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Boutique SOLID STATE amps? What are the best SS amps out there?


Soeru

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What the title says. What are some of the greatest SS amps ever made, particularly ones that sport a nice distorted channels? I can only think of the newer Tech 21 amps(which ain't expensive at all) and then the old Roland JC's and of course the Ampeg VH/SS series. What are some other high end/high quality SS amps?

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Oh yeah I forgot Randalls, what other high end SS amps are out there?

 

 

There are quite a few s/s amps on the market. But most of those amps still use tubes for the preamp section. Then the power amp is typically MOSFET.

 

I know, I know....not really what your looking for. But I just wanted to bring that up.

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Im gonna say the old Marshall VS's are VG as well as the cleans of the JC-120 and for newer SS amps the XXL is capable of some lovely tube like tones with the right speakers.

In the 60's and 70's Im thinking the best SS amps were Roland's

and Musicman amps. Lab series was another decent mfg as well as Earth and Kustom. And if you can find an old Selmer SS amp they are pretty good as well.

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You wont find too many booteek ss amps but Im really digging the line 6 hd-147. Just yesterday at practise I told the guys I got a Framus Cobra and they dont even care, they said like like the line 6 so why change anything? I tend to agree but its nice to switch things around.

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Hell if were throwing modelers in the SS mix than hands down the Vetta II is king with the HD 147 close behind. The Vetta has Hundreds of amps, cabs and effects to mix and match,Two amps at once, etc. Its hard to beat.

Lots of tweaking required though.

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Hell if were throwing modelers in the SS mix than hands down the Vetta II is king with the HD 147 close behind. The Vetta has Hundreds of amps, cabs and effects to mix and match,Two amps at once, etc. Its hard to beat.

Lots of tweaking required though.

 

 

Quantity over quality IMO. To me Yamaha DG, Vox Valvetronix and H&K Zentera/Zenamp always sounded better than Line6's offerings and are also a lot easier to use.

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Another vote for the Peavey XXL. I love mine to death. Honestly, depending on what you're after, I have 3 solid state amps that are the best for my style. I have a Crate GX-1200H that does early Van Halen really well, and I have a Behringer GMX-1200H that has some great dark sounding Mesa-style distortion. And the XXL has some killer crunch and almost too much gain!

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I can't believe, with all the vast expertise that is Harmony Central :rolleyes: (yes...I used the dreaded eye roll!)...nobody mentioned:

 

Gallien-Krueger.

 

 

I have never really heard a valid complaint. I tried a Linebacker 100 combo right next to a Carvin 60 watt tube combo and it stomped all over it with great cleans, smooth distortion and extreme but clear volume.

 

Pearce is another good quality SS amp...but my money goes to G-K.

 

Other Honorable mention:

 

Laney

Legend

Crate

 

 

 

The Music man amp I tried was nto all solid state.

 

 

Yes...I said CRATE! They may not hold up to extreme volumes...but damn if that G120c head I had wasn't one of the funnest amps I've ever had.

 

Also tried a couple newer ones at the store. Again...a very fun...but non-stage worthy amp. Depends on the volume totally. Low volumes they work great.

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