Classic Rock Tones on a Budget

Buying the modern day counterparts of classic gear is insanely expensive!

Buying a Fender American Professional series Stratocaster and a Fender Deluxe Reverb amplifier alone will cost you over five and a half grand. If you went the Marshall half stack and Gibson Les Paul route, you'll be looking at closer to nine grand. Silly money, and we haven't even thought about effects pedals yet!

Check out the prices below;

(Prices as of April 2019)

Alternative Gear Suggestions

I have compiled a list of gear that I think is suitable for Classic Rock, is readily available, reasonably priced, decent quality, gig worthy, and will provide many years of use.

However, I still must warn you. By the time you get an amp, a guitar, and maybe a pedalboard with half a dozen effects pedals, you won't have much change from 5,000 dollars. Playing the guitar is expensive and a huge investment!

Amps

I would recommend getting an amp that is at least 30 watts and has at least one 12 inch speaker, although I do prefer the sound of two 12 inch speakers - it seems to provide more bass. I really feel that a single 10 inch speaker is too small. There are some great sounding 15 & 20 watt amps, but I find I need to mic them in a band situation. I am not a fan of amps with digital effects such as reverb - they don't sound as natural to me, and I find that it is always the digital components on amps that fail first.

Amplifiers ($2100)

15w

Fender Blues Jr. (15w, 1x12, Reverb) $1399nzd (Rockshop)

Orange Rocker 15 (15w, 1x10) $1499nzd (Rockshop)

Orange Rocker OR15 Head (15w) $1499nzd (Rockshop) *

Laney Cub12R (15w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $699nzd (Music Works)

Laney Cub2x12R (15w, 2x12, Digital Reverb) $899nzd (Music Works)

Vox AC15C1 (15w, 1x12, Digital Reverb & Tremolo) $1199nzd (Music Works)

Vox AC15C1X (15w, 1x12, Digital Reverb & Tremolo) $1499nzd (Music Works)

Vox AC15C2 (15w, 2x12, Digital Reverb & Tremolo) $1399nzd (Music Works)

20w

Marshall DSL20cr (20w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $999nzd (Rockshop)

Laney Lionheart 20T112 (20w, 1x12 Digital Reverb) $1695nzd (Music Works)

Laney Lionheart 20T212 (20w, 2x12, Digital Reverb) (Music Works)

30w

Vox AC30C2 (30w, 2x12, Reverb & Tremolo) $1599nzd (Music Works)

Laney VC30112 (30w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $1295nzd (Music Works)

Laney VC30212 (30w, 2x12, Digital Reverb) $1495nzd (Music Works)

Fender Bassbreaker 18/30 (30w, 2x12) $2099nzd (Rockshop)

Blackstar Artist 30 (30w, 2x12, Digital Reverb) $1399nzd (Rockshop)

Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 (36w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $1499nzd (Rockshop)

40w

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (40w, 1x12, Reverb) $1799nzd (Rockshop)

Marshall DSL40cr (40w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $1299nzd (Rockshop)

Blackstar HT Club 40 (40w, 1x12, Digital Reverb) $1399nzd (Rockshop)

50w

Marshall Origin 50C (50w, 1x12) $1299nzd (Rockshop)

Marshall Origin 50H (50w) $999nzd (Rockshop) *

(*requires cab)

Guitars

In many ways, selecting a guitar if often easier than choosing an amp. Most of us will gravitate towards models used by our favourite players. Gibson style guitars usually have humbucker pickups, which are great for warmer, overdriven tones. Fender guitars normally have single coil pickups, which are great for brighter, jangly sounds. Single Coils are often favoured for 'cleaner' sounds, but also work well with Fuzz pedals. Please note, the only guitar listed below with a tremolo (whammy bar) is the Fender Classic Series Stratocaster.

Guitars ($1000)

Epiphone Les Paul Standard (2x Humbuckers) $999nzd (Rockshop)

Epiphone G400 Pro SG (2x Humbuckers) $799nzd (Rockshop)

Epiphone 335 Dot (2x Humbuckers) $899nzd (Rockshop)

Squire Classic Vibe Stratocaster (3x Single Coils, Tremolo) $999nzd (Rockshop)

Squire Classic Vibe Telecaster (2x Single Coils)$999nzd (Rockshop)

PRS SE 245 Standard (2x Humbuckers) $999nzd (Rockshop)

PRS SE Santana Standard (2x Humbuckers) $999nzd (Rockshop)

Yamaha RevStar RS420 (2x Humbuckers) $899nzd (Rockshop)

Effects

In my opinion, the first pedal a guitarist should own is a tuner pedal - it is essential!

