So what's the problem w/ cheap axes, (analog) solid state tone & 10" speakers?

Seriously...what? :lmao:


Same signal chain, different tune w/ my AMT Stonehead 50W SS head.

On Lead 2 which has a voicing knob for darkening/loosening the overall sound..so it can be dialed to perfectly match Lead 1 (for boosting a solo) or you could have a totally different tone for each Lead channel.
 
Eh???


Orange CR1120 SS Combo (onboard reverb) + SM57 + GIO -> Reaper


Which brings us to the question "does speedy multiple finger tapping (7 not 8) belong in ballads???

Simple answer "Sure, why not????"
 
Solid state?? ..hmm "Thin, tinny, sterile, brittle" you say??? Nah, not hearing it :D

Swamp rockin' w/ my Orange Super Crush 100 head (just onboard reverb) -> Laney camo 4x12 w/ cheap Pulse PM12S V30 clones (the best out there imo).. mic'd w/ an SM57.

 
More SS (hybrid) hotness with my Randall T2HL (4 Preamp tubes/SS power section) on the LEAD 1 (classic rock/metal ...unboosted) channel. (Lead 2 is boosted modern metal/Arch Enemy) through the Laney Camo 4x12 again.. ($140 for a quad of V30's [Pulse PM12S's] ..and yeah there's literally NO tone difference :bigthumb:)


Don't get me wrong, I love tubes as much as the next guy but there's something that excites me about getting that very tone/feel/response out of an SS amp :laugh2:

And yeah ..it can easily be done :bigthumb:


Guitar'smy RG370AHMZ..pretty much identical to the ash RG Prestige I have ..except it's not a Prestige :p
 
Thanks! :)

While I'm a huge fan of (good) cheap gear, I genuinely get a thrill playing nice tubey sounding SS amps....they (most of them) respond a hair quicker under my fingers and that feels great for lead playing/shred.

Plus I Ilke the quirky controls and options you get with a lot of them. Like my AMT Stonehead has these two buttons (one for each lead channel) that does something to the top end..makes it more spatial or something. Can't really describe it, but while it's subtle, it's still audibly obvious. With it depressed the top end gets warmer, rounder, bluesier and in the normal position it's more spatial/80's metal sounding).

My Randall T2 Has some quirky controls/extra knobs for tuning low end & mid response (mid-sweep) & the Laney IRF SS mini head has a bunch of funny things going on control-wise (toggle switches and stuff). They're just all-round fun amps with some special mojo to them and while I do love my tube amps I feel myself reaching forthe SS ones more especially for jamming/recording at home :bigthumb:


Laney IRF after I switched the mini-toggle from the "normal" to "dark" voicing (It has three voicings Bright/Normal/Dark) . Everything else is identical to the first video I posted (cab/mic/mic pos/EQ etc)

 
I haven't played whole lot of solid state amps to be honest, except if you count when I was a beginner before joining any bands or anything. Those weren't good solid state amps though. There are two I can think of though. We used to rent a rehearsal space (shared with other bands but we kept all our gear in the same room) that had a this solid state Ibanez head in it, as well as a Randall one. We were all buddies and we all shared gear , and I got to try them a few times, and I always thought they both felt & sounded great. I'd be interested to try a few more nowadays.
 
Yeah I would say that SS tech has come a good way since the 80's-90's (though there were some gems from back then as well). It's worth checking out some of the stuff that's out there these days...especially since most of it does'nt break the bank :bigthumb:
 
Phantasmagoria said:
Thanks! :)

While I'm a huge fan of (good) cheap gear, I genuinely get a thrill playing nice tubey sounding SS amps....they (most of them) respond a hair quicker under my fingers and that feels great for lead playing/shred.

Plus I Ilke the quirky controls and options you get with a lot of them. Like my AMT Stonehead has these two buttons (one for each lead channel) that does something to the top end..makes it more spatial or something. Can't really describe it, but while it's subtle, it's still audibly obvious. With it depressed the top end gets warmer, rounder, bluesier and in the normal position it's more spatial/80's metal sounding).
Click to expand...
Those are the “bright” switches right?
 
Nah, the Clean/Crunch channels have bright switches (and mid-boosts)


These switches I'm talking about are labelled "TR. Shift" and don't do what bright switches do (for instance one of the positions, I think the bluesy one, also adds a noticeable "vowelly" sound to the top end/tone...among other things)
 
Here you go....Lead 1 channel w/ the TR Shift "ON"..


It's subtle (not cocked-wah obvious) but..it's there... that kinda AAAAWW sound.


It can get really vowelly/obvious though...depending on the way your EQ is set.
 
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Though nothing can turn things around tone-wise more than switching cabs/speakers :bigthumb:

This is the AMT again through my 1x12 Creamback 65 cab mic'd w/ an SM57. Channel 2 with the "voicing" knob turned down to about 9 o'clock...but exactly the same EQ settings as the last video. "TR Shift is first OFF then On @ about the halfway mark. The difference is subtle (..too subtle for dudes like Guitardoc :lmao:) but if you have a good ear you can hear it.. (but probably can't describe it). I'm thinking a tiny shift in the lower mids & highs maybe

 
TR shift On's a bit louder too..and kinda spongier feeling...like you can "dig in" more.

Like I said, hard to describe...the feel changes too..
 
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Which brings me to the Aria Pro II Fullerton axe I bought late last year...

Nice strat type poplar HSS budget axe...except I did'nt gel w/ the neck single coil which was a bit too dark/muddy for my taste.

I finally got around to swapping it out for a SD 'lil 59 which sounds fantastic! Way way better than the stock single..

Ballad (cuz that's mostly what neck pups are good for ::laugh2:)

Plugged into my Randall T2's Lead 2 (boosted) channel -> Laney Eminence 2x12 cab w/ only one mic on the Swamp Thang side :bigthumb:

 
The Aria is very much what could be described as a 'cheap axe', pretty much on par with others like my Kramer Baretta & GIO price-wise and yet again this thing is second to none when it comes to playability ...in other words it shreds w/ the best of them :D

..and after swapping out the neck pup which was it's Achilles heel...it sounds pretty ****in' sweet too :bigthumb:

Comes with a baked maple neck & Wilkinson Strat bridge w/ a big steel block (which personally is'nt a game changer for me since I like pot metal tone & am fine w/ dinky blocks :lmao: ) but it's cool to have those features at this price..

Upped the pace a bit ...& it passed w/ flying colors. Yes it's a player :bigthumb:



That's ^^ w/ the stock bridge pup. (Forgot to change that in the video title/description)
 
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