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Best sounding SS amp you all have encountered?

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  • #76
    Originally posted by billybillybilly View Post
    there was a mid 70s company called 'road electronics' ... i think its what bud ross did after kustom . anyway , all solid state bass amps . the tone is very middle of the road so they also sound good with guitar . i have one , a combo with a 15 , that has no model name or anything identifying (other than 'road' on the front panel and a serial on the back) and i use it for guitar ... and people at the shows are allways asking me about it and saying it sound like tubes , and when i tell em its a 70s all ss bass amp they look at me like im an idiot .
    so anyway , im voting for the old 'Road' amps .
    i heard that one of their sales tactics was to hold a floor model about chest high , throw it on the ground , then plug it back in to show the customer it still works !
    i think their most popular model was the '440 bass' (which i have a schematic for if anyone needs/wants to see it) .
    one more thing , if anyone comes across one of those old 'road' amps and doesnt want it , please let me know , im allways on the hunt for the jokers !
    I just bought a Road 440 Bass, and found this thread in my search for info.

    On the back, it shows its origin as LA, not Kansas. It's working fine, is pretty light for the size and power, and seems that it will sound good on bass.

    Billy, I'd really appreciate a scan of the manual, schematics, whatever.

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    • #77
      Originally posted by Brian H. View Post
      I just bought a Road 440 Bass, and found this thread in my search for info.

      On the back, it shows its origin as LA, not Kansas. It's working fine, is pretty light for the size and power, and seems that it will sound good on bass.

      Billy, I'd really appreciate a scan of the manual, schematics, whatever.

      hey Brian ,

      have you opened yours up yet ? it might still have the schematic inside like mine did ! does yours have the wooden sides ? geez i wish i had the manual . id like to see how they describe the 'effects' knob ... it seems to act as a compressor of sorts .

      anyway , shoot me a PM with your email and ill shoot ya the schematic and some pics . i suppose i should just post em somewhere since it seems to be the only one available .

      but , as far as the Kansas/LA thing , i believe they started in Kansas and ended up in the big city later on before finally being sold off to rickenbacker in the early 80's and then discontinued .

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      • #78
        Hi Billy & Brian,

        back in the days I had a Road 220 bass amp. It failed at the first gig (blown output transistor, turned out to be a BD183 instead of the RCA 2N6259). It was still under warranty, so no problem. The catch was that I was the tech who did the warranty repairs for that particular shop
        Still got the service manual, including all schematics and layouts. If you need something, let me know.
        Sold the amp to a student last year, still sounds great. Never had a failure since that blown transistor.

        Cheers,
        Albert

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        • #79
          Great!

          Thanks for jumping in, Albert!

          I pulled my 440 bass chassis out of the case to spray the pots. Talk about your wide open spaces! There's lots of room in that huge box. It's nice and clean still, and the only evidence of prior failure is an obviously changed bridge rectifier. It has a square package now, and there is an extra tapped mounting hole and sink grease residue from a TO case sort of device.

          Now, the big mystery- What are they doing with the effect control? It's a push-pull pot that I assumed was a FX return level control. Upon investigation, it became apparent that the input marked "effect" gets you into the 2nd channel of the amp (lead channel). Billy thought that the effect control might give compression. I did notice an increase in level with the knob turned clockwise. Pulling the knob out changes something as well. There isn't anything like an EFX loop provision for that knob to control.

          Also, why have a separate 5-band graphic EQ, available only to the 2nd channel? Each input already has separate 3-band tone controls. Maybe the line out is pre-graphic EQ?

          Sorry for pestering,
          Brian

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          • #80
            Hi Brian,

            the "effects" circuit is an adjustable diode clipper, so the output level decreases when you turn it up. The pull switch adds a coil for some kind of midrange boost.
            The line out is "post-everything", just a voltage divider from the speaker output.
            The EQ was an add-on, some models didn't have it.

            The complete manual is a 1.74MB zip file, Billy already has it

            Cheers,
            Albert
            Attached Files

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            • #81
              Thanks again!
              I was going to waste huge time on the function of that knob (I did NOT just say that!).
              I printed the second channel preamp/effects schematics for my studying pleasure.

              Thanks again
              Brian

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              • #82
                Oooohhhh

                Originally posted by Albert Kreuzer View Post
                ... the "effects" circuit is an adjustable diode clipper, so the output level decreases when you turn it up. The pull switch adds a coil for some kind of midrange boost ...

                yup , that makes sense , squish and clip .

                by the way , the info that .zip file is awesome !

