Solid State amp you've known and loved,,, or hated,

My Tone Master Deluxe Reverb is really good. I'm using the line-out function into GarageBand through my Scarlett Solo and getting wonderful results. Silent recording with an amp is a real treat. Haven't turned my PRRI on for at least two weeks. No regrets buying the Tone Master at all.

 

I got a Tech 21 Trademark 10 in 2000 and kept it until about two years ago, when I donated it to the local school district. There were an amazing variety of impressive tones in that thing, and I can't think of any SS amp I've played that comes close in terms of being able to cover so much ground.

 

Fender frontman 25R were actually decent amps, with some limits.

 

I always want a tuna casserole when I see stuff like this. It would smell like "Bewitched." Or like your neighbor's politely rusting Ambassador station wagon.

I remember visiting a friend's house whose big brother--almost a hippie--had one of these. We were thrashing around on it when his visiting grandfather came down the basement steps, listened for a while, and commented, "And, when it breaks, you've got two banshee blenders, right inside. You fellas do your isometrics today, like I told you? You never know how close the Commies're gonna get, you know...."

 

Like many of my age the first guitar amps I even played through were Peavey amps at school, like the small Decade and Bandit. I loved them then!

Later I used a Fender StageLead 75 and a LAB L5, and a Jazz Chorus. Had good fun with all three.

 

I use nothing but solid state....

 

Had a hand-me-downed Crate DXJ 1x12 60-watt modeling amp that I gave to a son's friend who was taking some informal lessons from me. It was very Meh to me, but the kid loved it. Decent-enough practice amp. Not too ugly, either, with its Marshall-as-a-Tweed look. A good way to explore basic tones and tastes.

I still have a Princeton Chorus (red knob) 2x12 25 watt that I got very used, and added to that. "Stereo," digital, lots of bells and whistles for a thing of this sort. Beat to hell now, needs a serious pots cleaning, its Mids knob long ago stopped doing anything, etc. Pretty awful distortion setting, but its reverb is okay, its chorus kinda nice, and its cleans pretty Fendery if you can find that pi-in-a-black-hole setting where it's not too spikey. The 2x12 does give it some dimensionality.

One thing it's very good at is being our Rickenbacker bass's amp. And if that blows it up, I've got my tube amps to really play and savor.

When, you know, they're back from the shop.....

 

Vox Cambridge (hybrid) 15
Peavey Bandit 65
Fender Champion 40

 

Tech 21 Trademark 60

 

Two I own and love:

 

I have 3 of them
G&K 112 with 1 x 12 celestian effects sends etc my go to amp to just play
Fender JAM this was buggered to death so I rebuilt it into a mini head nice sounds now preamp outs
Fender ROC PRO 1000 some one threw out I rebuilt it , dead clean.effect sends and reverb I was surprized , I may keep this one ,sat in pieces for over a year.

 

I use nothing else but tubes...

No, wrong : I have a Roland Micro Cube (which is a great amp) and a Peavey Special 130 (which is a loud amp).

On reharsals, I regularly play on a Fender Champion 100 (which is good amp) and a Fender Mustang III (which is a toy).

But I prefer the tone and simplicity of my tube amps, despite their weight...

That said, In no way I discard, deny or denigrate solid-state technology, and I'd be really pleased if an analogue solid-state amp was sounding as good as my tube amps !

I was interested by the new ToneMaster series , but when I discovered that they were "another modelling"...

But it's me, OK ?

-tbln.

 

Had a cheap 1980's Crate CR 160 back in high school....sweet little SS amp with Celestion speaker, built in St. Louis.

 

80s Marshall MOSFET head. That was an awesome amp.

Early Peavey Bandit - second version. Still have that amps. It has a lot of character for an SS amp that old. Still love it.

Jazz Chorus 77 - hated it. It was supposed to be a lower watt version of the JC 120, but it lacked any low end at all - very harsh sounding.

 

Yes! I love my Pignose, too.

 

My bandmate had a Polytone Mini Brute years ago and that, especially with the ES-175, sounded so great, that classic clean woody jazz quality. Polys were known to have issues and his did, he moved on to a different Poly model and then a Henricksen, they both also sounded good but that first Poly was really something else.

 

I've had this for a while. It's basically a SS Twin Reverb, even the weight is the same. Paid $50 for it.

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Lab Series L5, produced by Gibson in the 1970s, is best known as BB King's first choice amp on tour (the second choice being Fender Twin Reverb), and it has been associated with his signature sound from the 1970s to date. Clapton and Alex Lifeson (Rush) used it too.

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I liked my current edition Peavey Bandit, except for its weight and bulk. It was really an awkward amp to move around much.

My red stripe Envoys and Studio Pro were all awesome too.

 

I fell in love with solid state amps years ago when i bought a used Roland Jazz Chorus 77, since then i've only had solid state amps, i like to have a pristine clean sound, i can get any sound i want from pedals, i never felt the need of a sweet spot that a tube amp can give you, they are heavy, expensive and need more maintenance, there is no point to me to use a tube amp.
Don't get me wrong, not that i don't like them, if i see a Fender Twin in a room i'm really happy but that's it.

 

My first amp was a Crate G10, gift from my brother over 30 years ago, it still works. Distortion is an interesting fuzzy sound.
Just like this one:

https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m82...MIi-H-ldC87AIVy5-zCh1RXAC9EAQYAiABEgKyOPD_BwE


Current production amps I like the ZT Lunchboxes and the DV Mark Little Jazz.