Hello!
First, a preamble: I've got a THD Univalve which I've owned for something like 12 years. I originally got it for it's relatively low wattage, built-in THD Hotplate (which was once a thing), and simplicity. Plus I played a friend's, and loved it, I've always wished it had an effects loop.
Fast forward a decade and I'm not at music college anymore, and I'm married - meaning I don't have unlimited access to practice rooms, and don't have unlimited ability to make lots of noise in the house. The Univalve has gathered dust whilst I've piddled around with an old Spider (apologies if that causes offence)and sought a small enough amp for practicing, but I've never found anything that's been inspiring.
I just bought a THR10C. I understand why people like it, and I've got some decent tones from it, but it still feels to me like a rebranded Spider especially as it seems from the Yamaha website that Line6 is now one of their brands (which may not be news to anyone here other than me). So I figured ok, the THR10 is a few years old, maybe there's something better... and so I began to drool over the Katana Air. Why not? Partly, the price.
Here's my conundrum: For the price of the Katana Air, wouldn't I be better off buying a Laney L5-Studio, which has a similar footprint to one of these "lounge" amps, and make use of the Laney's built-in wizardry? I'd then have one amp (the Laney), which would be headphoneable and give me all the same silent practice abilities as a "lounge" amp *AND* it would easily replace my THD Univalve, plus give me the long desired effects loop?! BTW, I really don't care about the THR10 or Katana's built in effects. I'd rather use my own. Also, I have a massive bias towards real(ish) valve over emulated valve. In my head I can't believe the THR10's sound, because I know it's emulated.
Here's my real question: Does anyone else follow the logic that an L5-Studio could do the same job as a Katana Air... and a bit more besides?
For the sake of continuity, I'll answer the questions.
1) Where are you located? England
2) What is your budget? Under £500
3)What guitars do you play, and what pickups are in them? Les Paul Classic, various Strats & Franken-Strats, Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro. Mixture of humbuckers & single coils.
4) What effects do you use? Various in the stable. Crowther Hotcake & an old analogue T-Rex delay are among the faves.
5) Does it have to be a combo? No. In fact, I don't want a combo. I want the small footprint of a head.
6) Does it have to be new? Not necessarily.
7) What are your size and weight limitations? I want something that can sit on a shelf in the lounge and not necessarily need a big speaker cab (though I've got a 2x12 that I love.
8) Do you need to be especially quiet at home? Yes. Well, no. Not especially quite - just socially considerate.
9) Do you need to be especially loud at gigs? No. I don't gig at all at the moment, though that's not to say I won't. Either way, I'm not at all interested in 100 watts of screaming valve sound.
10) What is your taste for low end, mids, et cetera? I like balance & tweakability.
11)What do you want to sound like (YouTube and/or Soundcloud links are most welcome)? Not one particular tone; bluesy, responsive clean to moderate chop, but not normally anything that would melt anyone's face.
Thanks, friends.
Tom
First, a preamble: I've got a THD Univalve which I've owned for something like 12 years. I originally got it for it's relatively low wattage, built-in THD Hotplate (which was once a thing), and simplicity. Plus I played a friend's, and loved it, I've always wished it had an effects loop.
Fast forward a decade and I'm not at music college anymore, and I'm married - meaning I don't have unlimited access to practice rooms, and don't have unlimited ability to make lots of noise in the house. The Univalve has gathered dust whilst I've piddled around with an old Spider (apologies if that causes offence)and sought a small enough amp for practicing, but I've never found anything that's been inspiring.
I just bought a THR10C. I understand why people like it, and I've got some decent tones from it, but it still feels to me like a rebranded Spider especially as it seems from the Yamaha website that Line6 is now one of their brands (which may not be news to anyone here other than me). So I figured ok, the THR10 is a few years old, maybe there's something better... and so I began to drool over the Katana Air. Why not? Partly, the price.
Here's my conundrum: For the price of the Katana Air, wouldn't I be better off buying a Laney L5-Studio, which has a similar footprint to one of these "lounge" amps, and make use of the Laney's built-in wizardry? I'd then have one amp (the Laney), which would be headphoneable and give me all the same silent practice abilities as a "lounge" amp *AND* it would easily replace my THD Univalve, plus give me the long desired effects loop?! BTW, I really don't care about the THR10 or Katana's built in effects. I'd rather use my own. Also, I have a massive bias towards real(ish) valve over emulated valve. In my head I can't believe the THR10's sound, because I know it's emulated.
Here's my real question: Does anyone else follow the logic that an L5-Studio could do the same job as a Katana Air... and a bit more besides?
For the sake of continuity, I'll answer the questions.
1) Where are you located? England
2) What is your budget? Under £500
3)What guitars do you play, and what pickups are in them? Les Paul Classic, various Strats & Franken-Strats, Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro. Mixture of humbuckers & single coils.
4) What effects do you use? Various in the stable. Crowther Hotcake & an old analogue T-Rex delay are among the faves.
5) Does it have to be a combo? No. In fact, I don't want a combo. I want the small footprint of a head.
6) Does it have to be new? Not necessarily.
7) What are your size and weight limitations? I want something that can sit on a shelf in the lounge and not necessarily need a big speaker cab (though I've got a 2x12 that I love.
8) Do you need to be especially quiet at home? Yes. Well, no. Not especially quite - just socially considerate.
9) Do you need to be especially loud at gigs? No. I don't gig at all at the moment, though that's not to say I won't. Either way, I'm not at all interested in 100 watts of screaming valve sound.
10) What is your taste for low end, mids, et cetera? I like balance & tweakability.
11)What do you want to sound like (YouTube and/or Soundcloud links are most welcome)? Not one particular tone; bluesy, responsive clean to moderate chop, but not normally anything that would melt anyone's face.
Thanks, friends.
Tom