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slowist

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I'm going off to college in a couple of months, and I'm saving up to buy a scrapped esp ltd ec-1000 to put together.(replacing my guitar that got stolen) I realized that all I have right now is a fender m80 amplifier that I got free as a hand-me-down and I want to build a rig over the summer. Doing some research right now and I want to get a marshall set up and a couple of effects, can anyone recommend some good quality stuff for someone on a budget? I'm looking for versatility, from nice jazzy tone to crunchy heavy rock/metal distortion. By the way I'm a complete newb as far as amps and effects go
 
This is not at all what you said you wanted, but I absolutely love my Blackstar ID:Core 10. It sounds absolutely great and has a very small footprint. Some great built in effects, and just sounds good. I can't say enough good things about it.
 
I bought one of those ID:Core 10 amps on a whim to use as a test station and as it works out it's a pretty impressive little piece of gear.

But, as for Slowist - That Fender M80 doesn't necessarily need to be replaced. The dirt channel on those things leaves a lot to be desired, but the clean channel is pretty good. So, maybe the thing to do might be to keep that and find a used multi-effect sort of pedal, like a Line 6 Pod HD500. They sound pretty good and do a ton of stuff, plus you can get them for roughly $300 on ebay. Run it through the clean channel on the M80 and use it to get all the distortions, boosts, delays, chorus, wah, reverbs, EQ, etc. Kill a lotta birds with one stone.
 
I have to defer to Cagey on the amp question but for effects you obviously can go with either something pre-owned you test out at a local shop or if you want new and good for not absurd prices check out stuff from CMAT Mods. I have a drive I got of his new for about half of boutique prices but we all have our own sounds we are drawn to. Don't sell small amps short as there are some very good ones these days. A lot of what needs to happen is in your hands....literally. Best wishes at college.
 
Cagey said:
I bought one of those ID:Core 10 amps on a whim to use as a test station and as it works out it's a pretty impressive little piece of gear.

But, as for Slowist - That Fender M80 doesn't necessarily need to be replaced. The dirt channel on those things leaves a lot to be desired, but the clean channel is pretty good. So, maybe the thing to do might be to keep that and find a used multi-effect sort of pedal, like a Line 6 Pod HD500. They sound pretty good and do a ton of stuff, plus you can get them for roughly $300 on ebay. Run it through the clean channel on the M80 and use it to get all the distortions, boosts, delays, chorus, wah, reverbs, EQ, etc. Kill a lotta birds with one stone.

+1 on using existing amp on clean channel. Fenders usually come with a decent clean channel. And something that isn't so well understood is that pedals work better with a clean channel than a dirty channel. Using a boost/overdrive/distortion pedal into a dirty channel just adds compression and may turn the sound mushy.
 
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