Muff's Modules & More

estragon · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:58 pm Post subject: Good Solid-State Amps

Cause fuck tubes, man. Mainly looking to play freeform guitar wreckage in the vein of Keiji Haino and the Dead C, will probably also be used for some more chromatic projects I have in the works. I already have a good little tube amp (Diason Tallboy) and an 80 watt Roland something (not a Cube or Jazz Chorus) which is just okay.

What I like:
Feedback
Early Breakup (depends on the amp)
Sufficient volume
Spring Reverb
Reliability
Portability (I don't really have the means to lug around a quaddie w/ 200w head)

What I dislike:
Lots of knobs
Built in FX/models/blergh
Creamy Clapton tones
Approval from Johnny DeMarco

Some good preamp/pedal recommendations for added dirt would also be greatly appreciated.

Just me · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:21 pm Post subject:

I'll get killed for this, but I like Peavey for transistor amps. (Older ones without all the digital crap.) A Deuce or Artist come to mind first.
An old MXR Distortion makes things very dirty. Taping a couple strips of parchment paper to the speaker cone will really get 'em buzzing.

dualmono · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:29 pm Post subject:

Check out the Lunchbox.
http://www.ztamplifiers.com/products/

Christopher Winkels · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:43 pm Post subject:

I used to love the '80s Roland Cube series amps back when I actually tried to play guitar.

I have no idea if it's rose-tinted nostalgia glasses or actual affinity for the sound, but I rather liked mine . The chorus circuits on them were fantastic and the overdrive wasn't bad either.

stk · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:51 pm Post subject:

How 'bout a Roland JC-120 (I have an old one, dunno about the reissues)?
Bulletproof reliable, great spring 'verb, enough volume to compete with almost anything and still take your fucking head off.

sduck · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:57 pm Post subject:

There are something like 9,583,583 kinds of solid state guitar amps. And some of them are even pretty good. You should be able to find one that you like fairly easily - just go to any guitar store and try a bunch of them. I had one of those auld peavey things justme mentioned, played it in bands and it sounded ok. The second guitarist in one of my bands had a music man amp that kicked ass. Yamaha had a line of solid state amps back in the late 70's that absolutely ruled. And never forget Sunn amps. The Crate powerblock is awesome.

estragon · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:19 pm Post subject:

sduck · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:54 pm Post subject:

Ya, that peavey is of the vintage that justme and I were talking about. That may even be the model I had - can't remember, it was 1976 that I had it - that was a few years ago.

And since you uttered his name you must submit to your punishment.

And just when you thought you were safe - there's 2 of them!

Just me · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:03 pm Post subject:

I could make a simple demo of the sound of one those old Peavey's, but I'm not sure I could suffer the barbs that would ensue about my 'playing'. (or complete lack of abilty to do so.)
Pawn shops (Or whatever they are called down under) are a gold mine for amps. Around here, you can expect to pay abot 20-40cents on the dollar for a 'name' amp and 20 to 50 dollars for any no-name amp.
Fender Princeton Chorus 212's are around $100 at any given time and sound pretty good. Roland JC-120's are always around $400. Kustom Amps are always inexpensive compared to Sunn or Vox.

tuj · Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:43 am Post subject:

Fender Squire Frontman 15R. Spring reverb, dual gains plus master, 3 band eq. Surprisingly loud. I used to piss off a bandmate who had a Marshall half-stack because this little thing was louder. Very light.

My fav cheap solid state available new is the Line 6 Spider IV. Pretty good little amp.

Morley · Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:49 am Post subject:

Session Sessionette is cool.
I love my old HH VS Musician. Massively loud. Early breakup? No but it has an overdrive option which is pretty cool..
These were used by tons of artists in their day..

indexofmetals · Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 6:57 pm Post subject:

an older peavey and if you're going for the sound of those guys ( thumbs up

) get your guitar tech to have a look at it and tell him to make it bullet proof. I had an old peavey (used a jpn jazzmaster) when I lived near Windsor, Canada and I continually destroyed the amp doing the type of sound I think you're aiming for and eventually I showed the guitar guy the type of thing I was doing to the amp and he set it right and it never blew again.

btw, take a listen to flying saucer attack

Tall Midget · Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:49 pm Post subject:

+1 on the ZT Lunchbox, those amps are LOUD. Tech 21 amps are nice too.

stk · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:28 am Post subject:

estragon · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:53 am Post subject:

Yes and yes. Excellent establishment (Swop Shop, not Unimelb).

stk · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:20 am Post subject:

denim dan · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject:

best solid state amps ever in my opinion, and i've played quite a few (in addition to the tubies of course!)

whether "bass" model or "guitar" model, they absolutely rule!

and stay away from the new production "acoustic" brand heads and amps. i'm not sure what they do well other than coffee shop struggling artist bass tone, but they are a far cry from their vintage counterparts.

