re: Good guitar practice combo amp

I can't recommend what to get, but I can recommend what not to get. Stay away from Blackstar. I have known a few people with those amps and they sound good, but the quality is crap and there is always something wrong with them.

I have a room full of amps and pedals I can’t use. Just too loud. Bought one of those spark amps from eBay. It’s all I play now. Been a year and I don’t think I have even found half the tones it’s capable of producing.

What model is the Zoom? I'm sure it has a headphone jack and I've gotten to where I use headphones all the time with my Digitech because the tone isn't colored and actually sounds amazing recorded for a $300 multi pedal

My Line 6 modeler has song-specific presets, which is really handy if you're wanting a fast greasy tone model without dialing a lotta knobs. The one I use to replicate my '90 Mark III halfstack is Line 6's "Still of the Night" by Whitesnake circa '87 preset.

John Sykes used a '86 Mark III Coliseum head atop a 4x12 to record the song, aka my Mark III with a higher wattage power section.

The Line 6 Spider I have replicates a Dual Rec in their gain options according to the manual, but the preset sounds and behaves under my hands like my Mark series. Perfect for the den when I don't want stage volume from my real deal amp. When I just want ... you guessed it ... a practice amp like the OP seeks.

Keep in mind, I have been Mesa-Boogie amplification for 30 years and I've owned virtually every incarnation of the Mark AND the Dual Rectifier during my tenure with the brand. I practically have these amps in my DNA.

One moron's opinion on a trash/garbage amp. Glad to contribute.

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rexorotten

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Corso

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It's the Zoom G3Xn. It does have a headphone jack which I use sometimes but I don't always feel like wearing them.

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OceanMan

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Yeah that's why I'm leaning towards the Monoprice. It comes with the attenuator and will let me experience a tube amp to see if I even like it or not without breaking the bank. I thought about just going over my budget some and getting the Laney cub but from the reviews it doesn't seem like it's much better than the Monoprice considering it's over twice the cost.

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kingbob

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So do you feel like the tube amps with the attenuators are still too loud? Or still don't produce the same sound as it would cranked at higher wattage?

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Tube amps sound incredible when they're cranked loud, but if you're looking for a bedroom practice amp, you're not looking for loud. You want something that will sound good played soft enough to practice with when other people are home. Tube amps do not sound very good at low volumes AND they don't have headphone jacks, typically.

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Disagree. My Peavey 6505MH sounds pretty good IMO at bedroom volumes on both the 1w and 5w settings. At one time when 50w+ heads were the only true tube amps available, that was true. The past decade of the mini head revolution has changed that alot. Most of the mini heads are available in combo form as well now.