why solid state amps suck

Astral Traveler said:
Yrah, but I don't care what's on the inside of the amp. I only care about how it sounds and what it can do for me. Choosing amp by what technology is on the inside rather than how I like it when I play it seems kind of counter productive.

It's interesting that you bring up the price point though. If you are going to compare SS and tube amps at all (or anything else for that matter), why wouldn't you compare similarly priced products? Anything else seems kind of unfair.
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Maybe I should've been more specific - the Quilter sounds really good to me too.

What I'm trying to say is that a good solid state amp is a tough value proposition.

Cheap solid state amps follow more or less the same design principles and do not have similar playing dynamics to a tube amp. From an "armchair engineering" point of view, some might be better such as Orange and Peavey? I don't know, haven't played enough of them to tell.

With the more expensive ones (Quilter, Amp1, One Control BJF-S66, maybe the Laney IRT-SLS, something else?) you are in the same price bracket with many familiar tube amps. So if the tone in your head is a variation on those, it might be more tempting to pick up one of those than to start experimenting with the SS offerings.
 
aon said:
With the more expensive ones (Quilter, Amp1, One Control BJF-S66, maybe the Laney IRT-SLS, something else?) you are in the same price bracket with many familiar tube amps. So if the tone in your head is a variation on those, it might be more tempting to pick up one of those than to start experimenting with the SS offerings.
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Definitely. Tube amps aren't practical for me though. I need to be able to both play and record quietly, as well as crank it up when on band practice. At the same time I want a good sound and dynamic tube-like feel. There is no tube amp that I know of, that offers all of the above at a reasonable price.
I've tried several, including Hughes and Kettner, that offer both silent recording and built in attenuater. They (H&K) are great sounding amps but too modern sounding for what I want. I've tried attenuators too but find that they alter the tone more than I like and a good one, like the Freyette, is just too expensive, especially when combined with a good tube amp.
 
Cadorman said:
1) Who makes a SS guitar amp kit?
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why would I want to buy a CHORE ? when I can buy an amp (tube or SS) and turn it on and use it?

does anyone sell "make your own tuna kits" ? here is a pile of fish -- and a bunch of pricey specialized tools -- process and can it YOURSELF to get your very own TUNA! ;)

uhm........ wait --- wait---------
 
Astral Traveler said:
Definitely. Tube amps aren't practical for me though. I need to be able to both play and record quietly, as well as crank it up when on band practice. At the same time I want a good sound and dynamic tube-like feel. There is no tube amp that I know of, that offers all of the above at a reasonable price.
I've tried several, including Hughes and Kettner, that offer both silent recording and built in attenuater. They (H&K) are great sounding amps but too modern sounding for what I want. I've tried attenuators too but find that they alter the tone more than I like and a good one, like the Freyette, is just too expensive, especially when combined with a good tube amp.
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I'm running my amps into a Torpedo Live with an attempt at a "realistic" IR setup, so now that I'm playing the DSL, I'm using the V-Type IR from Celestion.

Does it make any real sense to have the tube power amp in between as a space heater? Probably not. But it's where I've ended up through various iterations of gear...

Couple of things I think I've learned for good:
  • I really shouldn't buy amp heads as I can never make myself buy a cabinet. I start looking for one and always end up with another combo instead...
  • The knobs have to be in the front. Having them "vintage" style on the top gives me SAAB 90 ignition lock flashbacks... and you can't stack stuff on top.
 
aon said:
I'm running my amps into a Torpedo Live with an attempt at a "realistic" IR setup, so now that I'm playing the DSL, I'm using the V-Type IR from Celestion.

Does it make any real sense to have the tube power amp in between as a space heater? Probably not. But it's where I've ended up through various iterations of gear...

Couple of things I think I've learned for good:
  • I really shouldn't buy amp heads as I can never make myself buy a cabinet. I start looking for one and always end up with another combo instead...
  • The knobs have to be in the front. Having them "vintage" style on the top gives me SAAB 90 ignition lock flashbacks... and you can't stack stuff on top.
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you said SAAB lol --
 
Ive always been split on SS. I think that the hate comes from the early days of their inception when they largely were crap. Just cheap sounding and prone to failures, but not every one of them were bad and some were quite amazing ( Roland JC120 is an absolute legend). Some of the older ones that I love to this day are the Marshall Lead series, Randall RG100s, Peavey's Silverstripe Transtube series ( and the red stripe era as well) and Fender Princeton Chorus

Nowadays, you got the Orange Crush Pros and Terrors, Quilters, Marshall Mode Four ( out of production) Friedman Be-30 mini; as well as the modelers which are still essentially SS, like the Fender Mustang Series, Boss Katanas, Line 6 series ( minus Spider II which sucked ass)and so.

So yeah, i personally have no issue with SS myself
 
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Clockworkmike said:
Ive always been split on SS. I think that the hate comes from the early days of their inception when they largely were crap. Just cheap sounding and prone to failures, but not every one of them were bad and some were quite amazing ( Roland JC120 is an absolute legend). Some of the older ones that I love to this day are the Marshall Lead series, Randall RG100s, Peavey's Silverstripe Transtube series ( and the red stripe era as well) and Fender Princeton Chorus

Nowadays, you got the Orange Crush Pros and Terrors, Quilters, Marshall Mode Four ( out of production) Friedman Be-30 mini; as well as the modelers which are still essentially SS, like the Fender Mustang Series, Boss Katanas, Line 6 series ( minus Spider II which sucked ass)and so.

So yeah, i personally have no issue with SS myself
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Preach, brother preach!!!
 
Soooooooo SUCKY!!! although I would have to say that I'm very attracted to the high flexibility and versatility of the effect knobs... Now interpret all this in reverse! :LOL: :p
 
smitty_p said:
My Transtube is a red stripe model. It‘s a surprisingly capable amp.
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The reds like yours and the silver stripes are amazing amplifiers! I had a silver stripe Envoy 1x10 40w and a Bandit 1x12 100w with a 1x12 extension. They were both incredible in their sound, power and amazingly affordable.

Besides selling off an original 5150 head, that was the other mistake i made by getting rid of both of them. Very regretful
 
heltershelton said:
when i lived in florida i bought a spider III 30 watt amp just to mess around on.
i ended up hating it so bad i gave it away.
however, the helix is a different story. i love that thing and would rather use it in a studio setting than anything else.
live i still prefer my tubes though.
the last time i was in the studio, a real studio, i brought my dsl20, and we just couldnt get a good tone out of it without picking up some kind of high end fizz crap . the engineer had a 60w supersonic i ended up using, and that thing was great.
almost got one until many people told me it would be spending alot of time in the shop, so i got a 65 drri instead.
i cant say much about other ss amps, but yeah, imo, the spiders suck.
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I have a Spider IV, and it works. As in it powers up and makes sound. That's about all I have to say about it. It is my least favorite of all my amps. My Mustangs kill it in every way. Oh well, I think I paid 50 bucks for it like 10 years ago.
 
My MG-10 is a great little amp. 12 years old and never a problem.

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