Solid state Amps

[TMG 03]

Anybody here gigging with SS amps like JC120 etc ??

Or is that just devil talk these days? I ran my pathfinder vox at a couple of acoustic gigs last year. But I need more horse power for electric. A JC might be what I need.

[jeremyb]

A ZT Club is a nice, light, portable option, sold mine to my bandmate who loves it, 200W (more like 80W peak), 1x12 combo, Ryan from www.ampshop.co.nz will sort you out

JC120 is a pretty sweet amp tho, always wanted one

[Single coil]

I run my acoustic through my bass amp, works surprisingly well. Though, even that has two preamp valves.

[TMG 03]

A ZT Club is a nice, light, portable option, sold mine to my bandmate who loves it, 200W (more like 80W peak), 1x12 combo, Ryan from http://www.ampshop.co.nz will sort you out

JC120 is a pretty sweet amp tho, always wanted one

Thanks, totally forgot about the ZT.

[Slowy]

Did it Saturday with a ZT Lunchbox and 2x12. Could have been worse, much worse.

[Edwards]

I use a Crate GT212. Went from a laney head and quad, to that.
I personally think that how good your guitar is, has a higher proportion of influence over your sound, than the amp you use, but that is another whole discussion in itself.
Anyway for a cheap amp a GT212 does wonders. Has some kind of tube emulator in it, has 2 overdrive channels instead of 1, footswitch for all 3 channels, and a wide variation of sound you can get out of it. For the $ it has a nice phat sound.

[rickenbackerkid]

I’m a believer that the fingers make the tone more than anything else, and if you take the time to work with any piece of gear, you can get good results. I recently saw a 60 year old Maori gentleman tear the roof of a country pub playing rock covers with his 80’s Ibanez Strat copy, Peavey Transtube and Boss OS-2.
His ‘rock’ tone was miles better than any rock tone I’ve coaxed out of my US-made tube amp.

So yes I’d go to a good quality SS amp, I’d put in some time to make sure I was getting the best out of it, and I’d get stuck into making music.

[handsoffmatt]

The new Blackstar ID Series stuff is SS and reasonably impressive!

http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/idseries/

[handsoffmatt]

I’m a believer that the fingers make the tone more than anything else, and if you take the time to work with any piece of gear, you can get good results. I recently saw a 60 year old Maori gentleman tear the roof of a country pub playing rock covers with his 80’s Ibanez Strat copy, Peavey Transtube and Boss OS-2.
His ‘rock’ tone was miles better than any rock tone I’ve coaxed out of my US-made tube amp.

Fingers are absolutely a part of the equation..... but I think it's equally just the experience with gear, and knowing how it works. Great tone can be got in many surprising places when one knows where to look and how to use it. The old Transtube Peavey stuff was always surprisingly good for Rock tones. Boss OS-2 is an incredible pedal with the right rig, and an utterly shit one with the wrong rig.

[Delayman]

I’m a believer that the fingers make the tone more than anything else, and if you take the time to work with any piece of gear, you can get good results. I recently saw a 60 year old Maori gentleman tear the roof of a country pub playing rock covers with his 80’s Ibanez Strat copy, Peavey Transtube and Boss OS-2.
His ‘rock’ tone was miles better than any rock tone I’ve coaxed out of my US-made tube amp.

So yes I’d go to a good quality SS amp, I’d put in some time to make sure I was getting the best out of it, and I’d get stuck into making music.

To back up that "tone in the fingers comment" Last night I had an emergency call from a guy playing at a Sunday night church service, his all in one HD??? was cutting in an out, so I dropped my pedalboard in (tubescreamer, porkloin, dd5s etc). He's never used individual pedals before (!young!) but within minutes, he had a sound really similar to his normal tone which is quite nice. I was amazed.

Back to the original topic, I used to use a jc120 and loved it, but also have owned a Marshall Jubilee and loved it. For me the key difference seems to be in "feel" but I've gone a step further away now, and am playing with no amp, just a sansamp british pedal. The big deal for me was trying to get something that sounds tonally consistent through the volume range, the jubilee sounded great at high volume, but not when quiet - and I didn't get to roar very often! The 'no amp' thing feels a bit weird, but means I can run my pedalboard through a keyboard amp, or the pa, or even my stereo and get a consistent sound. But then again I am not a pro player, so if I was always playing loud I would be tempted to get a nice valve amp again.

[mike]

I used a Jansen Mini-Brute from 1980 to 2008 in small venues up to 300 people playing old time dance, jazz, blues and rock. I miss it a lot. Various bits of front end gear to get a tasteful distortion. Reliable as all get out.

I presently I have a Vox VT20+ which has a tube in the output stage. I wish they had amps like that when I started out.

I would love a JC120, but the excess wattage and weight and cost just don't work out for me.

[Clarky]

Tech21 TradeMark 60. Gorgeous tones, and a DI for the PA built in.

[bluesbass]

I recently saw a 60 year old Maori gentleman tear the roof of a country pub playing rock covers with his 80’s Ibanez Strat copy, Peavey Transtube and Boss OS-2.
His ‘rock’ tone was miles better than any rock tone I’ve coaxed out of my US-made tube amp.

Billy TK Snr?

[GrantB]

SS amps ....

...devil talk ... .

I meant to say earlier - banned.

[TMG 03]

Ha, I would love to get back to my 6l6 days , but I am finding a cheap SS amp does 80% of what I need at 20% of the weight.