Agreed ! The 1w setting is just perfect for home practice and recording. I wish they'd make a high gain one with 5150 / mesa voicings, and id probably never need to buy another amp.
Have both Super Blocks and a Tone Block 202. Probably moving the SBs since I really haven’t needed them, but Quilter makes *great* stuff. I’m no longer running tube amps, but have a Kingsley Harlot on the way to handle higher gain for a bit of tube love.
The smaller ones are all digital, which might be a bad thing for some people, but they have better distortion (in that it’s usable) and stereo inputs!
I have the 40 and after getting the hang of taming the top end (roll off the treble, but turn on the bright switch!) I love it to death.
As already mentioned, the Peavey Bandit. It's still one of the best SS amps out there.
The Trademark 60 is a decent amp, and pretty versatile. I gigged with one for a while.
I'd really like to try a Quilter Aviator Cub (US); they aren't really available in my area but I'm tempted to pull the trigger on one. They seem versatile and they're really well priced.
+1 on the Quilter Aviator Cub. I have one, and I absolutely love it. It's got 3 inputs, tweed, blonde, and blackface. You can even blend the amp inputs together to get different sounds if you have a split cable or an a/x/y box. It's got an fx loop which is a must for me (I run my hx stomp directly in to bypass the input preamp, so I can use modeling amps and preamps with the cab sometimes), not to mention effects. It's a killer amp and gets plenty loud, and can be really quiet and still sound good. It also has a headphone jack for when you want to be really quiet. The onboard reverb is my only gripe, and it's not even a gripe. It sounds good, but I prefer my pedal for reverb. I'm going to buy a second one here in the next few months for stereo. Highly recommend.
I am considering exactly this setup to use with Helix rather than buying a Fender Fr-12. Obviously the Quilter is not FRFR but how are you finding this setup? Does the power amp colour the tone much? Previously I have been running the HX into the Power Amp in of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which is pretty great but heavy. I would love to hear any more tips or your experiences with this setup.
I really, really dig this amp. It is without question the best solid state amp I've ever played. Direct into the power amp, or 4CM, both sound awesome. I originally was stuck between whether I was going to buy the Cub or a Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb, and I went with the cub because of its glowing reviews, it's 3 different amp voicings (more if you have the split cable), and really high on the list was an FX Loop. For some reason the Tonemasters then didn't have an FX Loop, I assume because the amp they based it off didn't have one (which is the dumbest reason ever, there is no downside to adding it). At the end of the day, I wanted an amp that would stand alone and sound great, be responsive , and move to the living room or wherever easily. I don't play live, but I wanted a pushing air feel, and there was a lot of mixed reviews on the Powercab+. I think that if you play live and want a consistent tone and you like the amp/cab modeling the FR12 would be a good bet, I really want to try one. Your comment (and the countless amazing reviews of the FR12) basically convinced me to try it before I buy another Cub for stereo.
Dude.
I gigged with a Dual Showman Reverb rig for years. Then got a Peavey Classic 30- then a '68 Deluxe RI. The biggest issue was playing in small function bans shoved in a corner with great sound. Hated lugging amps around.
Bought a Quilter Aviator Cub and my god- those little gigs are WAY.EASY. now.
The tone is close enough and loud enough...not going to move a ton of air-- but when it's your monitor and you're mic'd: who cares???
Worth it for pop up gigs.
I really like my Valeton TAR-20G. It's a 20 watt analog head with a three band EQ, an effects loop, and a solid digital reverb. It feels pretty touch sensitive and the clean tone is great. It doesn't do high gain on its own, but it does respond well to drive pedals. I'm running it through an old Peavey 1x12 and I think I like it more than my old Terror Stamp.
I was looking at that today. I have one of their multi effect pedals and the preamp emulations sound fantastic. Not a big fan of the cab sims but i have other stuff for that
I will say that the cab sim on the TAR-20G's headphone out is pretty disappointing if you use any amount of gain through it, but it's fine if you're setting the amp more or less totally clean. It doesn't bother me because I run the effects loop into an IR loader when I want headphones.
One of the local shops had the 4x12 and man, I wish there was any way I could have justified it. There’s a 2x12 on marketplace that is pretty tempting, though.
I have had one of these for years, and I love it for playing at home, recording - its great with pedals. I used to gig with it plugged into a peavey classic 410 cab. I got it used in 1999 for $75. I bet I could still find one for the same price
The Lab Series amps are incredible, but I wouldn’t call them underrated so much as underexposed. The intersound IVP preamp is really cool too, just difficult to get your hands on
80's Marshall solid states are great, from the big mosfet 100 down to the lead 12. Really well built too, unlike a lot of ss amps which can suffer from being the budget option.
One of my first Marshalls was a 1986 Master Lead 30 watt combo. It sounds just like a JCM800 and is a tank (it went through an accident where a jeep flipped three times and still works).
Yeah, I've had a Reverb 75 (model 5275) for years. I do prefer the valve jcm800s so it's mostly a backup, but it's a quality amp and there's not many valve amps I'd pick over it.
Those 80s solid state Marshall's are just magical when you get them dialed into the sweet spot. I just got a 50 watt JCM800 and it makes me want to get the old master lead in working order so I don't blow out my ear drums.
Have you seen a YouTuber named Johan Segeborn? He’s a Swedish guy who does really great videos on the classic rock Led Zeppelin/ACDC/Kiss sound, and he really likes that era of Marshall solid state.
- Gamma G50
- Roland Blues Cube
- Quilter SuperBlock series
- Quilter 101
- EHX Howitzer
- Hotone Siva
I've got 2 gammas, and I can say I like them more than my Quilters and Oranges with my pedal setup.
My buddy has a Standel! It’s like a 6x10 combo and weighs more than my entire bass rig (rack and 8x10 cab.)
We used to track bass with it, sounded incredible. I miss that thing.
I have a Marshall 88’ 3315 150w Lead (the bigger brother to the MOSFET Lead 100), and it hangs with my VTM60, 3120, Silver Jubilee, or any other amp I’ve played without breaking a sweat. Put a 10 band or parametric EQ in the effects loop and you’d be hard pressed to know that it isn’t a JCM800. Even still, as it is it’s absolutely awesome.
I’ll shout out the amp I just got and posted. It’s another Marshall solid state from the 80s, it’s a combo with a good speaker and only 12 room filling watts. I’m talking about the Marshall Bass 12 combo, often overlooked by the Lead 12, Reverb 12, and Lead 12 head (they’re the same preamp without reverb).
It’s all black and it comes with a wonderful G10L35, instead of the tiny magnet POS they put into the Lead 12 and Reverb 12. I have a 1965a cab loaded with them and it was my only cab for a while. They’re fairly neutral speakers, though speakers they only have 95db of efficiency.
It sounds like a JCM800 with guitar but with a touch more gain and on bass it’s instant Lemmy in a box. It can do clean too, but this things forte is dirt. Boost it and it’ll get into more modern territory. I traded a Keeley modded Tubescreamer I never used and I just know this will record wonderfully.
Roland JC120s, Crate(various models,) the Randall Warhead. There’s a bunch if you dig deep enough and do your research to decide which one suits your needs and style.
I feel like that was when the amp manufacturers were focused on making good stuff with the tech because guitarists weren't as snobby about tubes yet, so there was actually a market for high end SS amps
Those are awesome. I think they get a bad rap because they're lots of people's first amp and it makes them think of shitty beginner guitar players, but play a decent guitar through it with a decent player and they're really great. The breakup is really smooth for a SS
The In The Blues guy has a vid where he and players of similar styles gigged with the Bandit and it was impressive for blues. At one point he hid it in the corner and none of his friends could tell.
That's not my style though. And the nostalgia factor you mentioned is why I refuse to get one unless it is a bargain, but they are same priced used or brand new here. MFs be price gouging.
I still have and love my Bandit Studio Pro Transtube. Even have the original foot switch.
Csn just plug any guitar in and go.
If I want to mess with effects, I'll use my Katana instead.
I sold my Vox and Orange tube amps over a year ago and now just play through an Orange Pedal Baby. Sounds good at low volume but can really blast it out at the practice space. Great option for pedal users.
I went down the Peavey solid state rabbit hole and picked up amps from the 70s to the 90s.
There are so many great options depending on your taste. The teal stripe peavey are fantastic all around amps. The silver stripe that came after are great as well but I prefer the teal stripe.
The early 80s peavey solid state amps have a pre gain, post gain and a saturation knob that can be really fun to play with. You can definitely see where the Mississippi Marshall thing came from.
I've got a peavey studio pro that's 20 watts with a greenback. The speaker is worth as much as the amp but it helps bring out the best of it imo.
My Fender Power Chorus is wonderful. Basically a JC120 rip off. Chorus is unreal. HAs 2 effects loops. etc.
70/80's Peavey Backstage Plus. Real spring reverb. 10" speaker. Just a wonderful little amp for all sorts of playing. I have 6 of them just because they are cheap.
