Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted September 13, 2006 Moderators Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Chris Gansz +1 for the Vox. I have the Pathfinder 15 without the reverb and it sounds really good! I had the Pathfinder 15R, no frills amp, superb cleans like everybody said, very uncoloured and neutral and a pleasure to play on.......although it was that good its now discontinued on the UK market:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members neal73 Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 I use a SS Vox Venue Lead 100 - it's from the mid '80s. Very nice clean sound and loud enough to strip paint! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by vmanmurph I'll say + 1 for the Tubeworks. Frank after 15 years its still in my rack:thu: The Peavey is going on its second filter cap replacement:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Treborklow I don't know if it's the best, but I auditioned every SS amp I could find before deciding on the Tech 21 Trademark 60. It is everything I want in a SS amp. Gives me any sound I need. Definitely. I also like the little 30watt Behringer Vintager GM110, which is a very close, uhm...."tribute" to the Tech 21 stuff, but costs buttons. Fab sound as well - i was gonig to buy two of these and A/B them before I got a Valvetronix instead.Roland Cubes are all SS aren't they? They'll win no beauty contests, but the sounds are great stuff. If only they did a Cube 30 that looked like a Tweed 50s Fender!!For clean tones, the Jazz Chorus is hard to beat. I SS amps.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by One-armed Alec You could be right... They call it a session ette. but it has big, bouncy, pink BALLS. I'm planning to fit some of the protone thingies to a project guitar or two in future.... I'd love to try one of his SS amps out of curiosity - if they sound half as good as their reputation..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Carati Too bad Behringers don't have spring reverb...they would be the the perfect SS amps. Theyre copies of the Tech21 line. At that price, though, you could afford to get a really dsecent reverb pedal, like the Danelectro one (which IIRC is a genuine spring, not a digital). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by leopardstar not much marshall love, huh? i love my valvestate 100 watt 2/12 combo:thu: I remember those, yeah.... The one I remember being the amp to have amoung fledgling guitar players when i was at school was the 8080. Either that or a Peavy Bandit! Those Marshalls weren't bad, though i was put off them big time when it came time to buy (ended up with a Fender Performer 1000 - a great fun amp to own if you gig and/or your parents' house is detached..... now I live in a flat, it had to go! ) because a sales guy went on about how they were "great for a Guns n' Roses type sound" - to which I responded - "Damned if i want to soundl ike that wanker Slash...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by n0fx My friend has an old Fender Stage 100 SS amp that has OK OD channel and a great clean channel. Yeah, those were the second generation of the Performer series, they renamed 'em Stage.... Great gigging amps - the Belfast scene used to be full of them! I wish I'd kept mine in a way - it was mint, too! - but it was just too damn loud for home use for me. The OD is very useable (I recall them being considered to mix really well in a live situ), though it does benefit from a good sounding OD - I'd love to have the chance to fire up a Bad Monkey in one of them! The clean channel was everything that you could possibly want in a sparkly clean Fender sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 I love these threads. Both my amps are modelers but I don't tend to use the effects modeling on them much. The Behringer GMX212 has analog cleans and overdrives that are just right for my sound. My Line6 Spider 112 is a superb backup for it. The clean is wonderful and I get a nice clean tone that breaks up as I dig in from the blues amp on red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Listerine Jones If you don't live in an apartment, condo, or have roommates, the Roland Cube 60 kicks ass. Yeah, that's where the Vox Valvetronix stuff really clinches it, with the ability to crank down the power - I play my AD120VT at 2x1watt most all of the time at home, and you wouldn't believe how loud that can seem in my lounge when I crank the Marshall models - you'd swear it was morel ike ten watts coming through those 12" speakers..... I love the Vox amps, though they're out here, being hybrid. That aside, though, IMO the choice between those and the Cubes is largely a personal one based on features and aesthetics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by RUExp? Considering you can buy a Peavey ValveKing for the same price as a Peavey Bandit there's no reason not to buy tube. I've got both and the bandit only really sounds good at lower volume. What sounds good is subjective, though.... and as has been said above, the notion that SS is "cheap" is an artificial one. The only reason why most cheap amps are SS and expensive amps tend to be valve is because that's what the (ridiculously conservative, IMO) guitar-market demands. I mean, if you prefer tubes, cool, I like em too (though I chose a hybrid modeller as I like the sound as well as tubes, but it suits my needs better), but I wouldn't agree that tubes are automatically "better" than SS, hence I don't think you can say simple lack of price difference is a reason to go tube over SS.... Sonci properties aside, SS is, IMO undeniably more reliable, less hassle (it either works or it doesn't), and cheaper to run (not spending fifty quid revalving it every few years). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 23miles Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 There are a lot of great sounding solid state amps. Fender made and makes a bunch: Princeton Chorus, Stage series, Performers. Ampeg mad a few too. Many people in HC rave about the Ampeg VH-140C or SS-70C. The Vox Valvetronics are awfully nice as well. You need to play a bunch and make up your own mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 I'm not so high on the Vox Pathfinder. A kid in my dorm has the 15R which I jam on sometimes. It's got a nice clean sound with spacious reverb but the distortion doesn't sound good at all. I don't know how much those things cost, but if you are about tone at all for a bedroom amp my Peavey Classic 20 sounds a million times better and it only cost $225 used on eBay. I had a Fender Princeton 65 awhile back...