What guitar amp for people who do not know how to work things

[Owen]

Thanks all for your concerns about how I run my dept.

I will look at the Peavey, Vox and Fender options suggested.

[Jazzneck]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1336064379' post='1640431']
Thanks all for your concerns about how I run my dept.

I will look at the Peavey, Vox and Fender options suggested.
[/quote]

Owen, if my posts have upset you then I'm truly sorry and I'm not saying that my thinking is correct, but I feel very strongly about the lack of guidance and discipline which seems to be the way of the world today.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1336064379' post='1640431']
Thanks all for your concerns about how I run my dept.

I will look at the Peavey, Vox and Fender options suggested.
[/quote]

I detect a note of sarcasm here. You asked a question and got responses from a variety of people, some of whom have current or recent experience doing what you do. Given that they weren't the responses you were expecting but were nevertheless meant to help you (certainly in my case), I'm a little disconcerted at the tone of your reaction. If your funding is such that you can afford to replace a battery of amps and ancillaries every month or two as well as provide all the other resources a busy department needs then you are indeed a lucky man - most schools and colleges I've worked in cannot afford to be so profligate. That being the case, why bother asking us when the answer you seek is on the other end of a phone at your nearest guitar emporium?

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1336064379' post='1640431']
Thanks all for your concerns about how I run my dept.[/quote]

A thank you for the money we taxpayers give you to fund it wouldn't go amiss either.

Frankly, telling us that controlling your students is 'unrealistic' was bound to raise a few hackles.

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Edited May 3, 2012 by skankdelvar

[Bassman Rich]

I'm a bit old school for 'students' (47 years old).
Why not just check the amps before and after each lesson, confiscate their phones at the start, and if the amps dont work, dont give em the phones/ipods etc back until they pay up to have the gear fixed.
Or just twat em round the head with a big stick, that'll learn em

[Owen]

Perhaps sarcastic is too strong a word, somewhat exasperated would be better.

I was just asking for real world advice on amps and expIainig why they need to be able to take abuse. I do not have a local emporium (such a good word ) because I live in the sticks. Even if I had I would not trust them or any other shop, they are there to sell what they have on their shop floor. I do not have infinite funding, these will have to last several years as the Laneys have had to do. We have been nursing them through that period. We used to have a technician, we no longer do. We have a 20 year old working as an "apprentice" with no one working with him - cheapskate FE money saving. He is a lovely bloke, but when he told me he had ordered fuses but meant valves........ you get the picture. I would love my students to look after kit, but they just do not - it is not for the want of trying, cajoling, threatening etc. We are so far from being profligate it is not true. ALL the furniture in my dept is stuff that other depts have thrown out - every last chair and desk. The caretaker knows not to move any furniture on until we have had a gander. All I wanted was a few pointers to inexpensive amps which experienced players had used and thought "Well, it's not a Dumble, but it's not bad at all".

[skankdelvar]

Peavey Bandit.

[fretmeister]

Roland Micro Cubes.

Awesome things.

[Owen]

At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, it's an educational establishment and you're a teacher. Is there something wrong with teaching them how to use it properly?

Nothing. We do.

Something wrong with making students sign for them?

Nothing, but we do not have a technician only a well meaning apprentice who is on site for 2.5 days per week. Before that we shared a technician with another site 15 miles away. Seeing as his office was there you can imagine where he spent most of his time.

Something wrong with restricting access to encourage proper use?

Nothing wrong with that, but the 80% need to use kit all the time.

Lots of possibilities here. Letting them have free rein to f*** it up every time they get their hands on it ain't one of them.

It is not what I want. I work hard to make it not so. I am looking for amps which might be slighlty more robust to deal with my unruly students

[Owen]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1335967186' post='1638763']
Learning how to not break your gear should be a pretty fundamental part of being a musician. you don't get to be a pilot by forgetting to put the wheels down when landing, and saying 'Not my job, I am just supposed to fly the thing.'.
[/quote]

It is a pretty fundamental. We try and teach them. Some of them do not respect their own kit even. That is why I am looking for more robust kit.

[Owen]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1335967489' post='1638769']
I have to agree with this. Why should you have to pay for them acting like idiots?
[/quote]

I believe that science courses have more funding than arts courses due to the higher costs involved. There is wear and tear on kit in all disciplines. I am not happy about it. That is why I am looking for more robust replacements.

[Owen]

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1335982587' post='1639137']
Bill them for any damage that occurs while in their care. Ligit in other walks of life, what's different here ?
[/quote]

I do not have the staff to monitor the equipment day by day. We are trying to put systems in place, but I still need more robust amps.