After the tuner, it will depend on many other factors. If you have a single channel amp, or don't like the overdrive on your amp, you will probably want to get an overdrive pedal.

The guitarists you like will likely influence the kinds of pedals you get.

Personally, after an overdrive or boost pedal, I would probably buy a delay pedal, followed by a wah. These are my essentials. Next I would look at getting a modulation pedal of some kind, such as a phaser, just to add some colour and movement.

Once you get to four or five pedals, I would strongly encourage you to invest in an isolated power supply and a pedalboard.

Effects Pedals ($350)

Utility

• Boss TU-3 (Buffered) $179nzd (Rockshop)
• Korg Pitch Black PB03 (no Buffer) $119nzd (Music Planet)
• Rockboard Natural Sound Buffer $49nzd (Rockshop)
• Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+
• Truetone 1-Spot Pro CS7 $229nzd (Rockshop)

Wah

• Dunlop CM95 Clyde McCoy Crybaby Wah (Rockshop)

Compressor

• MXR Dyna Comp Mini Compressor
• Keeley C4 4 Knob Compressor $269nzd (Rockshop)
• Xotic SP Compressor $289nzd (Rockshop)

Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz

Ibanez Tubescreamer Mini $99nzd (Music Works)

Boss SD-1 $99nzd (Rockshop)

Fulltone OCD $289nzd (Rockshop)

MXR Mini Fuzzface $209nzd (Rockshop)

EHX Triangle Big Muff Pi $229nzd (Music Planet)

Boost

• MXR Micro Amp $179nzd (Rockshop)
• MXR Booster Mini
• TC Spark Booster $259nzd (Rockshop)
• Xotic EP Booster $269nzd (Rockshop)

Modulation (Phaser/Flanger/Tremolo)

• MXR Phase 95 $199nzd (Rockshop)
• Mooer Electric Lady Flanger $129nzd (Rockshop)
• Mooer Trelicopter $119nzd (Rockshop)

Delay

• Ibanez Analog Delay $179nzd (Music Works)
• Boss DM-2w Analog Delay $299nzd (Rockshop)
• MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay $329nzd (Rockshop)

Reverb

• Wampler Faux Spring Reverb $269nzd (Tone Lounge)

Marshall In A Box pedals

• Xotic SL Drive $279nzd (Rockshop)
• Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret $289nzd (Tone Lounge)
• Wampler Plexi-Drive $339nzd (Tone Lounge)
• JHS Charlie Brown V4 $329nzd (Tone Lounge)
• JHS Angry Charlie V3 $329nzd (Tone Lounge)

What would I buy?

I get asked this all the time. I have accumulated some great gear over the years, but I have also wasted a lot of money on gear that was cheap and broke down, or that I outgrew as my situation changed. If I was starting over now, I would buy good gear, but not necessarily the best or most expensive gear. I would buy stuff that is readily accessible and easily replaceable.

If I had a budget of $5,000nzd to spend right now, I would buy the following gear;

• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe $1799 This is a good pedal platform amp and loud enough to keep up with a loud band.
• Epiphone Les Paul $999 I'm a humbucker guy, and I don't like tremolo bars.
• Boss TU-3 $179 This tuner has a good buffer built in, which helps maintain a strong signal though the other pedals in your chain.
• Xotic SL Drive $279 The Hot Rod Deluxe doesn't have a great sounding drive channel, this MIAB pedal will allow me to get Marshall sounds from a Fender amp.
• Ibanez Analog Delay $179 I like to have delay on my solos, and this pedal is super simple to use.
• Dunlop CM95 Clyde McCoy Crybaby Wah This is a great sounding wah, and it doesn't cause any problems in my pedal board chain.
• Ibanez Tubescreamer Mini $99 I set the Xotic SL Drive for a crunchy AC/DC sound, then use the Tubescreamer as a solo boost.
• MXR Phase 95 $199 Phaser is one of my favourite modulation effects, and this pedal contains both phase 90 and phase 45 sounds.
• Truetone 1-Spot Pro CS7 $229 This power supply is isolated, which helps keep your pedals quiet. It can power 6 normal guitar pedals, and can be used anywhere in the world.
• Rockboard Quad 4.2 Pedal Board $249 This board is big enough that you can add pedals in the future!

I am by no means suggesting that this is what you should buy. This is simply a list of the gear I would by if I wanted a good sounding, good quality, reliable, versatile rig that I could gig with. It's a great starting point.