Need some new gear suggestions... Budget $1000AUD (~$750USD, £500)

nothing wrong with your PRS and pedals are worthless without a good amp that's voiced well for your pedal choices.... not all pedals sound good through every amp

In your price range I would go on the web and buy a used Vox ac30HW2, but I am a total AC30 guy. It can do everything but the most modern metal styles and its built like a tank. Half power mode and useable PPIMV make it great for any size gig. Takes pedals well but also produces the classic ac30 overdrive and then some. "Hot mode" can get you into Brian May turf and beyond with no pedals.

Also check out Ceriatone.com, Nik makes some really winning clones. I own one of his Matchless clones, great amp, build quality is first rate apart from a few dodgy bits of hardware like the non-welded cassis and cheap fuse holder and jacks. He does all the classic marshalls, tweeds and boutiques you can think of all at great prices. His Marshalls really are standout clones at a good price, especially the 18 watt clone.

If you want some coin left over for pedals consider a blackstar or something from the orange terror series.... if you only need one channel of modern drive with a small wattage footprint I quite like the Orange OR15 head you mentioned, but it offers little in the way of cleans. I also seem to remember being taken with the Fender Supersonic amps a while back, but modern PCB fenders make me worry about reliability. Those amps have a lot of features to break. If you want affordable switching of 2 very distinct channels with a very modern voice look no further than Mesa's 90s Dual Caliber amps. They are not precisely my cup of tea, but I felt they were Mesa's best offering up until the Electradyne (which is probably out of your price range). You can never go wrong with a Fender Deluxe Reverb if you use pedals or just need a great clean tone at small gig levels. Did I mention the handwired AC30 yet? I did? Well, go try one and be amazed. If you scrounge you might be able to find yourself an old 50 watt JMP with master volume or a 50 watt JCM800. These are Marshall's most versatile amps ever and they just excel at everything under the sun. The RI is only of the less toneful and overly loud 100 watt 2203 model and you pay more for an extra 50 watts you will never, ever need. I miss my 50 watt 2x12 form '81. The prices on these have jumped dramatically in the USA, so I don't know if you could afford one on your budget. The Buddha superdrive aps are really cool and worth a try. Not my cup of tea, but if you like the OR15 then the superdrive 18 watt model will school it and provides channel switching (I think, its been awhile). I should again mention the VoxAC30HW, it is great.

and check out this list of Aussie builders doing handmade stuff (support your local amp gurus!):

http://www.guitargear.net.au/discussion/index.php?topic=2009.0

Pedals.... you can't go wrong with the MXR Custom Badass overdrive, the little gold guy. Its a TS9/SD1 affair with better voicing, 2 modes, and a bass control... it is CHEAP and great at what it does. All of EHX's new overdrives are great, but in the TS9 camp I prefer the MXR Badass I mentioned to EHX's Green River drive. I have a soul food and like it sometimes and I also was quite taken with the log drive and that other one that sounds like a fulltone OCD for cheap. MXR's BC108 silicon fuzz recreates the band of gypsies era Hendrix fuzzface tone on the cheap and I like it. If you've never tried a big muff, EHX has lots of affordable options now. It may be way over the top for you, who knows? I never got too into it though I have owned dozens of muffs from every era as well as lots of tweaked clones. The proco rat is a classic, affordable distortion unit that I heartily recommend to rockers. EHX's smalls tone is my favorite phaser and I think MXR's current analog chorus is one of the best sounding chorus pedals for the buck right now. I also like the Ibanez CS9 reissue. Sounds pretty solid and is affordable. I love the old EHX small clone chorus but its hard to come by and the new ones suck.Analogman makes an improved clone of the small clone, but its pricey. The discontinued Boss BF2 flanger is still the best deal in generic flanging though as with the CS9 I am not in love with the buffer.

also think about investing in a new cab or at elast get some decent speaker in place of the OEM marshall junk that comes in AVT's

That's all I got....

750.... okay

I'd spnd 150 of that going to see your favorite band play live and a backstage pass. There's your motivation. Go mark out and get excited to be there. If your favorite band is Rush, all your moneys is Geddy's.

