Best sounding SS amp you all have encountered?

[GorgoJr.]

Yes BIGKAHUNA,
I've got a Crate G40c, and it actually has a great sound, especially the distortion. The problem is, it really is too much amp for the two little 8 or 10" speakers it has! No problem with the highs, but when I crank the bass all the way up, including the volume---the little speakers can't handel it properly, causing the tone to degrade. The G40c, has enough power to use a 4x12, and most likely even two.

I also have a Peavey Pacer from back in the day, and it's loudness impresses me. The sound is very usable.

Then there is my old "Monster"---The Crate GX130ch---head!!
It needs a very quality 4X12 to get the most out of it though; I'm using it through a single 15 watt PA speaker from the 70's at the moment---so it can get muddy with the volume past 5. Brutal---and I do mean Brutal---Old School Metal sound!!!

I actually like old stuff better than modern things; anything from amps, guitars, and even computers!

[Steve A.]

Originally Posted by Slobrain

Well,
I'll try to see who all wants to get in on this one.
We all have had SS amps before we went to tube amps...

Ummm... when I started playing I don't think that there were SS amps. At least any that were pro quality... I got my first guitar amp in 1966 and did not buy a SS amp until 1978- a 20 watt Peavey Studio Pro.

This looks like an interesting thread and I want to come back to read it.

Thanks!

Steve Ahola

[Phostenix]

Does a Boss GT-Pro count as an amp? I run it into 2 Tapco Thump TH-15A powered PAs & I have to say that it's the best guitar-related purchase I've made. It's not perfect, but I've never been more satisfied with any piece of gear. I love the versatility. My favorite setup right now is a TS9>Compressor>dual Mesa clean channels>Korg G4 in the stereo effects loop. Stunning stereo rotary sounds.

The Crate GT3500H has really impressed me so far, too. I think this has to be one of the most underrated amps I've played. Search the internet for this amp & all you'll read is how %$#@&^% loud it is or what a great metal amp it is. First of all, I run it through 1 or 2 single 12's and it's very usable at low levels, and the clean channel is great! The lead channel has an impressive amount of flexibility. The tone controls on both channels have far more range than the typical FMV tone stack. The Solo channel is what you'd expect - loads of gain that sings into feedback, but you can have totally scooped mids or big, cutting mids. I'm really surprised at how much ground this thing can cover.

The only thing it can't really do is a nice mellow blues sound that breaks up a little when pushed. You can set the lead channel with low gain, but the breakup is a little too edgy (for me). I'm going to try some pedals into the clean channel or a volume pedal in the loop with the clean channel cranked.

They've been selling on ebay for $200 or less lately. I'm tempted to get another one....

[Phostenix]

Originally Posted by Steve A.

Ummm... when I started playing I don't think that there were SS amps.
Steve Ahola

Now that you mention it, my first was a SF Vibro Champ & I went from that to an Ampeg VL-503. I really hadn't looked at amps in years, and once I got the GT-Pro, I settled in again....

[Leif H]

Best SS amp I ever owned, I gave away...

Roland Jazz Chorus 77, it had an awesome sound, and the reverb really could work a Dick Dale vibe with my Marauder.

[jvb]

Best for guitar, Vox AD50VT. Great blackface and tweed emulations
Worst for guitar, Savage 150 (70's Aussie head)


Best for bass, MarkBass LM2
Worst for bass, Behringer 300watt. Cheap but no guts and crap tone

[RichardM]

[Leif H]

Originally Posted by RichardM

I have a Yammy 115B, it's similar to the one under your 212b. Not a bad Bass amp. Then again the one I have is not in good health. I suspect that the input jacks are toast as they are pcb mounted. I just haven't had the time or inclination to have at it yet.

[Zouto]

The best solidstate amp I played in all the years is a blond Sessionette 75 combo Mk.II with an old 12"Fane Axiom speaker.It sounds just great in clean and drive mode, is powerful and absolutely compact, sort of a true classic.
Zouto

[Pedro Vecino]

[ParthaD]

This is not even an amp but if used in the way I am about to describe, it will blow your mind!

