Good Solid State Amp for Telecasters

[Pepi]

PV Special 130 are great

[jcw]

Originally Posted by BobbyB

I like the Tech 21's....
wish I could find one of these on the "used" market.

This one was on the market just last week, went for $430:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=300218027568

Looks lovely, but I didn't want to pay THAT much of a premium just for looks. :)

[teleman55]

Vox Valvetronix is a nice SS modelling amp with one little tube. Also, a couple of years ago, my Pro Reverb was in the shop and I needed something quick and affordable. Tried modelling amps but kept coming back to a Crate XT120R. I've got a bunch of nice amps but I've kept this one too 'cause it's got a certain mojo.

[Pepi]

Originally Posted by teleman55

Vox Valvetronix is a nice SS modelling amp with one little tube. Also, a couple of years ago, my Pro Reverb was in the shop and I needed something quick and affordable. Tried modelling amps but kept coming back to a Crate XT120R. I've got a bunch of nice amps but I've kept this one too 'cause it's got a certain mojo.

I've got two of the AD60VTX models. They're the amps I've decided to keep

[CatfishStudios]

I like the VOX ad Valvetronix series..hybrid amps...and of course anyone who has played through a JC120 knows they sound great....unlike most people ive heard from, I do not care for the roland cubes...

[dsharman]

I have two SS amps that really do the trick. The first is a Lab Series purchased in the early 80's. Great tonal range with a compression unit onboard. My son has unofficially adopted that one. Lately I had been gigging with a Mesa Nomad 100 and it was frequently much more amp than I needed. I ended up buying a used Polytone Mini Brute IV thinking I would use it for small gigs and also for jazz gigs. It is unbelievable. So warm. This one has overdrive built in as well. Since we run everything through the board most of the time, there really isn't any need for anything bigger. 28 pounds.

[Michaell]

they don't exist

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Michaell

they don't exist

Oh, do please go away.

[robbysturgis]

Originally Posted by Rob TeleMan

Just wondering about solid state amps for Teles. I'm looking for a clean, sparkly sound. (I rarely use overdrive) I like the sound of tube amps, but I rarely play loud enough to get the desired effect, plus they're often too heavy & bulky. 30 watts would probably be fine. Not sure if I need a 12" speaker to get a little more warmth. Thanks!

I've got a Fender M80 - 12" speaker, with reverb.

Sounds great with a clean or dirty tele, and awesome as an acoustic guitar amp as well.

[Michaell]

Originally Posted by Tony474

Oh, do please go away.

I'm not entitled to my opinion?

Judging by your gracious comment, I am only allowed one that is the same as yours.

how dull

[surfoverb]

I like my little bullet reverb amp.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Michaell

I'm not entitled to my opinion?

Of course you are. But the OP specifically asked for advice concerning a solid state amplifier and your comment was dismissive and unconstructive to say the least and, it seems to me, deliberately calculated to appear so. Couched in such terms it had no place in this thread.

[markw51]

Not all tube amps are big and heavy or expensive. Look at the Fender Super Champ XD.

[Radspin]

+1 on the VOX Valvetronix amps--I played a '52 reissue Tele through the model with the 12-inch speaker and it sounded superb, for both the clean and most of the various overdriven sounds (you might not like the really high-gain sounds). However, I don't know how durable this amp would be for gigging use--it has plastic input jacks and is apparently built to a price.

I have a Vox DA-5 practice amp and it's great-really fun to play through.

[Moonrider]

Probably a little underpowered for you, but I like my Vox Pathfinder 15 when I'm doing an orchestra pit type thing. Nice clean, decent tremolo, lightweight, low profile, mics well and you can run through an external cab or use a line out to the PA.

[toadman]

i giged with a Randall RG-80 1x12 combo for years. really compact and VERY loud. i wouldnt say it was "sparkly" like a tube amp but to me it was perfdectly adequate. real crisp and clear in the low end, even at extreme volumes! i recently sold it for $250 along with a peice of my heart! i have a Tubeworks rt-2100 1x12 combo up on the TDPRI classifieds right now. in case you want to take a look.

