Looking for an SS amp for high gain

[Destroid]

I'm considering a new amp at the moment; I was going to go for a tube based solution like the new Jet City amps, which look great, but I really want to keep my options open in terms of Solid State since I want an amp that'll sound the same recorded as it does live.

My amps currently are a ZT Lunchbox, which is a great SS amp, and a Vox AC4TV, which is nice but a bit simple and doesn't do higher gain, I have it to do a specific sound really.

The Lunchbox is great but of course it has a small speaker and I'm not sure I have room for a large cabinet. It also doesn't have much gain on board, single coils barely break up with it, though I get a nice crunch with my Humbuckers.

I'd be looking for something maybe a bit Marshall-ish, I like the tone the JCM2000 can put out for metal, and ideally I really like the SLO kind of tone. I'd rather not have something Mesa-ish as I have a pedal for those kind of tones. I'd go for a lower gain amp that can go metal with a boost, depending on what it sounds like. I'd like to to sound kind of unique rather than trying too hard to be any of the amps I've mentioned.

I'd also like it to look kind of neat. I was looking into a Peavey Bandit but I'm not sure I like the looks of it. Also, I think it may be a bit lower end, if I can spend an extra €100-200 or so to get better quality I might feel better doing that.

I find the problem with "Good" SS amps is that they're often as expensive or more expensive, for example the TM series can get quite pricey, getting a tube amp of equivalent "loudness" as the TM75 would probably be a bit cheaper if I looked around.

An important part is that I want it to be relatively lightweight. I'm looking for a 1x12" combo, but some seem to weigh a lot more than others. Reverb and effects loop are also pretty important.

I'm also open to Hybrid suggestions(or full tube but this is an SS forum). I would go for a modeler, but it needs to be able to take pedals.

I know this is primarily a DIY forum but I need to ask somewhere that has a good knowledge of SS tech.

[phatt]

Hello Destroid,

Re this; "I really want to keep my options open in terms of Solid State since I want an amp that'll **sound the same recorded as it does live**."

My setup would qualifiy in that regard,

http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=1446.0

Of course you would have to build it DIY.
Phil.

[Anthrax Zygote]

The ampeg vh-140c and vh-150 are two amazing sounding amps, suffocation, eyehategod, and assück all used them and they sound good straight in with no maximizer or eq units necessary. Also try Randall out they make a ton of high gain ss amps that sound great. I've had a ton of high gain tube amps and I can tell you, for death metal or thrash or grind ss is the way to go.

[Destroid]

It's hard to find those old Ampegs.

I'd preferably like something portable, maybe with a 10" speaker. My AC4 puts out a surprising amount of bass and live there'll generally be 4x12s to plug into. For recording and jamming 10" is enough for me.

[dogbox]

Hello Destroid,

Re this; "I really want to keep my options open in terms of Solid State since I want an amp that'll **sound the same recorded as it does live**."

My setup would qualifiy in that regard,

http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=1446.0

Of course you would have to build it DIY.
Phil.

Just wondering exactly what you guys mean by the statement "sounds the same recorded as it does live"?? Maybe I'm reading this wrong and your talking about volume levels and how hard you can drive the amp at low levels in the home environment-if thats the case then ignore the following rant:)??. Any amp can fall into that category - its not up to the amp on its own -  its up to the mics used and the location you record in to an extent. I don't claim to be any expert but have been mucking around recording at home for the past 15 years and have recorded in studios since the early 80s. Sometimes you make a really crap amp sound better after its recorded (pretty rare though).

A trap that many fall into is that when you are playing with your band- jamming and at gigs etc, you kind have a picture in your head of your guitars sound. What you really hearing is your guitar in a "mix" with all the other instruments. You can sometimes get dissapointed when you first plug into your amp - stick mic up and hit record and get this thin sounding guitar track. Even when you know what your hearing is good in the room - sometimes it hard to get that same sound down on tape/hardrive. Theres heaps of info on that subject in other recording based forums (try homerecording.com for a start) - comes down to mic choice and placement and the space your recording in, effects, compression, EQing and good mixing. Don't be fooled into thinking you HAVE to have a really expensive big amp to get an expensive big recorded sound - it don't always work that way.

My preferred way to record my band is to do it live in our rehearsal space with carefully placed mics on cabinets, spinning amps away from each other to get some seperation. Its not perfect as you get bleed from the drums etc - but thats as close as you can get to your live sound - just record live. What you can't do is edit much or tweak a great deal as you have that "bleed" - so you have to get it right at the source. But as a trade-off you get all the energy which is sometimes missed in multitracking!!!

[phatt]

Hello dogbox,,
                 There is no magic,,
Once you get to a certain tone/feel/distorted effect then *From that very point in TIME you record that sound/tone* THEN you make sure you Replay/RE-amplify through a *Flat Frequency responce Amplifier* then it won't alter the sound you hear very much.

Whether you create that point in time with exotic expensive mic,s/ preamps/ digital
recording software or simple cheap resistive network tapped from the speaker and a $10 hifi graphic is kind of irrealivant,,, as long as the RIAA curve (or whatever) of the Playback is kept flat then it will indeed sound the same.

Try playback of your favorite recording back into a (NonLinier) Marshall and the whole
sound/tone will be dramatically different.
****Yes Absolutly you can make an amplifier sound the same recorded as live.***

I've just been trying to get this through to some folks on another forum.
Because some recording magizine goes to great depth explaining how to place mics to get the best recording,,, followed on the very next page with a full page spread of the very latest mojo sounding *Recording Preamp*,,,,, complete with glowing $$$ Valves $$$.
Sorry it's just such obvious crap marketing,,, I've lived to long to fall for the fakeness of this industry.

If the average Joe (never going to make it Rock/Metal band) gets into a studio thinks for
one minute that the sound teck is going to spend half the day just placing mic's in the
right place to capture the *Magic* of your overrated brandname guitar amp,,, then you have a lot to learn about HOW it happens that a crap band can be made to sound passable.

Capturing sound via microphones is old school and $$$time consuming.$$$

Any serious recording studio just taps a signal and manipulates it via equipment behind the scene,, and he is unlikely to tell average joe band members the real secrets of recording.

They will pop in couple of mics for room ambiance and just to make the kids think it's for
real but in this day and age mic's are only used if you are seriously famous and then the
studio geeks will go all out.

I kid you not the sound on that PhAbbSSAmp Demo link is very close to how it sounds through the Speaker.
Cheers, Phil.

[Destroid]

I'm thinking of getting a Peavey Bandit at the moment. The Crate VTXes sound nice but they don't have F/X Loops and are hard to find. I'm a bit wary of getting a Bandit because of how overused that amp has been, but I think the newer Transtube ones are both better and less overexposed.

[phatt]

It's probably a loosing battle trying to argue with the eternal wisdom of youth but here goes;

Get a blind fold,,, get someone to help you into a shop.
Now ask the man to plug into all the different amps and don't ask what you are playing through.

Just use your *God given ears* for *the purpose* they where *designed for*.

This industry is chocked full of *Name Droppers* and it is truely sick.
It's your money and amplifiers have a shocking depreciation value once they leave the shop.

50% of equipment sells on Brandname and gimiky looks and very few even come close to sounding brilliant. and I'm not just talking SS gear the valve gear is just as bad.

But then I'm obviously and old fella so my opinion will not count for much.
Phil.