The reliability and consistency of SS amps is a definite win. Also, the SS weight tends to be less (no OT iron) for comparable power.
I like the Peavy Studio Pro II (the current generation, older ones not so much).
I've played one of those First Act amps. My friend Stephen bought one at the blowout price. It's a bit more amp than I want nowadays (especially w.r.t. weight) and I really liked it. I bought another for my younger son for Christmas.
I've gotta tell you: like the brand or not, the First Act amps are outstanding. There are, IIRC, four different families of sound and four different gain levels within each family. Not *all* of the combinations sound great - at least not to me. But there's *one* particular combination that sounds like a vintage Fender tweed Deluxe. This amp *sags* like the real thing. The built-in effects (tremolo, reverb and echo) are really good, too.
The build quality looks good - certainly better than Fender's modern products. I'm not surprised that First Act didn't move these. Their distribution was, AFAICT, nonexistent. I had been looking to try a First Act amp since they were first announced; I never saw one. I probably would have bought one at the normal price had I been able to try it first.
The Fender Cyber-Deluxe sounded a bit thin to me. This is, BTW, not a modeling amp. DSP is used only for FX and EQ.
The Roland Cube 30-X is loud, but kind of midrange-heavy. The effects are below-average.
Lately I've been playing entirely clean.
In my music room I use a Fender Jazz King. I really like the EQ on the Jazz King: semi-parametric plus a "tilt" control. The reverb is amazing. It's a big amp, though. At 50 pounds I don't move it much.
When I need an amp for stage monitoring or playing in a small room, I take my AAD Cub. The Cub is small (about a half cubic foot) and weighs about 12 pounds in its carrying bag. No FX, though.
For a bit more headroom than the AAD Cub, I use an AER Compact 60. The Compact 60 has a bit less low-end than the Cub, but seems to project better in an ensemble. The Compact 60 has a pretty good digital reverb unit.
The Cub and the Compact 60 are sold as "acoustic" amplifiers, but they sound great with my electric guitars. (Yes, I was surprised...)
If I'm playing somewhere I know I can trust the stage monitors not to have really weird EQ, I'll go straight to the board through an active DI.
I've done the digital modeling thing, too. I still have (and occasionally gig with) a Digitech RP350. The built-in DI is a nice feature.
I used to have a Boss GT-8 and a Vox Tonelab. The GT-8 (using a custom program) has better edge-of-distortion tones than than the RP350. The RP350's reverbs and pitch-based effects are better than the GT-8's. The Tonelab was just endlessly disappointing for everything except Vox-y tones.
I've played the modelers through keyboard amps or the venue's PA. For KB amps I've used a Traynor K4 and a Groove Tubes SFX 100.
I still have the SFX 100. This uses a pair of speakers in a "reverse M-S" configuration to get a really convincing stereo soundstage out of a single cabinet. (It works really well for stereo reverb and chorus; not so well for ping-pong delays or panning.)
I like the Peavy Studio Pro II (the current generation, older ones not so much).
I've played one of those First Act amps. My friend Stephen bought one at the blowout price. It's a bit more amp than I want nowadays (especially w.r.t. weight) and I really liked it. I bought another for my younger son for Christmas.
I've gotta tell you: like the brand or not, the First Act amps are outstanding. There are, IIRC, four different families of sound and four different gain levels within each family. Not *all* of the combinations sound great - at least not to me. But there's *one* particular combination that sounds like a vintage Fender tweed Deluxe. This amp *sags* like the real thing. The built-in effects (tremolo, reverb and echo) are really good, too.
The build quality looks good - certainly better than Fender's modern products. I'm not surprised that First Act didn't move these. Their distribution was, AFAICT, nonexistent. I had been looking to try a First Act amp since they were first announced; I never saw one. I probably would have bought one at the normal price had I been able to try it first.
The Fender Cyber-Deluxe sounded a bit thin to me. This is, BTW, not a modeling amp. DSP is used only for FX and EQ.
The Roland Cube 30-X is loud, but kind of midrange-heavy. The effects are below-average.
Lately I've been playing entirely clean.
In my music room I use a Fender Jazz King. I really like the EQ on the Jazz King: semi-parametric plus a "tilt" control. The reverb is amazing. It's a big amp, though. At 50 pounds I don't move it much.
When I need an amp for stage monitoring or playing in a small room, I take my AAD Cub. The Cub is small (about a half cubic foot) and weighs about 12 pounds in its carrying bag. No FX, though.
For a bit more headroom than the AAD Cub, I use an AER Compact 60. The Compact 60 has a bit less low-end than the Cub, but seems to project better in an ensemble. The Compact 60 has a pretty good digital reverb unit.
The Cub and the Compact 60 are sold as "acoustic" amplifiers, but they sound great with my electric guitars. (Yes, I was surprised...)
If I'm playing somewhere I know I can trust the stage monitors not to have really weird EQ, I'll go straight to the board through an active DI.
I've done the digital modeling thing, too. I still have (and occasionally gig with) a Digitech RP350. The built-in DI is a nice feature.
I used to have a Boss GT-8 and a Vox Tonelab. The GT-8 (using a custom program) has better edge-of-distortion tones than than the RP350. The RP350's reverbs and pitch-based effects are better than the GT-8's. The Tonelab was just endlessly disappointing for everything except Vox-y tones.
I've played the modelers through keyboard amps or the venue's PA. For KB amps I've used a Traynor K4 and a Groove Tubes SFX 100.
I still have the SFX 100. This uses a pair of speakers in a "reverse M-S" configuration to get a really convincing stereo soundstage out of a single cabinet. (It works really well for stereo reverb and chorus; not so well for ping-pong delays or panning.)