You played one practice amp, you've played them all
Written: Apr 20 '07 (Updated Apr 20 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Low price. Reliable. Serviceable sound
Cons: No matter what, it's still a 15 watt amp.
The Bottom Line: As practice amps go, this is as good as most and better than some. Not a bad way to go if you can get one cheap.
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| jystrebler's Full Review: Peavey Rage 158 Combo |
It's hard to write a review on a product like this. It's sort of like a steak knife. Maybe once in a lifetime, you'll use a steak knife and say, "Wow! What is this thing?"
The rest of the time, it's just there. Does exactly what you want.
For those of you who have been playing a long time, this is a 15 watt amp with an 8" speaker. That tells you everything you need to know about it.
Practice amps are called "practice amps" for a reason. This thing can get pretty loud, but there's no point to gunning it.
It does allow you to achieve overdrive by overdriving the preamp. (Has a pre and post gain control.) That's a feature I've always liked.
On the other hand, it's just solid-state overdrive. Nothing great, but nothing too bad, either.
If you're looking for a little beater amp, this is a serviceable unit. I only bought it because it came free with a guitar I bought.
If you're looking for a band-rehearsal amp, you'll need more power. Even 50 watts can be a little underpowered in most situations.
But if you want something that you can just plug into and get in some practice, this amp will do.
For those of you just starting out (if you're wanting to know how to get a "good" sound out of this, I'll presume you're just starting out), if you want to know what to do with the tone controls on this or any other amplifier, just do the following:
Turn the bass all the way up to 11. (That's slang for turn it up to the highest position it'll go.)
Cut the mids back. Right around 9:00 o'clock position.
Turn the treble up to about the 3:00 o'clock position.
I've played hundreds of amps and this is a workable setting on just about every amp ever made. Obviously you can season to your individual tastes, but this is a good starting point.
If you want to overdrive the circuit (to get distortion), then turn the "pregain" up high and the "post gain" down low while in "lead" mode. This is called "overdriving the preamp" and will give you distortion on most amps that have a pre and post-gain control.
This amp has a separate channel for clean sounds. Not sure what to say, there, other than set your tone controls appropriately.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jystrebler
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Location: Toledo, OH, Northcoast of America
Reviews written: 96
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Father of one squirmy child, Sometimes listenable Musician.
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