Questions about guitar amp

GloopyJon

Hi Donnacha, thanks for your suggestion.  I did actually have a look at the Tubemeister yesterday (online, I mean).  It does indeed look like a very nice amp with some great features, but I think I'm going to get a modelling amp of some kind.  I'm very tempted by the idea of the Line 6 DT25, possibly with the HD500X pedal board (but no Variax!), but I do want to listen to some other options before I make such an expensive decision.

None of the shops over here (or even in the UK) appear to have all of my shortlist in stock so I've got a bit of a road trip planned for tomorrow, taking in 3 or 4 shops.  It could be a long day but I'm looking forward to it immensely!

Donnacha

Sounds like a great day out all the same !! I'm jealous...would love to spend the day trawling around the shops checking out new gear, with a few quid burning a hole in your pocket !!! Those were the days....pre-kids !! Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for.

GloopyJon

Having looked at the HD500X a bit more, I'm even wondering whether I could just buy that and plug it into my stereo amp for home use (I have a nice Cambridge Audio amp, the 840AV2, and ProAc Studio 130 speakers, all of which sounds pretty good).  Would the DT25 actually add anything?  Or is everything it does (apart from actually belting out the sound) included in the processing done by the HD500X?

AndrewH13

Hi-fi amps, especially good ones are not best suited. Its the tubes overdriven into crunch or distortion that makes the blues or rock sound. The 500X without the DT25 needs quite a bit of work to get great sounds even with other guitar amps according to many on a hundred-page forum I read!

GloopyJon

Thanks Andrew, I thought that was probably the case but it's always good to think out of the box (even if you speak - or type - in clichés ).

The other thing I'm wondering about is whether the DT25/HD500X combination makes sense without a Variax, or if they only really work with it.  My impression is that you don't need the Variax in there but I could be wrong.

It would be quite funny if I did get it, given that most of the RS crowd have the Variax without the other two parts of the Dream Rig, and I'd have the opposite!

AndrewH13

That would be ironic  Although Bilbo might beat you to it.

The only thing that the Variax combination adds to the usefulness of the DT25/500X is that the 500X can supply power (and signal) through a modified Ethernet connection to the guitar saving batteries being used. Other than that, like any effects or amp, they are mix and match.

Goooner

That's the main reason I'll eventually get the HD500 first, to save keep charging the Variax battery

I'd love to be in a position to get both together, but realistically it's going to be one, then the other and having just bought the HT5 a few months back, telling the wife I've got to ditch it already and buy an even more expensive one so soon may not go down to well

Shall look forward to your full report over the weekend, Jon, especially about the DT25/HD500 and how they sound together without a Variax.

GloopyJon

I shall write a detailed report with all of my thoughts!  I'm going to take my Fender along to try with the amps, since that's the guitar that I'll be using most of the time.

AndrewH13

As you go ... between shops please!

Goooner

And if you could upload some Soundcloud clips as you test each one, that would be good. Then we could vote on what you should buy