"Good" solid state amps?

[treblinkalovescene]

I read somewhere that solid state amps in or before the 80s were "generally better" than today's solid states because manufacturers were convinced that tubes would go out of style soon (pouring development into the "next big thing?"). I've been searching for amps to get me by during a live set because my 1960s Ace Tone is too taxing for me to bring live. None of the newer solid states seem to cut it for me, except maybe the Peavey Bandit but my Ace Tone just has this fullness and rich chime to the tone that I don't hear so often. No tubey warmth, or grit, but it has amazing sparkle/definition that I really like.

Favorite solid state amps? Why?

[freemansj]

ZT Club, sir...  Must try.   But you would need pedals to get crunchy drive tones. 

[ToneChild]

For what application sir? For sparkle and chimes, nohing beats a JC120 kaya lang similar yata sa amp mo. Yung fender frontman pwede na rin if you just wanna play clean. Magaan din.

[renz13]

based sa nababasa ko... yung mga Rivera designed na yamaha 

[cayle]

Jazz Chorus and those Yamaha JX amps have great cleans

[rowley75]

Uhmmm.. Ethos amp? Di ko natry though. Based sa soundclips lang.

[teleclem]

Those old Rolands/Yamahas are pretty good for some applications.

How about going the hybrid route? Or going direct? There are a couple of good options there to explore too.

[treblinkalovescene]

I'm not really that much of a tone chaser, but I do like the sound of my pedals through my current amp and I'm hoping to get a nice beater solid-state for gigs and only bring my SA-2 every once in a while. At the very least a 1x12 or something. I have my Jazz Chorus fix c/o my current amp.

The ZT looks VERY interesting, mejo out of budget lang.
The old Yamahas, I love those, especially those 4x12 ones that look like blackfaces but they're hard to find and will kill my back.
Ace Tone 2x12 on the internet, I'd probably love the sound but if it's made anywhere close to how my amp is it'll be heavy as hell too.
Still like those Peaveys, but are they light enough to carry around?
Fender Frontman, takes pedals well but I've read a lot of stories of them frying at shows. Any truth to that?

Dati, may plan ako na gumawa na lang ng SS live rig with a 4x12, an EHX power amp, and an AMT F-1.



What if I just get an EHX .44, an AMT F-1 and slap both on my board and straight into a cab?

[juan_alderete]

vox pathfinder.. only downside is its too small for gigs and such,

I always find laney LV200/300 amps good enough as long as dala ko ocd ko hehehe..   

[treblinkalovescene]

vox pathfinder.. only downside is its too small for gigs and such,

I always find laney LV200/300 amps good enough as long as dala ko ocd ko hehehe..

I don't use amp dirt naman and yeah those Laneys are okay.

UY WHO HAS A BLUES CUBE?

[juan_alderete]

on a side note and slightly OT  ,.   when playing out. its better to have a big solid state than a low wattage tube amp (something lower than 15w) .. its not about the volume, but the breaking point or the clean headroom. 

[SeafoodPancake]

Okay para sakin yung Fender Princeton Chorus, di pako nakatry ng Princeton Reverb eh pero mukang okay naman..

[Bolt Thrower]

ZT CLUB 12 for me.

Then those Ibanez Toneblasters 150 watters are a party to play with. 

[treblinkalovescene]

ZT CLUB 12 for me.

Then those Ibanez Toneblasters 150 watters are a party to play with. 

Mejo picky lang ang Toneblasters for some reason. My setup sounds okay with everything except the Toneblaster 2x12s. Everything tends to sound like fart out of those. The halfstacks you showed me sa bar sounded GREAT out of yr power amp setup tho. Weird lang nung front end na.

[skunkyfunk]

Hughes and Kettner Tour Reverb - best "poor man's Djent head"


Hughes and Kettner Attax  - another "poor man's Djent head"


Lab Series L5 - Fender Blackface tone without the tubes


Tech 21 Trademark 300 - Sansamp tone plus the extra balls


Marshall MOSFET LEAD 100 - Better than any of the Valvestates/AVTs (and blech... MGs) of today... cost-effective JCM800 without the tubes


Fender London Reverb combo - if it's good enough for Don Felder, it's good enough. 

[mahavishnu]

Class d amps like ethos. And zt surprisingly good. Gets hot though
yamaha jx series and roland jc.

[Bolt Thrower]

Mejo picky lang ang Toneblasters for some reason. My setup sounds okay with everything except the Toneblaster 2x12s. Everything tends to sound like fart out of those. The halfstacks you showed me sa bar sounded GREAT out of yr power amp setup tho. Weird lang nung front end na.

The key is with that hue knob. My power amp setup sounded like [gooey brown stuff] one time, kala ko kasi bypassed na lahat ng knobs pag naka efx loop ka like with laneys and marshalls. Pero sa Ibanez gumagana pa rin pala yung hue knob pag naka power amp. so i just had to dial in some presence with that. never though i could approximate a marchall jcm or a peavey 5150 with my power amp setup until I knew how to work that hue knob.

same with plugging on the front end. Tweak the hue.

Then there's that nice LV300T. Try that one.

[Bolt Thrower]

Tech 21 Trademark 300 - Sansamp tone plus the extra balls

I wonder why they stopped producing this one. Mukang sulit naman specs. Ginaya pa nga ng Behringer yan e. kaso 75w lang.

[teleclem]

Yeah thos Tech 21 amps are pretty decent too.

[skunkyfunk]

I wonder why they stopped producing this one. Mukang sulit naman specs. Ginaya pa nga ng Behringer yan e. kaso 75w lang.

One time the sound provider for the UP fair in 2009 had this onstage.  Not tubey exactly, but a smoother than sterile tone. 

[Al Nico Five]

yamaha jx series and roland jc.

agree..

[jamesplaysguitar]

For me the Modern Peavey Bandit is a good soild state for me good with pedals too. Another is a Fender ultimate chorus. Just used a ds-1 on it and it sounds massive. Great tones too.

[69Thursdays]

are the peavey bandits (112) available right now here in ph still worth the buy? i heard the new ones are worse than the older models.

any opinions on randall rg8040?

i just need a good practice amp that can give great tones so i won't lose the motivation to practice and that can also be gigged when needed.

[joel_marcelo]

are the peavey bandits (112) available right now here in ph still worth the buy? i heard the new ones are worse than the older models.

any opinions on randall rg8040?

i just need a good practice amp that can give great tones so i won't lose the motivation to practice and that can also be gigged when needed.

I traded my ZT Lunchbox to a most recent version of Bandit. Never been happy. Super lakas and ganda clean tone. If you check the front panel, andaming tonal options. It loves pedals too.

[stringman]

I'm not really that much of a tone chaser, but I do like the sound of my pedals through my current amp and I'm hoping to get a nice beater solid-state for gigs and only bring my SA-2 every once in a while. At the very least a 1x12 or something. I have my Jazz Chorus fix c/o my current amp.

The ZT looks VERY interesting, mejo out of budget lang.
The old Yamahas, I love those, especially those 4x12 ones that look like blackfaces but they're hard to find and will kill my back.
Ace Tone 2x12 on the internet, I'd probably love the sound but if it's made anywhere close to how my amp is it'll be heavy as hell too.
Still like those Peaveys, but are they light enough to carry around?
Fender Frontman, takes pedals well but I've read a lot of stories of them frying at shows. Any truth to that?

Dati, may plan ako na gumawa na lang ng SS live rig with a 4x12, an EHX power amp, and an AMT F-1.



What if I just get an EHX .44, an AMT F-1 and slap both on my board and straight into a cab?

Ace Tone eventually became Roland.