SS amps; anything I'm missing out on?

[Axe-Man]

I love my tube amps but I’d definitely consider (am considering in fact) the new Orange Super Crush 100 as a backup and practice amp. Not because it’s sub par etc rather just because it’s affordable, likely very reliable and still loud.

I absolutely don’t believe it would sound as good as my Yeti 100 through the same cab at volume, but most tube amps don’t either so that is nothing to do with the technology. But I bet it likely sounds a lot better at lower volumes where the Yeti really doesn’t exactly fire on all cylinders.

Being able to just flick it on and play quietly would be really nice and the lighter weight would be great.

I’ve wanted another Rockerverb or Jim Root terror so that would definitely scratch an itch too.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

SS has sounded fine since the '70s.
Provided: good speakers, operate the amp in its best zone, beware of onboard OD circuits.
They were also big , heavy, expensive and more difficult to fix.
Don't judge SS amps by the worst offerings, just as one does not judge all tube amps by the shoddy ones.
I was recently inside a Randall rh200 (?) stereo x100W head. Big, heavy and totally fried output section.
Too much trouble to fix but converted to preamp only and run into a power amp it sounded very good.

So many ways to get good guitar tones and so many tones are good. (there are lots of bad ones too)
The narrow view around here is myopic.

 

[wildschwein]

and here’s a video where the guy compares it with all tubes Rockerverb and it shows SS are still not there

That's an extremly postive review. Consider the price difference with the Rockerverb -- it's huge. All totally subjective anyway. My favourite amp of all time is my Epiphone Triggerman 60 but I have a Mesa combo and a Fender Twin. That's personal prefence however not objective truth.

 

[muzishun]

Once I made the jump over to tube amps some 20+ years ago I never really gave Solid State a second look. No prejudice, just preference. I like the way tubes respond to my playing dynamics; I can hear and feel when I play lighter or really dig in. I’ll window shop every now and again and generally gloss over if not ignore completely the SS amps. With all the technological advances since the early ’00 I’ve recently wondered if I’ve been missing out on anything. Not that I plan on buying a bunch of SS amps, mainly curious about new developments, if SS can replicate the feel of tubes better, or anything else worth paying attention to.

No technological advances needed!

Gibson Lab Series amps have that tubey feel and the one I have (L5) was made in the 70's. Fantastic amp, I still enjoy plugging straight in and cranking up a loud fat edge of breakup sound and use my guitar volume. Tons of fun. Feels great to play, i can shred clean tones on it.

 

[twotone]

If the solid state amp has decent preamp gain and a Celestion twelve inch speaker, I'll use it. And I don't use a lot of distortion when I play.

 

[Monoliths & Amulets (mA)]

Yeah, I'm definitely ordering one of the new Orange Crush 100 heads. (In black) whenever Sweetwater gets them in stock.

I love my tube amps but I’d definitely consider (am considering in fact) the new Orange Super Crush 100 as a backup and practice amp. Not because it’s sub par etc rather just because it’s affordable, likely very reliable and still loud.

I absolutely don’t believe it would sound as good as my Yeti 100 through the same cab at volume, but most tube amps don’t either so that is nothing to do with the technology. But I bet it likely sounds a lot better at lower volumes where the Yeti really doesn’t exactly fire on all cylinders.

Being able to just flick it on and play quietly would be really nice and the lighter weight would be great.

I’ve wanted another Rockerverb or Jim Root terror so that would definitely scratch an itch too.

 

[turntable_blues]

That's an extremly postive review. Consider the price difference with the Rockerverb -- it's huge. All totally subjective anyway. My favourite amp of all time is my Epiphone Triggerman 60 but I have a Mesa combo and a Fender Twin. That's personal prefence however not objective truth.

Sure. It sounds good, is lightweight, loud and cheap. But no doubt that Rockerverb sounds fuller and rounder
(and this is coming from someone who was honestly hoping that there wouldn’t be such big difference between the two)

 

[ForTheLoveOfIvy]

Old SS can be a bit temperamental but I do love this piece of junk. It's got great swampy reverb and trem and sounds pretty trashy.



It's from '68. I pair it with an old '65 vox T100 bass cab with a couple of 15" Jensen P15Ns from '59.

 

[92lowrider]

If you can find one the older Roland Blues Cube BC-60 from the 90's is pretty impressive.

