Solid State. Love it? Hate it?

Simple answer, Wade. The 2 I have I like. I juiced up my Fender Princeton Chorus with a pair of 10 inch Weber speakers, and the other is a Peavey Envoy 110 I got for $10 at an auction. For that price, what is not to like? It even has a decent gain channel for dirty stuff.
 
Wade--- as I read through the whole 2 pages here.......yes some frivolity exists--- but the lads must have their fun--- many use this forum as respite from the seriousness and poop of all our meager existences.

The take away from this thread appears to be that many here own both styles and like both. The waters of the AMP canal have become so muddied....with SS modeling amps--- SS/tube hybrids....modeling tubes.....fake tubes (glowing SS amps with little lights in them) ---- its very hard to find anyone that is rigid in their preference....

I have SS amps--- and i LOVE them --- if I had to ONLY OWN ONE AMP--- hands down it would be solid state ---- simple reliable and CHEAPER---

SO ---solid state??? Love em. ;)
 
Can't argue with Adrian there. I am partial to my Princeton Chorus which I could gig with and not complain. Just add a TS9, Wah and Distortion and I am good to go. It already has a nice chorus and reverb.
 
Tony M. said:
....and then there was my DR 103.
That thing sounded like the amplifier of the Gods.
Click to expand...
Sounded? It dos not any more?

I can imagine that it would be possible to rebuild especially the Hiwatts with JFets in the preamp section and Power Mosfets as the output stage. You might need to give it a more powerful output stage to retain the headroom. Otherwise easier than with most other tube amps. Just because it is designed to be clean.

BUT: it will not be cheaper than the tube amp. And it will require a lot of engineering skills for the necessary fine tuning. Which is less interesting commercially than simply rebuilding the old and well documented tube circuit.
 
Wade, You are not behind the times

But why the choice between the binary extremes - love <> hate?
My answer to that question would be "NEITHER".
 
Hmmmm.
I reread my posts in here.
I thought I had answered the question but I actually did not.

I like both tube and SS amplifiers.

I like SS because I can leave one in my car all year regardless of temperature,
take it out and turn it on without all the tubes shattering. SS amps for the most
part weigh less than tube amps of similar wattage and speaker configuration.
I like that too.

I like tube amplifiers because to my ears they have a richer and more complex
sound then their SS counterparts. SS amplifiers seem to have less dimension,
depth, color, or whatever the Hell the word I'm looking for is.

I know the thread didn't ask why we love or hat them, but without any elaboration
all the posts would read "Love 'em", "Hate 'em", "Both" and "Neither". The thread
would be a dull read in my opinion if we all stuck strictly to the topic.
 
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bea said:
Wade, You are not behind the times

But why the choice between the binary extremes - love <> hate?
My answer to that question would be "NEITHER".
Click to expand...

If anyone is behind the times it is ME. I have never even tested a Modeling amp in a store let alone have a clue how to make one sound good.
Bea, what is that double cut you are playing in your avatar?
 
Some folks have already saidwhat I think.

I really like SS amps. They're practical, light weight and easy to dial in.

Problem is, they aren't as loud as their valve equivalents, so I'd have to carry a real monster SS amp to my gigs, otherwise I wouldn't even hear my guitar at all.

For rehearsals, small jams and recording, they're very good. I have a small SS Orange I like a lot.
 
I really like that EB11 Bea. I wish you many enjoyable days for playing it in your future. That brings me to my Bass Head. Wade, my bass setup has me playing an Ashdown Mag300 SS head thru a 1x15 or 4x10 CAB. Nice head unit these Ashdowns
 
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chilipeppermaniac said:
I really like that EB11 Bea. I wish you many enjoyable days for playing it in your future. That brings me to my Bass Head. Wade, my bass setup has me playing an Ashdown Mag300 SS head thru a 1x15 or 4x10 CAB. Nice head unit these Ashdowns
Click to expand...
PICS of that damn sexy Ashdown.........damn it.....
 
I've used both SS and tube amps since the 70's.

Frankly I am more interested in the musical results. I can generally make either type amp work for me.

