Practice Amp for use with Headphones advice
I've been thinking about getting a Fender Frontman 20 or Orange Crush 20 for use exclusively as a pedal platform with headphones.
Scoured the Internet and YouTube and have not found a definitive answer as to which is best. Does anybody have any experience with a similar set up?
I mostly play Metal with lots of High Gain Distortion and Gain Stacking with Overdrive and sometimes Fuzz. I have loads of Pedals already and currently use an old second hand Peavey Rage 158, but the Headphone tone seems to be missing something.
Looking to upgrade.
Any suggestions for up to £200?
You could get the Fender Fontman + M-Audio bass traveler. This nifty little amp also includes bass switches; or you can shut them off and listen in a fairly neutral manner. It’s not hi-fi, but it works. Products form this company might also work: For your intended application, of course, not ncessarily hifi / summit-fi, but then again, who wants to hear all the bad parts of music if it’s too accurate?! Which headphones are you using? Maybe I could recommend you something better. | |||
I would choose the Fender for pedals, but if you are only concerned about how it sounds with headphones, then @jasonbourne52 is right, you really won't hear a difference. By the way, I use Grado headphones with my amp, sounds great. I've tried others, but the Grado's don't add/change the sound. | |||
I've been thinking about getting a Fender Frontman 20 or Orange Crush 20 for use exclusively as a pedal platform with headphones. Scoured the Internet and YouTube and have not found a definitive answer as to which is best. Does anybody have any experience with a similar set up? I mostly play Metal with lots of High Gain Distortion and Gain Stacking with Overdrive and sometimes Fuzz. I have loads of Pedals already and currently use an old second hand Peavey Rage 158, but the Headphone tone seems to be missing something. Looking to upgrade https://showbox.bio/. Any suggestions for up to £200?
I got this,.. | |||
I sent your post to my brother, who plays electric and acoustic guitar, and this was his response. As you see, he is approaching it a different way:
I’m familiar with the Orange amp. Not the Fender (though I like Fender amps). I do know that Orange amps are better for overdrive and distortion than Fender as a general rule.
I’d be interested to hear what the poster means by “is missing something” with the headphones. But here are some suggestions based on what I do know:
At that price range, the Orange amp would be a very good choice as an amp for metal and hard rock. It’s solid. But the headphones aren’t the reason why. And that will usually be the case with the headphone feature of most amps. Especially at that price range.
It’s often not the circuitry of the amp’s headphone port so much as the difference between what you hear through phones, placed directly in line with your ears, vs an amp which is often placed on the floor, below your ear level.
With the latter, the player will lose treble and mid frequencies while the bass will be increased due to contact with the floor. To compensate, the player will adjust EQ, accordingly, usually jacking up the treble and mids while lowering the bass.
This works well until you put on the phones…which are now giving a more accurate representation of the sound he’s creating from guitar, through the pedals, and into the amp. All of those variables have their own EQs, as well. The headphones (especially a very good pair) are much less forgiving than an amp.
So, IF (if) the poster has set his Peavey (which is a pretty good amp, btw) (I like the Orange better) to a sound that’s “right” while it’s sitting on the floor; there’s a good chance that it’s got too much treble and mids for the phones. Especially for overdrive and distortion sounds. And totally unusable for fuzz. Everything sounds fizzy. More so as you add more distortion.
If on the other hand, the poster has set EQ using the phones initially, a better pair might be the ticket. Or a reactive load box with a headphone port. Here’s a great mid level one:
There are lower priced units but if he’s looking for good sound, this will deliver.
A less expensive option is one that I’m using with my guitar amp/effects processor modeler (Quad Cortex…it’s awesome), lately. It sounds great through headphones, but the Full Range Flat Response (FRFR) (basically a glorified PA speaker) tends to accentuate the bass. And it has no EQ section. I get around this by plugging a Boss GE-7 equalizer pedal (modded by XTS…though it’s pretty good, stock, as well) between the Quad Cortex (with his setup it would be his pedals) and the amp. This way the poster can engage the EQ and set it to taste when switching between phones and amp.
Or, if it’s all about headphone use: spend some time adjusting the controls on guitar/pedals/amp so that the sound is more to taste.
Hope this helps.
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