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I've been thinking about getting a small practice amp so I checked
out the Frontman 25R at guitar Center. The features didn't seem bad
(reverb/drive,aux in,headphones) but especially the price. Being that
it was at guitar center it was hard to make out sound quality with at
least 3 marshall stacks cranked up next to me. Just curious to see if
anyone has any opinions on these since I've been reading mixed reviews.
Also, just curious to see if anyone checked out the diminished men,
since no one replied to that post.
Eric
I've been checking out practice amps lately, and two really impressed me: the
Frontman
25R and the Epiphone Valve Special 5W (a tube amp). A friend of mine used the
25R as a
recording amp - his tone is raunchy roadhouse, and the amp sounded awesome. I
wish I
could offer up a copy of the recording, but I would never have imagined in a
million years
that he used a 25-watt solid state. Even though people regularly say solid state
amps
don't breakup with the smoothness of tube amps, I would completely disagree. The
25R
sounded very good to my ears.
But, when it came time to buy, I went for the single-ended Class A Epiphone, a
tube amp
with DSP reverb and effects, and a master volume switch. The basic tone is good,
similar
to the early Fender Champ, but not quite there. A better speaker, I hope, will
get it to
about 90-percent Champ quality sound. The DSP reverb is acceptable, and adds
much-
needed body to the basic small-speaker tone. The other effects (delay, flange,
something
else) are pretty poor, but what do you expect from a $210 amp? It also has a
cool retro
look, with an offset speaker opening, white piping and leatherette tolex.
Gavin
>
> I've been thinking about getting a small practice amp so I checked
> out the Frontman 25R at guitar Center. The features didn't seem bad
> (reverb/drive,aux in,headphones) but especially the price. Being that
> it was at guitar center it was hard to make out sound quality with at
> least 3 marshall stacks cranked up next to me. Just curious to see if
> anyone has any opinions on these since I've been reading mixed reviews.
>
> Also, just curious to see if anyone checked out the diminished men,
> since no one replied to that post.
>
> Eric
>
Eric,
I prefer tube amps. I had been using a Fender Blues Junior, which
is a pretty good 15 watt tube amp, but will collect dust since I
picked up a Reverend Goblin 15W/5W switchable tube amp. This
little beast kills! It has what they call a "schizo" switch that
changes the voicing of the amp from US (Fender) to UK
(Marshall/Hiwatt /Vox) or Lo/Fi (Supro/Magnatone). You can dial in
pretty good representations of all those different amps, but of
course nothing is exactly like the real thing. Of course this
little monster has a great sound of its' own as well. I like it for
its' versatility. Besides Surf, I play blues, 60's-70's rock,
psychedelic jam band stuff, and experimental music. It is a
single channel amp with a 10" Jensen Neo 10-100 speaker, powered
by 2- 6V6 power tubes, has a master volume, treble, mid, bass &
presence controls, effects send & return, and a nice sounding
Accutronics reverb. It weighs only 22 lbs. This amp sounds
surprisingly huge, full, and (if you want) loud. It is everything
I want in a practice amp, and more. It ran me $529.00. Reverend is
going out of the amp business to concentrate on their line of
guitars. If you hurry you can still pick one up @
reverenddirect.com. This amp will not be for everybody @ surf
guitar 101, but I bet a lot of you would enjoy the heck out of this
little tone monster.
Bob S.
--- In , "Eric Hutchinson"
<surfinseattle@h...> wrote:
>
> I've been thinking about getting a small practice amp so I
checked
> out the Frontman 25R at guitar Center. The features didn't seem
bad
> (reverb/drive,aux in,headphones) but especially the price. Being
that
> it was at guitar center it was hard to make out sound quality with
at
> least 3 marshall stacks cranked up next to me. Just curious to see
if
> anyone has any opinions on these since I've been reading mixed
reviews.
>
> Also, just curious to see if anyone checked out the diminished
men,
> since no one replied to that post.
>
> Eric
>
Eric, what happened to the Twin Reverb?
Hey Eric!
