Find me a used amp for 500 bucks?

[austin.]

Alright, watching Mark play in Nashville, has really inspired me to play more and get better. I have a little tiny fender frontman going thru my PRS, which isn't horrible, but I could make my Tremonti sound much better with a better amp. I'm coming into some college money, and am looking at about 500 bucks give or take to spend on whatever, and I think an amp would be a good semi-life long investment.
Here's my craigslist area, can anyone do a little searching for me? Don't really know what I'm looking for in terms of good and best deal, I'm obviously looking for something that will sound good playing any of tremonti's stuff.
Was looking at a Fender twin reverb reissue for $775, but I'm not sure... Thanks for any help!
http://tricities.craigslist.org/msa/

Also, I'm not opposed to a new amp for that price if there's anything decent out there. Think I could find something real good for that price. My buddy for a Marshall half stack for 400 on craigslist, sounds amazing

[Andy92]

First of all, what kind of sound are you going for? Fender Twins are great for clean tones, but if you want some modern hard rock tones, it won't cut that. If you could elaborate a little bit on what all you're going for, I may be able to give some suggestions. I'm assuming you'll be wanting to play "Tremonti-esque" music though.

[zazthespaz]

who "comes into college money"? most people say "since i'm in college, i'm broke"

[NytestrykerZ]

Folks who get 'student loans' most likely. I always lived like a king the first month or so of uni.

[itaughttremonti]

Get a jet city and call it a day.

[austin.]

Well, I'm halfway through this first semester and am just now getting my refund check of about 2500 bucks. I think I should get to spend a fifth of it on leisure...
Mark personally recommended Egnater Renegade, but that's in the 700-800 dollar range, used. Which I'm fine with spending if it's night and day worth it. I also just scored a job at Kroger, so I'll have that income also, where I could spend a little more of my college money at once.

My guitar skills, aren't great. I try to play Creed and Alter Bridge, and we all know starting out, Mark's stuff isn't the easiest to play... Anyway, I'm looking for a good solid all around amp. Will I need two amps for clean and distortion?? I have a decent digital pedal, it's a Zoom, lots of effects, but again, it's digital. Any amp would be better than what I have right now though, this little Fender Frontman doesn't deserve to have my PRS plugged into it.
Looking for a good reverby tone, I enjoy the digital reverb I can set, but something straight into the amp I'd like more. Obviously, I can't afford Mesa or anything, or really any of Marks actual rig except possibly a Fender Twin, but I dunno, Looking for more of a dirty rock tone as opposed to clean. Can do more with distortion..

EDIT: Or, should I hang my freshly Tremonti Project signed guitar up and buy another and not play it? Anyone know of any sprays to coat the signatures with so they won't rub off?

[itaughttremonti]

You can always go the "amp in a box" route...Wampler has some tremendous gain pedals. Check out the Pinnacle, SLOstortion and TripleWreck pedals. TripleWreck if you want just...big-nuts style gain...SLOstortion is a good medium and Pinnacle gives you the brown sound. For around 500 or slightly more, you could easily do a used jet city and a used wampler from the bay. Good tube amp and all the dirt you could ever want from those pedals.

[austin.]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Egnater-Renegad ... 2576743b32

Any reason why I shouldn't slap a 5 dollar bid on this and get it for a steal? Assuming there's no reserve?

[itaughttremonti]

No reason not to.

[Andy92]

The Renegade is an extremely versatile amp for what you wanna play. Be a little wary though, it's a fairly expensive amp for something made in China (I think). I've heard of some of them having issues breaking down, so you might wanna see if whoever you bid with has some sort of extended warranty.

Anyway, the Jet City is a good recommendation too. I'd go for a JCA2212 combo in your price range.

Another few alternatives you might wanna look into in the used market:
- Peavey JSX
- Mesa F Series (if you're patient)
- Peavey Vypyr Tube 60

Now, the Vypyr Tube 60 is a hybrid and may look like a gimmicky modeler, but I think they sound pretty good overall. Plus, they're already less than your budget brand new. They have some pretty convincing metal models imo. The 6505 model on the Vypyr uses the exact same preamp circuit as a real 6505, so take that for what it's worth.

[Jhenrid]

Guitar center has a used Egnater Renegade for $549