$265, solid state 65W 1x12" with reverb and two channels. That thing worked well for me for a long time. Band practice, little high school gigs, everything. It could hang in there with a decent clean and overdrive. I got a lot of bang for the buck with that amp, I ended up selling it to a US Army service guy overseas I hope he's enjoying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members septopus Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by RUExp? Considering you can buy a Peavey ValveKing for the same price as a Peavey Bandit there's no reason not to buy tube. I've got both and the bandit only really sounds good at lower volume. Didn't care for the ValveKings I played, tube or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members santos Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 I'm by no means a tube snob, but my main amp has been a Delta Blues after gigging with a TM60 for probably 5 years. While I do like the DB better, I pulled the TM60 out for a jam a few weeks ago, and it really sounded good on both channels. I'd been thinking about selling it, but now I'm not sure, as it's a nice backup. I've played various Fender SS amps that I thought were pretty good, the Roland Cube amps are really good, IMO, the Cyberdeluxe has some killer clean tones, as well. Lots of possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorganBucks Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Nice looking great sounding and cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Eye_Of_The_Liger Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly Yngwie Malmsteen myself, but I think it's stupid to blame your equipment for that. That's like saying, "This mic is terrible at hiding the fact that I can barely sing, especially when it's turned up!" If you don't want people hearing your mistakes, maybe you should work on your technique. It's stupid for you to not understand that was a self-effacing joke my man. Get a clue before accusing someone of being stupid.Eghad!But besides the fact that I was making a self effacing joke, I was also stating that the JC120 does has so much clarity, that it really does let all your flubs shine through with great clarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by metallica_00 I'm not so high on the Vox Pathfinder. A kid in my dorm has the 15R which I jam on sometimes. It's got a nice clean sound with spacious reverb but the distortion doesn't sound good at all. I don't know how much those things cost, but if you are about tone at all for a bedroom amp my Peavey Classic 20 sounds a million times better and it only cost $225 used on eBay. You're comparing apples and oranges there my man. If you read the positive posts on Pathfinders, you'll find that most contain a reference to their overdrive/distortion being on the weak side. It's the cleans where that amp is astounding, but again, that's just that it sounds so much better than what you should expect from an amp that costs just a little over a hundred bucks, is only 15watts of solid state, with a mere 8" speaker. Comparing it to a Peavey Classic ain't fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eye_Of_The_Liger Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by metallica_00 I'm not so high on the Vox Pathfinder. A kid in my dorm has the 15R which I jam on sometimes. It's got a nice clean sound with spacious reverb but the distortion doesn't sound good at all... It took me a while to finally get a good distortion tone out of mine. For my purposes, the key was to set the bass to about 9 o'clock, the master vol at around 8 o'clock, and put the gain at 12 o'clock, treble to taste. That gives me a nice moderate distortion, on top of which I use an OD pedal if I need more of the rock. Perfect for bedroom practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by Eye_Of_The_Liger I use an OD pedal if I need more of the rock. Perfect for bedroom practice. Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by metallica_00 I had a Fender Princeton 65 awhile back...$265, solid state 65W 1x12" with reverb and two channels. That thing worked well for me for a long time. Band practice, little high school gigs, everything. It could hang in there with a decent clean and overdrive. I got a lot of bang for the buck with that amp, I ended up selling it to a US Army service guy overseas I hope he's enjoying it. I often wish I had made my first amp a Princeton. They were very nice. I'd probably still have it if I had bought it first. My dumb luck, I walked into a store to find an amp that didn't carry Fenders. Walked out with a Sunn Stinger 60 for $150. It was sterile sounding and couldn't play loud without distorting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sonnilon Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by GAS Man Let's leave out the hybrids for this.If possible it would also be nice to leave out the modelers.Just amps that are all SS and do great resonant deep cleans and have good overdrive tone.Many years ago I would have nominated the Peavey Bandit as one choice, but the following generation of Bandit didn't sound as good to me as the one I bought for my stepson in the early 90's. Depth is sort of not an option with solid state amps. =( Whatever you do, AVOID the Peavey XXL. I have one, and the only amps that sound worse are Crates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by GAS Man .............So the point is, sure I own no less than 5 amps with tubes in them, but it'd be nice to have a combo amp that comes close but with no worries. Something that won't start to fritz out............ I understand the desire to have something bullet proof, but there is a reason why more than 90% of professional electric guitar recordings still use tubes. And, often, even when the original track was not recorded with a tube amp, the sound engineer will send the track through a tube preamp to color the sound with some warmth. While I agree that a solid state amp can be useable and practical, I just find them very uninspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fernabulax Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 i like my behringer gm108 - gets pretty loud with replacement jensen mod speaker. rip of a trademark 10, but lots cheaper. they make a 1x10 30watt combo, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted September 13, 2006 Members Share Posted September 13, 2006 Originally posted by GAS Man You're comparing apples and oranges there my man. If you read the positive posts on Pathfinders, you'll find that most contain a reference to their overdrive/distortion being on the weak side. It's the cleans where that amp is astounding, but again, that's just that it sounds so much better than what you should expect from an amp that costs just a little over a hundred bucks, is only 15watts of solid state, with a mere 8" speaker.Comparing it to a Peavey Classic ain't fair. I wouldn't say it's a totally unfair comparison. When I look at them, they're both small, inexpensive 15W amps that fit under my bed. The cleans on the Pathfinders are pretty good, but that's only half of what an amp should do (this is coming from a person who spends quite a bit of time playing clean). The Classic 20 is an amp with the same footprint that can a LOT more for a modest increase in price. I know this is a thread dedicated to solid state amps, but I don't care what the guts of the amp are - good sound is good sound whether it's digital or all-tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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