I have a few-years-old Frontman 25R; the cosmetics are different from the
newer ones, but I think the circuitry is about the same. Nice little amp
for under $150. The one I have has an onboard reverb that doesn't sound too
bad; when I bought it, I think that was a big sales point "no digital
reverb, this is true Fender reverb. . ." - you get the idea. The headroom
is pretty good, and it will give lots of clean volume (unless you mess with
the drive button). In my basement, this sucker is loud. Features are
minimal, but sufficient for what this is. I think the new Series II has CD
inputs, too, right (mine doesn't). If you want a small, portable practice
amp (yes, even though it's SS) that you can plug the 'phones into and play
along with a CD, this is probably a pretty good choice for the money. I'd
give it a thumbs up as a practice amp, based on my experience with the older
model.
-Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Hutchinson" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 7:21 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Practice Amp/Frontman
> I've been thinking about getting a small practice amp so I checked
> out the Frontman 25R at guitar Center. The features didn't seem bad
> (reverb/drive,aux in,headphones) but especially the price. Being that
> it was at guitar center it was hard to make out sound quality with at
> least 3 marshall stacks cranked up next to me. Just curious to see if
> anyone has any opinions on these since I've been reading mixed reviews.
>
> Also, just curious to see if anyone checked out the diminished men,
> since no one replied to that post.
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>
>
>
> .
> Visit for archived messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Thanks for the input, I've been reading that a lot of reviewers opted to
swap out the speakers and tubes on the Epiphone, whether intentionally
before purchasing the amp or after the fact. What are you planning on
using?
As for the F. 25R it supposedly has a distinct break up after V>4, but i
didn't seem to notice as much when I used it. Perhaps it was just the one I
used.
I'll definately give the Cube and the Ep. a test.
Eric
Surf in Seattle?
>From: "Gavin Ehringer" <>
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Practice Amp/Frontman
>Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 01:46:36 -0000
>
>I've been checking out practice amps lately, and two really impressed me:
>the Frontman
>25R and the Epiphone Valve Special 5W (a tube amp). A friend of mine used
>the 25R as a
>recording amp - his tone is raunchy roadhouse, and the amp sounded awesome.
>I wish I
>could offer up a copy of the recording, but I would never have imagined in
>a million years
>that he used a 25-watt solid state. Even though people regularly say solid
>state amps
>don't breakup with the smoothness of tube amps, I would completely
>disagree. The 25R
>sounded very good to my ears.
>
>But, when it came time to buy, I went for the single-ended Class A
>Epiphone, a tube amp
>with DSP reverb and effects, and a master volume switch. The basic tone is
>good, similar
>to the early Fender Champ, but not quite there. A better speaker, I hope,
>will get it to
>about 90-percent Champ quality sound. The DSP reverb is acceptable, and
>adds much-
>needed body to the basic small-speaker tone. The other effects (delay,
>flange, something
>else) are pretty poor, but what do you expect from a $210 amp? It also has
>a cool retro
>look, with an offset speaker opening, white piping and leatherette tolex.
>
>Gavin
>
>
>
> >
> > I've been thinking about getting a small practice amp so I checked
> > out the Frontman 25R at guitar Center. The features didn't seem bad
> > (reverb/drive,aux in,headphones) but especially the price. Being that
> > it was at guitar center it was hard to make out sound quality with at
> > least 3 marshall stacks cranked up next to me. Just curious to see if
> > anyone has any opinions on these since I've been reading mixed reviews.
> >
> > Also, just curious to see if anyone checked out the diminished men,
> > since no one replied to that post.
> >
> > Eric
> >
>
>
>
>
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I still have it, I mostly use it to jam with or when nobody else is home.
I've been using my peavey basic 50 when practicing with my guitars but i
think my bass amp is feed up with it. Plus it would be nice to have
something smaller/quieter/lighter that I could tote around.
>From: "Jacob Dobner" <>
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Practice Amp/Frontman
>Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 06:13:54 -0000
>
>Eric, what happened to the Twin Reverb?
>
>
>
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I have a Frontman 25R and it's really all I can use in
my apartment (the walls are very thing). The
headphone jack is particularly useful and the thing
really does sound pretty good. You always miss the
real reverb of course, but the onboard is good enough
to sit around at home with and you can always plug in
your tank or a pedal. Mine was dirt cheap and it's
really lightweight.
Richard
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