►► 9x Surprisingly Great Guitar Amps! (of all prices)

in today's video, i'm going to share with you  nine different guitar amplifiers that surprised   me to no end these are amplifiers that either  sounded far better than they should or they   weren't on my radar and they totally shocked me  with their tones and versatility let's get into it the first amplifier on this list has to  be the prs sonzera this is a 20 watt combo   they also make a larger one at 50 watts  but the one that surprised me the most   was the 20 watt amp and the reason why it comes  stock with a celestion v type speaker and it also   comes equipped with 6L6 output tubes giving it  a much fuller and rounder sound over many other   amps at this size which are usually inherently  either 6v6 think fender princeton kind of thing   or they're either el84s very reminiscent of that  of a vox so having 6l6 tubes which are the 6l6   gcm power tubes gives it a big full and round  sound very reminiscent of a fender amplifier now   i think where this amplifier shines the most is on  the clean channel so if you're looking for a great   portable 20 watt amp that has a great clean  channel and a great speaker already in there   the sonzera 20 makes a whole lot of sense this  is one of those amplifiers you have to hear to   sort of know that it does feel very different  to play over that of say a 65 deluxe reverb or   any other number of fender amps it has its own  sound which is also really great now the only   small disadvantage to this amplifier is the  drive channel isn't spectacular we've got a   chance to try these both clean and dirty and the  clean channel sounds beautiful with pedals the   drive channel you can get away with it in a pinch  but i didn't find it to be anything spectacular   prs amplifiers always seems to have a little bit  of this sort of fuzz type overdrive tone that will   appeal to some people but it isn't really my kind  of thing but if you like it go ahead and use it   but i really feel the strength of this amplifier  is its unique tone mixed with its power tubes and   also the fact that it handles pedals as well as  it does overall if you're looking for something   very very different that's still very portable  give this amp a look the second amplifier on this   list has to be the fender pro jr now i've kind  of dismissed these amps for a long long time in   terms of live use but they're plenty loud they're  way louder than i thought they would be i've owned   blues juniors i've got an artist tweet tone  20 which is 20 watts the blues juniors are 15.   these are also 15 watts but the pro junior has  a much smaller speaker and it's an amp that i've   never really felt like i was that interested in  based on the fact it had no reverb and it was just   brain dead simple so it was interesting to give  these a shot and just be completely overwhelmed by   how great they sound in the mix they have a whole  lot of poke at the expense of just sounding that   little bit boxy when you compare them to larger  amps and larger cabs so if you don't know not only   does the speaker size impact the sound greatly but  also the cabinet size that makes a huge difference   to the overall output of the amplifier in terms  of its bloom in the room and spread of sound so   if you're looking for something that will get  you by to jam with friends it's really light   and pretty loud considering its size the fender  pro juniors are great now we had a chance to test   out the tweed one as well as the standard black  edition and both were great but if you're looking   for a little bit of extra poke go for the tweed  one i'll leave links in the description below   up next is an amplifier that completely  caught me by surprise it also caught dr   rick by surprise when i had a chance to plug this  in this is the mg30fx from marshall now this is   a solid state amp with digital modeling effects  built in you get delays and reverbs and all that   kind of stuff thanks to a dial on the front but  one of the cool things about it is it has a great   clean channel that handles pedals beautifully i  would highly recommend checking out this amp with   your favorite pedalboard if you're looking  for something that's light and fairly loud   considering what it is a solid state amplifier  generally won't have the same amount of output   because i usually skimp on things like the speaker  depending on the speaker efficiency mixed with   how many watts it is and its overall design will  contribute greatly to the overall output volume   of the amp now these are completely closed back so  they are fairly directional but one of the things   that shocked me the most about this was just how  great it sounded with the clean channel cranked up   most of the way in the room and then just running  my pedalboard into the front i could use this at   small gigs it sounds far better than it should  it's far cheaper than you might assume as well   and being that it's a sort of under the radar amp  get them while they're still a bargain because   if we all know what happened with the pv bandit  that kind of went up in price on the used market   they're a great amplifier but this little marshall  amp is definitely a catch i would go check these   out i wouldn't rely on the built-in effects  too heavily i don't think they sound very good   it also does have its own drive channel as  well which is usable but i really feel like   these shine on the cleans crank them up and that  10 inch speaker will be pumping to