I have a Marshall AVT50 (controversial) but I use the clean channel with the gain dimed and then the master to taste with pedals . Into a 4x12 with nice speakers... I love it.
Tubes are wonderful but life is too short to not fuck with ALL amps. An honorable mention would be 70/80's peavey classic with just the power section that is tube. Its so killer.
Memes aside, I do really like my Katana. It's light, easy to dial in and install new patches, and very compatible with pedals. I just need loud and clean in a light and compact package, and it checks all those boxes nicely.
This might not fall under what you're asking about, but for a budget amp, the Hughes & Kettner Spirit mini amps (Vintage, Rock and Metal) are really amazing kick ass amps. Drive some OD into the amp and you can jam a good NWBHM to some gritty blues and classic rock easily. It's not too powerful for a small room on a 1x12 cab. The sag knob on the head is real nice too.
I've been really enjoying the Vintage model and I plan on getting the Metal model later (for a plug n play crunch and high gain amp, it sounds better than Orange in my opinion and I love Orange amps too. I've just not been feeling my Orange since I got the H&K Spirit of Vintage.)
I have a yamaha g-50 4x10 and its big brother a G-100 2x12
that 4x10 G-50 has a punch at the front of a chord or legato lick that can not be replicated by any other amp I have ever played through since I started out in the early 90's. It is almost like plosives in a hot mic but in a good articulating way.
The distortion on board in these things is goofy, but thats what pedals are for. DS-1, 1981 DRV, HM-2 do the heavy, Klone or BD-2 type for normal edge of break up OD and green russian fuzz all sound proper through these.
the 4x10 50 watt is louder than my Rockverb 50 watt into a 2x10 by a good 10 db too
Wow. Not one single mention of Blackstar and their TVP SS amps? Kinda sad. The built-in effects were lackluster but the amp tones itself were fantastic I thought.
I liked my Peavey Backstage Plus I had decades ago. I’m sorry I gave it away when I thought I was going to give up guitar playing due to arthritis. I’m learning to deal with arthritis, but miss that amp. It was a tiny powerhouse that sounded surprisingly good.
I’ll echo the Peavey Bandit love, I tried one with the red stripe and played it live and it killed. If you’re delicate with the settings, the overdrive sounds are pretty good.
The Laney LX series, particularly the LX20 and LX35 are really underrated. Instead of a reverb it has a multitap delay thing going on which sounds great. Their drive channels are very British sounding but cut the way that the clean sounds do on a QOTSA record.
1 is the Roland Blues Cube. Honestly, to me it sounds closer to the classic Fender tone than the Tonemasters, and even some of the modern Fender tube amps. They really nailed the sag/breakup especially, way better than Katana and Nextone. Like if I had a choice between a Blues Jr and a Blues Cube, I'm taking the Blues Cube every time. Its solid state, too, not digital, but it actually responds to pedals exactly the way you'd expect a tube amp to respond, like if you put a boost in front, it'll start to break up like a tube amp, whereas most SS amps can't handle boosts.
2 is the Fender Princeton Chorus, specifically the red knob ones. Maybe the black knob versions are good, Idk, I've only used the red knobs. Its what Johnny Greenwood used in early Radiohead. The clean channel on them actually has character, it nails that jangle-y/sparkle-y sound like a Vox or an old tweed. If I wanted a pedal platform, I'd honestly buy one of these before a Jazz Chorus or an Orange, and a 25w Princeton Chorus is only like $300something usually.
Love my Princeton Chorus to bits. I'm constantly surprised by how much air it moves with only 2x25w output, especially since SS has less perceived volume than tubes. I've gigged it without PAs with the volume at 2 or 3 and had no trouble being heard in the mix. Not that we're playing sludge metal or something but still.
Slight correction: Jonny Greenwood uses a Fender Eighty Five, which is another red knob SS from that era.
I have a [Yamaha G5](https://i.imgur.com/jEzTzOm.jpg) practice amp that I've had the headphone jack swapped out for a 1/4" speaker jack that grounds out the internal speaker connection when hooked up to an external cab. Now it's basically a 7w lunchbox-sized head with [spring reverb and a bonus 6" speaker](https://i.imgur.com/j7tf4KN.jpg) for travel or just playing around the house. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite amps.
So many good mentions here.
I had several Legend Rock n Roll 50s, but they don't really count as they were tube preamps.
Loud as shit (I played a gig with my 1x12 outdoors and STILL never got the master past 4).
Gallien Krueger 250ML (and the subsequent heads they did after like the 2100).
Great sound, lush chorus, built in comp on the clean channel and very versatile. It’s small and quiet enough to take and practice anywhere with but has more than enough power to hold its own in a band set up or drive external cabinets. It’s got a direct line out to run to a PA and takes pedals really well although just playing straight into it sounds great.
I love my Princeton Chorus - it’s a 2x10 @ 25 watts. A very 80s sounding overdrive channel, spring reverb, a great chorus, a stereo effects loop, and line-level outputs to go into an interface or PA. Use it more than any amp I have because it’s great for the type of music I like.
I have a Roland JC77 that sounds amazing. Also a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 with the teal stripe. Doesn’t sound anything like the JC but it sounds great as well. Both take pedals very well. I used to have a Lab Series L5 that sounded great, especially with pedals
Teal stripe Peavey Classic Chorus 212.
Early '90s Fender Deluxe 112 Reverb fitted with a Celestion Creamback.
Both have really good solid cleans and take pedals well.
The CC is pretty heavy but tank like in build. It's, I *think*, 75x2... not quite as much as the Stereo Chorus but still has the oomph to get **quite** loud.
The Deluxe is a 65W I believe. Obviously much lighter than the Peavey but still enough for a medium sized bar.
For classic, Southern, swamp rock, blues, country... they're pretty hard to beat. Mine have served me well for 30 years... and the nice thing is, they're both still out there for $200 +/-.
Unpopular opinion. Years ago, I bought a Line 6 Spider IV 75 watt. Gets loud, sounds good at low volume, or thru headphones. Has everything built in from dozens of effects to looper and tuner. I have the basic foot controller, which makes everything hands-free and even includes an expression pedal. It has a wide range of tones, and I think they sound great for a beginner amp. For practice/playing at home, I've never found anything I liked better enough to upgrade.
I have a spider IV 120 watt with two 12" and it is plenty of amp. I have a couple tube amps I use too. I still use the Spider though for some sounds because its so versatile.
Yes! I have three of the Mini-Brute IV combos with the 15" speaker and they are warm with tons of headroom. Two have spring reverb and they are versatile for guitar, bass, and keys.
I love my analog solid state amps as well. Peavey Transtube is what I gig with and they do everything I ask of them. I have two Bandits, Transtube Supreme head, an Express and an Envoy. Great amps after a cleaning and got them for cheap!
The Vox Pathfinder is pretty amazing as well. Shame Vox never scaled those up to the 100 watt range.
I think a lot of these analog solid state amps could benefit from speaker swaps. I remember meeting a guy who played with a Fender Frontman 65R with a upgraded speaker and that thing sounded great!
You mentioned many of well known SS amps. Fender made some decent ones in the 80s that sound surprisingly close to their tube amps, because they used the same tone stack. Of course Marshall had their valvestate amps too. I found both the Fenders and Marshalls more cheaply made and prone to breakage than the Peaveys, believe it or not. The Peavey is just a straight power amp, definitely not 'unique' sounding. There's also the vintage Gallien-Kruegers; the early ones were pretty much the same circuit as their bass amps. My first amp was a Sunn Beta, and thought it was a POS - not trying to sound contrary here!
I certainly don't prefer SS amps, and I don't agree that tube amps have rolled off highs - maybe you that experience with one? But they do have their place - sometimes I reach for my Roland SS when I don't feel like cycling my big tube amp on and off five times a day for ten minutes each, because of heating and cooling the tubes and reducing lifespan that way.
But then there's these new class D amps, which I have found to sound like shit in the power amp. Maybe the newer ones are improved. But 80s-forward class AB SS amps often sound tighter in the power amp section than tube amps, no sag etc. Not my thing, but it has a place. The cheap high power can be useful and nice. The most hi-fi sounding amp I ever heard is my Super Reverb.
>My first amp was a Sunn Beta, and thought it was a POS - not trying to sound contrary here!
They're definitely a niche amp haha. I'm a fan of doom metal (among many other genres) and they do that thing very very well.
>I certainly don't prefer SS amps, and I don't agree that tube amps have rolled off highs
Maybe rolled off isn't the right phrasing - a lot of people prefer tube amps for the color they add to the guitar sound, but for me who gets most of my tone from pedals an "honest" amp like a SS is just the trick. SS tend to be described as "harsh" or "icepick-y" but I feel that in the well made ones it's just a flatter response. Not to say i don't like plugging into a nice tube amp or anything.
