Best sounding SS amp you all have encountered?

[elipsey]

The FM212 uses the same basic circuit that Fender has been using in their line of pro quality SS amps like the Deluxe 112+, with a few new tweaks not in the older amps. Their preamp circuit is very easy to modify to cut down the treble as well as the gain in the overdrive channel. With op amps there is a NFB resistor that allows you to set the gain from unity to infinity and beyond! Well, maybe not infinite gain but the maximum gain that the chip can produce...

If you know which side of a soldering iron to hold (hint: its not the sharp end that gets hot) I could give you a few suggestions. I would tell the whole world that this series of Fenders has some of the best ss amps ever but then that would raise the price of the used amps...

Steve

P.S. I haven't tried the FM212 so I don't know how the reverb or speakers sound- but I do know that the circuit is great!

OK, I'll bite. I found the schematic, what would you change?

[Slobrain]

Wow...this thread has been running for around 7 years now... is that a record???

A peavey 1984 renown with a metal sound...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkNejkbrDRg

[ted5896]

I have a bullet proof 440 bass head that I dearly love. Sounds fantastic. In addition to it's regular bass chores, it has been used as a guitar amp, P.A head, and to prop open heavy doors as other equipment is hauled in. I use it with a Ampeg 4x10 and couldn't be happier.

[Chuck H]

I have a bullet proof 440 bass head that I dearly love. Sounds fantastic. In addition to it's regular bass chores, it has been used as a guitar amp, P.A head, and to prop open heavy doors as other equipment is hauled in. I use it with a Ampeg 4x10 and couldn't be happier.

I'll guess that's the old "ROAD" product? They have an impressive rep from what I just read.

[J M Fahey]

Very well made, from the prehistoric era when people thought it was worth building good SS amps and fitting them with high quality speakers.

FWIW those Road amps had properly engineered parts, excellent road type (not kidding) cabinets, finished like Anvil cases complete with thick aluminum railing all over the place and ball type corner protectors, but most important: used EVM12L and EVM15L as *standard* speakers, not as premium ones.

Think Lab amps quality.

Simple circuits (not bad at all in my book) , Fenderish tone stacks and 200/250W RMS power amps, essentially the same as was found in rack mounted PA amps of the day; what's not to like?

Then the glass head midgets raised from the grave and advanced design stopped, ... why worry when no matter what, standard answer became ... SS? .... meh!!! ... junk !!!

SS amps continued being made and sold by the zillions, but now all at the low cost area of the market .... with cheap parts, design and speakers to match .... which of course enhances the perception of being inferior.

Short ago I read a thread based on considering "boutique SS amp" an oxymoron.

Oh well.

[iep]

This is indeed a long running thread! Topically enough I now have an obsession (collective noun of guitar amps) of three guitar guitar amps two SS and one Hybrid with a solid state Pre and Valve Power stages. I also just sold a Phil Jones AG300 Super Cube that was another solid state amp. The AG300 was an incredible little amp but maybe just a little too pristine for my taste. Superb for acoustic or super clean electric though.

Now I am left with:

1. Modified Peavey Bandit 65 - Nice clean and a useable (now modded) distortion channel.
2. Peavey Classic VT 112 (hybrid) with Jensen C12k and WGS G12C - Not really an SS amp but still really nice (and crazy loud).
3. Top of the heap by a country mile though is my recently acquired Yamaha G50 112 mkII. Outstanding cleans, shimmering reverb and a ton of glorious bass. One of Paul Rivera's best and the precursor to the Fender designs he did in the 80's.

While I like and play through them all, what they have in common is that the distortion channels are prone to being overloaded by bassy pickups. Gives you more of a 'fuzz tone' which is not very versatile. I don't think this has to be the case with SS preamps but it seems to be a common issue with late 70's and early 80's SS designs. The Bandit is better now I have modded it to increase bass roll-off when gain is increased but it still benefits from a good pedal if you want a truly convincing valve tone (Joyo Deluxe Crunch). The yamaha in particular has a nearly unusable distortion channel but I'll easily forgive it that for all its other merits (pedals are cheap too).

I've owned and borrowed a few amps in the past (valve and SS) including Blues Junior, Blues Deluxe, PV Classic 30 along with the SS ones I now have. I would have to say that if I could have only one of them it would have to be the Yamaha G50. The clean tone is so crisp with huge headroom and sounds superb with all sorts of guitars. The great clean tone also means it takes pedals well too. All in, super versatile and sounds great at low and high volumes.

As for valve amps, I did love the Blues Deluxe but it was too much of a one trick pony and became a bit too harsh when cranked (it's distortion was also nothing to write home about). A nice feature of the SS amps I have is that they stay more tonally neutral when cranked so you can set a tone up at lower volumes and then wind it up as the band gets louder.

Cheers,

iep

[potatofarmer]

The modern Vox Pathfinder 15R is a lovely amp. A customer who plays swing and jump showed me one, it has this soft vintage crunch with a woody sounding guitar.

These really are fantastic little amps. Friend-of-a-friend gave me one (non-reverb version) because the input jack was broken. I fixed it, played with it for a while, and gave it to my brother-in-law and now I miss the little thing.

In bass world, I recently got a Trace Elliot Series 6 AH500X, made in '89. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the later versions, but it just sounds fantastic. I also really like that it has a pair of power amps and a built-in crossover. Knob twiddler's delight.

[Steve A.]

iep: So how does the G100-112 III compare to the G50-112 II?

[Steve A.]

iep: So how does the G100-112 III compare to the G50-112 II?

[Silvertone Jockey]

Randall RG-80

The best SS rock sound I've ever heard was a Randall RG-80 way back in the day. Currently I have this little Guitar Research VL-10 practice amp that has a surprisingly good clean tone for living room finger workouts

[Justin Thomas]

Without rereading the whole thread...
Here's a "Booteek" SS amp
I hope the builder will forgive me, but I'd play through one of these:

http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=FNehpDVExU8

And, nothing digital!

Justin

[Chuck H]

Justin, it seems to be a generic yootube site link.

[MarkusBass]

Justin, it seems to be a generic yootube site link.

It's due to the fact that the format of the link is incorrect. Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNehpDVExU8 Let me guess: Juan Manuel Fahey?
Mark

[Chuck H]

It's due to the fact that the format of the link is incorrect. Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNehpDVExU8 Let me guess: Juan Manuel Fahey?
Mark

Thanks Mark. Nice to see Juan made this thread! I've never heard his amps before. Sounds great! Could use a better endorsement video but it comes off sounding "right". Great SS distortion and without trying to be a tube amp. Fat and singing! And you KNOW the quality can be trusted.

[g1]

I hope the builder will forgive me, but I'd play through one of these:

No pressure for an endorsement deal there Juan .