BUT

I am not a "tube amp cranked - control volume w/ guitar" player.

I use a clean amp tone and if I want dirt use a pedal. So I am not interested in the compression and sag and other things a tube amp does that other players like.

Even in a tube amp I want an SS rectifier to avoid sag.

So far the ideal amps for me are modeling amps, which offer a wide variety of sounds as needed. Most of the time I'm using something that sounds like a clean Fender amp tone, though.

I like the relative lack of maintenance SS amps have, compared to tubes.

However, when i want that old-school lap steel guitar tone I use a small Fender tube amp. But I can get pretty close with my SS/digital gear.

Note:

I have always been a Fender (occasionally Peavey) amp user. I have never owned nor gigged on a Marshall stack, by my own choice.

So I can understand Marshall amp users, who want a cranked tube amp that can "clean up" by rolling down the volume, then tubes may be best for them.
 
For home practise transistors or IC's cant be beat. I'll continue using tube amps for everything else but for home, which is a share situation, transistors/IC's allow me to practise at any time without disturbing others. This is what I've been usingWP_20170329_002.jpg
One FET transistor as an input buffer (to allow pedals be used) & one IC doing the amplifying. Produces about 1/3 watt, has a gain & volume control. Runs of a 9 volt battery or 9 - 12 volt wall wart. Will run through any 4/8/16 ohm speaker or headphones. Goes from clean to mild overdrive. A tube screamer or DS1 & I can practise anytime at real bedroom level. As much as I like tubes I couldn't do this with them without attenuating even small amps. Cheers
 
Tony M. said:
Hmmmm.
I reread my posts in here.
I thought I had answered the question but I actually did not.

I like both tube and SS amplifiers.

I like SS because I can leave one in my car all year regardless of temperature,
take it out and turn it on without all the tubes shattering. SS amps for the most
part weigh less than tube amps of similar wattage and speaker configuration.
I like that too.

I like tube amplifiers because to my ears they have a richer and more complex
sound then their SS counterparts. SS amplifiers seem to have less dimension,
depth, color, or whatever the Hell the word I'm looking for is.

I know the thread didn't ask why we love or hat them, but without any elaboration
all the posts would read "Love 'em", "Hate 'em", "Both" and "Neither". The thread
would be a dull read in my opinion if we all stuck strictly to the topic.
Click to expand...

You hit everything I was wanting to say.

I was just today listening to a recording from 4-5 years ago where I was using my buddy's house amp which was a Spider Line 6 & I was reminded about both the fact that I never really liked the amp & WHY I never liked the amp. The amp just would not behave or respond how I like guitar amps too. But, that is just 1 SS amp in a world of SS amps.

I do have that Marshall Zack Wylde Micro Stack which is OK for a living room dirtied up drive sound for practicing on at lower volumes but it lacks the shine, dynamics, harmonic content & compression of my 1 watt Marshall 50th Anniversary JVM tube amp or the same model JMP 1 watter!

I also still have am older Peavey 'Trans-Tube' (all SS by the way) which did an OK job at somewhat mimicking a tube amp or at least sounding better than most SS guitar amps, & it didn't bother or piss me off to use it for rehearsals but still, it simply lacked the room dynamics & sonic oomph of a real 50 watt Marshall.

So, do I like SS?..
In TV technology it's fvk'n brilliant!
In a car stereo ya can't beat 'em!
In a house Hi-Fidelity Stereo they can do a better job at accurate sound 'reproduction' but do not add the warm or the same sort of harmonic distortion aficionados love & demand.
In an amp, I can like & appreciate what they do & will use them on occasion but certainly they are still mostly different from a typical tube amp. And most importantly, I still hear a desirable difference with tubes & prefer to use tube amps for playing guitar.

Tube interaction with a guitar signal is part of the playing experience I enjoy & after thinking on it, I have to consider it an essential part of 'my sound'.

That doesn't mean I "Hate" SS but I certainly am not in "Love" with SS guitar amps either.
Oh baby I love you soooo much. I wanna stick my jack into your input & rock hard. Ahhh, No!
 
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