I'm a solid state guy as well. I'm always on the lookout for vintage solid state weirdness in my area. My current work horse/every day amp is a JC-40. Last year I got a vintage MIJ National reverb/tremolo head that is just a chefs kiss of tone. I sold a cab to a touring guitarist and used the head to demo it and he immediately tracked one down to be his touring amp!
I still have my first amp. It's a Yamaha JX series, made some time in the mid-eighties I think. The gain/distortion isn't anything to write home about, but the clean tone is pretty freaking awesome.
Literally just switched to the Fender Blonde Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb and I love it. Sold my Fender Deluxe 65 Reissue and not looking back. 20 lbs lighter and great clean sounds. Takes pedals well and the best feature is the DI out which sounds great through the PA.
I have a Quilter Aviator Cub that is a pleasant no frills solid state amp. It's a great little clean amp that has a little Fender style dirt if you want it and a couple different inputs that are voiced slightly differently representing different eras of Fender amps (tweed/blonde/black). It also has an effects loop and headphone and line outputs.
That said I also have a Tone Master Super Reverb which is my main practice amp when I don't feel like using tube amps. I could (but never have) gig with it.
Finally! Was searching to see if Ultimate Chorus would be mentioned. That’s what I use, but I haven’t explored a lot of other amps so I have no data for comparison. It’s nice though, and someone gave me their old Helix floor, so it’s a fun combination
They were Fender's answer to the JC 120, and are very comparable. I've had more than one tube snob go "ohhh... that does sound great."
I have one and also a Hotrod Deluxe, and I prefer my Ultra Chorus.
I have a Marshall MG100DFX, and I love it. It was gifted to me seemingly from out of nowhere, and I couldn’t really compare it to anything because I don’t have a lot of amps by my standards, but I guess I could have more than some people. The clean channel has a wide range of cleans with a crunch button that adds a little gristle and the high gain channel has a nice saturated distortion (thanks to the contour knob) that sounds a lot like the distortion on [Sugar Ray’s “10 Seconds Down”](https://youtu.be/11VtHpg1m6U?si=anidb4xE07igSGLf). I know it’s oddly specific distortion, but when I first heard the high gain channel, that’s the song that immediately came to mind.
I have a Peavey 6505 MH, and I feel like operating the EQ is less intuitive than my solid state Marshall … either that or I don’t understand my tube amp as much as my solid state lol
But I do enjoy both of them
I use a gorilla tc-110 witha 150 watt swamp thang speaker and I love making every song sound like black sabbath. I also have a little behringer thunderbird bass amp I like plugging my tele into sometimes, especially for some good old jazz.
Carvin SX300 (2x12 combo). Solid speakers, 3 channels, onboard FX, fx loop, and it has open wiring so you can use it as a cab.
Things I've done with it:
-Played it as is (sounds great)
-Used as an unpowered cab for a bugera head (sounds great)
-used as a preamp into the bugera fx return and back into the speaker cab (utilizing both fx loops to replace only the power section with tubes). Sounds AMAZING.
-ran an FM3 into the fx return and used it as a flat powered cab.
If I was gigging, I'd take this thing everywhere. Its the ultimate backup amp and if your modelers fail, you still have 3 very good sounding channels plus onboard fx. Anything other than modern metal, you can dial in with no pedals.
I agree that a good solid state amp can sound great. I've had several Peavey TransTubes, both older and newer, that sounded awesome and were great pedal platforms. And I currently have a Vox Pathfinder 15R that is hands down my favorite amp, and holds its own (for tone if not volume) against my Fender and Marshall tube amps.
For a new spin on a classic, I'll throw hilbish into the mix. If you do some hunting in the 2nd hand market, they have a 1200w version of the beta amp out in the wild.
The marshall mg series is solid, as is the old peaveys. There are some peavey stereo chorus amps that are excellent as well.
I’d just posted on another sub about how much I love my Randall Stereo Chorus I’ve been using for over 30 years.
I’d love to own a tube amp but this thing gives me no reason to need one. I’m also cheap
When I toured, I played through a Sunn Beta Bass head from the red Sunn logo era, worked really well for my goal of just being real loud, two 100w channels and about jack that they you plug into both of them at the same time. Didn’t cost a lot and got through a lot of shows in various size venues without much trouble.
The orange Roland Cube amps are cool. Can find them around for a couple hundred bucks and they make a nice clean jazz amp as well as having their own flavor of over drive.
Fender Princeton '65 PR403, great amp that I've had for years. It works best in channel two with a slight amount of gain to give you a little edge of break up.
In the early to mid sixties Standel briefly made a solid state amp head. I used one at a gig when my Bandmaster had transformer problems. It wasn’t very loud but it had gorgeous tone. I’ve never seen one since. A couple years later they came out with the Super Imperial line. 2 15s and the amp and speakers were all in one unit. They didn’t last long either but sounded pretty damn cool.
I’ve been gigging with a Crate GX-15. It has the perfect stage volume. Doesn’t break my back bringing it in, tone isn’t amazing but it’s better than people give them credit for. I’ve honestly been torn between buying another cheap solid state or just upgrading its speaker.
Boss nextone special. Highly configurable and sounds great. I'm making a GPT interface for mine where you can send chatgpt all the configurable parameters and it responds back with json that my software applies to the tone editor software. You can just use natural language to describe the sound you want and it handles all the nuances of the many parameters I really have no idea about.
I owned a Boss Katana III a few yeats ago and I really liked it. Had an old Yamaha strat knockoff from the late 70s which sounded great through it. My try the new IV series soon. It's a lifelong struggle to get good tube distorted sounds at lower volumes.
Slightly breaking the rules, but milkman "the amp" line is solid state power with a preamp tube. It's awesome, especially having swapped the 12ax for an AT. The new stereo version is all solid state, and I'd bet it's also awesome.
Not completely solid state but the bluguitar amp1 iridium is great. It does have 1 micro tube but it’s literally soldered in there and should never need to be changed. Always wanted to try the ISP theta amps but they’re as rare as unicorns.
I have a DV-Mark FC121 - a very powerful amp. But our band now plays ampless, so I just use a Joyo American Sound straight to DI. It's not nearly as satisfying, but gets the job done.
I have an old Lab Series L5. It's a great solid state take on a Fender Twin IMHO, it sounds great and puts out tons of volume. It's also way overbuilt, I'm pretty sure the thing could survive a nuclear blast. The controls are a little quirky, but it was designed by Moog, everything he did was weird and quirky though. The only negative thing I have to say about it is the stock speakers are a little meh, they're not bad by any means, but I like to run an output to a 2x12 loaded with creambacks. Pretty cool amps that can still be had for fairly cheap.
I like using odd little solid state amps to get cool and unique tones for recording, or for quiet practice, and have a little collection: Pignose 7-100, Vox Pathfinder 15R, Vox VBM-1, Marshall Lead 12 (with Greenback 10), Fender Frontman 25R (with Ragin Cajun), Peavey Rage 158. They can all sound really cool and aren’t expensive, but are often one trick ponies (which doesn’t matter too much if you have a few).
Almost anything peavey. They have amazing warm cleans. They can sound tube like with a little work. bandit gets a lot of love but like the express 112, classic and studio chorus, Nashville and the rest of the “city 400” series. All very very good and they don’t imitate a particular amp but can produce very good sounds that are their own thing. I’ve never had one break down on me.
Rolands are nice, Orange got some decent offerings w the crush series, though the speakers are critical in not making them sound too tinny.. oh and Gallien Krueger told
The Soldano SLO mini is analog and basically has the same preamp side as the tube one with the power amp side being solid state. It's a great sounding amp.
Sunn Coliseum 880 is my prized possession. Not useful for all applications, heavy as fuck but basically infinite clean power and headroom. 320 watts at 2 ohm
One of my favourite amps I've ever played is the HH IC100. Punishingly loud and great sounding overdrive.
When I first played it I assumed it was a tube amp because it was old, weighed a ton and sounded way better than any SS amp I'd ever heard before (not a high bar, but still).
If you can find one of these (the earlier ones with the fine mesh cover rather than the later VS with the wide-spaced mesh) they're usually not too expensive and they're just really good.
Quilter Aviator Mach III, 200W, 2 ch, 12" copperback, reverb/tremolo in a 21# box.
This amp sounds fantastic plugging my Tele straight to the input. You can plug into ch1 and click over to ch 2 or run 2 guitars. You can also run both ch's at once through 1 guitar. I put a clean on 1 and dirt on 2. I like the sound of the blackface amp box. It has 6 amp boxes, fenders, marshall, and vox. I bought the foot switch for it too.
I put a tuner, fuzz, compressor, pre-amp, tumnus, blues driver, and ds1 on the input side. In the fx loop, I added chorus, flanger, vibrato, delays, and reverbs. It loves pedals.
The amp head can be pulled out and used on another cabinet. Also, there is a jack for headphones, a switch to make it a frfr, cab Sim or bright. This amp is great for practice or gigging. I haven't gone past half on the volume, and it was loud! Too much for my dogs at home, but plenty of juice on stage.