[moparmutt]

I had fender stage 112SE.
It was a great amp.
Great cleans, loud enough for anything and pretty cheap

[Fourth Feline]

I'm really enjoying my Fender 'G-Dec Junior'. Not just for the band in a box trickery, but also as a lovely sounding Fender amp in it's own right. I especially like the 3rd 'Blackface' setting with the second reverb setting added.

I did upgrade the speaker to a Jensen C8R , but that was not because the stock one was bad - rather that the tone was so nice , I wanted to hear it at it's potential best.

[voided3]

Late '60's and early 70's tuck and roll Kustoms are great for everything. I have a K200-A5 head I use for guitar (sounds good for bass, too!) w/ either a pair of matching 2x15"s or a modded Traynor 2x15" and a K200-B6 I use for bass w/ an Acoustic 406 2x15" cab. They can be as in-your-face or in-the-mix as you want them to be and they are very Tele friendly.

[jefrs]

Originally Posted by Tony474

Sessionettes are good amps but not, I think, available in the USA. Also not really what our friend's looking for. Having had no fewer than six of the original 1980s Sessionette, I know Stewart Ward, the designer, and had long chats with him while the current Sessionette was in development. Among others I was asked to contribute ideas and I was even mentioned in passing by name in the manual when the new model first came out.

The Sessionette's great strength is its overdriven channel, which is essentially the same as the highly-regarded JD10 pre-amp pedal. The clean channel's a bit basic and (sorry, Stewart) there's not a great depth of tone.

I rather agree the Sessionette is not for our op. They're way too big and the stock models are not US voltage. I used them in the 80's. When I met Stewart more recently, we spent rather a long couple of hours discussing the tone. He proudly showed me his experimental amp that had switching in the T-bridge to emulate, not model, Fender, Marshall, etc tone circuits. The latest looks promising. You're probably aware that he will custom build. The clean is very clean, you can have one with two clean channels. I just wish they weren't so loud. I've got a JD-10.

About 30W? =Roland Cube--X

[teleman65]

Tech 21 Trademark 60

[TeleTed]

i guess a Jazz chorus?? I know these were big back in the 80's but most of the guys I talk to consider them the worst sounding amps ever made. (in the popular amp scene). I sort of agree, I hate the way they sound. So damn cold.

[scoots]

peavey session 500 w/ the 15" speaker. my neighbor has one of these, oh man...i run a deville 212 w/a 2x15 bass cab, but these old steel guitar amps are really nice. it's all personal preferance, but there is somethinng about a 15" speaker and a tele...

[63dot]

a smaller roland "jazz chorus" jc-55, smaller brother to the famous jc-120 which is akin to fender tube amps or marshall tube amps in the tube amp world, which are standards

the only other transistor amp from the '80s to now that is common, moderately priced, and venerated is the yamaha G100 series and G50 series

or you can get one of the roland cubes which is a simplified jazz chorus on a budget...they are very durable and solid

fender's frontman 25R is also a popular standard for a lot of players that can be found literally everywhere

outside of that, there are a lot of lesser known but great transistor amps like early VOX, most marshall mosfets, tech 21 amps, pearce, peavey, lab, polytone, and many, many others

clean and heavy distortion are wonderful on most transistor amps but few can get a lightly distorted, overdriven sound which is the territory of tube amps, but the ibanez tube screamer can get you there with the lighter distortion, warm overdriven tones

[CJohnson]

I use a Fender Princeton Chorus. It's officially 20 years old now, but sounds great. You can find them used for around $200 or $250.

[Neer]

I've been using a Lab Series L-9 with a JBL D-130 for some time now after my Fender Showman failed a few times on gigs. The L-9 is a great sounding amp. Many folks like the L-5s, as well.