Solid State appreciation thread

Gamera

Gamera

New member
This is either gonna be really popular or tank spectacularly. ;)

This is not a "are tubes or ss better" debate. It simply states that solid state amps do exist, people do buy them, and certain ones are actually pretty good for certain applications. Let's hear your SS amp stories and maybe it can become a good resource for folks on a budget, folks in apartments, and other SS amp users. Here's the best of my SS amp experience:

Fender Stage 160 Mid-late 90's model, since upgraded with onboard effects and now called the Stage 1600. 160-watt 2x12 combo with Celestion G12T-100 speakers gets really, really loud and has lots of bottom end. Fantastic clean channel with decent headroom and takes pedals very well. Gain channel is lifeless. Great overall amp with a really nice, chimey Fender clean channel. Great practice amp and holds its own for garage gigs and mic'd @ small gigs.

Vox DA5 Small, portable, battery powered amp with built-in effects and amp models. One six-inch speaker. Perfect portable amp for bringing some electricity to those campfire singalongs or practicing. Built-in effects are cool and most amp models are usable. Nothing earth-shattering here but probably the best you'll get with one 6" speaker. And it comes with a shoulder strap! ;)
 
Re: Solid State appreciation thread

Unfortunately these days solid state amps aren't made well as a general rule and are marketed as beginner amps, so I feel that we're not getting the tone we could out of solid state.

Way back when solid state was just coming out, man, there were some excellent amps being made. Old Sunn amps, old Kustom amps.. these can all be had for cheap right now, and they're monsters (100-300 watts). I was trying to buy a Sunn Concert Lead last month but it turned out the guy didn't want to sell it after all.

And then there's the famous Jazz Chorus - definitely famous for a reason. My Jazz Chorus 60 has this tight low end, crystal clear high end and punchy tone I can find nowhere else.


Of course nowadays people confuse modeling amps with solid state. Most modeling amps might be solid state, but most solid states are not modeling amps.
 
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I love how solid state power amps power my digital modeling amps! :)
 
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My Behringer 212 sounds great for jazz/blues cleans. Not good for distorted tones because I don't like how solid state clips. Now that I've caught the tubes bug, I wouldn't purchase a solid state amp ever again, except for cleans.
 
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I'm actually pretty happy with hybrid amps. I think they're a good compromise and offer good tone at a SS price.

I'm very happy with my old Marshall Valvestate and Vox AD15VT.

I think hybrids are the way to go if you must go SS.
 
Re: Solid State appreciation thread

I'll say it:
Pantera, anyone?

...and,
Roland-JC120 - yay!!

in 1988 I bought a new $200 Crate stereo chorus 20w 2-channel practice amp. Wish I still had it cuz that thing would ruin yer sh!t!!!!! It just sounded fantastic; the cleans were gorgeous and the distortion was freakin beautiful. Haven't heard another Crate do that before or since. Had line outs etc. Headphone jack too. Oh, and it had a nice chorus even! It was sorta like these Roland Cubes that are also pretty nice, but 15-20 years ahead of its time. And, it got loud!!!! Unmic'ed, it matched the drummer! Maybe not in low end, but in every other way. Ummm...all the knobs were black, exception the distortion channel had red knobs. Two 8" speakers. Seriously. It was my only amp for a long time, throughout military service and a 3000 mile move, kept it until a few years ago, and loaned it to a "friend" so they could have something to play through, never saw it again. Used it for a bass amp for a while, too.
 
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I've got an Late 80's Early 90's Randall Century 170....not the 170II...and I gotta say.....when she's turned up a fair ways through a 4x12......she actually sounds Great...especially since I'm Tube Biased( I Love Tubes)...lol...deffinatly some Tube-feel....and just smokes for Mid-High Gain stuff......and best part is I picked it up for $200 :D

Edit......Yes for all who's asking that IS My band:P...it wasn't from a Previous owner...and the logo's put away...for now
 
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Re: Solid State appreciation thread

MetalMike_II said:
Haven't heard another Crate do that before or since.
Click to expand...

I may actually have the 40-watt version of that. G40CXLS if I remember correctly. It had two 8" Celestions and it was the only SS amp I can recall owning that had a usable gain channel. Bought it in about '89 or '90 I think.
 
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JC120Big.jpeg
 
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I love solid state. Both my amps are vintage SS, back from when companies cared about SS...

Nice for clean tones, and distortion, I find SS only really lacks at anywhere inbetween.
 
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Early Vox transistor amps.....in fact it's kinda why Vox's fortunes went wobbly in the first place, they saw the possibility of SS amps taking over from valves and pioneered off in that direction and made some good sounding tranny amps.....of course history shows that the transistor ousted the valve in amost all areas except guitar amps and top-end hi-fi. But remember, Vox also had a cordless microphone system on the market in the '60's, so they knew what they were doing in the SS world.

For 80's stuff...the Gallien-Kruger SS guitar amps. And of course the legendary Roland Jazz Chorus amps. It seems like after that, most SS amp manufacturers basically kinda gave up on actually trying to create any actual tone with silicon, except for a lot of attempts and claims of having some knob that would dial in 'tube' sound or saturation. Usually a waste of space.
 
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Crate Power Block.

That is a great little amp. One channel though. But they are worth more than their small price tag.

Not near as legendary as other amps mentioned here though.
 
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Lab Series are really decent amps, very well built, nice range of tones and features...
Some of the bigger Polytones are great for cleans...
I had a little 1x12" 80's Holmes SS amp that sounded unbelievable with a Tele...did the full-on chicken picking thing like no other amp I've ever heard (Fenders of all types included).
 
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I love .e my Power Block. My SWR California and Strawberry Blondes sound very, very good for clean electric tones as well.
 
Re: Solid State appreciation thread

i use a bunch of SS amps a fair bit... i use tube amps for shows and most band work but i have a bunch of SS amps for jamming and practices... I really like teh Fender SS stuff from the 90's... I Have a princton Chorus, Ultimate Chorus and also an early 2000's Stage 100DSP Head... I also have some Marshall and Berhinger SS amps...

SS has a completely different sound... sometimes i find they work....
 
Re: Solid State appreciation thread

The spider II 75watt amp heads sound pretty **** good for $200.
 
Re: Solid State appreciation thread

those that say SS amps aren't good.

Shut up and listen to these:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=658245&songID=5942267

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=658245&songID=5948761

These amps sound even better when they are cranked and are TOO LOUD for jamming, Live shows at small venues etc.

You see... the reason SS amps sound crap is because the companies making them would rather make tube amps for the money it costs to make a decent SS amp.

Randall started off making only really good SS amps, they make tube amps now because there is a market for them.

The first clip is my Randall RH200 G2, the second is my Randall designed PG100. Notice how responsive and dynamic they sound while being really tight for riffs and palm mutes and how unlike modellors they sound really great for leads too.
 
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Re: Solid State appreciation thread

Sounds good, but you can still tell the difference. Though I've heard tube amps that sound much worse.
 
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