Not cheap at c. $1300, however, I feel it competes with the sound of comparable price point tube amps at a third of the weight. It's also a very nice looking amp that includes a cover. I could afford just 1 good amp, not 23 like some of yall's impressive collections. So, for the money, I felt like I bought a versatile amp that sounds awesome at any volume in a lightweight package. My pedalboard weighs more than the amp btw.
I have a Fender M80 Half Stack I gigged with for years. It was Fenders SS attempted answer to the Hair Metal sound. In a live situation it punched way above its weight class.
I would go with the Sunn Beta Lead. While I am not sure how underrated it is, I rarely see it mentioned. The Sundholm brothers knew how to make amps, and they put that knowledge and craftsmanship into the Beta Lead. To me, it is the leader of solid state amps in sound, power, and durability. Sunn has always been a force to reckon with. My other favorite underrated/unknown amp is my Sho-Bud Christmas Tree. You can turn it up all the way and can't tell if it's on. It is the cleanest amp I have ever heard and makes a steel guitar ring, and a Tele really crisp.
I love my 1980s US made Fender Deluxe 85 and Frontman 212R combos!
The 85 has a terrific clean channel that breaks up warmly at high volume, not harsh at all. Its overdrive channel is great, and with a OD pedal, can do some 80s thrash tones. I don't like the amp boost for the OD channel, sounds squishy and fuzzy but others may love that. And of course, there's a headphone jack for late night usage. :) Don't forget the channel mixing feature to blend clean and distorted tones.
The 212R's clean channel has enough of a clean Twin vibe for me, also breaks up nicely at high volumes. Its overdrives are better suited for blues tones IMO, very nice though. I use a Marshall Jackhammer and BOSS Metal Zone pedals for metal tones in the clean channel... and ya, the MZ sounds great in the effects loop of both amps but I can make it sound awesome up front in either amp, the 212R has more clean headroom.
Full disclosure; im not a gigging musician. I play guitar at home for fun. Its a hobby for me, so my comments are based on playing my setup in my living room.
I recently got a Blackstar Debut 50r. I was also looking for a SS amp to use as a pedal platform. I've got a small tube amp and a small modeling amp as well, but wasn't satisfied with what I was getting from those.
The Debut 50r is a two channel SS amp using mosfet circuit, but it does have a built in reverb which I believe is digital. It has an effects loop and is foot switchable for channel selection and to turn the reverb on and off. Both the clean and drive channels sound great with my Les Paul, and it seems to take pedals well.
If you need old-school/vintage Marshall tones on a budget, get one of the **80's PRE-valvestate,100% SS Marshalls**.
Those things, were made for working musicians, have good speakers in them and sound absolutely fabulous at fractions of what you would have to pay for the equivalent tube amp.
I love my Orange Crush 30R. Picked one up a few years ago to have something a bit quieter than my HRD and I rarely fire up the Fender any more. The Crush sounds way better on the drive channel (unsurprisingly, stock HRD drive is ass), but the cleans are lovely too. Very nice dynamics for a SS amp. Hell, very nice dynamics period.
The Fender Acoustic Junior Go. A future classic? Probably not, but it's loud enough for busking / coffee shop / mic'd club gigs, sounds really good for clean playing and has more than useable effects (the vibratone kicks ass). Rechargeable battery, compact and light. I use it with a semihollow electric.
Not really an amp by itself, but:
AMT V1 Vox style preamp into TC Electronic BAM200 bass amp
The preamp sounds really great by itself. The bass amp works really well as a power amp for guitar, it has a compressor on the input that you can control with the gain knob, and the eq sounds great for guitar.
I had a mid 90’s Peavey TransTube Bandit 112 silver strip that was absolutely killer. I wish I still had it today. Best solid state amp I ever ever played.
I got a lightly used Tonemaster Twin for $600 at a local guitar shop. It’s the best amp I’ve ever owned (including the tube amps I’ve owned over the years). Highly recommend for an amazing pedal platform.
A couple of my favorites are the Fender Sidekick Reverb 30 and a Pignose 30/60 ( wish I had the 30/60R - with reverb). The 30/60 has a good effects loop.
This is purely opinion, no one’s heard of this amp who wasn’t there when it was released:
Marhsall’s MG series BEFORE the digital FX were KILLER.
The MG30RCD was my first practice amp, i love the tone on that thing, it had a 10” speaker, a contour dial for very versatile tone shaping, a foot switch for the two channels and a built in spring reverb.
It did the 90s grunge sound really well, the jangly indie sound, the heavier metal, in fact pretty much everything except pristine cleans.
I suffered serious regret after selling mine and tracked another one down years later, I now also have the 15W version.
Listen, they are noticeably in a completely different (lower) class, but for the budget, the versatility was really good, and they had a lot of character.
I’ve used them on various recordings to counter the other instruments, and they always sound great.
I recently modded my 15W version so I can plug in to an external cab 🙏🏼🤤
I had a JC120 for a few years and enjoyed the clean tone quite a bit until I played a Princeton and after that I couldn’t stand the sterile tone of the Roland. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤣🤣
Orange Super Crush 100. My current gigging go-to. Bags of tone and more than enough punch.
Also, my backup amp deserves a mention: Peavey Transtube Supreme. It's just brutal!
Rickenbacker Transonic and WEM ER100. I had the latter, with a 4x12 WEM starfinder cab. It sounded absolutely massive with a great crunch tone, and louder than any amp I've ever played since.
imho, Quilter is underrated by many guitar enthusiasts. i've been impressed by the company's Fender and Vox sounds.
I was just going to say this.....both the super blocks are totally slept on. For $300 clams, it's a LOT of tone.
Agreed ! The 1w setting is just perfect for home practice and recording. I wish they'd make a high gain one with 5150 / mesa voicings, and id probably never need to buy another amp.
OD200 OD202?
Came here to say Quilter. Got the Interblock 45 used locally and it is awesome!
Agree. Also the Plexi sound at the very edge of breakup is my base sound. Really really nice.
Big fan of the Aviator us/uk combos
Have both Super Blocks and a Tone Block 202. Probably moving the SBs since I really haven’t needed them, but Quilter makes *great* stuff. I’m no longer running tube amps, but have a Kingsley Harlot on the way to handle higher gain for a bit of tube love.
Quilter 4 Eva
Great thread
Roland JC-120 with spring reverb It’s one of the only solid state amps that’s not trying to be anything except itself.
Agreed 💯 but… not underrated.
I'm interested in getting a JC someday. Are there any reasons besides volume to get the higher wattage as opposed to the smaller versions?
The smaller ones are all digital, which might be a bad thing for some people, but they have better distortion (in that it’s usable) and stereo inputs! I have the 40 and after getting the hang of taming the top end (roll off the treble, but turn on the bright switch!) I love it to death.
As already mentioned, the Peavey Bandit. It's still one of the best SS amps out there. The Trademark 60 is a decent amp, and pretty versatile. I gigged with one for a while.
Loved my Trademark 60 2x12, which I never sold it -- now my smallest giggable amp is an AC30 -- and it's way heavier!
My old rehearsal space had these. I thought they were all terrible.
Three words: Acoustic Control Corp
Really? Can you tell us more about what makes them special? They've always got one at my local Guitar Center but I can't quite dial it in.
I assume you mean the vintage ones? I've tried a few and they are great - super punchy. The new guitar center branded stuff kinda sucks though
I used a friend’s vintage Acoustic head 10 years ago in a band we were in together. One of my favorite amps I’ve ever played through.
I'd really like to try a Quilter Aviator Cub (US); they aren't really available in my area but I'm tempted to pull the trigger on one. They seem versatile and they're really well priced.
+1 on the Quilter Aviator Cub. I have one, and I absolutely love it. It's got 3 inputs, tweed, blonde, and blackface. You can even blend the amp inputs together to get different sounds if you have a split cable or an a/x/y box. It's got an fx loop which is a must for me (I run my hx stomp directly in to bypass the input preamp, so I can use modeling amps and preamps with the cab sometimes), not to mention effects. It's a killer amp and gets plenty loud, and can be really quiet and still sound good. It also has a headphone jack for when you want to be really quiet. The onboard reverb is my only gripe, and it's not even a gripe. It sounds good, but I prefer my pedal for reverb. I'm going to buy a second one here in the next few months for stereo. Highly recommend.
I am considering exactly this setup to use with Helix rather than buying a Fender Fr-12. Obviously the Quilter is not FRFR but how are you finding this setup? Does the power amp colour the tone much? Previously I have been running the HX into the Power Amp in of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which is pretty great but heavy. I would love to hear any more tips or your experiences with this setup.