600 left.

Spend 50 on guitar heavy music that you wouldn't normally listen to. If your a blues man, get some Pantera or some Dream Theater. If your a metal man, go get some Bonamasa and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

550 left.

Go check out some specialized pedals like a Ditto or a Red Witch Synthotron. If you dig them, buy them. If not pedals, maybe an entirely different instrument to widen your skills. A Takamine Acoustic or a used Spector Legend Bass Guitar. Playing a different instrument will do a number on you mentally and give you a better idea of what you want in your music.

750.... okay

I'd spnd 150 of that going to see your favorite band play live and a backstage pass. There's your motivation. Go mark out and get excited to be there. If your favorite band is Rush, all your moneys is Geddy's.

600 left.

Spend 50 on guitar heavy music that you wouldn't normally listen to. If your a blues man, get some Pantera or some Dream Theater. If your a metal man, go get some Bonamasa and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

550 left.

Go check out some specialized pedals like a Ditto or a Red Witch Synthotron. If you dig them, buy them. If not pedals, maybe an entirely different instrument to widen your skills. A Takamine Acoustic or a used Spector Legend Bass Guitar. Playing a different instrument will do a number on you mentally and give you a better idea of what you want in your music.

that's a good thought.... why not invest $750 on piano lessons? If you took them as a kid then get someone to teach you who can take you to the next level.... your guitar tone willg et better because the piano will inform your guitar playing and when you start playing new stuff you will sound great because you are excited!

Funny you mention it. I was talking with my church's pianist and got motivated enough to start teaching myself piano. It's difficult to stay focused on what Im doing though. I was running my hands through the C scale (just knowing the name of a scale is different for me) and realized it was all the notes for the Adam's Family theme. Once I matched up songs to the scale I left the scale behind and just started playing the songs. It's hard for me to turn off the music side and to just play the boring patterns.

Shouldn't this post be moved to the Musician's Pet Peeves thread?

Funny you mention it. I was talking with my church's pianist and got motivated enough to start teaching myself piano. It's difficult to stay focused on what Im doing though. I was running my hands through the C scale (just knowing the name of a scale is different for me) and realized it was all the notes for the Adam's Family theme. Once I matched up songs to the scale I left the scale behind and just started playing the songs. It's hard for me to turn off the music side and to just play the boring patterns.

I totally get what you are saying, Boom! I'm mostly self taught on piano too because the music part of my brain always gets in the way of doing the exercises that build correct hand technique and teach you position. Because I was so much younger with guitar it was easy to learn positions and good technique as a physical challenge, but as an old guy I can't stop myself from being musical when I sit down at the piano. I've managed to sidetrack some of teachers, LOL. And I actually play really well, but I find playing off the page to be a challenge sometimes because I don't approach the pieces the right way to make them easy.

Dont suppose youve checked out the night train by anychance?

I am not in love with the night train (I prefer the tiny terror), but I barely played through the one I tried. It just didn't have 'it.' I have heard good things about the new night train 50. Its not trying to be as voxy and apparently sounds pretty good in its own way. I also don't think the Chinese made vox stuff is as reliable as the Chinese made orange stuff either. I've never seen a broken tiny terror, but broken night trains?

In the budget range I give orange the edge in build quality and tone but not features if you care about having lots of features. If you can spend real money a top of the line vox will murder anything orange makes. Even the discontinued single channel AD30 that is inarguably orange's best sounding EL84 amplifier is a pale reflection of my handwired ac30. I have literally had them right up next to eachother and the orange sounds small, fuzzy and grainy no matter how you set it. The vox sounds big and open even when gunned sledgehammer overdrive. But that's comparative, the orange sounds fine as long as its not being played right next to an AC30HW. Its the contrast that makes the orange's lack of definiton and bandwidth so glaring. Same goes for the orange stuff versus my ceriatone matchless clone. The HC30 just womps on the AD30. But in the lunchbox format I I think the Tiny Terror is the winner. Its not that versatile, but it just sounds less cheap than the night train. There's also less components and less that can go wrong with it. The Tiny Terror is so popular because it sounds like a more expensive amp. If you leave that price range you get diminishing returns from Orange whereas the more you spend with vox the better your amp will be and if you are willing to blow your whole max budget of $1k on a used fawn ac30 you will be getting an amp that can go toe to toe with a vintage JMI vox.

