I got to try a 15W Peavey Vypyr modeling amp. It's cool that it has so many sounds' effects, and variations available. But it's still a puny, cheap, solid state amp, and no matter how you spin the knobs, that's what it sounds like.

If my favorite model is the Brit, does that mean I need a Vox AC15 or 30? I've never tried those. I've used Fenders for years, and recently found joy in a Roland JC.

I have one of the Vyper 15 watt amps and it does sound puny through

the 8 inch speaker. It sounds better through my mixer board piped into

a stereo amp. Someday I'll put a jack on it so I can plug a better cabinet into it.

I had a first generation 15 watt Peavey Vypyr for years. Did it sound like my regular amps? No, but for what it was, it sounded great. Ended up giving it to a friends daughter who was interested in playing. She's still using it.

But recently, my niece got interested in guitar (she's been playing woodwinds for a few years now). So I took the guitar I am giving her to try out practice amps. Guess what? The Peavey Vypyr VIP2 won over the other stuff. The VIP line does sound better. Does it still sound like a cheap modeling amp? Yeah. But out of all the ones I tried, with one exception, it sounded best. And I tried all the major brands.

What was that exception? A Blackstar ID:30 TVP. I didn't go with it because it's heavier and doesn't have a midrange control. The 60 has a midrange control, but it's even heavier. Blackstar's ID:Core amps sound like ass, but the TVPs sound great. Still not quite like tubes, but still pretty damn good.