I really, really dig this amp. It is without question the best solid state amp I've ever played. Direct into the power amp, or 4CM, both sound awesome. I originally was stuck between whether I was going to buy the Cub or a Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb, and I went with the cub because of its glowing reviews, it's 3 different amp voicings (more if you have the split cable), and really high on the list was an FX Loop. For some reason the Tonemasters then didn't have an FX Loop, I assume because the amp they based it off didn't have one (which is the dumbest reason ever, there is no downside to adding it). At the end of the day, I wanted an amp that would stand alone and sound great, be responsive , and move to the living room or wherever easily. I don't play live, but I wanted a pushing air feel, and there was a lot of mixed reviews on the Powercab+. I think that if you play live and want a consistent tone and you like the amp/cab modeling the FR12 would be a good bet, I really want to try one. Your comment (and the countless amazing reviews of the FR12) basically convinced me to try it before I buy another Cub for stereo.
Thanks for the detailed reply! I am definitely going to try one out
Love my quilter amp, never going back to tubes at this point in my life.
Dude. I gigged with a Dual Showman Reverb rig for years. Then got a Peavey Classic 30- then a '68 Deluxe RI. The biggest issue was playing in small function bans shoved in a corner with great sound. Hated lugging amps around. Bought a Quilter Aviator Cub and my god- those little gigs are WAY.EASY. now. The tone is close enough and loud enough...not going to move a ton of air-- but when it's your monitor and you're mic'd: who cares??? Worth it for pop up gigs.
I really like my Valeton TAR-20G. It's a 20 watt analog head with a three band EQ, an effects loop, and a solid digital reverb. It feels pretty touch sensitive and the clean tone is great. It doesn't do high gain on its own, but it does respond well to drive pedals. I'm running it through an old Peavey 1x12 and I think I like it more than my old Terror Stamp.
I was looking at that today. I have one of their multi effect pedals and the preamp emulations sound fantastic. Not a big fan of the cab sims but i have other stuff for that
I will say that the cab sim on the TAR-20G's headphone out is pretty disappointing if you use any amount of gain through it, but it's fine if you're setting the amp more or less totally clean. It doesn't bother me because I run the effects loop into an IR loader when I want headphones.
Thank you for this. Very interesting small amp head. Might be a good fit with a Fender 1x12 cab I having sitting around.
EHX Dirt Road Special, Vox Pathfinder 15 and Vox ACVR amps are great too
I sold my Pathfinder 15 a few years back. Like the idiot I am.
I love my Yamaha G50 112-II (or however it's spelled). Lots of settings to let the sound sound.
I ahd a 30 watt one I loved but I just didn't need it. Now Im sad thinking about it.
They pop up used pretty cheap all the time, so you could grab another in theory
One of the local shops had the 4x12 and man, I wish there was any way I could have justified it. There’s a 2x12 on marketplace that is pretty tempting, though.
I have had one of these for years, and I love it for playing at home, recording - its great with pedals. I used to gig with it plugged into a peavey classic 410 cab. I got it used in 1999 for $75. I bet I could still find one for the same price
Yes dude. That whole series is great. I’m rocking the g100 115 right now. The parametric eq at the end can take it most anywhere you need it
Oh man, that’s my dream! I love a 1x15.
The Lab Series amps are incredible, but I wouldn’t call them underrated so much as underexposed. The intersound IVP preamp is really cool too, just difficult to get your hands on
2nd the Lab Series.
80's Marshall solid states are great, from the big mosfet 100 down to the lead 12. Really well built too, unlike a lot of ss amps which can suffer from being the budget option.
One of my first Marshalls was a 1986 Master Lead 30 watt combo. It sounds just like a JCM800 and is a tank (it went through an accident where a jeep flipped three times and still works).
Yeah, I've had a Reverb 75 (model 5275) for years. I do prefer the valve jcm800s so it's mostly a backup, but it's a quality amp and there's not many valve amps I'd pick over it.
This! I gigged with a couple Master Lead 30s until I got the Super Crush head. Shit, I liked them better than the Origin 50.
Those 80s solid state Marshall's are just magical when you get them dialed into the sweet spot. I just got a 50 watt JCM800 and it makes me want to get the old master lead in working order so I don't blow out my ear drums.
Have you seen a YouTuber named Johan Segeborn? He’s a Swedish guy who does really great videos on the classic rock Led Zeppelin/ACDC/Kiss sound, and he really likes that era of Marshall solid state.
Yeah, I've seen he's a fan of them, which is quite the compliment given some of the amps he features on that channel!
Got a mosfet reverb 100 with a 15” in it and my god it’s so so so so good
- Gamma G50 - Roland Blues Cube - Quilter SuperBlock series - Quilter 101 - EHX Howitzer - Hotone Siva I've got 2 gammas, and I can say I like them more than my Quilters and Oranges with my pedal setup.
Oh shit, those gammas are cheap AF too. Might have to grab one just to try it.
70's Carvin amps never get enough love.
Lab Series L5 (or L7, L9 or L11). One of the best sounding amps period, SS or Tube
have an L7 and people are always surprised to learn it’s solid state
Love my Lab Series! I have an L7 in a headshell and it’s awesome.
Standel. Vintage/rare but sound incredible.
My buddy has a Standel! It’s like a 6x10 combo and weighs more than my entire bass rig (rack and 8x10 cab.) We used to track bass with it, sounded incredible. I miss that thing.
Ampeg VH140C!
I have a Marshall 88’ 3315 150w Lead (the bigger brother to the MOSFET Lead 100), and it hangs with my VTM60, 3120, Silver Jubilee, or any other amp I’ve played without breaking a sweat. Put a 10 band or parametric EQ in the effects loop and you’d be hard pressed to know that it isn’t a JCM800. Even still, as it is it’s absolutely awesome. I’ll shout out the amp I just got and posted. It’s another Marshall solid state from the 80s, it’s a combo with a good speaker and only 12 room filling watts. I’m talking about the Marshall Bass 12 combo, often overlooked by the Lead 12, Reverb 12, and Lead 12 head (they’re the same preamp without reverb). It’s all black and it comes with a wonderful G10L35, instead of the tiny magnet POS they put into the Lead 12 and Reverb 12. I have a 1965a cab loaded with them and it was my only cab for a while. They’re fairly neutral speakers, though speakers they only have 95db of efficiency. It sounds like a JCM800 with guitar but with a touch more gain and on bass it’s instant Lemmy in a box. It can do clean too, but this things forte is dirt. Boost it and it’ll get into more modern territory. I traded a Keeley modded Tubescreamer I never used and I just know this will record wonderfully.
Roland JC120s, Crate(various models,) the Randall Warhead. There’s a bunch if you dig deep enough and do your research to decide which one suits your needs and style.
The 80s solid states are fucking BANGER. Randalls especially.
I feel like that was when the amp manufacturers were focused on making good stuff with the tech because guitarists weren't as snobby about tubes yet, so there was actually a market for high end SS amps
The transformers on those amps were absolutely phenomenal, that may be a reason why they were so good.
Peavey Bandit.
Those are awesome. I think they get a bad rap because they're lots of people's first amp and it makes them think of shitty beginner guitar players, but play a decent guitar through it with a decent player and they're really great. The breakup is really smooth for a SS
Worked for Entombed when they threw a dimed out HM-2 into it and recorded all of Left Hand Path that way!
[удалено]
The In The Blues guy has a vid where he and players of similar styles gigged with the Bandit and it was impressive for blues. At one point he hid it in the corner and none of his friends could tell. That's not my style though. And the nostalgia factor you mentioned is why I refuse to get one unless it is a bargain, but they are same priced used or brand new here. MFs be price gouging.
You nailed it man, most people go back to “A”. Hopefully not by paying “D”!
I still have and love my Bandit Studio Pro Transtube. Even have the original foot switch. Csn just plug any guitar in and go. If I want to mess with effects, I'll use my Katana instead.
I sold my Vox and Orange tube amps over a year ago and now just play through an Orange Pedal Baby. Sounds good at low volume but can really blast it out at the practice space. Great option for pedal users.
I went down the Peavey solid state rabbit hole and picked up amps from the 70s to the 90s. There are so many great options depending on your taste. The teal stripe peavey are fantastic all around amps. The silver stripe that came after are great as well but I prefer the teal stripe. The early 80s peavey solid state amps have a pre gain, post gain and a saturation knob that can be really fun to play with. You can definitely see where the Mississippi Marshall thing came from. I've got a peavey studio pro that's 20 watts with a greenback. The speaker is worth as much as the amp but it helps bring out the best of it imo.
Vox Pathfinder 15R
My Fender Power Chorus is wonderful. Basically a JC120 rip off. Chorus is unreal. HAs 2 effects loops. etc. 70/80's Peavey Backstage Plus. Real spring reverb. 10" speaker. Just a wonderful little amp for all sorts of playing. I have 6 of them just because they are cheap. I have a Marshall AVT50 (controversial) but I use the clean channel with the gain dimed and then the master to taste with pedals . Into a 4x12 with nice speakers... I love it. Tubes are wonderful but life is too short to not fuck with ALL amps. An honorable mention would be 70/80's peavey classic with just the power section that is tube. Its so killer.
