Solid state amps. Thoughts?

WellyBlues · Post by **WellyBlues** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 9:54 am

3 handles? Solid Brick amp?

Molly · Post by **Molly** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 10:06 am

Four candles.

Single coil · Post by **Single coil** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 10:06 am

I am thoroughly confused

The Scarecrow · Post by **The Scarecrow** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 11:34 am

jimi wrote:Plenty of guys out there sounding great playing through SS amps, and stuff like the Katana is a huge step from the SS amps that were around when I started playing.

I had over 10 years playing through various solid state crap in the 90s / early 00s, that getting a ‘proper’ amp (Marshall TSL601) was like flicking a switch for me. Went from feeling vaguely dissatisfied every time I played with harsh / sterile tone, to a nice warm compressed, just breaking up sound that made me want to plug in and play.

I could probably replace my bell bird / 1974x with a katana and be perfectly happy gigging them, but that’s a totally different deal to something like a Fender M80, Lacey HCM, Peavey Bandit, or the Jansen SS rubbish we had to learn on ~25 years ago.

All of this really ^

I had a Peavey Blazer as my first practice amp and it wasn't great. For school and band gigs, I got a Princeton Chorus that I used in the 90's which I look back on fondly. By the late 90's I went to a Classic 30 and never looked back.

I've had the odd SS practice amp over the last 20 years, most notably a 90's Park with two gain controls that actually sounded decent, but in the 18 months of becoming a Katana owner, I've not really considered buying another valve amp again... and this from a guy who shelved a Splawn for the Katana head!

Why? Because it's smaller, more robust, easier to move, more flexible tonally and I can get it to sound within 85% of my Splawn at almost any volume. That's hard to argue with. The head having the build in speaker means I've got a practice amp to. I gigged on the weekend and got a few comments on how good my tone was out of the Katana from other band members, and this was going up against Zaulkin who's on the other side of the stage with an Axe FX and always sounds amazing.

I think it's hard to compare a modern digital SS amp to those old hanky jobs of the past, the tech has come a long way, enough to sway a former tube elitist like myself.

MrDINO · Post by **MrDINO** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 12:10 pm

One of my first amps was a pro 185 Fender. When I bought a Fender Rivera combo SS amps took a back row.

Mini Forklift · Post by **Mini Forklift** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:02 pm

My first amp was a Park G25R and I actually remember it sounding pretty good!

null_pointer · Post by **null_pointer** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:40 pm

I have owned a grand total of three, a Fender Deluxe 85 in the very early 90s, a Marshall Valvestate S80 in the late 90s and then finally a Katana (last year). Never enamoured enough to persist. I did have a JC-120 on loan about 20 years ago too, which while 'nice' in its own way certainly didn't tick my Grunge/Industrial desires at the time. I didn't know enough about amps in my late teens to snob SS over tubes, I just knew I didn't like them as much (maybe an attack thing? dunno).

Danger Mouse · Post by **Danger Mouse** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 3:15 pm

Single coil wrote:I am thoroughly confused

He wants handles for his forks.

Molly, what is that Vox? I thought it might be an AD120VT, but the control panel is wrong.

WellyBlues · Post by **WellyBlues** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 3:45 pm

Danger Mouse wrote:
Single coil wrote:I am thoroughly confused
He wants handles for his forks.

Molly, what is that Vox? I thought it might be an AD120VT, but the control panel is wrong.

ah, four candles, fork handles, forklift.

You're not in Blighty now Molly! Oh wait....

Mini Forklift · Post by **Mini Forklift** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 6:43 pm

Danger Mouse wrote:Molly, what is that Vox? I thought it might be an AD120VT, but the control panel is wrong.

Looks like one of the AC30VR's, I had one of these a while back

Molly · Post by **Molly** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:09 pm

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:
Danger Mouse wrote:Molly, what is that Vox? I thought it might be an AD120VT, but the control panel is wrong.
Looks like one of the AC30VR's, I had one of these a while back

That's it. Sounds like this.

handsoffmatt · Post by **handsoffmatt** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 10:44 pm

Thoughts on Solid State amps?

I own a SLO, which I love dearly, but would much rather take my Katana to the gig.

Post by **Slowy** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 5:20 am

handsoffmatt wrote:Thoughts on Solid State amps?

I own a SLO, which I love dearly, but would much rather take my Katana to the gig.

But you'd prefer your roadies to take the SLO instead?

jeremyb · Post by **jeremyb** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:41 am

https://www.musicradar.com/amp/news/rob ... tion-shows

SimonHirst · Post by **SimonHirst** » Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:02 am

Haven't played too many in my time. Got some great clean sounds from a Jazz Chorus. Personally though, I haven't experienced a SS that gives me the feel/sound I get with my OD pedals and a toob amp though. I don't doubt that there are some SS that do it very well nowadays though!

NZGuitars.com : Filling you with GAS since 2003

Solid state amps. Thoughts?

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