Are There Any REALLY Good Solid-State Amps (Don't Pass Over Just b/c of the "SS"!)

[Cleeve]

Gibson Lab Series.

[franchelB]

Originally Posted by tiktok

I don't consider myself "Gear Vain", but if that amp was the best sounding thing I'd ever plugged into, I'd still look into replacing the cab with something else. Anything else. Yech.

Personally, I was still into Metal (love the snakeskin carpet covering!) when I bought mine in '89...and "green" when it came to choosing amps. I didn't understand why ANYBODY would want to spend at least twice as much for a tube amp that had lower "wattage" than a solid-state amp...at least that was my thinking back then.
Not to mention the fear of being extra careful with a tube amp when a solid-state amp is practically indestructible. But the choices in MY price range were:

1. Peavey Bandit 80
2. Crate G-65
3. Fender M-80

I didn't care for Peavey at the time because, well, it's a Peavey. It didn't have the "sound" I was looking for. Crates were just UGGLLLYYYY, and the Fender M-80 was louder than either one of them. Plus you could've hook it up to an extension cab, which would've made the amp louder. And it IS a Fender...

[bosstone]

Originally Posted by petebradt

in my opinion, for anything but Jazz or Pedal Steel, there are no good solid state amps. And even Jazz and Steel sound better through the right tube amp.

Have you ever heard a Marshall Artist cranked up on the distortion channel? I don't think that when used through the same cabinets, most people couldn't tell the difference between it and a early JCM 800 50 watter. I have had the two side by side.

[jefrs]

Once you get away from the bedroom-blaster and modelling practice amps there are a number of practical ss amps out there. I got rid of my easy to carry with one hand PV Valvestate only because it was too loud. The sadly discontinued but not left-pond Sessionette is even better (try JD-10). I recently tried out the huge-like-a-sideboard JC120 and the Cube60, both good but all the Cubes do rather buzz. I once came across a Peterson jazz amp - nice, pretty wooden box the size of a Cube30 but 100 watts. You do need more watts in an ss. Unlike a valve amp they can be turned down without loosing quality. If I needed a lightweight stage amp again, would get another cheap s/h Bandit and immediately change its usually appalling speaker.

[rbrienzo]

I have always liked the Peavey Bandit.

[shinigami747]

vox pathfinder 15r for me.
but what the heck do i know.

[62Caster]

Line 6 Floor pod...or an Orange Crush 30r

[Joe-Bob]

There are actually alot of good SS amps out there; many are only available used.

The Roland JC-120 was a good amp. Don't know about recent production, though...they went cheap on some components.

BTW--the JC-120 is a very bright amp. I've actually used one with the treble all the way down.

[notyalcer]

I have never owned but always really impressed by the Tech 21 SS amps that I've demoed. Very juicy, dynamic tone.

I owned (and wish I still had) an Yamaha DG-80 amp. That thing sounded great and FELT great, but I wasn't playing out when I had it so I can't say how it really performed. Alan Holdsworth has used them so that says something. Amps that sound great at home may not pull through in a loud band.

I currently have as a back up a Crate Powerblock, which is small and light and great to bring in case of tube amp failure. That happened to me two gigs ago, my 35 watt tube amp had no sound (later found out a loose power tube was the problem), so the Crate did the job. It sounds pretty good, but lacks the punchy feel and sense of power of the tuber amp. Hard to explain, but I think tubes just have more oomph to them that translates to what you feel back at the guitar.

[Jakedog]

Peavey trans-tube amps. Especially the Delta Series (red stripe). I went to jam with some new players Friday night, we're putting a new band together for some extra work. The guy putting the whole thing together is 30+ year pro, and absolute tube amp junkie. He was down on my Bandit 112 from the minute I walked in the door. Had nothing nice to say about it, and wanted me to commit to buying a "real" amp for gigging before we even started jamming and trying out tunes.

After the first song, I had to get him a dust pan to sweep his jaw up off the floor.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I've owned just about everything. I'd put my Trans-tube amps up against anything, anywhere.

They are like any other amp, you don't just plug in and get everything you've always dreamed of like magic. But if you take a few minutes to learn how it works, it will absolutely do everything a good tube amp will do. And I can buy TT Bandits used all day long for $100-$150. For what it costs to have one decent tube gig amp these days, you could buy a house full of these, and just leave one everywhere you play.

If you want a ridiculously reliable, low to no maintenence amp, that sounds like a million bucks, and has more than enough clean headroom and power to gig in any situation, and can also break up the clean very nicely at low to moderate volumes for small rooms, plus be touch sensitive and really dynamic, the TT Bandit is your ticket to financial freedom. Sit with one and learn how to use it. Between the amp voicing switch, the T-Dynamics knob, and the resonance switch, it's like having a whole room full of different tube and SS amps at your fingertips. And that's just the clean channel. And it does it all with plain jane analog circuitry, no digital modeling.

