Poor man's 50W plexi?

[HeavyXIII]

To each their own, I'm sure some will call this prejudice...But given the choice between a Laney AOR or a Behringer clone amp that's made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes)...I'd personally rather go with the option that proved it's durable and solid enough to last 30 years

There's a pretty good chance something in an old AOR will need to be serviced. Likely the preamp and power tube sockets. Mine probably do.

[frigid midget]

made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes):

TGP/10

Almost every amp maker uses Chinese tubes somewhere in their amps these days.

At least Bugera/Behinger has their own factory, while everybody else just uses contract factories that make everything from light bulbs to dildos.

The caveat with Bugera/Behinger is that they straight up clone shit but build it with the cheapest parts possible, supposedly they're getting better...

"these days"...Exactly :s

Which is why I'm leaning more towards a good condition $400ish Laney AOR, loaded with decent tubes. I'm not saying you can't do worse than Bugera (I agree, you don't want yer tube amp coming from a dildo factory), but I've had a couple too many horrible experiences with low budget tubes amps, so I'd rather play it safe this time...:s

I know China isn't the same as it was a decade ago, but imo there's still a long way to go. A pic of my '90s inpired pedalboard or shitty diy guitars would settle the TGP accusation, but it's totally fine if anyone insists on thinking my dislike for chines tubes implies that I own a Klon and a Dumble amp...

[waltdogg]

Makes sense to me. Just be wary of what someone may be peddling off, even with new or good tubes.

It just means you're not an idiot. But they are. I thought the reference was funny is all.

[Iommic Pope]

You will probably need to do at least your filter caps in an AOR, I'd recommend checking the bias circuit for a common resistor burnout problem and doing tube sockets as well.

Well worth it though. I have a six knob and it will basically do any British clean tone you want, but still have its own rad AOR thing going on.

The Sovteks have the potential to be giant killers once you go over the issues and fix them, which admittedly is a fair amount of work.
But you won't find a better fuzz platform.

[frigid midget]

^Thanks!

I might have a lead on an AOR that's recently been fully serviced by a reputable local amp amp tech. It's also a bit pricier than the average going price for AOR's, but it's still about half of what a similar condish JMP/2203 would cost me, if not less...

But I'm not in a hurry or anything, so is it worth it to wait untill a 6 knob version comes along in your opinion?

[Iommic Pope]

Both are very capable and versatile amps.
My 6 doesn't do high gain like the eights will, so if you wanna get your Matt Pike on, go the eight.
I don't think it's possible to be disappointed with either.

Plus that extra money your spending is money you'll spend at the tech anyway.

[frigid midget]

Plus that extra money your spending is money you'll spend at the tech anyway.

You mean even after a full service with the papers to prove what happened, I'm still facing issues in the near future?

[Iommic Pope]

No I mean better someone else spent that and absorbed the full cost instead of you. Sorry, my phrasing wasn't clear.
If an amp had been given a clean bill of health and was just overhauled I'd consider a few extra dollars on the price as reasonable.

[bigchiefbc]

To each their own, I'm sure some will call this prejudice...But given the choice between a Laney AOR or a Behringer clone amp that's made in china with chinese parts (including the tubes, yikes)...I'd personally rather go with the option that proved it's durable and solid enough to last 30 years

That's totally fair, I know that a lot of people have had problems with Behringer/Bugera, I guess I just got crazy lucky, I've never had a blip with my 1960, and I've been gigging out with it for 4 years. I got it used from Guitar Center, and it didn't have the Behringer tubes in it, it came with JJ EL34s.

And the clone thing doesn't bother me in this particular instance, since it's cloning a classic amp that isn't in production anymore.

[frigid midget]

Update:

Finally pulled the trigger on the VG condish OAR100 Series II I mensioned

[Iommic Pope]