its maximum   i got to tell you the mg30fx is one of the best  unknown small amps out there if you're looking   for a pedal platform i really love these things  go check them out up next is a vox amplifier that   i've been a huge fan of for a number of years i've  nearly purchased one of these and i've held off   because i've owned both a vox ac15 and an ac30 and  after a while i tend to get a little bit over the   vox sound for my particular type of music and then  i went ahead and plugged into the vox ac10c one   man this amp has some of the best vibe out there  and if you pair it with a tube screamer you get   all the mids back the vox amps inherently lose and  i love the simplicity of this amp it's very cool   it's basically one channel you get the top boost  channel of that found in something like the vox   ac15c1 for example and you get a basic reverb  and you're good to go so i love the simplicity   of this amp having a gain control built into the  front end of the amp is something that i really   love it sounds great with or without pedals but  if you want to get into the lead tone territory   hook up a tube screamer or any prominent  mid boost pedal and you're going to get a   really great fat sound these have some  of the best sustain i've ever heard   check this out up next on the amps that surprised  me the most i've got to put this in here this is   defender tone master deluxe reverb now i've  owned the fender tone master twin and it's a   really really great amp i wasn't that overly  interested in trying the deluxe reverb being   that i've owned a 65 deluxe reverb and also a 68  reissues of course i don't i'm not that wealthy   but anyway the tonemaster deluxe reverb sounded  awesome in the mix i was right at home as soon as   i plugged into it which was something that can't  be said for a lot of other amps out there orange   excuse me i'm a huge fan of this app whether or  not you're going to rehearsals or you're doing   some small gigs anywhere where a deluxe reverb is  loud enough the tone master deluxe reverb will be   loud enough now some might say if you compare a  tone master to a tube amp you're going to hear   a difference and that's pretty much true but if  you've only got one you won't know the difference   i really feel like the way the deluxe  reverb tone master feels to play   really surprised me i was shocked how much i  enjoyed it for those who are unfamiliar with   the tonemaster amplifiers they're by far the best  digital modeling amps out there they do one thing   and they do it extremely well the only small  trade-off is if you're into using clean boosts   sometimes they don't always sound great going  into the twin for example but in the deluxe   reverb pushing in the front end actually works to  some extent so if you're interested in these amps   i'll also leave links below now if you know the  channel you'll probably know i'm a massive fan   of the marshall dsl 40cr i still stand by the fact  it's the best amp i've ever owned the reason why   it works with or without pedals beautifully so i  kind of dismissed the dsl20cr which is the smaller   counterpart or the smaller brother whatever you  want to say i kind of half-assed it a little bit   by putting in a celestion 7080 which can sometimes  work great in amps and other times it's like   did you even try and the fact is that it's 20  watts then you can switch it down to 10 watts   i didn't think it would be good enough for my kind  of use if i was going out and playing live but   this amp totally rocks the marshall dsl 20cr  has way more vibe and mojo than i ever gave   credit for now i reviewed this amp and i  liked it but i didn't like it as much as   the marshall dsl 40 which i can switch down  to 20 watts so it made more sense for me   to go for more headroom but after playing this  amp with its crappy Celestion 7080 speaker   man it sounds great it's a great pedal  platform and i'm seriously considering   buying one of these coming up now when it comes  to amplifiers that cut the mix on this list   without question the marshall dsl 20cr would be  one of the top amps because it just sounded so   prominent and voicey in the mix it gave me plenty  of sustain plenty of volume and handled my pedals   beautifully the only small trade-off with this  is there's no classic marshall crunch channel   you get the ultra gain channel which is that  higher gain channel which is very usable if you're   playing certain types of music but if you're  looking for a traditional sort of classic rock   sound sometimes the ultra gain channel can be a  little bit much but crank up the clean channel get   it firing throw a distortion or overdrive into it  and you're gonna be loving it this is definitely   one of my favorite amps on this list go check it  out up next is an amplifier i never had a chance   to use in the context of a live mix but i've  reviewed it and also used it on other gear reviews   last year which is the roland blues cube now a lot  of people will say which one should i get the hot   the artist or whatever just get the one that suits  your vibe the best i always encourage you to go   play them but if you're going to be looking  for something that i personally like then the   roland blues cube artist is i think the perfect  compromise because you still get a lot of output   power but you will also get the ability to switch  out the overall output volume thanks to that   built-in attenuator now these come with quality  speakers if there's one thing that