Beginner amp. What else should I consider?

[bubbastain]

So a coworker of mine has a son(14) that started playing guitar recently. She said he has a small "cheap" little amp at his fathers house but not one at her house. I'm thinking of putting together a little rig for him. Apparently he plays jazz and up to Foo Fighters level of rock. I was thinking I of a clean pedal platform amp (ideally with a 12" speaker) and a few pedals like a simple delay/reverb, chorus, overdrive and a lower gain distortion pedal. The cheapest option would be a Katana 50. And I really think the katana can do it all and I can probably get a used one for about $150-175.
What inexpensive clean amps should I look for? I have a feeling he leans more towards the clean amp and pedals.

[primeholy]

Man, if I’d had a Katana 50 at 14, I could’ve been a rockstar. Frfr though, my other guitarist plays through one, and it gets the job done

[NinjaRaf]

Yeah, katana is a great option for this, or anything along those lines. If they're more metal oriented, I usually recommend the Peavey Vypyr stuff...I actually still have one, even. The Vox modeling amps...whatever they are called these days...are actually surprisingly great, too! I had one for a while maybe 2006-ish, so I'm sure they're even better now. Fender Mustangs are good options, too.

[long standing member]

'nother vote for the Katana!
It blows me away what's available now for beginners in terms of quality of guitars and amps
(as opposed to when dinosaurs roamed the earth!)

[rock flag and eagle]

You can't go wrong with a katana, they offer a lot for the money plus once he gets to a point where he's jamming with other people, it would work fine until he's ready to move up to tubes.
If he likes more an amp with pedals, the Orange Crush takes pedals pretty well and even the drive on it doesn't sound bad.

[GuitarBilly]

+1 for the Katana. get the 100w though, not for power but it has a few more features like an effects loop, a power amp input etc... it's an amp it won't outgrow soon.

Also, don't be afraid to look for an used deal. It's Boss, they're bullet proof.

[greatmutah]

Katana for sure!

[trey85stang2]

I can’t believe no one has mentioned the katana yet.

[bubbastain]

Yeah, the Katana was my number one thought. I've had a Katana head before and it can do everything. I was thinking just a used Katana 50 cause it's cheaper and can still do pretty much anything. Shit, it took me 6 months of playing before I even got my first amp. Then another two years or so with that Peavey Audition 20 before I got my first pedal.
Again, I think I can find a Katana 50 for hopefully $150 ish. I'm relatively poor myself so I can't go too crazy.

[VTM]

I can’t believe no one has mentioned the katana yet.

[fretless]

Peavey Bandit just like most beginner guitar players.

[Landshark]

i inherited a Peavey Studio Pro combo from my dad. actually had ads up for it to sell it, but one day when i was bored, i swapped the speaker in it and ... took the ads down. sounds really good now, with 3 clean modes and 3 overdrive modes. with a $100 RP360XP for some effects, its my new basement rig.

should have tried changing speakers in the XXL combo i had before i sold it ... another good choice. never tried a Bandit, but would guess its similar.

[Bonano]

To me, the Katana has too many options. I think a kid/beginner should get accustomed to the basics of amps and first learn to manipulate high, mid, low, gain, and master. Jazz and FF don’t come off to me as heavy effects-laden music anyway, more plug in n’ play.

[nightflameauto]

I think Bonano and the others have a valid point.

I'm honestly more in line with the Bandit / Studio Pro for a beginner. Adding effects like all us dorks did back in the day as you go is a better option for actually 'learning' guitar and not learning how to futz with effects for forever and ever and ever and ever and . . . .

Don't get me wrong, I love my Katana, but if I had gotten it as a teenager I would have gotten lost in option paralysis and played even less than I did. I'm probably old-manning this, but I still think simpler is better at the beginning.

[spawnofthesith]

Kids these days come out of the womb with pro level knowledge of how to use ableton, I'm sure he'll be able to figure out the fx on a katana

[primeholy]

Kids these days come out of the womb with pro level knowledge of how to use ableton, I'm sure he'll be able to figure out the fx on a katana

Yes

[overdrivenel34s]

Though not made anymore, i still have and use as a handy home simple practice/recording amp which is my tech 21 trademark 30. Excellent little amp that's very simple.

Examples of some clips recorded from its xlr out to recording interface. From best recollection, these were with it set of tweed switch, hot switch and uk speaker sim setting. Tele copy with bill lawrence pickups (l280tl and another i forget the model).

https://soundcloud.com/guitarplayerjax/mamakinclip1
https://soundcloud.com/guitarplayerjax/backinsaddleclip
https://soundcloud.com/guitarplayerjax/johnbegoodsolojam-clipfrom10-28-2006clip

[bubbastain]

To me, the Katana has too many options. I think a kid/beginner should get accustomed to the basics of amps and first learn to manipulate high, mid, low, gain, and master. Jazz and FF don’t come off to me as heavy effects-laden music anyway, more plug in n’ play.

I totally agree with this and it was one of my concerns. I was a bit worried he would spend more time fiddling with sounds rather than playing. You know, like a lot of us do.

I'll keep my eye out for either Katana 1x12 or some clean amp and a couple of pedals.

[FAKA!]

Mesa Mark VII... or a Katana

[bubbastain]

Scored a Katana MkII 50 watt for $198 after tax at the local (1 of 4) GC. Can't pick it up until the 19th though. Tested it out of course and was reminded of how cool an amp it is. I mean I already knew since I owned the head before, but the combo sounds really good. I told my friend that her son will never outgrow the amp. Doesn't mean that he might want something else down the road if he sticks with it, but the amp will be useful.