Newcomer to the Solid State Game... Questions

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hey, I'm new to solid state amps.  I've always been a tube guy, but after buying an old Jordan Trouper J 120, my opinion of solid state amps changed.  A really cool sounding amp, great tone and a unique sound.  Just a little lacking on volume. 

I just got a Tech 21 Trademark 60 and I'm really into this amp, great sound, tone, everything.  Very deceiving this amp, sounds very tubey. 

Well I'm the kind of guitarist that likes to tweak, but i'm not sure if the fundamentals of solid state amps translates to valve amps.

First, will a clean boost really do anything for a solid state amp? 

Second, will a speaker upgrade get any good results?  Not a fan of the stock speaker, and although it sounds good I can't help but think a better speaker wouldn't improve it further.  was thinking of an eminence wizard

Any advice or tips are really welcome.  Thinking this amp is going to replace my fender silverface twin for shows.  Lighter, more reliable, and I can get a great sound at stage volume.

[teemuk]

First, will a clean boost really do anything for a solid state amp?

Yes, as the name implies it will give a gain boost. What the gain boost then does really depends on the amp.

For some amps the clean boost is just a clean boost, for some it's a way to overdrive them since the gain is pumped up, and for some it's a way to generate very hideous overdrive when things that shouldn't be overdriven get overdriven. The effect also varies depending on amp's settings, such as those of "gain" or "volume" since a boost pedal can never increase the headroom of your amp but is still a boost, which means things will get overdriven once you run out of headroom. For example, diming the master volume and engaging the boost will not "clean boost" it will just overdrive things further. You get the point.

You really just have to try the thing and see how it works with the particular amps you use it with. It's not a predictable and always identical result per each amp, like it isn't with tube amps either.

Second, will a speaker upgrade get any good results?  Not a fan of the stock speaker, and although it sounds good I can't help but think a better speaker wouldn't improve it further.

Can't say for sure if they're "good" but it'll definitely give results. Speakers can shape the overall response drastically and if you find one working towards your preferences then yes, it will provide good results.

[J M Fahey]

I think I understand what you are pointing at here.
Tubes are wonderful distortion generators.
The smoothest distortion: detailed, not buzzy, compressed in a "good" way, comes from power tube overdrive, so in that case, a "clean boost" means having them do more of these desirable things, without buzzy distortion added by the pedal itself (if it were a distortion pedal)
Now, typical SS power amps provide plain square wave clipping, not very interesting (and that's an understatement) so you gain nothing by doing so.
And as Teemu said, it might overdrive some preamp stage, in a buzzy, farty, ugly way.
I think it pays more to go all the way and design or build a good distortion pedal, and feed its "ready to use" sound to the (clean) SS amp, for further amplification into deafening levels.

[Mattxorz]

^bump.

In my (albeit relatively limited experience), boosting the input signal on a solid state amp has not generated positive results. I've had 5 or 6 solid state amps in my time, (a Fender Frontman 212R, a crappy Behringer, a Marshall MG (bad choice), a Peavey Bandit, a Randall RG200, and a few low wattage practice amps). Have you ever had to fart after eating Thai curry? On a clean channel of most of those amps, a boost like an Ibanez Tubescreamer seems to provide that sharp farty feeling sound. I have had good luck boosting distorted channels though; that Randall specifically, becomes much more defined with a boost on the lead channel.

+1 to the distortion stompbox + clean channel, if that's your thing. I seem to waver on my opinions of distortion pedals. I've never found one that could match the thickness of my 6505's lead channel distortion, but then again, most amps can't either. That said, you can't beat the clarity of well dialed in solid state amplification.