roll and get   right well i get a few things right but one of  the things they get right is they don't half   ask their speakers like a lot of other companies  so it's great that they put quality speakers in   most of their range of amplifiers whether or not  you go back to the role in jazz chorus amps or   you take a look at their katanas for their price  they're loaded with really great speakers and the   roland blues cube is no exception so this amp is a  little bit different you get a great clean channel   you get a really musical drive channel which does  take out a little bit of your low end and then you   can also get a blend between them both now some  people swear by that blended channel i much prefer   either using the clean channel on its own with  pedals or i like using the drive channel with my   volume control i think these amps pretty much play  themselves if you're into blues these are kind of   like a modern pv bandit a lot of people say hey  should i buy the roland blues cube or a pv bandit   the answer is yes get the one that you can afford  and the one you like the most because they're both   very similar amplifiers except if you get a pv  band that's used you'll probably save a fortune   the thing about the roland blues cubes is they  are a little bit expensive so just keep that in   mind but overall man the tones of these things  are great and for a solid state amplifier that   never needs its valves are replaced or anything  like that definitely give these a look roller make   their amps really well they're built like tanks  and you expect these to last for a very long time   up next is an amplifier i finally had a chance  to play i've never done a review of one of these   that i can remember but i had a number of people  ask me what do i think of the fender bass breaker   007 seven amplifier so if you're unfamiliar  with these these are seven watt tube amps the   fender bass breaker comes with two 12AX7  preamp tubes and two EL84 output tubes so   it's kind of voxy in its design but it has a very  different sound to the typical character of that   of most amplifiers now the bass breaker 30r  is arguably my favorite high gain or higher   gain amplifier from fender i love that but this  little one was a whole lot of fun and it filled   the room in a very different way so while this was  plenty loud to jam with friends it's probably not   quite loud enough to gig with in a big room but  the vibe of the amp spoke for itself it really   sounded great at the expense of sounding a little  bit boxy and that's because this thing is tiny but   you get a very usable drive channel that you can  also push with pedals if you so choose to use   it that way this might be one of the only fender  amplifiers out there that doesn't have a dedicated   clean channel which is great i like when companies  do something different it'd be like marshall for   example releasing an amplifier with only a clean  channel it would be weird but it would also be   cool if you're a fan of that particular brand so i  highly suggest going to check out the base breaker   007 i really feel like this is one of the best  small amps out there if you're looking for   something with a whole lot of mojo maybe not the  greatest spread of sound out there but something   that you could record with or just jam with  friends this last amplifier on the list may shock   the regulars who has already subscribed to the  channel and might not shock others but i've never   played one of these amplifiers until recently i  never heard one and i gotta tell you that this   amp totally rocks there's one big exception to  it but it sounds great and this is the evh 5150   loaded with the 6L6 output tubes this thing  sounds huge now i'm just talking specifically   about the 2x12 and it weighs a ton that's the  only downside to it but you can get anything out   of this amplifier from great clean tones all the  way through to musical crunch tones and then it   can go into the higher gain territory now dr rick  had a chance to play one of these at one of our   keys to the guitar shop series videos and it  sounded far better than i ever thought it would   he wasn't even using pedals half the time through  this because the drive channel sounded as great   as it did now that's not surprising if you're an  evh fan you'll know this already but coming from   someone who mostly plays blues and rock kind of  stuff this wasn't on my radar or it wasn't high   on my radar because it just wasn't something  that i was into personally but this shocked me   quite a lot and rick ended up using it for the  entire session because of how great it sounded now   if this isn't on wheels it's impossible to move  it took two of us which i would consider with us   being fairly strong at least anyway took two of us  to get this out from the amp room into the place   where we were playing because it was brutal  lucky there's side handles i would only say   buy this amp if you're either very strong or  you've got a trolley or something to help you move   this thing around it is brutally brutally heavy  it's by far the heaviest amp i've ever picked up   i couldn't lift it on my own from the  top handle that's how heavy this thing is

Channel: intheblues

Views: 71,414

Keywords: The 9 Best Amplifiers, 9 surprising amplifiers, intheblues, The best affordable amplifiers, what is the best amplifier?, Marshall, Fender, EVH, Roland, Vox

Id: t-YcoSTzjDc

Length: 14min 41sec (881 seconds)

Published: Sat May 15 2021