Solid State in 08.

[airtractorfan]

I've owned about 40 different amps in my lifetime and most of them were either Fender or Marshall tube amps.Most of them were great sounding amps.I still own a 1970 Super Reverb with Reverend Alltone 1030's and now passed it on to my son[ Too heavy to carry around]
Due to the cost of maintaining tube amps [matched pair of 6L6's $25-$35] I'm switching back to a soild state amp in 08. [The Carvin SX-100 -100 watt 1X12 combo 36 lbs]
There still is a market for SS amps for us older players who do not gig regularly or have pristine hearing anymore.
Why have a Bad Cat or Dr.Z if your hearing is not as good as the amp?

[postjob62]

Originally Posted by airtractorfan

I've owned about 40 different amps in my lifetime and most of them were either Fender or Marshall tube amps.Most of them were great sounding amps.I still own a 1970 Super Reverb with Reverend Alltone 1030's and now passed it on to my son[ Too heavy to carry around]
Due to the cost of maintaining tube amps [matched pair of 6L6's $25-$35] I'm switching back to a soild state amp in 08. [The Carvin SX-100 -100 watt 1X12 combo 36 lbs]
There still is a market for SS amps for us older players who do not gig regularly or have pristine hearing anymore.
Why have a Bad Cat or Dr.Z if your hearing is not as good as the amp?

I feel your pain for sure.

I wish there were more opinions on the Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight head/cab outfit. I know Big John loves it, but I'd like to hear more opinions.

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by airtractorfan

Due to the cost of maintaining tube amps [matched pair of 6L6's $25-$35] I'm switching back to a soild state amp in 08. [The Carvin SX-100 -100 watt 1X12 combo 36 lbs]
There still is a market for SS amps for us older players who do not gig regularly or have pristine hearing anymore.
Why have a Bad Cat or Dr.Z if your hearing is not as good as the amp?

....states that with 10 hours use weekly, I might need to swap power tubes every two years. Pre-amp tubes? They don't typically go bad ever.

Cool if you prefer s/state, but I don't really see tubes as being that costly over time. String changes probably cost more during that same timeframe.

[studio1087]

I've gone the other way.....SS toward tubes but my tube amps are mostly smaller amps.

I have to say that if you want SS; you've picked a winner. The Carvin SX amps are very nice. I had this SX-200 for a number of years. The SX-200 always worked perfectly and I liked it better than a Jazz Chorus for clean jazz. The dirty channel sounded really nice. I'm not sure when they switched the tolex from tan to black. Mine was obviously older but it had the same control configuration as the newest models.

You'll be very happy.

[franchelB]

there's still a market for solid-state amps. And I was a solid-state user for years (I loved my Fender M80)! But if I ever get another amp (and/or my Peavey Delta Blues breaks down), I highly doubt I'd ever buy another solid-state amp.

Even with tinnitus, I CAN tell the difference between tube and solid-state amps...

[bluescube]

My favorite solid state is the Roland Bluescubes with the cream tolex.

[popthree]

Originally Posted by franchelB

Even with tinnitus, I CAN tell the difference between tube and solid-state amps...

thats me too....

[beep.click]

Nothing wrong with solid state. Like they say, if it sounds good and feels good, it IS good.

As I get older, I'm addressing the weight problem with WHEELS.

I don't have a solution for the cost of tubes, though...

[robbysturgis]

Originally Posted by franchelB

there's still a market for solid-state amps. And I was a solid-state user for years (I loved my Fender M80)! But if I ever get another amp (and/or my Peavey Delta Blues breaks down), I highly doubt I'd ever buy another solid-state amp.

Even with tinnitus, I CAN tell the difference between tube and solid-state amps...

+1 on the M80

This is the amp which has a super clean channel. My Ovation Celebrity never sounded so good. Built light with a great hot button with a foot pedal.

