Modelling Amplifier Buyers Guide

They say that practice makes perfect but how can you practice when you don’t know which amp to use?! You can find yourself asking questions like ‘which one is best for me?’ and ‘what’s the difference?’ 

Here we've reviewed 5 of the most popular amplifiers with built in effects and let you know a little more about them so you can make up your own mind on which will be best for you.
These are a fantastic option if you are new to playing and want to expand your range of sounds so that you can jump around the living room pretending to be on stage at Wembley, or if you already are a fantastic guitarist and are just looking for an alternative to getting your pedal board out each time you want to dream up a new riff, then these could be the answer.


Take a look at what we think of Fender's Mustang i; Blackstar's ID Core 20; Roland's Cube 20GX; VOX's Valvetronic VT20+; Blackstar's ID15TVP.....


FENDER MUSTANG I V2 - £90

Classic, old-school looks with advanced technology and simple controls. 

It’s so easy to get playing around right away with the 24 built in effects and 17 amp models. 

Create some awesome sounds with 12 modulation effects such as chorus, tremolo, octave or vibratone and 12 delay / reverb effects such as tape delay or hall reverb. 

The clean and overdrive tones are just supreme! 

By experimenting with the models you can easily replicate some 
classic sounds of the past! 

Start blending in some effects like delay and reverb and you’re away with a great tone in seconds. 

20 watts of power means it can be quiet enough for bedroom use but it can also go pretty loud, more than adequate for use at home. 

The ‘Fender Fuse’ software adds yet another impressive feature to this little box of tricks!  


Plug the Mustang into your computer and be immersed in an online community where you can dial 
up your dream tone on screen, save it and even share it with other users.


With all the visuals of amps, pedals and effects racks it’s super easy to digitally edit your tones and effects.


Overall it’s pretty awesome! 


It looks great, sounds superb and is very affordable, perfect for home and bedroom use! 

SUMMARY:
Tone Quality: 4/5
Ease of Use & Controls 3/5
Quality of Effects 4/5
Value for Money 5/5
Optional Footswitch: Yes

Pro: Great amp models & AMAZING value for money.
Con: Tricky to master the effects unless you use the software and view them on screen.

BLACKSTAR ID: CORE 20 - £119

Standard Blackstar design, cool minimal looks and awesome effects mean this amp packs in a l
oad of great features for a low price tag. 

With 20 watts (2x10W) of power it’s OK for home and bedroom practice.

Its two speaker, stereo configuration makes the effects sound amazing. If you love guitar effects you’ll love this one!

The way they blend between the speakers is awesome for a little practice amp!

With 12 different effects and 6 voices they’ve taken quite a stripped down, easy to use approach.

Simply choose your clean or drive type, set the volume, gain and EQ, dial in your effect and you’re away.
There’s loads of gain on offer, making it ideal for a range of styles from Jazz to Rock to full on Metal! 
The quality of the overdrives could be a little better, but it really doesn’t take away from how good the overall sound is. 
The ISF (Infinite Shaping Feature) is the master tone control here. Blend from American to UK sounding amps with just one knob… simple but extremely effective.
If that just isn’t enough then you can even plug it into your computer and fine tune your tones with the Blackstar Insider software. 

A fantastic feature, which allows endless amounts of fun with a huge variety of tones. 

Create your ideal sound with the on-screen controls and hear it out of the amp instantly! 

Store your patches and share them with the thriving Insider community. 

Fun, easy, affordable… and for the money, just brilliant.

SUMMARY:
Tone Quality: 3/5
Ease of Use & Controls 4/5
Quality of Effects 5/5
Value for Money 4/5
Optional Footswitch: Yes

Pro:  Stereo speakers and great sounding effects.
Con: Volume is a little lacking as it's not a true 20 watt amp.

To continue reading click the link http://www.guitarbitz.com/modelling-amplifier-buyers-guide-i109 for our full article review on a selection of great amplifiers. 



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