Show me your favorite amp, and I will get the Bandit to do a startling impression of it. I will not sit here and say that no one could possibly tell the difference, but it will get you so close you'll be astounded. And I will say with confidence, that without seeing the amp, no one would ever say it's solid state.

[Goluphi]

I think it's possible to get a great sound out of a solid state amp, by all means. I've heard some great sounding solid state amps. Can you replicate the tube amp sound? Potentially. Although, solid state amps have their own strengths (clean headroom), and replicating the tube sound might not be the best direction for SS amp manfs. One way or another, even if a SS amp sounds identical to a tube amp (to a listener), from a player's perspective, there's a lot more to the equation.

One thing that Solid State may never be able to replicate is the FEEL of a good tube amp. A tube amp responds to playing style and picking dynamics like nothing else. The way a tube amp breaks up is more than just sound. It seems a nearly impossible task to replicate digitally all the tiny factors that go into the tube amp playing experience.

[rbrienzo]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

Show me your favorite amp, and I will get the Bandit to do a startling impression of it. I will not sit here and say that no one could possibly tell the difference, but it will get you so close you'll be astounded.

Funny you say that. Me and my tube amp shopping buddy had the run of a guitar store for an afternoon and I noticed the same thing. It was a slow day and we know the guys working at the shop so we tried every amp in the sore. The Bandit seems to cover a lot of ground tonally. It dose a lot of sounds really well. I would love to own one....... and I have a basement full of tube amps.

[chromaken]

I have a Roland Cube 60. I love it. I have an older Fender Champion 30 that I am fond of as well... at low volumes of course.

[jefrs]

The PV Valvestates, Bandit et al can be transformed by changing the speaker, it doesn't have to be the most expensive and it is a 12-in so there's plenty of choice. The 60W one I had, had the world's worst Sheffield in it, I swapped it out for an 80W G12, and it got a Marshall's roar on that previously unusable 2nd channel. The experience put me off the Sheffield but when I sold it the purchaser wanted the Sheffield back in, so.

I traded it for a Vox AD30VT, also ss and more suited to my current needs. I like the amp modelling in it (but ignore the primitive fx and that 'orrible noise gate), the Valvestate could cover most of what the Valvetronix can do - without 'modelling' on a computer chip. The Cubes also sound nice and responsive, if you can stand their mains hum, and do check that it is earthed (mine was not).

[Jack Knife]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

Peavey trans-tube amps. Especially the Delta Series (red stripe)...

I'll back you on that! I was a confirmed tube amp purist until I went to a jam at my brother-in-law's house one night and played through a red stripe Studio Pro. Just a crying good amp! I was using a Jimmie Vaughan Strat and that thing never sounded so sweet in all its life. Seemed like I couldn't put a tone wrong with that setup.

[ScatMan]

Originally Posted by castpolymer

I have a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT. It is a nice little amp that allows me to practice with earphones on.

I use a Vox AD120VTX, it's a hybrid: SS pre-amp and effects--->12AX7 tube--->SS power output.

You can drive that 12AX7 like it's a power tube, then the SS amplifies the signal to an adjustable 2, 30, 60 or 120 Watts.

[Jakedog]

Originally Posted by Jack Knife

I'll back you on that! I was a confirmed tube amp purist until I went to a jam at my brother-in-law's house one night and played through a red stripe Studio Pro. Just a crying good amp! I was using a Jimmie Vaughan Strat and that thing never sounded so sweet in all its life. Seemed like I couldn't put a tone wrong with that setup.

I have a Studio Pro as well. My favorite small gig/jam amp. I hope the purists stay away from these, keep poo-pooing them, and saying silly things like "Well, my ears can tell a huge difference."

This way, the prices will stay down on them, and I'll be able to continue to buy them for $100. I'd like to get up to about fifteen or sixteen of them. At that point, with Peavey's reliability taken onto consideration, I figure I ought to have enough amps to last me about 300 years. Or, for the same price, I could buy a single one-trick-pony vintage or boutique amp. And then get job mowing lawns whenever it needs tubes, a cap job, or a new tranny...

[jwj4856]

I know of several guys around here that use the Fender FM 212 and seem to love it, I just got one a coupkle days ago and it seems really good sounding to me but I need to play on it a little more to really decide, but so far, so good.

[golfnut]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

I'd like to get up to about fifteen or sixteen of them. At that point, with Peavey's reliability taken onto consideration, I figure I ought to have enough amps to last me about 300 years. Or, for the same price, I could buy a single one-trick-pony vintage or boutique amp. And then get job mowing lawns whenever it needs tubes, a cap job, or a new tranny...

They're all yours. Knock your self out.

[CDKopf]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s seeing those things everywhere!

But now I can't remember the last time I saw one!

Tim

If you read that statement a couple times , you will see how funny it really is...

"But you just said......."