[bowlfreshener]

There is still a market for SS amps, the thing for me is that it is hard is finding a good SS amp that DOES NOT HAVE DSP effects, tuner, GPS, barometer, compass, clock, electric can opener, and a bunch of other stuff I don't want or need. With that being said, I am really wanting to try the new versions of the Fender Frontman amps, mainly the 100w 2x12, as it looks sort of like a Fender Twin, but you won't dislocate your shoulder picking it up.

[trag-o-caster]

Give me an old Peavey Bandit 65 w/ spring reverb any day!

There should always be good SS clean amps (that don't try to mimic tubes) for steel players, and for guitarists who want a totally clean base for certain pedals.

I've never tried a SS Carvin, but I bet it's fine.

[Tele-phone man]

Try Pritchard amps. If I had the money, that's where I would go. I've played one, and it completely knocked me on my ass. All the hype is justified.

http://www.pritchardamps.com/pritchardamps.cfm

[tiktok]

Tube cost? What do you spend more on over the course of a year--tubes or guitar strings?

But, if you're looking for a good SS amp with no DSP, check out the Tech21 models.

[Teletale]

tt

[MikeSRV69]

I play in a country band and have been using a Randall G3 100 watt combo for almost a year now, and have been quite pleased with it. My thing is all about loud and clean and for that, the Randall excels, especially outside. I know Randall is all about their rock and metal endorsers, but their amps are more versatile than their ads make them seem. I love my tube amps (1966 Super Reverb, Rivera Knucklehead Tre, assorted Silvertones), but, for the price, the Randall is a winner.

Mike
www.myspace.com/thewhitesaddleband

[jazztele]

as long as there are jazz and steel players, there will be a market for good solid state amps...

i like the option of having both tube and solid state amps at my disposal...a little polyampy never hurt anyone...

[Five Finger Fender Fiend]

The Roland CUBE-60 is my all time favourite SS amp...AND it's affordable.

http://www.roland.co.uk/guitar_room_....asp?ID=CUBE60

[Big John]

Originally Posted by postjob62

I wish there were more opinions on the Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight head/cab outfit. I know Big John loves it, but I'd like to hear more opinions.

Stop right there !!!!, yes, after all my love for the Ultrlight Jazzmaster mine has since died and caused the 'Mother and Father' of all problems here just trying to get it even looked at let alone repaired.
Of course, it 'let go' just outside the warranty time and originally (get this) F*nder UK had NO interest in it or me whatsoever !!, i was told they ONLY deal with equipment still within its warranty period so i fired off a less than friendly eMail to Fender in the US and voila !!, things are now slowly moving.
I had a crawling phone call from London asking me to send it down for an 'appraisal' and they would pay courier charges so when the new year business calms down thats what i'll do --- but ------ do i trust it again ??

I was initially knocked out with the tone, portability and all that but if it's not going to be robust enough .......................

To be honest the jury is still 'out' for me and SS, to make things worse, to stop me injuring myself hefting the ol' MKIIb about i am borrowing a Boogie F50, and that - is - very -nice !!

[TieDyedDevil]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the Ultralight, Big John. Does Fender not offer their 5-year warranty outside of the USA?

To answer your question, postjob62, I think the Ultralight would be great for smaller gigs. I liked it at lower volumes, but it didn't seem to hang together well at high volumes.

[TeleBrew]

Originally Posted by trag-o-caster

Give me an old Peavey Bandit 65 w/ spring reverb any day!

There should always be good SS clean amps (that don't try to mimic tubes) for steel players, and for guitarists who want a totally clean base for certain pedals.

I've never tried a SS Carvin, but I bet it's fine.

I used to have one of those Peavey Bandit 65s. Great amp.

[J. Hayes]

which are very rare in most other types of music except rock but they're wonderful amps. My first Randall was a Commander II which I bought in 1978. It was a 2-12 SS amp which I later changed to a 1-15 to play pedal steel through. Unfortunately it got stolen from a club one night.