That's if you are shooting for the el84 sound. If you are not so sure you may want to look at lots of other amps.

As a piano teacher, I would say ... Practicing the scale patterns and chord inversions is wise because ALL of the songs you will ever want/need to play will consist of parts or all of those scale patterns and chord inversions. Also, practicing reading them will make it much easier for you to sightread new music.

As a player with a naturally gifted ear, who taught himself guitar mostly by ear (playing along with records), I totally sympathize. That's where the discipline comes in. All that time I spent running guitar scales and chord progressions has literally paid dividends, allowing me to make a living as a performing & recording artist for the past twelve years.

Things you already know or have been told, I am sure; I posted this for the younger readers out there in Equipboard land who needed to hear it.

Right. Don't hijack the thread. So, I have a very good friend with the Vox AC30HW with the half power switch etc. etc. He loves it, and whenever I'm over his house, I play it. I'm a Fender guy myself so I don't own one, but I can definitely recommend it. And I did use it on a studio session once, and got a really nice classic Rock sound out of it. I am not surprised to hear that it can handle Metal.

Right. Don't hijack the thread. So, I have a very good friend with the Vox AC30HW with the half power switch etc. etc. He loves it, and whenever I'm over his house, I play it. I'm a Fender guy myself so I don't own one, but I can definitely recommend it. And I did use it on a studio session once, and got a really nice classic Rock sound out of it. I am not surprised to hear that it can handle Metal.

Mine goes toe to toe with my beloved '62 AC30.... not quite as 'good,' but more versatile (apart from the lack of vib/trem channel, which is a highly underrated sound). I actually play the HW more than I play any other amp I own. I like it that much and with the hot mode, half power and master it can do world of tone that even my HC30 cannot cop. I have played jazz, blues, rock and country gigs with this amp using teles, strats and gibsons of all stripes. I always get compliments on my sound. What I like about the ac30 in general is that it gets out of the way of your hand technique without being overly polite when you need to dig in and bring the rock. If, like me, you have spent decades perfect your touch with both hands you do not want a bunch of circuitry in the preamp mucking up your interrraction with the speakers (which in mine are a blue and an H30 bass cone, a combo I heartily recommend s the crème de la crème for british amplifiers).

I have owned or been loaned EVERY decent model that marshall ever produced (apart from a pre-JCM series MV head, but you get the idea! 45s, various 100 watt plexi and JMP 4 holers, clones and RIs, my trusty old 800, I had a 900, used an SLX briefly, I know my marshall), old blackface fenders in every wattage range, vintage ampegs from a jet to a fire-breathing VT40, a tiny but fabulous supro 1624, old tweed/2 tone Gibson combos... the Vox HW is my favorite stage amp hands down, even over the Matchless. It is a do all and its built like a tank. Definitely better laid out inside and generally sturdier than my beloved '62! Plus it is NOT finicky about tubes like the HC30 and vintage JMI Vox. Any old Chinese or russian junk sounds fine in the HW. My vintage AC is really particular from V1 to the power amp. And it eats some of the best sounding tubes with catastrophic results whereas the better ventilated modern cab seems to be a lot easier on them. I have never got the HW hot enough to fry an egg on the control panel, knock on wood!

I could go on and on, but I will stop now. Sorry.

oh hey, if you want channel switching I was kinda impressed with those EVH branded heads. Not my thing, but they sound good like a Soldano hot rod.

... the better ventilated modern cab seems to be a lot easier on them. I have never got the HW hot enough to fry an egg on the control panel, knock on wood!

