who's is the best SS head?

[mainscow650]

I hope you can help me here but im looking to buy an SS head to try and get near a big valve tone. I have two  fender pro185 combos which i run in stereo and get a great loud sound which i love, but i would like to find a big ss head with a similar sound. I play v loud rock and tend to get my amps very hot. Ive drilled holes in the 185's chassis to cool them but i can get cross feeding across channels etc and even what i expect is thermal shutdown on a carlsboro nutone combo i had. i would like a Marshall mode four but in england thats getting into valve money. Im sure the makers think if they are going to make a very high quality ss amp then the cost could get too high so you might as well buy valve. The kustom quad looks like a big valve head are these any good? I saw Ty Tabor from king x play through a yamaha head once it sounded great is there one ss amp that is superior to the rest in your view. I suppose Im trying to find the holy grail and spend little money but the fender 185 has got it !!! but Im warned not to try and add speakers or mess with the output as the circuitry isnt heavy enough so if i could find an ss head with that old classic rock sound and loud i would be happy thanks Martin

[Jack1962]

If you can find one try the Peavey Musician 400 , I have one they have more than  enough power(200 watts) and have great tone. plus ya can't go wrong with a old peavey.

                                        Rock On

[nashvillebill]

If I understand your message correctly, you're in England, correct?  And you don't have a lot of money to spend.  But you want a)lots of volume, b) a great tone. and c) reliability.  Well, here in the States I would agree with the "used Peavey" answer but I doubt they're as cheap in England.

Question:  why do you need so much volume?  Most clubs--and audiences--can't really stand that much volume, not to mention the fact you'll soon be deaf!!!  (Please wear hearing protection!!)

Today's bands don't usually use insanely loud amps anymore, on some tours the big Marshall stacks are just there for looks.  They'll run a small amp, mic'd, into the PA and let the sound reinforcement system take care of the volume.  Or use a preamp then DI into the board.

However, if you're absolutely determined to pursue the massive volume route, get your cash together and just start hitting the used equipment shops.

[Jack1962]

If I understand your message correctly, you're in England, correct?  And you don't have a lot of money to spend.  But you want a)lots of volume, b) a great tone. and c) reliability.  Well, here in the States I would agree with the "used Peavey" answer but I doubt they're as cheap in England.

Question:  why do you need so much volume?  Most clubs--and audiences--can't really stand that much volume, not to mention the fact you'll soon be deaf!!!  (Please wear hearing protection!!)

Today's bands don't usually use insanely loud amps anymore, on some tours the big Marshall stacks are just there for looks.  They'll run a small amp, mic'd, into the PA and let the sound reinforcement system take care of the volume.  Or use a preamp then DI into the board.

However, if you're absolutely determined to pursue the massive volume route, get your cash together and just start hitting the used equipment shops.

ROFL-Really I use 2-100W stacks very weekend , here in Dallas. However , if your in England , bro , check out craigslist.net  and the like , or maybe a pawnbroker, I have never been to England so I rellay could give you much input there.

                                              Rock On

[nashvillebill]

I hope you and your audience wears hearing protection.   
I've got a 100W half-stack (Ampeg V4 tube head) and it's ear-splitting loud...I've played with full-stack dudes before too and I can no longer hear over 14kHz.....

Granted I don't play heavy metal these days, but I've also done my fair share of PA work and darn near every sound guy in the world would rather reinforce the volume through the PA rather than let the guitar players' stage volume dictate the mix.  I guess maybe I'm getting old, but I first seek to get a good tone and then amplify the tone if necessary.

[Jack1962]

Of course I do, the V4 is a great amp I had the pleasure of doing a cap job on one a few days ago , great heads . As far as tone goes , I play a Marshall 6100 on the left side and a Mesa Dual Recto on the other, now as for the sound guy , it's not a problem , all amps have this wonderful control on it called the Volume pot. I haven't played metal in years (The old hands just can't move that fast anymore).

                                               Rock On

[nashvillebill]

Unfortunately many beginning guitar players buy huge stacks, then think that the only way to get "their tone" is to crank the master volume all the way up.  Granted, a Marshall stack cranked wide open does sound pretty nice, but running full volume just isn't practical or necessary IMHO....And on stage, such overwhelming stage volumes make monitor mixing a nightmare.

So the big thing around here has been a minimal, almost non-existent backline, with in-ear monitors.  (The band I'm in now makes pretty good money, but not enough to afford IEM's, we still use traditional monitors.)  Some people say "sure Nashville is only country" but even country now is basically 60's rock, only sung with a twang.  Guitars can be just as distorted as they were in any 80's hair band...only instead of big stacks, they're using small combos or even modelling preamps going straight to the board.

Hence my opinion...I guess I'm getting old when I say "it's too loud"!!!!!

[Jack1962]

I agree Nasville , but back in the day , they didn't make a combo( and amp and cab modeling wasn't invented) that had the tone of the stacks(which ever stack you like).
For the Marshall tone at a smaller volume if you like tube(like me) the they have a 18 watt mini stack, lol-as far as that goes I think everyone makes a mini stack now. I use Modeling myself, but to be honest, they are close , but no cigar. I have tried a lot of model units and none have touch the tone of a Marshall, Mesa, Hiwatt, Dumble or any other quality Tube amp. However with the Peavey Valveking you can dial in most tube tones. Finally , If the the guy at the mixing board can't handle the volume of your amp , he can't handle the mix , every MUSICIAN , can judge the size of the room and tell fairly close how loud he or she can turn up the amp.

                                              Rock On   

[mainscow650]

Hi Again

Well what a response I thank you all very much.I know in America you have a proper venue circuit where bands are taken seriously miked pa's and lights etc. In England unless you are pro or signed there is only the Pub circuit in major towns. No pa ,no lights drunken idiots not much money etc it is quite sad and soul destroying .When ever i get to play miked up i agree there is no problem but that is very rare so playing with a loud band I have to turn up. I built a rack with two cheap 800w power amps and two preamps into two 2x12 cabs on stands but again the sound wasn't right when I used it with a Marshall 4x12 and 2x12 stacked it was very loud and painful i'm 48 and keep getting told i am the loudest guitar player they have ever heard.I would like a fully integrated amp in a rack the fender m80 was done in a rack version but only in the states and ive heard the pearce stuff is good but again expensive I might as well go valve. Anyway Im going to keep searching and spending money that i don't have and make myself more deaf with my home built guitars and amps . By the way here in Manchester England we have a fantastic modern rock band I think any of you American rockers would like. What are they called I hear you ask?......wait for it ...'AMPLIFIER' try and check them out they rock seriously .Anyway I must go and thanks again I'm pleased you took the time to answer my enquiry BEST WISHES  Martin

[Number_47]

Being new to this forum I'd like to add to both Jack's & Nashville's comments, I have used both tube and solid state amps throughout my 20 years of guitar playing, both professionally and as an enthusiastic hobbyist. IMHO I would have to say that Peavey has a strong Non-valve presence in the market today. They may not have been the first one, but they mastered the "TransTube" sound thing, they offered it in combos that ranged from an 8" speaker all the way up to 2x12 combos, I know they used to make a head called the Supreme that was not as great as it could have been, but there's always the XXL head which is also a TransTube model but this one has "kick" I've used mine extensively and it has yet to NOT deliver what I need tone-wise. If you can find one on the cheap then you should be ok, if not you might want to check out the Peavey web-site and see if you can order it direct, and the best part?...it's nowhere near as expensive as an all tube head would be!...cheers!!!