New Inexpensive Amp Day

[t100d]

So, my VOX AD15VT died on me on a gig—kept cutting out, distorting and wild power fluctuations. It was a freebie, so no big deal—some of the presets weren't working, but it was okay for a practice amp.
Wanting a cheap replacement, I came across the 5core 40W SS, with an 8"' speaker for $89 on sale. I figured since it was a free Amazon return I would check it out …

Oh boy! Packed in a flimsy cardboard box, one layer of very thin bubble wrap and some assorted pieces of foam. 1/4" dent at top of cab (USPS or customer return?)
Thin sound, POS "Boost" button, meh Delay/Reverb. In 15 minutes I had it all packed up for return and pulled the trigger on my next choice, the Monoprice Stage Right 40W with 10" speaker for $10 more.

Now we're talkin'! Well packaged, nicely made, real spring reverb, high and low inputs, headphone input, effects loop, line and speaker outs (looking forward to running it through the 12" speaker from my defunct Peavey Artist 240 [great amp!])
Played my Monoprice Tele and my Peavey JF-1, lovely round creamy tones with a touch of reverb, great sustain. Haven't tried the "Overdrive" button yet, but I usually prefer to get my dirt from the Gain knob anyway.

Am gigging it tonight, will report back ...

Oh, and did I mention, it only weighs 19.8lbs and the knobs go up to 11?

Lesson learned—there's a big difference between cheap and inexpensive!

[tlarson58]

Good for you! Keep us posted on the gig. Set list as well.

[glasshand]

Thanks for the writeup! I can't believe that 5 Core amp gets 4.2 stars on Amazon, but pretty much everything gets about 4.2 stars, so you really can't trust Amazon scores. Reviews like yours are much more useful!

[jhull54]

I've had my eye on a Monoprice SS to mess with. Looking forward to your gig review!

[tonebender]

Congrats on the new amp and enjoy!

[t100d]

Played for two hours last night. Big echoey café, slightly out of tune upright piano, string bass, trombone, vocalist. The vocalist and I were the only ones amplified. Jazz, Brazilian, Swing, blues, etc.

I had family out front who gave me good feedback on volume and balance, and one member who collects amps and guitars—he was very impressed with the Monoprice.

I started out with EQ at 12 o’clock, slowly boosted mids by a couple of degrees, rolled off a little bass and treble.
Volume around 3 or 4 out of 10, Gain about 4 or 5 out of 11
Was playing my Peavey JF-1, a great 335 type, mainly on neck pup full volume tone down to about a quarter—the only mods I have made is to dress the fret ends (not much required), roll the edges of the fingerboard, degloss the back of the neck and install Wilkinson tuners. Oh, and for some strange reason, the orientation of the pickup selector was reversed … I looked on Peavey website and it seems that’s standard—how weird is that?

If you’ve followed my adventures with cancer, you’ll know that for the past couple of years I’ve been playing mainly classical electric. Last night I returned to my roots!!
The amp is warm and responsive, the spring reverb capable of pretty fine adjustment (I use it mainly as a way of enriching the tone and getting a consistent sound in various rooms).

Now to explore the overdrive and the speaker out through my 12” Peavey cab …

[t100d]

Good for you! Keep us posted on the gig. Set list as well.

Sorry, no set list … we just take turns calling tunes, especially fun as the vocalist seldom sings in the same key as the fakebooks, it can be a real challenge

[jtcnj]

Happy New Amp Day!
Glad you are gigging it and digging it.

[andrewsrea]

HNAD!

Sounds like a fantastic value, which fits your other gear and style! Glad you are back to doing what you love.

[t100d]

Well, the 12” speaker wasn’t the epiphany I was seeking—flatter tone, doesn’t seem to match up as well with the Monoprice, or maybe needs to be run louder than convenient in my little music room …
Overdrive seems functional enough, not much control over shaping the sound apart from gain and volume, but as I said, I seldom use it anyway.
But my JF-1 sounds amazingly good …