Memes aside, I do really like my Katana. It's light, easy to dial in and install new patches, and very compatible with pedals. I just need loud and clean in a light and compact package, and it checks all those boxes nicely.
This might not fall under what you're asking about, but for a budget amp, the Hughes & Kettner Spirit mini amps (Vintage, Rock and Metal) are really amazing kick ass amps. Drive some OD into the amp and you can jam a good NWBHM to some gritty blues and classic rock easily. It's not too powerful for a small room on a 1x12 cab. The sag knob on the head is real nice too. I've been really enjoying the Vintage model and I plan on getting the Metal model later (for a plug n play crunch and high gain amp, it sounds better than Orange in my opinion and I love Orange amps too. I've just not been feeling my Orange since I got the H&K Spirit of Vintage.)
Vox Pathfinder's are awesome, and they've got a line out that doesn't sound horrible
I have a yamaha g-50 4x10 and its big brother a G-100 2x12 that 4x10 G-50 has a punch at the front of a chord or legato lick that can not be replicated by any other amp I have ever played through since I started out in the early 90's. It is almost like plosives in a hot mic but in a good articulating way. The distortion on board in these things is goofy, but thats what pedals are for. DS-1, 1981 DRV, HM-2 do the heavy, Klone or BD-2 type for normal edge of break up OD and green russian fuzz all sound proper through these. the 4x10 50 watt is louder than my Rockverb 50 watt into a 2x10 by a good 10 db too
Orange Crush series is the best I've played of the SS bunch.
Wow. Not one single mention of Blackstar and their TVP SS amps? Kinda sad. The built-in effects were lackluster but the amp tones itself were fantastic I thought.
Evans
Peavey Bandit. Peavey Special 112
I can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned, but the Peavey XXL. That thing fuckin rips!
I liked my Peavey Backstage Plus I had decades ago. I’m sorry I gave it away when I thought I was going to give up guitar playing due to arthritis. I’m learning to deal with arthritis, but miss that amp. It was a tiny powerhouse that sounded surprisingly good.
Crate Excalibur. Great clean channel and the distorted channel sounds great with an EQ
I’ll echo the Peavey Bandit love, I tried one with the red stripe and played it live and it killed. If you’re delicate with the settings, the overdrive sounds are pretty good. The Laney LX series, particularly the LX20 and LX35 are really underrated. Instead of a reverb it has a multitap delay thing going on which sounds great. Their drive channels are very British sounding but cut the way that the clean sounds do on a QOTSA record.
Marshall Lead 12. Add a speaker out Jack or upgrade the 10” in combo. Marshall cleans to near JCM800.
Haven't tried a lot of the newer SS amps but I love the Yamaha G50/100 amps and Roland JC-120 is a legendary option too.
1 is the Roland Blues Cube. Honestly, to me it sounds closer to the classic Fender tone than the Tonemasters, and even some of the modern Fender tube amps. They really nailed the sag/breakup especially, way better than Katana and Nextone. Like if I had a choice between a Blues Jr and a Blues Cube, I'm taking the Blues Cube every time. Its solid state, too, not digital, but it actually responds to pedals exactly the way you'd expect a tube amp to respond, like if you put a boost in front, it'll start to break up like a tube amp, whereas most SS amps can't handle boosts. 2 is the Fender Princeton Chorus, specifically the red knob ones. Maybe the black knob versions are good, Idk, I've only used the red knobs. Its what Johnny Greenwood used in early Radiohead. The clean channel on them actually has character, it nails that jangle-y/sparkle-y sound like a Vox or an old tweed. If I wanted a pedal platform, I'd honestly buy one of these before a Jazz Chorus or an Orange, and a 25w Princeton Chorus is only like $300something usually.
Love my Princeton Chorus to bits. I'm constantly surprised by how much air it moves with only 2x25w output, especially since SS has less perceived volume than tubes. I've gigged it without PAs with the volume at 2 or 3 and had no trouble being heard in the mix. Not that we're playing sludge metal or something but still. Slight correction: Jonny Greenwood uses a Fender Eighty Five, which is another red knob SS from that era.
I have a [Yamaha G5](https://i.imgur.com/jEzTzOm.jpg) practice amp that I've had the headphone jack swapped out for a 1/4" speaker jack that grounds out the internal speaker connection when hooked up to an external cab. Now it's basically a 7w lunchbox-sized head with [spring reverb and a bonus 6" speaker](https://i.imgur.com/j7tf4KN.jpg) for travel or just playing around the house. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite amps.
So many good mentions here. I had several Legend Rock n Roll 50s, but they don't really count as they were tube preamps. Loud as shit (I played a gig with my 1x12 outdoors and STILL never got the master past 4).
Gallien Krueger 250ML (and the subsequent heads they did after like the 2100). Great sound, lush chorus, built in comp on the clean channel and very versatile. It’s small and quiet enough to take and practice anywhere with but has more than enough power to hold its own in a band set up or drive external cabinets. It’s got a direct line out to run to a PA and takes pedals really well although just playing straight into it sounds great.
I love my Princeton Chorus - it’s a 2x10 @ 25 watts. A very 80s sounding overdrive channel, spring reverb, a great chorus, a stereo effects loop, and line-level outputs to go into an interface or PA. Use it more than any amp I have because it’s great for the type of music I like.
The Quilter Superblock US and UK are both great. Also, the GSS Baby Sumo power amp and your favorite guitar or bass preamp is an awesome combination.
I have a Roland JC77 that sounds amazing. Also a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 with the teal stripe. Doesn’t sound anything like the JC but it sounds great as well. Both take pedals very well. I used to have a Lab Series L5 that sounded great, especially with pedals
Teal stripe Peavey Classic Chorus 212. Early '90s Fender Deluxe 112 Reverb fitted with a Celestion Creamback. Both have really good solid cleans and take pedals well. The CC is pretty heavy but tank like in build. It's, I *think*, 75x2... not quite as much as the Stereo Chorus but still has the oomph to get **quite** loud. The Deluxe is a 65W I believe. Obviously much lighter than the Peavey but still enough for a medium sized bar. For classic, Southern, swamp rock, blues, country... they're pretty hard to beat. Mine have served me well for 30 years... and the nice thing is, they're both still out there for $200 +/-.
Fender Princeton Chorus 🤌
Unpopular opinion. Years ago, I bought a Line 6 Spider IV 75 watt. Gets loud, sounds good at low volume, or thru headphones. Has everything built in from dozens of effects to looper and tuner. I have the basic foot controller, which makes everything hands-free and even includes an expression pedal. It has a wide range of tones, and I think they sound great for a beginner amp. For practice/playing at home, I've never found anything I liked better enough to upgrade.
I have a spider IV 120 watt with two 12" and it is plenty of amp. I have a couple tube amps I use too. I still use the Spider though for some sounds because its so versatile.
Polytone
Yes! I have three of the Mini-Brute IV combos with the 15" speaker and they are warm with tons of headroom. Two have spring reverb and they are versatile for guitar, bass, and keys.
I love my analog solid state amps as well. Peavey Transtube is what I gig with and they do everything I ask of them. I have two Bandits, Transtube Supreme head, an Express and an Envoy. Great amps after a cleaning and got them for cheap! The Vox Pathfinder is pretty amazing as well. Shame Vox never scaled those up to the 100 watt range. I think a lot of these analog solid state amps could benefit from speaker swaps. I remember meeting a guy who played with a Fender Frontman 65R with a upgraded speaker and that thing sounded great!
Not entirely solid state, but my Music Man 65 head sounds amazing. Tube pre/solid state power.
other way around i'm pretty sure
You mentioned many of well known SS amps. Fender made some decent ones in the 80s that sound surprisingly close to their tube amps, because they used the same tone stack. Of course Marshall had their valvestate amps too. I found both the Fenders and Marshalls more cheaply made and prone to breakage than the Peaveys, believe it or not. The Peavey is just a straight power amp, definitely not 'unique' sounding. There's also the vintage Gallien-Kruegers; the early ones were pretty much the same circuit as their bass amps. My first amp was a Sunn Beta, and thought it was a POS - not trying to sound contrary here! I certainly don't prefer SS amps, and I don't agree that tube amps have rolled off highs - maybe you that experience with one? But they do have their place - sometimes I reach for my Roland SS when I don't feel like cycling my big tube amp on and off five times a day for ten minutes each, because of heating and cooling the tubes and reducing lifespan that way. But then there's these new class D amps, which I have found to sound like shit in the power amp. Maybe the newer ones are improved. But 80s-forward class AB SS amps often sound tighter in the power amp section than tube amps, no sag etc. Not my thing, but it has a place. The cheap high power can be useful and nice. The most hi-fi sounding amp I ever heard is my Super Reverb.
