Boutique Solid State

[DocG]

Originally Posted by ac15

Speaking of boutique solid state, I'd love to try a Pritchard. I've been intrigued with those for a while but it's hard to find one to try. There's someone on Craigs List that was selling one for pretty cheap (for a Pritchard) and I almost bought it a few weeks ago but backed out at the last minute. They're supposedly great amps.

A long time ago, in the mid-90s, I corresponded a bit with Eric Pritchard. At that early stage, he was going after solid state analog emulations of various vacuum tubes, which could then be used to emulate various classic and new tube amp circuits. Aside from the advantages in weight and reliability, I would guess that the benefit would be that you could emulate a particularly wonderful sounding 12AX7 or EL84 or whatever. But it would sound just like a really nice tube amp rather than having a solid statey character, wouldn't it?

[Keystone Light]

I always wondered why no one uses a Crown amp with a big multiband EQ in front of it.

You can use speakers to color your sound according to what you want it to be, like you'd have Emi CR in a closed back, batting filled cabinet for a "warm" sound, or an EVM12L in an open cab for a "bright" sound.

Throw a Metal zone in front of that (you can take the "drive" way way back on it for a nice crunch and the semi parametric EQ is great for solos) and I think you'd have a pretty reliable rig.

Is there a reason that wouldn't work? Obviously you wouldn't want to turn it louder than it goes unless you want "speaker breakup" to be more than a figure of speech.

[ac15]

Originally Posted by DocG

A long time ago, in the mid-90s, I corresponded a bit with Eric Pritchard. At that early stage, he was going after solid state analog emulations of various vacuum tubes, which could then be used to emulate various classic and new tube amp circuits. Aside from the advantages in weight and reliability, I would guess that the benefit would be that you could emulate a particularly wonderful sounding 12AX7 or EL84 or whatever. But it would sound just like a really nice tube amp rather than having a solid statey character, wouldn't it?

I believe that he is indeed designing his amps to be able to capture a lot of the classic tube tones people go for. The advantage would be flexibility, plus having a 60-90 watt amp that only weighs 35 pounds and will sound exactly the same each time you fire it up.

Supposedly he has even added elements of tube tone that some people don't like (crossover distortion), which makes it super realistic (as far as tube sound and feel). From what I've heard from sound clips and word of mouth from guys who have played these amps, they are worlds better sounding than Trademark 60's, Roland Cubes etc.

[J Hog]

Tictok,try replacing your preamp i.c.s. I've had a couple of SG 75's for about 20 years. A coworker at the Hi Fi shop I was working at was the local rep for the U.S. distributor at the time, and I bought his two rep samples. The only problem I've had with the amps (I have 2 of them) is the preamp chips going south. I think they're TL072's Try LF 351's They hold up better and sound better(at least to my ears). I'm a "tube snob", but I love 'em!!!

[Tele-phone man]

The variety of boutique tube amps available staggers me. You have lots of choices (if you have the money), and since the competition is so fierce, the quality is generally very, very high.

The is no comparable SS boutique market. The ONLY boutique quality SS amp for variety players (read: blues, R&R, country, R&B) available is the Pritchard. I've played one, and it was astonishingly good. It is also priced accordingly. The other boutique level SS amps (Evans, et al) are all geared towards jazz players, and therefore are aiming at clean tones with lots of power and light weight. That is much a much simpler goal to achieve than what the tube amps makers are striving for.

Most of the mass-produced SS amps that have been lauded here, by myself and others, are decent quality, well-built products, but are only on a production par with a standard Fender Twin, or Marshall JTM. These amps are solid, well-designed, and time-tested, but no one will mistake them for boutique amps. You can't compare a Fender Twin to a Kendrick or Victoria or Weber or Koch. They just aren't in the same league.

Others have made this point, but it deserves to be repeated: one of the biggest difference between a decent amp and a crappy amp is the speakers and the cabinet. Since most manufacturers who make both tube and SS amps tend to use cheaper speakers for their SS amps in order to meet the price point of the amateur or beginner guitarist, the SS amps will sound poor in comparison with their tube brothers.

Yamaha was the exception that proves the rule. Since they never really had a tube amp line of any renown, their SS amps of the 80's stand out, and that was helped to an enormous extent by the quality of the speakers. Yamaha made their own, and they are superb by any standard. Play a Yamaha G100II or G100III 212 next to a Fender Twin, and you will hear how good a SS amp can sound clean. With their on-board parametric EQ, they can approximate the mid-cut of the Twin (if that's what you want; I never cared for the scooped sound), but they can also demonstrate a gorgeous midrange warmth that the Fender just can't do. The JC120 can't touch it for warmth and power, either.

All that aside, however, you must remember that the Yamaha is still just a mass-produced amp that cannot be compared to a hand-made boutique product. This thread was about boutique solid-state, and the sad fact is that there really is very little out there. If one tenth of the effort and time was put in to designing and building boutique analog SS guitar amps as there has been into tube amps, we would have 20 times the choices we see now, and I think the tube guitar amp market would look very different than it does today.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by Tele-phone man

.

Others have made this point, but it deserves to be repeated: one of the biggest difference between a decent amp and a crappy amp is the speakers and the cabinet. Since most manufacturers who make both tube and SS amps tend to use cheaper speakers for their SS amps in order to meet the price point of the amateur or beginner guitarist, the SS amps will sound poor in comparison with their tube brothers.

Yamaha was the exception that proves the rule. Since they never really had a tube amp line of any renown, their SS amps of the 80's stand out, and that was helped to an enormous extent by the quality of the speakers. Yamaha made their own, and they are superb by any standard. Play a Yamaha G100II or G100III 212 next to a Fender Twin, and you will hear how good a SS amp can sound clean. With their on-board parametric EQ, they can approximate the mid-cut of the Twin (if that's what you want; I never cared for the scooped sound), but they can also demonstrate a gorgeous midrange warmth that the Fender just can't do. The JC120 can't touch it for warmth and power, either.

All that aside, however, you must remember that the Yamaha is still just a mass-produced amp that cannot be compared to a hand-made boutique product.

So put the Yamaha into a better cabinet with better speakers. How good is it then?

[Scott S]

Originally Posted by Keystone Light

I always wondered why no one uses a Crown amp with a big multiband EQ in front of it.

You can use speakers to color your sound according to what you want it to be, like you'd have Emi CR in a closed back, batting filled cabinet for a "warm" sound, or an EVM12L in an open cab for a "bright" sound.

Throw a Metal zone in front of that (you can take the "drive" way way back on it for a nice crunch and the semi parametric EQ is great for solos) and I think you'd have a pretty reliable rig.

Y'know, I never get much love when I mention the MZ around here, but there are some decent tones to be had from them, especially with fresh batteries and a little (day I say it?) of the mids scooped out, run into a good-sounding amp.

- Scott

[Tele-phone man]

Originally Posted by tiktok

So put the Yamaha into a better cabinet with better speakers. How good is it then?

I believe I said that the Yamaha speakers are already excellent. Changing the speakers may change the tone, but it won't be radically improved. The cabinet could be improved using solid wood, but I'm not sure I would want to put the time and money into a rebuild of one of these, unless the existing cabinet is damaged. These amps do one thing well: loud and clean and warm.