Ill jump in on all the suggestions and say you should definitely check out Dr. Z amps! I have about 4 (maybe 5 different) amps total and the Z is my FAV for sure. In a way, their amps are like the Decware of the guitar amp world (unless your counting the Lancaster amps some have linked to already). Very resonable prices, point to point wiring (which CAN be hit or miss with some manufactures but not them in my experience). GREAT customer service....I called them up once and spoke to Mike Zaite (Dr Z himself). Super reliable products. Awesome sounding, lots of different tones to dial in. They have a wide range of amps so check their site and their dealers cuz there could be a dealer near you. No better way than to demo one in person, though I didn't and ended up liking mines more than a handful of other amps I had demoed at various shops around NYC. You can also find them used for resonable prices.
I have a Maz 18 Jr with no reverb unit included (you can get one WITH reverb as well). I can get some more grit from the amp without the reverb, plus my pedal board has reverb (with a bunch of other effects). I like pedals BUT I also like plugging straight into my amp a lot. My amp has great clean chime that I can enhance or decrease when I want (the cut knob). With the neck pickup on my guitars I can get a really nice throaty blues tone. Nice and warm sound. It has a master volume knob which is great for me because I can get some natural amp distortion at resonable levels (I live in an apartment so this is crucial). Its also such a transparent amp that rolling tubes can yeild noticeable differences. I rolled some NOS Mullard EL84's into mines and I got a warmer tone that I liked for home, solo playing especially.
There is also something called the BRAKELITE that Dr Z sells which is an attenuator. It helps me dial in my sweet spot (on the loud side) and then turn the volume down WITHOUT any loss in the quality of my tone.
I could go on and on really......check them out for sure. There are some nice options out there as far as amps go (if your looking beyond the mass produced ones...which can be nice themselves. I have a couple as I've mentioned) but the Z does so much of what most of those amps can do (sometimes more) at a relatively great price.
As for guitars....dude, so many choices! I dable in many styles so flexibility in tone shaping is a big deal for me. I really LOVE my Gretch Duo Jet double cutaway. Its filtertron pickups are sort of in between your standard single coil and humbucker pickups as far as sound goes and I love that. I wonder what your guitars had before, pickup wise. G&L makes some great fender style guitars (company started BY Leo Fender) and they have relatively great prices. Many options of pickup configurations etc.
Honestly it might be best for you to just head to your local dealer and try a bunch of stuff. I had a BLAST years ago going to practically EVERY guitar store in NYC and just trying stuff out. This is not realistic for everyone time wise I know. But you get the point hopefully. The last thing ill say about the Dr. Z amps is that whatever guitar you plug into it, will sound like THAT guitar! I have a great vintage Ibanez Artist and it sounds brighter and a little more clear than my Gretsch. The Gretsch is smoother and "rounder" sounding. My type of Gretsch at least.
Anyway, have fun with your search! With your budget, you should have no problems finding something that will make you happy...let us know if we can help you with anymore suggestions
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Loking for suggestions for guitar/amp makers (Read 8207 times)
