Hi Number_47,
I didn't see any replies so I will give a try. Going to local live shows and see how other guitarists get their sound, along with getting their opinions, is a good way to decide what to buy. A side benefit is that it helps them have an audience.
I have seen a lot of live shows in the past 3 years at local venues and it is rare to see an SS amp (other than the bass player's amps). Usually the guitarist carries in a tube amp of some kind, so I guess the tube reliability & maintenance issues are acceptable to most players. The worst SS amp I saw used by a working musician (just a local beginner) was a Line6 Spider - it was overloaded and very buzzy. The most recent (that I noticed) was an old SG System, but the player was just using it for "clean" and his sound wasn't very prominent in the mix so I couldn't judge the amp well. There have probably been some Peaveys and some Marshall SS in some shows but I don't know the models well so I can't say for sure if they were SS. Probably only 5% of the guitarists in local bands & regional bands use SS at the place I go, where the music is usually alternative / classic rock / rock-rap / lite country. I see mostly tube Fenders and Mesas, with perhaps as much investment in pedals as the amp.
The discussion, "Solid-state guitar amplifier history -thread" http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=469.0 has a good list of various SS amps, including old ones.
Try attending live shows of other bands, and when you see and hear something that is attractive, ask questions of the guitarist after the show. If you are settled on SS and serious about performance I would recommend buying a good quality new or used SS amp rather than trying to build. You don't say enough about how you use the amp (effects pedals, music style, how many guitarists in the band, rhythm versus lead, reverb, whether it is miked to the house PA) to answer better.
Once I thought I saw a "home built" amp in a performance but found it was really some small company's effort - it just looked very crude. I forgot the amp's name - it was tube amp.
I didn't see any replies so I will give a try. Going to local live shows and see how other guitarists get their sound, along with getting their opinions, is a good way to decide what to buy. A side benefit is that it helps them have an audience.
I have seen a lot of live shows in the past 3 years at local venues and it is rare to see an SS amp (other than the bass player's amps). Usually the guitarist carries in a tube amp of some kind, so I guess the tube reliability & maintenance issues are acceptable to most players. The worst SS amp I saw used by a working musician (just a local beginner) was a Line6 Spider - it was overloaded and very buzzy. The most recent (that I noticed) was an old SG System, but the player was just using it for "clean" and his sound wasn't very prominent in the mix so I couldn't judge the amp well. There have probably been some Peaveys and some Marshall SS in some shows but I don't know the models well so I can't say for sure if they were SS. Probably only 5% of the guitarists in local bands & regional bands use SS at the place I go, where the music is usually alternative / classic rock / rock-rap / lite country. I see mostly tube Fenders and Mesas, with perhaps as much investment in pedals as the amp.
The discussion, "Solid-state guitar amplifier history -thread" http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=469.0 has a good list of various SS amps, including old ones.
Try attending live shows of other bands, and when you see and hear something that is attractive, ask questions of the guitarist after the show. If you are settled on SS and serious about performance I would recommend buying a good quality new or used SS amp rather than trying to build. You don't say enough about how you use the amp (effects pedals, music style, how many guitarists in the band, rhythm versus lead, reverb, whether it is miked to the house PA) to answer better.
Once I thought I saw a "home built" amp in a performance but found it was really some small company's effort - it just looked very crude. I forgot the amp's name - it was tube amp.