 

[GerryJ]

and here’s a video where the guy compares it with all tubes Rockerverb and it shows SS are still not there

Imo, this is a good example how some modern analog SS amps (Orange, maybe Quilter?) are "there" for the high gain sounds. It's the clean sounds where I still hear the SS is ~ 85-90% of tube complexity .
So for me, the difference (tube vs SS) depends on the cleans, not the grits. But lol, maybe I'm the only one with this peculiar type of hearing?

 

[jvin248]

.

Treat a solid state amp like you might treat a solid state PA system at a gig.
At gigs with PA systems ... players use their 'tube amp+mic' like a pedal they plug into the PA system, or they use a pedal board to 'go direct' to the PA system. They stack a pedal into an amp like stacking two pedals.
Use an amp, any amp, like a clean PA system meant to give you volume.


All that 'touch sensitiveness' can be had with a Fuzz Face pedal, or a Joyo American Sound pedal, into a clean amp.




How to get the king of solid state amps to give you that 'cranked Marshall stack'


Are you stacking pedals? ... correctly?



.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

i use lots of pedals...usually amp is just a clean platform
drri...hrdx...peavey classic 30 (i use the dirt channel on this occasionally)

but lately been using my roland blues cube...
and recently got an orange crush pro 60w...
using the effects loop, dirt pedals and the dirt channel...loving this set up so far...sounds great and wont need to replace the tubes lol

im not interested in amps i have to program, download firmware, etc...as far as ss goes, i just want a good clean tone...a good dirt channel is a bonus...im jonsing for a roland jc120

 

[MagusFaerox]

I don't understand why people use guitar amps as clean pedal platforms.

If you're actually running the amp completely clean, then all you've got is a passive tone stack in front of what amounts to a linear amplifier. If the amp is running entirely in its linear range, there is no real difference between tube, solid state class-A/B, SS class-D, or anything else that works except a tiny bit of high treble roll-off (which happens higher than a guitar cab can reproduce anyway) for the tubes....because they objectively suck at being amplifiers. And a passive low-pass filter that costs less than a dollar will replicate that too.

Either the amp is significantly contributing to the sound, or you could replace it with a PA amp.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

I don't understand why people use guitar amps as clean pedal platforms.

The amp provides the basic clean sound. It sounds like it is designed to sound with its voicing and character intact.
The pedals are chosen that react well into that sort of format.
Pedals off, you hear the amp.
Fitting up a pedalboard that reacts well into a clean amp allows one to use many different amps after simply choosing the clean channel and making some tweaks.
Robust, good sounding, amps are still required, but your sound is not tied to any one 'special' amp that you have to drag around.

 

[Brutus]

You could do a lot worse than the Orange SS 35 watter. That’s a solid, good sounding little critter. Mine is staying mine.

 

[RayBarbeeMusic]

The problem with SS isn't the tone (at least not the overdriven tone) and hasn't been since the 80s. It's the feel and response. Those continue to be a problem to this day.

 

[Vondragonnoggin]

The problem with SS isn't the tone (at least not the overdriven tone) and hasn't been since the 80s. It's the feel and response. Those continue to be a problem to this day.

I don’t know how anyone can blanket statement SS behavior or sound.

Most of the best SS amps never even get mentioned.

Sound and feel of my AMT Stonehead, Pearce G2r, and even the Marshall 3210 Lead 100 Mosfet are great.

Ive played some bad SS before, and bad modeling amps, but there are a few true analog SS amps that feel great playing them and sound great at gig volumes.

 

[Monoliths & Amulets (mA)]

This setup sounds amazing.

Ibanez Tone Blaster Head.
Slanted Crate 4x12.
Fender 4x12.

 

[Neptical]

The problem with SS isn't the tone (at least not the overdriven tone) and hasn't been since the 80s. It's the feel and response. Those continue to be a problem to this day.

To which user do you speak of?
Super blanket statement.
I have a batch of 3210s a 3315 as well as some 80s SS Fenders. Throw them through the EVs and you might be thoroughly surprised my friend. They can hang with my old Boogie Mark IIIs and JCMs that sit right beside them.

 

[Studio Owner]

I like SS amps. Everyone thinks I am a toob snob, and I am. But I like SS amps. I don't bother trying to make one sound like a tube amp or put modelers on them. I like them for what they are. Fast response, pure clean. They can sound great with OD/distortion too. I use them for a lot of other things other than straight guitar too.

I really dunno how they've evolved. Mine are oooooold.