Most people who diss this device have just used an ordinary pair of headphones with it, perhaps Korg was trying to say something when they provided a 1/4" headphone jack, NOT the standard 3.5mm one! How would your tube/ss amp sound if you disconnected the 4-8 ohm speakers and connect a 16 or 32 ohm one instead? Same thing, standard headphones are 16 ohms per side while the old 80s studio-style headphones are 8 ohms per side... its a night and day difference. I am using an old Pioneer SE200 set of headphones with it.

It sounds great without any modification but if you connect a $29 Art Tube Preamp between your guitar and the device the sound is even sweeter! Try getting a really good tube/ss amp in less than $200, now try getting 25 of them at that price, that's how many amps this models, and does so WELL!!!

Gigging... again people who diss this for gigging have usually just connected a standard instrument cable between the device and their amp and sometimes not even into the FX loop but between their instrument and main input. The output jack on this is STEREO.... how would headphones sound if you removed one side from your ears??!! You need a Radioshack stereo to mono adapter that combines the two channels or you could try using their included Y-stereo adapter and connect 2 standard instrument cables to 2 channels on your main amp or PA.

Of course band members will not think it is cool, and I am not recommending gigging with it but if you have one lying around try what I just said and you may be surprised. And yes I do have decent tube amps and really good ss amps and with my eyes closed and this thing equalized just right I cannot tell what amp I am playing, have been playing the electric guitar for 29 years!

[unparalleled]

Originally Posted by black_labb

i have a fender frontman 212 r (100w amp with 2 12" speakers and reverb) not too bad an amp. nice clean sound and reasonable distortion. i hadn't owned a tube amp yet (atleast not a completed one) until last night when i picked up my monster

the solidstate amp is more versatile, but the gap may close once i clean the pots on the new amp, its been sitting in someones garage for 20 years so the pots are mighty scratchy, and there are only some spots where they make contact. ive got some cleaner so ill get going on that tonight.

Wasp 200xl circuits and info:
Classic ANZ Valve Guitar Amplifiers
I did the restoration on the wasp 200xl featured there.
Heaps of them come to my service workshop. Their POWER is earth shattering!

[Jazz P Bass]

My all time favorite is the Peavey Stereo Chorus 400.

[Phostenix]

It seems that most of the effort by manufacturers of SS amps is to get overdrive/distortion that sounds like tubes, but the thing I always notice that's missing with SS amps is the clean channel chime of a tube amp. That's what never sounds "right" to me with SS amps. I'm guessing that's why the Roland JC-120 is so popular - add a little chorus to get the chime?

[Steve Conner]

Well, the chime is a kind of distortion too. It's just mild enough that it doesn't register mentally as actual distortion.

It's actually harder to get this mild distortion with silicooties than with tubes. Heavy distortion is easy, because by that time everything is square waves, and the main thing that determines the tone is the duty cycle of the square wave and how it varies with the degree of overdrive. A square wave is a square wave, no matter what device it comes out of.

But with lighter distortion, you start to hear the non-linearities of the devices themselves. And tubes are fundamentally different in this respect. Transistors and clipping diodes are exponential, JFETs are square-law, but tubes follow a three-halves power law.

You can't exactly copy the three-halves power curve, but JFET circuits like the so-called "Fetzer valve" come reasonably close. They're useless in mass production though, because JFET parameters vary so much that every Fetzer valve needs trimmed by hand. And then they drift with temperature, like your grandpa's germanium Fuzz Face. It's probably cheaper to add a 12AX7 and make the amp a hybrid.

[Phostenix]

And that, my friend, is why we're going to digital modelling!

[Steve Conner]

What, are the EU going to ban tubes as well?

Some people still appreciate simple analog circuits that do one thing properly, instead of digital models that make a hundred half-assed attempts at a hundred different things.