At the moment I have a Randall RG-80 SS little beauty with a single 12" EV speaker which kicks some major league butt to say the least. My other Randall is an old Steelman 500 with a single 15" JBL which is a monster. I bought it over the internet originally to play steel through but it's one helluva lead guitar amp with power to spare. Here's a shot of it........JH in Va.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by Big John

Stop right there !!!!, yes, after all my love for the Ultrlight Jazzmaster mine has since died and caused the 'Mother and Father' of all problems here just trying to get it even looked at let alone repaired.
Of course, it 'let go' just outside the warranty time and originally (get this) F*nder UK had NO interest in it or me whatsoever !!, i was told they ONLY deal with equipment still within its warranty period so i fired off a less than friendly eMail to Fender in the US and voila !!, things are now slowly moving.
I had a crawling phone call from London asking me to send it down for an 'appraisal' and they would pay courier charges so when the new year business calms down thats what i'll do --- but ------ do i trust it again ??

Is there no Fender service or amp repair guys in the UK outside of London?

[garytelecastor]

Dis here be da bomb

Attachment 7517 Attachment 7518

[kovachian]

Transistors are definitely not the evil little bastids that most guitarists make them out to be. Granted, it's harder to find the really good SS amps out there but we all know that. I for one would really like to try out a Pritchard, primarily the Black Dagger.

Not to mention, I'm quite sure that THIS guy knows good tone when he hears it!

[eddiewagner]

i can really recommend a marshall avt 20. excellent sound, light, loud, well built. you can find them for good prices. it´s an amp, that nobody seems to know about. i bought one recently and i am very happy with it. after an endless and unsatisfactory journey through model-amp-land.

[Big John]

Originally Posted by tiktok

Is there no Fender service or amp repair guys in the UK outside of London?

To start with they wouldn't reccomend ANYONE anywhere but have since relented and will let their guys look at it, i just get this feeling it wont be a cheap fix, fingers crossed though.
I really want 'dependability' though so am a little jittery about all this.

TieDyedDevil, nope, seems it's just the regular 12 month warranty here !

[Tony474]

I've become a HUGE Solid State fan over the years and I now only possess one tube amp - a Music Man 112RP100 with the EV speaker. Even that has not only a solid-state front end but also a hybrid power stage, which is how it gets 100 watts out of just 2 EL34s (some of them had 6L6s instead).

I love that amp to bits and wouldn't part with it, but since it's so heavy and I'm old and weedy with back problems I rarely gig it.

Instead I'll use one of these according to whim and suitability:

Tech 21 Trademark 60 1 x 12 (wonderful);
Roland Blues Cube BC-60 1 x 12 (equally wonderful, but different);
Roland Cube 60 (remarkable little beastie, this);
Fender Deluxe 112+.

In addition I also have a Gallien-Krueger 206MLE (with matching 2 x 8 stereo cab) and a Cornell "Big Wimp" 50W 1 x 10, both of which I like a lot but they don't get gigged all that often.

I appreciate the almost organic qualities of a really good tube amp as much as the next guy but find that my collection provides all I need for my own purposes. And I don't recall ever encountering a microphonic transistor or IC.

BTW, Big John - if all else fails I can suggest a call to Denis Cornell on 01702 610964. He used to be a top amp-tech for Arbiter's when they held the Fender agency and he's sorted my kit out more than once. Could mean a drive to darkest Essex, but hey, that's not all that far from Suffolk...

[Big Lug]

Originally Posted by airtractorfan

... Due to the cost of maintaining tube amps... I'm switching back to a soild state amp in 08...

Most of us probably spend more money in a year on going to our favourite coffee joint then we do on tubes.

Having said that, I like my Timmy's as much as any other Canadian so my tubes better last me awhile.

[Telemon]

The Pritchard is hard to beat. I have the first Black Dagger made. I was lucky enough to meet Eric at a guitar show when he first came out with these amps. I was floored that there were no tubes. I bought it (around 2003 I guess) and it has been the #1 amp in my line up since!

