High Quality SS Amp for Gigging and Recording - Recommendations?

[dynac0mp]

Dear Solid State Amp Gurus,

The other day I played my Strat through a little solid-state Marshall MG15DFX.  I was amazed at the direct response and clear tone.  This is not an ad for the amp, but just a reflection:  I really heard the guitar in a way that I wanted to hear it: clear, direct, intact, and without intermediary.  This is something that I have *not* come to expect from my tube amp, especially as I navigate the black-art of tube upgrades and replacements.  Each tube makes my amp sound different and the experiment is leading me to want to find a solid-state amp that is fairly hi-fi and not necessarily only a reflection of a tube "sound".

My first amp was a Peavey 30 watt something or other circa 1980.  It was rough and a little noisy, but I think it made an impression on me.  When I played in my first gigging band, the 30 watts didn't put out enough to get over the drummer and from there I was told "ya' gotta have tubes to cut through the band", so I got a Fender combo that was a hybrid tube/ss of sorts.  After playing many Fender and Fender-ish tube amps, I'm coming back to a point where I want to look into a serious solid state amp. 

Here are some of the things I am noticing as I "look around":

1. Solid state amps are all trying to "emulate" something (this may be good--I'm on the fence here)
2. Clean Sounds alone don't seem to satisfy the buying public, so there need to be lots of DSP features (quality can suffer when feature-creep is present)
3. No guitar industry people seem to seriously review these amps (the BlackCat's TopHat's and their Matchless cousins seem to get all the raves--not knocking them at all--just that this discussion is about ss amps).


Some things that have caught my interest lately:

Traynor DynaGain Series  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traynor

Peavey Vyper Series  http://www.peavey.com/products/vypyr/index.cfm

Tech21 SansAmp Series  http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html


Any comments greatly appreciated.  I am not circuit expert--as many of you on this forum seem to be--but just a guitar player with a good ear for music and sound looking for better (more reliable, more consistent, high fidelity) options for amplification.  I do appreciate "vintage" sounds on recordings, however, with all the technology that we have, it seems plausible that we can get great sound using analog techniques in solid state.

[dynac0mp]

Thanks!!  You guys have really opened up my world of options.  Sword of Satori? are you kidding!  (nope... turns out not.  $2K plus is a little out of my range... but I'm glad to know that there are *current* production SS amps).  After reading more... the Sword looks very cool... now what to sell to get that thing!

[Dutch]

Hi,

I just stumbled over this tread..Maybe you can consider the Trace Elliot Tramp, or Supertramp. All solid state, good quality, good, warm sound and affordable second hand. Both of them have a boost in the drive section, something you don't often see in SS amps..Worth checking out..

Cheers,
Dutch

[markleehunter]

Jerome Harris, who used to be Sonny Rollins' guitarist, uses a Pritchard, quite likes it.  I haven't tried the Kustom HVs yet (they have a 30, 65 and 100) but have heard great thingts about them, and they have terrific connection options (ext speaker, line out, aux in).  This is one of the things I like about SS and hybrid amps -- for reasons I don't know they frequently offer more ways of connecting to other gear than the typical tube amp.  For ex, I haven't seen a tube amp with an aux or CD in, and it's a very useful feature. 

[Puretone]

Dear Solid State Amp Gurus,

The other day I played my Strat through a little solid-state Marshall MG15DFX.  I was amazed at the direct response and clear tone.  This is not an ad for the amp, but just a reflection:  I really heard the guitar in a way that I wanted to hear it: clear, direct, intact, and without intermediary.  This is something that I have *not* come to expect from my tube amp, especially as I navigate the black-art of tube upgrades and replacements.  Each tube makes my amp sound different and the experiment is leading me to want to find a solid-state amp that is fairly hi-fi and not necessarily only a reflection of a tube "sound".

My first amp was a Peavey 30 watt something or other circa 1980.  It was rough and a little noisy, but I think it made an impression on me.  When I played in my first gigging band, the 30 watts didn't put out enough to get over the drummer and from there I was told "ya' gotta have tubes to cut through the band", so I got a Fender combo that was a hybrid tube/ss of sorts.  After playing many Fender and Fender-ish tube amps, I'm coming back to a point where I want to look into a serious solid state amp. 

Here are some of the things I am noticing as I "look around":

1. Solid state amps are all trying to "emulate" something (this may be good--I'm on the fence here)
2. Clean Sounds alone don't seem to satisfy the buying public, so there need to be lots of DSP features (quality can suffer when feature-creep is present)
3. No guitar industry people seem to seriously review these amps (the BlackCat's TopHat's and their Matchless cousins seem to get all the raves--not knocking them at all--just that this discussion is about ss amps).


Some things that have caught my interest lately:

Traynor DynaGain Series  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traynor

Peavey Vyper Series  http://www.peavey.com/products/vypyr/index.cfm

Tech21 SansAmp Series  http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html


Any comments greatly appreciated.  I am not circuit expert--as many of you on this forum seem to be--but just a guitar player with a good ear for music and sound looking for better (more reliable, more consistent, high fidelity) options for amplification.  I do appreciate "vintage" sounds on recordings, however, with all the technology that we have, it seems plausible that we can get great sound using analog techniques in solid state.