So, couple months ago I was playing guitar in an off-Broadway theatre production (Avenue Q) and you know it was six shows a week, 7pm-11:30pm kinda schedule. Anyway my amp was a small Fender Blues Junior. One night I get home and realize I left the amp on! It was past midnight, everyone was long gone, theatre was locked until 7 PM the next evening ... I prayed and went to sleep. Next night, I walked up to the band loft and sure enough the amp was on. I switched it off and let it cool down for a half hour, but then I had to switch it back on for the 8:00 curtain. I was nervous but man it played totally fine and has not had a problem since (it's my practice amp so I would've noticed by now).

So, couple months ago I was playing guitar in an off-Broadway theatre production (Avenue Q) and you know it was six shows a week, 7pm-11:30pm kinda schedule. Anyway my amp was a small Fender Blues Junior. One night I get home and realize I left the amp on! It was past midnight, everyone was long gone, theatre was locked until 7 PM the next evening ... I prayed and went to sleep. Next night, I walked up to the band loft and sure enough the amp was on. I switched it off and let it cool down for a half hour, but then I had to switch it back on for the 8:00 curtain. I was nervous but man it played totally fine and has not had a problem since (it's my practice amp so I would've noticed by now).

Ready for the fast and dirty science? Here goes: While a blues junior uses el84 tubes configured in class AB, push-pull like an ac30, the blues junior has them in fixed bias operation and if you still have the factory bias they are biased way on the cold side.... an ac30 is cathode biased where the tubes are working close to full tilt all the time whether they are passing signal or not whereas in fixed bias your tubes idle when they are not passing signal.... that's why your blues junior was okay overnight. It was idling. While that's not the same as standby where only the heaters get current and there's no HT on the plates, in a cold biased amp the idle current is pretty easy on the tubes.Fixed bias has more inherent crossover distortion but also produces more clean headroom per watt. The AC30 is literally one of the loudest cathode biased amps ever mass produced. Its an odd duck.

All that said, don't do that to your amp again, man.

... that's why your blues junior was okay overnight. It was idling. While that's not the same as standby where only the heaters get current and there's no HT on the plates, in a cold biased amp the idle current is pretty easy on the tubes.Fixed bias has more inherent crossover distortion but also produces more clean headroom per watt. ...

All that said, don't do that to your amp again, man.

Not planning to :) But you bring up an interesting point about letting the amp run or idle. I have heard many players say they like to leave their amps on after soundcheck, or running about an hour before the gig, so the tubes can warm up and sound their best. I've seen this first hand, too with Fender [amp] guys like myself. What are your thoughts about that? Have you heard this yourself?

... that's why your blues junior was okay overnight. It was idling. While that's not the same as standby where only the heaters get current and there's no HT on the plates, in a cold biased amp the idle current is pretty easy on the tubes.Fixed bias has more inherent crossover distortion but also produces more clean headroom per watt. ...

All that said, don't do that to your amp again, man.

Not planning to :) But you bring up an interesting point about letting the amp run or idle. I have heard many players say they like to leave their amps on after soundcheck, or running about an hour before the gig, so the tubes can warm up and sound their best. I've seen this first hand, too with Fender [amp] guys like myself. What are your thoughts about that? Have you heard this yourself?

Yes and for lots of sciencey reasons its a good idea in fixed bias circuits. Ever notice that a big fender tweeds or a marshall sounds different after you play it for 15 minutes? Idling the amp in 'play' mode for an hour will have a similar effect of stabilizing the amp's response, especially with big bottle, octal tubes like the 6L6 and EL35. With the itty bitty EL84 in a cathode bias configuration less warm up time is needed. But Vox based circuits have their own warm up needs that have more to do with how hot the whole circuit gets. Matchless did the light-up logo and faceplate to help the small components in the circuit heat up faster and sound its best. Those lightbulbs are actually heat lamps that get the caps and resistors nice and warm! The Matchless DC30 gets the circuitry nice and hot like the poorly ventilated vox cabs, but the tubes ventilate better for longer life. I still love a real AC30 though.

So much knowledge on this website, and it's free. Technology is great.

Hey, don't mean to be a killjoy, but if you're looking to get into/back into playing guitar a fancy amp, and pedals won't help you. You can have all the amazing tone in the world, but you need to be able to use it.