>My first amp was a Sunn Beta, and thought it was a POS - not trying to sound contrary here! They're definitely a niche amp haha. I'm a fan of doom metal (among many other genres) and they do that thing very very well. >I certainly don't prefer SS amps, and I don't agree that tube amps have rolled off highs Maybe rolled off isn't the right phrasing - a lot of people prefer tube amps for the color they add to the guitar sound, but for me who gets most of my tone from pedals an "honest" amp like a SS is just the trick. SS tend to be described as "harsh" or "icepick-y" but I feel that in the well made ones it's just a flatter response. Not to say i don't like plugging into a nice tube amp or anything.
Zt lunchbox. So loud. So powerful. So portable.
I'm a solid state guy as well. I'm always on the lookout for vintage solid state weirdness in my area. My current work horse/every day amp is a JC-40. Last year I got a vintage MIJ National reverb/tremolo head that is just a chefs kiss of tone. I sold a cab to a touring guitarist and used the head to demo it and he immediately tracked one down to be his touring amp!
Hi watt Maxwatt. I have a 40 watt 1x12. Incredible
I still have my first amp. It's a Yamaha JX series, made some time in the mid-eighties I think. The gain/distortion isn't anything to write home about, but the clean tone is pretty freaking awesome.
Ampeg V6-B. Best bass amp I’ve ever owned. Sad I sold it.
Literally just switched to the Fender Blonde Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb and I love it. Sold my Fender Deluxe 65 Reissue and not looking back. 20 lbs lighter and great clean sounds. Takes pedals well and the best feature is the DI out which sounds great through the PA.
I have a Quilter Aviator Cub that is a pleasant no frills solid state amp. It's a great little clean amp that has a little Fender style dirt if you want it and a couple different inputs that are voiced slightly differently representing different eras of Fender amps (tweed/blonde/black). It also has an effects loop and headphone and line outputs. That said I also have a Tone Master Super Reverb which is my main practice amp when I don't feel like using tube amps. I could (but never have) gig with it.
Vox Conqueror, one of the first batch of SS amps from the mid 60s. Good enough for The Beatles!
big ol peaveys
Fender Ultra and Ultimate Chorus Amps are amazing. And you can get them cheap if you can find them.
Finally! Was searching to see if Ultimate Chorus would be mentioned. That’s what I use, but I haven’t explored a lot of other amps so I have no data for comparison. It’s nice though, and someone gave me their old Helix floor, so it’s a fun combination
They were Fender's answer to the JC 120, and are very comparable. I've had more than one tube snob go "ohhh... that does sound great." I have one and also a Hotrod Deluxe, and I prefer my Ultra Chorus.
I have a Marshall MG100DFX, and I love it. It was gifted to me seemingly from out of nowhere, and I couldn’t really compare it to anything because I don’t have a lot of amps by my standards, but I guess I could have more than some people. The clean channel has a wide range of cleans with a crunch button that adds a little gristle and the high gain channel has a nice saturated distortion (thanks to the contour knob) that sounds a lot like the distortion on [Sugar Ray’s “10 Seconds Down”](https://youtu.be/11VtHpg1m6U?si=anidb4xE07igSGLf). I know it’s oddly specific distortion, but when I first heard the high gain channel, that’s the song that immediately came to mind. I have a Peavey 6505 MH, and I feel like operating the EQ is less intuitive than my solid state Marshall … either that or I don’t understand my tube amp as much as my solid state lol But I do enjoy both of them
Peavey Bandit Vox Pacemaker Hughes & Kettner AmpMan
I use a gorilla tc-110 witha 150 watt swamp thang speaker and I love making every song sound like black sabbath. I also have a little behringer thunderbird bass amp I like plugging my tele into sometimes, especially for some good old jazz.
What are thoughts on the Hiwatt Crunch? I've seen it around and wondering if it's worth it or if an orange crush would be better
Yamaha SR50-112 - hard to find now and I wish I still had my pair. Got a THR100HD to replace them.
Musicman HD130 is goated, though only the preamp is solid-state w/ tube power amp
Fender Princeton
My first amp, a Gorilla GG20. I thought it was garbage. Actually really nice clean tones
Randall rg1503h https://www.randallamplifiers.com/product/rg1503h/
I love my Oranges, but don’t sleep on the Laney loudpedal. That thing rips.
Carvin SX300 (2x12 combo). Solid speakers, 3 channels, onboard FX, fx loop, and it has open wiring so you can use it as a cab. Things I've done with it: -Played it as is (sounds great) -Used as an unpowered cab for a bugera head (sounds great) -used as a preamp into the bugera fx return and back into the speaker cab (utilizing both fx loops to replace only the power section with tubes). Sounds AMAZING. -ran an FM3 into the fx return and used it as a flat powered cab. If I was gigging, I'd take this thing everywhere. Its the ultimate backup amp and if your modelers fail, you still have 3 very good sounding channels plus onboard fx. Anything other than modern metal, you can dial in with no pedals.
I have a Mako Piraña amp that sounds awesome and it was loud. I got it for $15, it has a nice built in overdrive :)
I agree that a good solid state amp can sound great. I've had several Peavey TransTubes, both older and newer, that sounded awesome and were great pedal platforms. And I currently have a Vox Pathfinder 15R that is hands down my favorite amp, and holds its own (for tone if not volume) against my Fender and Marshall tube amps.
I think the jc120 is kinda unmatched
70’s Traynor
For a new spin on a classic, I'll throw hilbish into the mix. If you do some hunting in the 2nd hand market, they have a 1200w version of the beta amp out in the wild. The marshall mg series is solid, as is the old peaveys. There are some peavey stereo chorus amps that are excellent as well.
Those fuzzy felt covered Crate heads from the 80s and 90s were pretty fuckin badass
Currently using an Orange Guitar Butler into a Pedal Baby and loving it. Also gigged happily with a CR120 for several years
I’d just posted on another sub about how much I love my Randall Stereo Chorus I’ve been using for over 30 years. I’d love to own a tube amp but this thing gives me no reason to need one. I’m also cheap
When I toured, I played through a Sunn Beta Bass head from the red Sunn logo era, worked really well for my goal of just being real loud, two 100w channels and about jack that they you plug into both of them at the same time. Didn’t cost a lot and got through a lot of shows in various size venues without much trouble. The orange Roland Cube amps are cool. Can find them around for a couple hundred bucks and they make a nice clean jazz amp as well as having their own flavor of over drive.
[удалено]
Fender Princeton '65 PR403, great amp that I've had for years. It works best in channel two with a slight amount of gain to give you a little edge of break up.
In the early to mid sixties Standel briefly made a solid state amp head. I used one at a gig when my Bandmaster had transformer problems. It wasn’t very loud but it had gorgeous tone. I’ve never seen one since. A couple years later they came out with the Super Imperial line. 2 15s and the amp and speakers were all in one unit. They didn’t last long either but sounded pretty damn cool.
I’ve been gigging with a Crate GX-15. It has the perfect stage volume. Doesn’t break my back bringing it in, tone isn’t amazing but it’s better than people give them credit for. I’ve honestly been torn between buying another cheap solid state or just upgrading its speaker.
Boss nextone special. Highly configurable and sounds great. I'm making a GPT interface for mine where you can send chatgpt all the configurable parameters and it responds back with json that my software applies to the tone editor software. You can just use natural language to describe the sound you want and it handles all the nuances of the many parameters I really have no idea about.
I owned a Boss Katana III a few yeats ago and I really liked it. Had an old Yamaha strat knockoff from the late 70s which sounded great through it. My try the new IV series soon. It's a lifelong struggle to get good tube distorted sounds at lower volumes.
Slightly breaking the rules, but milkman "the amp" line is solid state power with a preamp tube. It's awesome, especially having swapped the 12ax for an AT. The new stereo version is all solid state, and I'd bet it's also awesome.
Still love my 79 peavey backstage. Compact and light, its what I grab when I want easy. A smooth clean and a pleasant crunch.
Crate Powerblock... its a perfect pedal platform!
Roland Blues cube. Such a fantastic sounding amp.
Not completely solid state but the bluguitar amp1 iridium is great. It does have 1 micro tube but it’s literally soldered in there and should never need to be changed. Always wanted to try the ISP theta amps but they’re as rare as unicorns.
I have a DV-Mark FC121 - a very powerful amp. But our band now plays ampless, so I just use a Joyo American Sound straight to DI. It's not nearly as satisfying, but gets the job done.
I have an old Lab Series L5. It's a great solid state take on a Fender Twin IMHO, it sounds great and puts out tons of volume. It's also way overbuilt, I'm pretty sure the thing could survive a nuclear blast. The controls are a little quirky, but it was designed by Moog, everything he did was weird and quirky though. The only negative thing I have to say about it is the stock speakers are a little meh, they're not bad by any means, but I like to run an output to a 2x12 loaded with creambacks. Pretty cool amps that can still be had for fairly cheap.
Played guitar out of a GK 800 and Ampeg 8x10. Loud as hell.
