losing my mind a little.

I'm a bit of an impulse spender and I love buying gadgets and doodads so naturally as a fledgling guitar player I gravitated towards pedals. A while back I picked up my first few pedals then picked out an amp to use with them to replace my hand-me-down Line6 Spider - a Blackstar Debut 50R seemed perfect for my use case, good clean channel, advertised as a pedal platform, fx loop, built-in attenuation so I can play quietly in my room.

By god I have not managed to make this thing sound even remotely decent. The signal chain is as follows:

>Boss TU-2 -> Behringer Noise Reducer -> Joyo Uzi -> Joyo Splinter -> Artec Analog Delay -> Blackstar Debut

No matter what I try it sounds absolutely terrible, like I'm playing through a steel pipe, chords sound really.. gloopy and all blend into this horrible mass of noise. The best results I've managed to get so far were with both the Uzi and Splinter engaged with gain set pretty low but still not great. Also the Behringer Noise reducer seems to kinda do jack shit. Honestly the rig seems to be better at picking up me gently grazing strings on the neck than when I actually try to play.*

I'm looking to get some post-hardcore, hardcore, metalcore-ish tones. Most of the bands I love play through JCM800s with Tube Screamers to my knowledge. Currently on a massive Every Time I Die kick and that's pretty much my gold standard.

What should I do here? EQ pedal into the FX loop? An overdrive pedal (since to my knowledge the Uzi and Splinter are both distortion pedals)? Different amp? It's been tough to find good demos of the Debut with various pedals, the best tones I've heard out of the amp on youtube were someone using a Klirrton Oh My Goat (which is kinda pricy but I did see one at an ok price used somewhere), albeit it retained some of that underwater/through a steel pipe characteristic, and someone using an MXR EVH 5150 (which is really pricy), which seemed to sound really nice actually.

*I'm aware there are technique issues at play here and frankly I blow ass at playing guitar but I don't think it should be that bad. I mostly practice unplugged (because this rig has killed my desire to even plug in) and sound passable at least

Apologies for the rant but I really am feeling super demotivated by this, hopefully the post was humorous enough for y'all to keep reading lol. Thanks!

edit: just noticed I fuckin BUTCHERED that title, apologies folks