(How many people in this thread nominated a digital modeller as their favourite amp?)

[R.G.]

Thomas Organ Vox Royal Guardsman.
UK Vox Supreme/Conqueror/Defiant.

[imaradiostar]

I'm surprised no one has chimed in about a valvestate marshall- I've heard a few that sounded decent before I gut them for parts and build tube amps out of them.

I think it's interesting that the valvestate marshalls are hybrids using a tube for only the cathode follower on the gain channel.

My first amp was an early crate, not sure of the model. I still have the 2 "crate" looking 1x12 cabs with original eminence 4 ohm 12's that came with it but the head is long gone. It had pretty decent clean sounds and worked well with pedals but the distortion it generated with the gain knob cranked up was pretty terrible. I liked the reverb though- not super deep and surfy but in a good way.

jamie

[Phostenix]

Originally Posted by Steve Conner

(How many people in this thread nominated a digital modeller as their favourite amp?)

That would be me. I'm seriously thinking about selling everything except the Boss GT-Pro, Korg G4, EH Q Tron, and maybe a Boss BF-2. I want to wait another generation for the Fractal Axe, but I think that's where I'm headed.

Every time I play the GT-Pro, I just can't see myself going back to amps & pedals. I love having all the options at the push of a button.

Now I just need to find someone in the Phoenix area who wants an Ampeg VL-503 - too heavy to ship....

[DIY_Guy]

As much of a tube snob as I am, I do think there are some amazing SS amps out there.

JC-120 for cleans, older Valvestate heads, and the OT'd Peavey XXL are all great, but unfortunately are all one trick ponies. But they are good at the one trick they do.

Another amp that hasn't been mentioned, but was very well received in the metal scene, is the Ampeg VH-140c. I had one for about 10 years and then parted with it, now I can't find one in a decent condition.

[Boy Howdy]

I played one of those in Guitar Center once. I was really surprised how good the distortion sounded. Apparently it impressed others as well, it got me invited by an employee to participate in their guitar playing contest (which I won). The clean sound though was completely lifeless and dull as I recall it.

[Boy Howdy]

Todd Rundgren used Sunn SS amps on his live Utopia album. Amazing! John McLaughlin used them on occasion in the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Back in the mid Seventies, I played my keyboard player's Sunn Concert head through a 4x12 one night and was shocked at how good it sounded. Wanted immediately to dump my way too heavy and way too loud Ampeg V-4.

Frank Marino used Acoustic SS amps to great effect in Mahogany Rush. Amazing sounds!

[Boy Howdy]

I did many a gig with either a 250ml or rl (head only version). I used to plug up a couple of JBLs 12s in two abandoned Deluxe Reverb cabinets that I attached closed backs to. Sounded really good at times. I used EMGs and an MXR Microamp built into my guitar so it was pretty darn bright, but otherwise.

Later on I used a Strat with it - I did some recording with that rig. It was a bit cold and sterile sounding on the clean stuff. The distorted stuff sounded just okay for rhythms, but I have this one thing I recorded where I used a Univibe through the distortion channel for a solo. Stunning! I've never gotten a better sound.

[bozzy369]

The Randall rd100es is the best ss amp i've owned.I know what most are thinking ,thats the Pantera amp,but I tell you if you just plug into it ,you can't sound like dimebag .The amp is really warm for a ss,the sound is closer to brown then the way beyond driven tone its touted to have.The clean is kinda lackluster,but add a little chorus and it livens up amazingly.The distorntion as said is really brown,and enough gain for most players,need more?Just pull the treable knob out and you get even more gain,but the volume drops in half.Randall later made a little box you connect between the line out and the speaker out and this kinda fixes the drop,most do a mod to the amp to fix it as well.Only downfall?The tone really changes as the volume increases so there are sweet spots and not so sweet spots mine sounded really sweet at 4-5,above that the transistors start to show up in the tone,but for some reason at full volume the thing gets a really hendrix type tone but it is so loud most can't bear it .Now can this amp sound like dime?yeah with alot of effects and the right guitar and of course the right player.I got van halen tones alot easier.well thats my 2cents.