[markinlondon]

I bought a Tech 21 Trademark 60 in about '95 and still love it. Several tube amps have come and gone in the interim to find something "better". It's nothing to do with maintenance or reliability, it's just that the TM60 is such a convenient little gig machine that still sounds good at bedroom levels.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by markinlondon

I bought a Tech 21 Trademark 60 in about '95 and still love it. Several tube amps have come and gone in the interim to find something "better". It's nothing to do with maintenance or reliability, it's just that the TM60 is such a convenient little gig machine that still sounds good at bedroom levels.

It's terrific that you took it all the way to NZ with you. Greater love hath no man than this! If that's not an endorsement of what a great amp the TM60 is, I don't know what would be. We rest our case, Your Honour!

[rkwrenn]

I've put together a rig using a Crate Powerblock with a Digitech RP-250 into a Fender 1x12 (GE-112) cab. Sounds pretty good and the Crate can get loud.

The RP-250 has a USB port and I can edit the presets via PC which is nice. I have used this rig once at practice and got some fair results. With some more tweaking, this might become quite viable. And I still have the option of using my pedal board from my tube rig (Prosonic combo).

So I'll work with it for a while and see where it goes.

Cheers,

Bob

[postjob62]

Originally Posted by rkwrenn

I've put together a rig using a Crate Powerblock with a Digitech RP-250 into a Fender 1x12 (GE-112) cab. Sounds pretty good and the Crate can get loud.

The RP-250 has a USB port and I can edit the presets via PC which is nice. I have used this rig once at practice and got some fair results. With some more tweaking, this might become quite viable. And I still have the option of using my pedal board from my tube rig (Prosonic combo).

So I'll work with it for a while and see where it goes.

Cheers,

Bob

Bob, I'm glad you brought this up-I've been wanting to try a Powerblock myself. In fact, I called a factory authorized repair station today to ask about the reliability record of them.

I just wondered if you had tried it without a separate front end, just using the built-in (pre?) gain control? Can you get a decent warm clean sound out of it just as it is?

I guess I'll never give up on my quest for a 35 lb. Twin. I'd get one of the new Jazzmaster Ultralight heads in a minute except for the discouraging report from Big John.

[rkwrenn]

Originally Posted by postjob62

I just wondered if you had tried it without a separate front end, just using the built-in (pre?) gain control? Can you get a decent warm clean sound out of it just as it is?

Yes, I have tried it out for a few tunes with band when I first got it as a backup amp last year. I was able to get a pretty good sound out for clean things. Gain sounded good. It's all subjective of course, but I feel like I can find a good sound with it.

As a backup amp with my pedal board, let a tube blow in the Prosonic, I am good. Best $89 I ever spent. (or might have been $99).

Cheers,

Bob

[markinlondon]

Originally Posted by Tony474

It's terrific that you took it all the way to NZ with you. Greater love hath no man than this! If that's not an endorsement of what a great amp the TM60 is, I don't know what would be. We rest our case, Your Honour!

I had to get down to one amp. It was the TM or the BJ. The TM won the usefulness battle but it was very very close. Fenders are easy to find here if I want another BJ.

[teleman55]

I've got a Crate XT120R...no DSP or can openers. It's got a clean channel, a drive channel, and a "gone daddy gone" channel. I don't use it a lot but it's got a place in my heart. 120W, 2/12. Use old Deluxe or Pro, or V-32 Crate, but this is an able backup and has been used as such. Plus, it does a knarrly Dimebag kinda thing (that i seldom but sometimes do) soooo fine.

[Brent Hutto]

OK, so a Crate Powerblock can run in stereo mode. If you took the stereo output into a 2x10 speaker cabinet and fed the whole thing with a couple of stereo effects pedals wouldn't you end up with a latter-day Jazz Chorus?

Are most 2x10 (or 2x12 for that matter) cabinets wired so that you can feed them stereo or is there usually just one input jack?

[winny pooh]

Originally Posted by bluescube

My favorite solid state is the Roland Bluescubes with the cream tolex.

Good call

[superchicken_VI]

I spend more on butter than I do on tubes.