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                • #83
                  Road Combo Amp 1X15

                  Hey BillyBillyBilly,
                  I recently acquired the amp above. It's a beast, but has some good tone. There are some issues with some fuzzy/farty sounds along with the regular sound though. I'm guessing it might need a cap job. I'm also perplexed by the "effects" knob. When I turn it up, the volume goes up as well with a little extra crunch. Would love to check out that zip file I saw mentioned in earlier posts. Any info would be appreciated.
                  Cheers
                  Kevin

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                  • #84
                    hey ubiquity55 !

                    the circuit in those is pretty simple . preamp module runs on 12vs so its easy enough to pull and test it alone to see if thats where the noise is coming from . i would check to make sure all the voltage rails are correct , that could lead to that wierd fuzzfart youre talking about . i havent looked into replacing those big filter caps yet . big blue Mallory cancaps - 50v@16000uf or something crazy like that right ? probably about $30-$40 each .
                    anyway , shoot me your email address in a pm and ill get ya that info !
                    also , the 'effects' knob is a sort of soft clipper . it seems to act (to me) like a bit of a compressor in that it makes it louder 2-5 and then less dynamic (squished) in the upper range 6-10 . i dont really use it though .
                    glad to see there are still some of these things laying around !

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                    • #85
                      Fender

                      I have a early 90's fender priceton 112 65 watt combo. Great clean sound and distortion not bad for classic rock and blues. This thing rocks you cant turn the volume past 1 with driving yourself out of the room. Very crisp sound with a tubes warm feeling. best SS i ever had.

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                      • #86
                        Fender Stage Lead 100

                        This is the only real solid state I ever owned. I bought it new in 1985. I remember my parents being mad at me because I was going to college and they thought it was a waste of money. I liked the PA section a lot. The front end was OK clean. Plugging a tube preamp into the effects return sounded real sweet!
                        Crate V33h, Peavey Classic 30h & 100h, Traynor YCV20WR

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                        • #87
                          my fave ss amp was/is a early 80's yamaha g100-112.

                          sweet, sweet clean tones and the original speaker went great with the "overdrive" channel of the amp, quite celestion-like but i blew it out playing bass gigs through it.

                          i replaced the speaker with a kendrick blackframe ten years ago and the amp hasn't sounded right since as far as the overdrive aspect goes.

                          am planning on switching out the blackframe for something with more midrange to it so as to recapture the magic of he amp.
                          www.dustyoldamp.wordpress.com

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                          • #88
                            Crate, Behringer

                            I'm a poor bottom-feeder that has come up with 2 cheap amps that I think sound great.

                            My favorite is the Behringer AC-112 Vintager 60 watt combo. It does have a 12ax7 in the preamp (sovtec 12ax7lps, changed to new Tungsol), but is a virtualizer stereo efx engine in a 1x12 with a 70 watt Jensen.

                            Next is a Crate Retrofex RFX200S 2x12 stereo combo, 2 x 70 watts stereo, or 2 x 100 watts with an extension cab.
                            This amp can do anything. It's got beautiful JC-style stereo chorus, but lower noise. Gain and stupid gain channels, a bunch more efx, and a pair of celestion seventy/80's.

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Well..If you are going to include modern modeling amps, I just picked up a Line 6 Spider 212 100w amp chassis. I got it super cheap so I figured what the hey. This thing blew me away. I mean it isn't a high end tube amp, but it is definitely versitile over a wide range of usable volumes, styles, and effects, a very good compromise. I am going to use the line out for recording. I'm still trying to locate some technical info on the foot controller since I can't bring myself to pay more for the controller than I did the amp. It definitely is a better sounding amp than the old Marshall Lead 100 MOSFET that I picked up a while back which truthfully isn't that bad. I still prefer my 18 watt EL84 clone but the Spider is usable and more appropriate for some situations.

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                              • #90
                                Deja Vu

                                The Behringer is probably a ripoff of a line 6. I'm losing brain cells trying to figure out the midi foot controller that I picked up for it. I'm fast approaching "Hell with it".

                                If we're supposed to be limiting ourselves to old-school ss, we have an old Fender sidekick 15 Chorus that serves famously. Really quite decent.

                                There are benefits to being easily pleased!

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