This does Marshall Plexi better than a modern Marshall Plexi!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGA6qx2NzQ

Blue Tone PRO 30M solid state - best ever solid state sound, IMHO!

[Puretone]

Dear Solid State Amp Gurus,

The other day I played my Strat through a little solid-state Marshall MG15DFX.  I was amazed at the direct response and clear tone.  This is not an ad for the amp, but just a reflection:  I really heard the guitar in a way that I wanted to hear it: clear, direct, intact, and without intermediary.  This is something that I have *not* come to expect from my tube amp, especially as I navigate the black-art of tube upgrades and replacements.  Each tube makes my amp sound different and the experiment is leading me to want to find a solid-state amp that is fairly hi-fi and not necessarily only a reflection of a tube "sound".

My first amp was a Peavey 30 watt something or other circa 1980.  It was rough and a little noisy, but I think it made an impression on me.  When I played in my first gigging band, the 30 watts didn't put out enough to get over the drummer and from there I was told "ya' gotta have tubes to cut through the band", so I got a Fender combo that was a hybrid tube/ss of sorts.  After playing many Fender and Fender-ish tube amps, I'm coming back to a point where I want to look into a serious solid state amp. 

Here are some of the things I am noticing as I "look around":

1. Solid state amps are all trying to "emulate" something (this may be good--I'm on the fence here)
2. Clean Sounds alone don't seem to satisfy the buying public, so there need to be lots of DSP features (quality can suffer when feature-creep is present)
3. No guitar industry people seem to seriously review these amps (the BlackCat's TopHat's and their Matchless cousins seem to get all the raves--not knocking them at all--just that this discussion is about ss amps).


Some things that have caught my interest lately:

Traynor DynaGain Series  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traynor

Peavey Vyper Series  http://www.peavey.com/products/vypyr/index.cfm

Tech21 SansAmp Series  http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html


Any comments greatly appreciated.  I am not circuit expert--as many of you on this forum seem to be--but just a guitar player with a good ear for music and sound looking for better (more reliable, more consistent, high fidelity) options for amplification.  I do appreciate "vintage" sounds on recordings, however, with all the technology that we have, it seems plausible that we can get great sound using analog techniques in solid state.

more Blue Tone here....gorgeous, isn't it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN2To3CSuGE&feature=related

[FrugalGuitarist]

The now discontinued 75 First Act VA881 V-Stack Amp is solid state with some excellent tones on tap.

http://www.frugalguitarist.com/Sounds/Issue%2010/FA_Amp.mp3

[dynac0mp]

These are quite astonishing prices.  Would you recommend any of the lower power models?

http://shop.firstact.com/PublicStore/product/VA850-30-watt-1X10-Guitar-Combo-Amp,560,143.aspx

Looks very good for the money.

[teemuk]

I wonder what went wrong in that... They bought the technology and resources of a promising boutique pedal company, then made amps using that technology but they didn't even seem advertise them at all. Then the prices went down 75% because they had to get rid of the stock. Something's very fishy in that...

Some people rave about these amps but ten years from now and I bet that you're lucky if 1 out of 100 knows anything about them. The basic transistor amp company story.

[FrugalGuitarist]

I wonder what went wrong in that... They bought the technology and resources of a promising boutique pedal company, then made amps using that technology but they didn't even seem advertise them at all. Then the prices went down 75% because they had to get rid of the stock. Something's very fishy in that...

Some people rave about these amps but ten years from now and I bet that you're lucky if 1 out of 100 knows anything about them. The basic transistor amp company story.

I think this is a classic case of extremely poor marketing. I'm not claiming the amp is all things to all people, but certainly capable of some very good tones.  Yes, unless First Act has some kind of version 2 up their sleeve, this amp is bound for obscurity...

With regards to the lower powered models, I haven't played them personally so I can't comment.  Note that the control layout is signifficantly different.

[ponchojuan]

Wow I'm !n Boston.  I'll swing into the First Act store next week and check things out.

Poncho

[FrugalGuitarist]

Wow I'm !n Boston.  I'll swing into the First Act store next week and check things out.

Poncho

They were giving them away free with a guitar purchase, but I think they're out of stock in the store and only shipping them from their warehouse.

[Jack1962]

If you want a rock solid SS amp with balls buy the MG100 or a Valvestat, if you want a good affordable tube unit(metalhead get real , there;s a reason why most pro's use tube amps, and durablity give me a break) buy a Peavey Windsor($399) or a Valveking(around $699)

                                 Rock On                 

[FrugalGuitarist]

If you want a rock solid SS amp with balls buy the MG100 or a Valvestat, if you want a good affordable tube unit(metalhead get real , there;s a reason why most pro's use tube amps, and durablity give me a break) buy a Peavey Windsor($399) or a Valveking(around $699)

                                 Rock On                 

There are many, many great tube amps which have been made over the years.  The Valveking isn't one of them and I'd take any number of solid state or modeling amps over one.  I haven't played the Windsor, but reviews have been all over the place.

I agree that the Marshall MG and Valvestate series sound pretty darn good despite their poor tonal reputations.

[airport]

If you are dead set on going SS I don't think there is much available besides the Axe-Fx. Then you just need a decent power amp (Phonic, Crown. Crest, QSC) and you will have it all. Maybe a Pritchard.
Good Luck