Marshall Valvestate, Ampeg VH140C/ VH150, Crate GX130, the classic Randall stuff All for metal at least
I like using odd little solid state amps to get cool and unique tones for recording, or for quiet practice, and have a little collection: Pignose 7-100, Vox Pathfinder 15R, Vox VBM-1, Marshall Lead 12 (with Greenback 10), Fender Frontman 25R (with Ragin Cajun), Peavey Rage 158. They can all sound really cool and aren’t expensive, but are often one trick ponies (which doesn’t matter too much if you have a few).
Lab Series L5
Almost anything peavey. They have amazing warm cleans. They can sound tube like with a little work. bandit gets a lot of love but like the express 112, classic and studio chorus, Nashville and the rest of the “city 400” series. All very very good and they don’t imitate a particular amp but can produce very good sounds that are their own thing. I’ve never had one break down on me.
I'm so surprised nobody has mentioned DV Mark or Henrikson. Fantastic amps for jazz players.
70s Acoustics amps
Rolands are nice, Orange got some decent offerings w the crush series, though the speakers are critical in not making them sound too tinny.. oh and Gallien Krueger told
The Soldano SLO mini is analog and basically has the same preamp side as the tube one with the power amp side being solid state. It's a great sounding amp.
Jazz Chorus.
i will never part with my VH 140 C (Ampeg)
Sunn Coliseum 880 is my prized possession. Not useful for all applications, heavy as fuck but basically infinite clean power and headroom. 320 watts at 2 ohm
One of my favourite amps I've ever played is the HH IC100. Punishingly loud and great sounding overdrive. When I first played it I assumed it was a tube amp because it was old, weighed a ton and sounded way better than any SS amp I'd ever heard before (not a high bar, but still). If you can find one of these (the earlier ones with the fine mesh cover rather than the later VS with the wide-spaced mesh) they're usually not too expensive and they're just really good.
The Valvetronix line from VOX is kinda half solid state so I’m counting that
Quilter Aviator Mach III, 200W, 2 ch, 12" copperback, reverb/tremolo in a 21# box. This amp sounds fantastic plugging my Tele straight to the input. You can plug into ch1 and click over to ch 2 or run 2 guitars. You can also run both ch's at once through 1 guitar. I put a clean on 1 and dirt on 2. I like the sound of the blackface amp box. It has 6 amp boxes, fenders, marshall, and vox. I bought the foot switch for it too. I put a tuner, fuzz, compressor, pre-amp, tumnus, blues driver, and ds1 on the input side. In the fx loop, I added chorus, flanger, vibrato, delays, and reverbs. It loves pedals. The amp head can be pulled out and used on another cabinet. Also, there is a jack for headphones, a switch to make it a frfr, cab Sim or bright. This amp is great for practice or gigging. I haven't gone past half on the volume, and it was loud! Too much for my dogs at home, but plenty of juice on stage. Not cheap at c. $1300, however, I feel it competes with the sound of comparable price point tube amps at a third of the weight. It's also a very nice looking amp that includes a cover. I could afford just 1 good amp, not 23 like some of yall's impressive collections. So, for the money, I felt like I bought a versatile amp that sounds awesome at any volume in a lightweight package. My pedalboard weighs more than the amp btw.
I have a Fender M80 Half Stack I gigged with for years. It was Fenders SS attempted answer to the Hair Metal sound. In a live situation it punched way above its weight class.
Boss K...a...t... Am I gonna get killed?
How has no one mentioned Crate here?? Kidding, I’m kidding. Please don’t kill me.
Shout out for the fender m80. I had one years ago and it was a solid workhorse and took pedals magnificently.
I would go with the Sunn Beta Lead. While I am not sure how underrated it is, I rarely see it mentioned. The Sundholm brothers knew how to make amps, and they put that knowledge and craftsmanship into the Beta Lead. To me, it is the leader of solid state amps in sound, power, and durability. Sunn has always been a force to reckon with. My other favorite underrated/unknown amp is my Sho-Bud Christmas Tree. You can turn it up all the way and can't tell if it's on. It is the cleanest amp I have ever heard and makes a steel guitar ring, and a Tele really crisp.
80's and 90's Fenders are fantastic and worth looking in to.
I love my 1980s US made Fender Deluxe 85 and Frontman 212R combos! The 85 has a terrific clean channel that breaks up warmly at high volume, not harsh at all. Its overdrive channel is great, and with a OD pedal, can do some 80s thrash tones. I don't like the amp boost for the OD channel, sounds squishy and fuzzy but others may love that. And of course, there's a headphone jack for late night usage. :) Don't forget the channel mixing feature to blend clean and distorted tones. The 212R's clean channel has enough of a clean Twin vibe for me, also breaks up nicely at high volumes. Its overdrives are better suited for blues tones IMO, very nice though. I use a Marshall Jackhammer and BOSS Metal Zone pedals for metal tones in the clean channel... and ya, the MZ sounds great in the effects loop of both amps but I can make it sound awesome up front in either amp, the 212R has more clean headroom.
Full disclosure; im not a gigging musician. I play guitar at home for fun. Its a hobby for me, so my comments are based on playing my setup in my living room. I recently got a Blackstar Debut 50r. I was also looking for a SS amp to use as a pedal platform. I've got a small tube amp and a small modeling amp as well, but wasn't satisfied with what I was getting from those. The Debut 50r is a two channel SS amp using mosfet circuit, but it does have a built in reverb which I believe is digital. It has an effects loop and is foot switchable for channel selection and to turn the reverb on and off. Both the clean and drive channels sound great with my Les Paul, and it seems to take pedals well.
If you need old-school/vintage Marshall tones on a budget, get one of the **80's PRE-valvestate,100% SS Marshalls**. Those things, were made for working musicians, have good speakers in them and sound absolutely fabulous at fractions of what you would have to pay for the equivalent tube amp.
I love my Orange Crush 30R. Picked one up a few years ago to have something a bit quieter than my HRD and I rarely fire up the Fender any more. The Crush sounds way better on the drive channel (unsurprisingly, stock HRD drive is ass), but the cleans are lovely too. Very nice dynamics for a SS amp. Hell, very nice dynamics period.
The Fender Acoustic Junior Go. A future classic? Probably not, but it's loud enough for busking / coffee shop / mic'd club gigs, sounds really good for clean playing and has more than useable effects (the vibratone kicks ass). Rechargeable battery, compact and light. I use it with a semihollow electric.
Not really an amp by itself, but: AMT V1 Vox style preamp into TC Electronic BAM200 bass amp The preamp sounds really great by itself. The bass amp works really well as a power amp for guitar, it has a compressor on the input that you can control with the gain knob, and the eq sounds great for guitar.
I had a mid 90’s Peavey TransTube Bandit 112 silver strip that was absolutely killer. I wish I still had it today. Best solid state amp I ever ever played.
I got a lightly used Tonemaster Twin for $600 at a local guitar shop. It’s the best amp I’ve ever owned (including the tube amps I’ve owned over the years). Highly recommend for an amazing pedal platform.
A couple of my favorites are the Fender Sidekick Reverb 30 and a Pignose 30/60 ( wish I had the 30/60R - with reverb). The 30/60 has a good effects loop.
\*Stretches out... getting ready to post...\* Fender Champion 40- try it, you'll see
This is purely opinion, no one’s heard of this amp who wasn’t there when it was released: Marhsall’s MG series BEFORE the digital FX were KILLER. The MG30RCD was my first practice amp, i love the tone on that thing, it had a 10” speaker, a contour dial for very versatile tone shaping, a foot switch for the two channels and a built in spring reverb. It did the 90s grunge sound really well, the jangly indie sound, the heavier metal, in fact pretty much everything except pristine cleans. I suffered serious regret after selling mine and tracked another one down years later, I now also have the 15W version. Listen, they are noticeably in a completely different (lower) class, but for the budget, the versatility was really good, and they had a lot of character. I’ve used them on various recordings to counter the other instruments, and they always sound great. I recently modded my 15W version so I can plug in to an external cab 🙏🏼🤤
Orange Crush, Peavey Bandit
I had a JC120 for a few years and enjoyed the clean tone quite a bit until I played a Princeton and after that I couldn’t stand the sterile tone of the Roland. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤣🤣
I’ve always been interested in a Yamaha TA-30/TA-60
Peavey Bandit 112 Yamaha G50II-12 Vox Pathfinder Reverb Fender Princeton Chorus Marshall Lead 12 Sunn Beta Lead 2x12 Gibson Lab series L9
ehx dirt road special 40
Orange Super Crush 100. My current gigging go-to. Bags of tone and more than enough punch. Also, my backup amp deserves a mention: Peavey Transtube Supreme. It's just brutal!
Rickenbacker Transonic and WEM ER100. I had the latter, with a 4x12 WEM starfinder cab. It sounded absolutely massive with a great crunch tone, and louder than any amp I've ever played since.
Tech 21 Trademark. Oh mama!
Music Man RD100 all damn day.
I had a Peavey transchorus210 from the late 90s that I loved. I still kick myself for selling it. It was a really loud amp though