[Owen]

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1336051865' post='1640088']
Thing is these days they will be more likely to say f*** it and leave the course.
[/quote]

Tragically correct.

[Owen]

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1336053066' post='1640121']
No job for the "student" in the end, either..........................
[/quote]

Many of them will never go near the Music Industry (such as it is in the UK by now). Having said that, I have never used my English A level. Does that make my English A level invalid?

[Owen]

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1336064836' post='1640445']
Owen, if my posts have upset you then I'm truly sorry and I'm not saying that my thinking is correct, but I feel very strongly about the lack of guidance and discipline which seems to be the way of the world today.
[/quote]

You will have to try significantly harder to actually upset me I feel just as strongly as you do about the guidance/discipline thing. It is not cool.

[oggiesnr]

Small Marshall combo (between 15 and 50 watts) which have enough effects and functionality to keep them happy and are fairly indestructable. Ok so they don't have the wow factor of the big boys (you can always hold out the promise of a 100 watt stack if these aren't wrecked) but they are a name amp and they work pretty well.

Also buy the cheapest, naffest second hand combo you can find (and paint it pink) with the promise that anyone who wrecks an amp will be using it for the whole of the course.

Steve

[Owen]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336078708' post='1640707']
A thank you for the money we taxpayers give you to fund it wouldn't go amiss either.
[/quote]

I would like to thank you all for funding my job

[Owen]

I am sure I am taking this much to seriously. I need to get out more

My inference in my original post was that they will always push everything to the max. Let's face it, which of us when faced with a decent amp for the first time in late teens has not thought "how loud will this go?" and wind it up? I know I did. I would not lend my kit to my 17 year old self. They seem to be unable to unplug before walking away from an amp. Sometimes the amp falls flat on it's face. When it is full of gently glowing valves, the outcome is not always good. We have next to no malicious damage, but plenty of clumsy or plain stupid damage. Do they come and tell us? Actually some do. Some do not. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1336081514' post='1640776']
I would like to thank you all for funding my job [/quote]

You're very welcome.

Of course, you're entirely right. Some 17 year olds will blow amps up. I know I did too.

Myself, I'd avoid valves (so to speak) and go for a relatively bullet-proof SS amp. I suppose that the requirements for purchasing accountability, invoices, etc., would prohibit the purchase of 2nd hand Bandits off the bay. The old ones just go on forever and they're a little bit simpler inside than the new ones. And they sound very, very good.

The other option is to contact a local amp tech and ask their advice on which is the easiest to repair, spares avail, that sort of thing. Then lob some business their way.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1336080273' post='1640740']
It is a pretty fundamental. We try and teach them. Some of them do not respect their own kit even. That is why I am looking for more robust kit.
[/quote]

Sounds a bit like making the exams easier because they can't answer the questions.

[leftybassman392]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to all the individual comments. Having spent many [s]happy[/s] years working in and with educational establishments, I do understand the issues and I do appreciate how hard it can be to keep musical kit in decent condition for any length of time in the presence of teenagers who forever want to 'test' it - it's a bit like giving them a sports car and asking them not to drive it too fast.

Your situation does sound tricky, but IME the establishments that manage to keep kit in decent condition invariably have procedures in place that encourage students to appreciate the benefits of looking after it. When asked about it, they tend to argue that in the long run it makes everybody's life easier.

On a more positive note, I would endorse Skank's suggestion of Peavey Bandits. Lots of schools and colleges seem to have them. Valve amps in your situation are an indulgence.

Edited May 4, 2012 by leftybassman392

[guildbass]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1336113737' post='1640961']

On a more positive note, I would endorse Skank's suggestion of Peavey Bandits. Lots of schools and colleges seem to have them. Valve amps in your situation are an indulgence.
[/quote]

I would tend to agree....And it's no good trying to 'teenage proof' stuff...They are still living in a world where the concept of physically earning the money to live and scrimping and saving to scrape together enough to buy musical equipment is alien to them.
Worse still...a lot of modern teenagers seem to have missed out on that tool using part of their childhood...the Meccano legacy if you will and just don't know how much pressure to apply to stuff

[Monckyman]

You have my deepest sympathies.
Give them accousitcs.

[paul_5]

we got a load of Carlsbro things for our BTEC course. Our students still managed to kill some of them , but most remained intact.

We don't deliver BTEC anymore and this is one of the reasons why.

[gafbass02]

You see, the bandit will simply Never break. This problem solved