JRock · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:04 am Post subject:

My Fender Deluxe 1 x 12 is my workhorse. It's awesome for metal and hard rock. It has clean and distortion. No fancy shit. Distortion is 1 On/Off switch, Gain, Volume, Bass/Mid/High.

It has a spring-reverb that I never use as well.

It sounds so good I don't use a pedal.

It's so loud I've never actually turned it up all the way. oops

And it's portable enough that I used to carry it on my shoulder, as well as my guitar, to the bar about 8 blocks away for open-mic nights. (YMMV)

I get everything from nasally punk to Bottom-Heavy Chugga-Chugga.

Danotranto · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:30 pm Post subject:

sunn beta lead

these are legendary for being awesome and crushingly loud, lightweight too, kinda rare though

http://sunn.ampage.org/site/museum/betalead/

denim dan · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 11:01 pm Post subject:

the sunn beta lead, unless you're going to be CRUSHING it in larger venues, really needs an attenuator. that thing is so loud. it sounds like shit though (imho) when it's not dimed. and if you do use a sunn beta and crush it, please get one of these and take it next level.

de_raaf · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:01 am Post subject:

i have an old yamaha b212, cheap, loud ,kind like fendertwin, in controls etc
good solid state amp from the 70's

Danotranto · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:21 pm Post subject:

I thought attenuators were only useful with tube amps?

denim dan · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:05 pm Post subject:

"attenuator" might have been a little misleading there. that word is specifically used in the guitar marketing world to describe something that lets you pump the glow through the tubes while keeping a reasonable output level. i should have said attenuation, generally speaking.

while on most ss amps an attenuator or brake or power soak is useless because of ss output circuits, on a few they really help the cause. the sunn amps in particular. think of it as a secondary (or tertiary) master volume mixer control. the amp head sends to the speakers and the speakers distort, etc. to produce a sound that you either want, or don't want when it's really loud. using an attenuator in between with an ss amp, you can "trick" the system into producing something you want. obviously an attenuator on a built-in ss combo amp would be pretty useless.

case in point: i played and toured all over N.A. for several years in a few bands, "punk" genre i suppose you could say. we would rarely get our amps mic'd, much of it was diy showspace type stuff. before one of our last tours my sound city 120 head took a total shit, so i got a sunn concert lead instead to drive my ampeg v4 cab.

with the sunn cranked i could get this blistering tone that had a HUGE amount of attack in it, which i loved. but it would drown out everything but the cymbals. this attack didn't really exist at lower volumes, the tonal nature was kind of the same at low vol, but the sonic quality was greatly diminished. it sounded farty. few days later my pal gave me like some $10 volume box attenuator pedal, and that absolutely solved the problem.

i could get the same tone, with all the color and expression i wanted from my playing, at a reasonable enough volume.

a volume pedal would work, also. i didn't have luck with only the volume pots on the guitar though.

Tubeampguy · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:

bump!

See my screen name eek!

sduck · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:20 pm Post subject:

There's nothing in this thread for you then, move along

There are plenty of tube amp threads - feel free to sing along!

Nuuj · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:28 pm Post subject:

I use a Gallien Krueger Backline 600 into Ampeg cabinets for both my Bass and my modular. I have a friends who uses it or guitar. Great SS distortion.

Tubeampguy · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:35 am Post subject:

Kent · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:47 am Post subject:

My favorite in the "If I could only keep just one" vein is the Crate VTX200S. An outstanding amplifier in many, many ways.

sonicwarrior · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:20 am Post subject: Re: Good Solid-State Amps

I have a PCL Vintage Amp Stagemaster 75 which I'm using with a Tube Town 1x12" box with a Jensen NeoDym. It has been developed by Jürgen Rath who is quite well known for his amp designs in Germany.