[Timstonepizza]

With out a doubt the best I have owed is the Ampeg VH-140C. Think roland jazz chorus and then multiply it by 100! I have two of these jems the clean is un-matched and the lead can do anything you want for real I can go from a SRV sound all the way to killswitch engage! Plus the stereo chorus on this thing is the best i've heard, reverb is useable. I usually disconnect the internal speakers and run one or two 4x12's in stereo. this thing has all the volume and tones you could ever need out of one little 2x12 combo! 140 watts stereo
buy one and you will not be disapointed! Just my 2 cents
See ya!

[bozzy369]

are we up to 4 cents now?

[tedmich]

had a 50w Yamaha combo: worthless with no sustain.

there is a HUGE amount of love for a Fender Metalhead.... for death/doom/foestus reuben metal which likely means it sounds...


terrible!

[bozzy369]

I had a 100 watt yamaha combo when i was a kid,the only thing i can say good about it was it was loud! It had a knob called distortion but that should have been labeled the suck knob,just plain awful distortion ,also it had 1 15 inch speaker insteed of the 212 setup.wasn't bad though if you ran really good pedals in front of it .

[jrfrond]

I'd like to add two amps I almost forgot about: Univox U130L and U200L, from their "Mobile Ohm" SS series. The reason for the selectable output impedance was that they had an OT! SS Class A/B with some iron you could saturate. Now THOSE amps had some tone and heat!!!

[ozzybui]

I had a chance to plug my strat in to an Evans amp model EG-601E and I have to say that it sounds like a Fender Twin Reverb. Amazing clean sound with reverb. I tried to find information about that amp. but couldn't. Does anybody know about this amp ?

[Jared Purdy]

Roland Cube 30 or 80

[moonshine]

Hi all,

Best preamp sound goes to Marshall Valvestate 80, with its LED clipping followed by a real tube. However this amp squeals like a pig and generally behaves very poorly at high volumes so it is not suitable for gigging unless miced. Second best is Laney TubeFusion 400, with some CMOS inverter stages that give a nice and somewhat tubey-sounding distortion. Never tried it on stage however. Of modeling amps, Vox is the best I've tried so far, it even seems to behave quite well when cranked.

I (nearly) always play hardcore/metal with gain maxed, so I don't know much about clean sounds, but in all transistor amps I've tried cleans suck, badly. If I need to play such a beast, I put a pedal tube preamp in front of it with very low gain settings and the sound is improved from horrible to OK. So it seems that even for a clean guitar sound, some tubey distortion is desirable, perhaps even more important than for leads.

[LeoZeppelin]

Originally Posted by Slobrain

The best was maybe a early 80's Peavey Renown 2x12 that I ran thru an old marshall 4x12 cab in the clubs. This amp at the time fit the hard rock style I was playing, Sabbath, Crue, Ozzy, Priest, Scorpions and many others.

Slobrain

Out of curiosity, wasn't Tony Iommi mostly using Orange and Laney? Orange rocks ! I don't know for sure if he changed amps later or not, though.

[poorboybrad]

I use to have a sand-amp myself until the cabinet got borrowed when I was fixing the amp. I, also, used a tube screamer to push it into overdrive. I remember it had a lot of personality to it, but I think it was the sand filled cabinet more than the actual amp itself. seemed like they were strangely unreliable tho. Maybe I had a lemon. knows.

I played through a bandit 112 after I fixed it for my high school a few years ago and I REALLY like the active eq and distortion sounds. I plan to incorporate some of those circuits into a stand-alone pre amp someday.

A gorilla practice amp came home with me from a pawn shop once. It was like 15 watts and had a 6.5 inch speaker. had a tube driver knob or something on it. Absolutely horrible. I plan on putting in some tube amp guts into it someday.