BEST SOLID STATE

metz3683

I' looking at getting rid of my 2 valve amps and get a solid state, purely for reliability. I can spend about a grand. What would you all recommend? 

Danny1969

I would recommend a reliable valve amp, there's quite a lot out there. 

Solidstate amps can and do go wrong and with a modern BGA LSI chips design it can be terminal rather than a case of changing valves. 
From an engineers point of view I don't see solidstate as being more reliable 

ecc83

Danny1969 said:

I would recommend a reliable valve amp, there's quite a lot out there. 

Solidstate amps can and do go wrong and with a modern BGA LSI chips design it can be terminal rather than a case of changing valves. 
From an engineers point of view I don't see solidstate as being more reliable 

Tend to agree except that power valves, especially todays, have a definite lifespan in amps.

Solid state amps SHOULD  be bombproof and many top designs for hi fi and PA really are. It seems however that such design care is rarely put into guitar amplifiers.

(I COULD of course mention "A Name" but my experience is now several years out of date. Others might like to comment?)

Dave.

Voxman

Danny1969 said:

I would recommend a reliable valve amp, there's quite a lot out there. 

Solidstate amps can and do go wrong and with a modern BGA LSI chips design it can be terminal rather than a case of changing valves. 
From an engineers point of view I don't see solidstate as being more reliable 

True, but you will save money on valve-changes, tone will typically be more consistent especially at lower volumes, the amp will likely be lighter, you won't get the heat problems valve amps can sometimes cause, and you won't need very much warm up time.  But of course tone and response will be different - so it depends on the type of stuff you play and how its going to be used. If you need to run a modelling MFX unit through it, arguably less tone-coloured clean channels of a solid-state amps can actually be better. 

I have three valve amps currently and some work has had to be done on all of them albeit nothing major re repair work/cost.  I also have a solid-state Marshall Valvestate 8080 Mk1  (IMO the best version they ever made, 2-channel, great speaker, loud and still a really good sounding amp) that I bought new when they first came out in 1991 and apart from needing a service and replacement for scratchy pots 3 years or so back it's been totally reliable since the day it was new.  I had to have a thermistor cut-out fault fixed, and a power-valve base and red ''on' light unit replaced in my Laney Cub 12R, and one of the input jack sockets on my Laney VC30-210 disconnected and had to be replaced.  On my Marshall DSL401 it needed the typical 'bridge rectifier' repair/mod work and a year or two back the internal fuse had to be changed/upgraded.  

Interestingly, the only amp I've ever had that has been perfect since it came out of the box when I bought it in 2004, is by far the most gigged of all my current amps and has never needed any repairs is my 'Blue' Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX. 

metz3683

Thanks for the replies, It will be used a a pedal amp. So needs a great clean, not bothered about the drive 

DrCornelius

You can pick up an old jc120 for £500. According to the tech that worked on mine they are very reliable , I had an issue with the chorus and he said it's the first he's seen for ages. Lovely cleans but horrible drive but then if you are using pedals youll be fine.  

ICBM

metz3683 said:

I' looking at getting rid of my 2 valve amps and get a solid state, purely for reliability. I can spend about a grand. What would you all recommend? 

Probably either a Quilter Aviator or a Yamaha THR100 and a nice lightweight 2x12". The Yamaha is digital and does have overdriven sounds as well, which you may not need - the Quilter is purely analogue apart from the reverb.

I love the sound of a JC-120 but I wouldn't choose something that large and heavy these days.

Jalapeno

I've found a TRex Moller will make any s/s clean channel sound immense !

metz3683

Thanks everyone. I'll start looking into these. 

Voxman

For reliability and clean tones to run pedals trust me you could do a lot worse than pick up a second-hand original 1x12 or 2x12 Marshall Valvestate Mk1 (NOT the subsequent AVT versions) for around £50-£100!  I run my 'normal' pedal board and Vox Tonelabs through it and its really good.  The 8080 has no extn cab out so if you need a 2x12, look for the 8280 or 8200 variants (which also have external cab out options).

digitalscream

Voxman said:

Interestingly, the only amp I've ever had that has been perfect since it came out of the box when I bought it in 2004, is by far the most gigged of all my current amps and has never needed any repairs is my 'Blue' Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX. 

That's odd, because the AD120VTX was pretty well-known for having thermal "issues". Looks like you got a good one!

Danny1969

digitalscream said:

Voxman said:

Interestingly, the only amp I've ever had that has been perfect since it came out of the box when I bought it in 2004, is by far the most gigged of all my current amps and has never needed any repairs is my 'Blue' Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX. 

That's odd, because the AD120VTX was pretty well-known for having thermal "issues". Looks like you got a good one!

The original AD120VT was a terrible implementation of a good design on paper. The PCB was inadequately supported and wasn't of good enough quality for the weight of the components they put on it.  This led to constant bad joints in the area where the valve reactor stage met the driver and power transistors in the power amp. 
The low voltage tap to feed the well made digital Korg section above was basically just a zener diode.
The soldering looked like it had been done by a blind man sat upon a mechanical ball!
The ethernet socket should have been an Ethercon or similar ... instead they used a standard RJ45 socket intended for a network card

Myself and 2 friends all brought the amps because they sounded superb and the large floor  controller was great for gig'ing, containing a good tuner, volume pedal, wah etc and as many patchs as you needed. But I was constantly fixing them as they kept going wrong. In the end I point to point wired half the board on one of the amps in the power section from component leg to component leg to make the PCB tracks redundant. I lost patience with my own one and removed the whole bottom PCB and used a Marshall 80\80 SS PCB instead. 
I ended up going over to the fantastic Tonelab SE into a Marshall 20\20 valve amp .... that was a fantastic combination once I sorted the venting problems out

I understand a lot of the problems were solved so Voxman's doesn't have the same hassles I did  

 

simonk

I’d go for a Quilter. I’ve no experience with the combos but have a couple of their little heads and they’re excellent.

Voxman

digitalscream said:o

Voxman said:

Interestingly, the only amp I've ever had that has been perfect since it came out of the box when I bought it in 2004, is by far the most gigged of all my current amps and has never needed any repairs is my 'Blue' Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX. 

That's odd, because the AD120VTX was pretty well-known for having thermal "issues". Looks like you got a good one!

Danny1969 

The original AD120VT was a terrible implementation of a good design on paper. The PCB was inadequately supported and wasn't of good enough quality for the weight of the components they put on it.  This led to constant bad joints in the area where the valve reactor stage met the driver and power transistors in the power amp. 
The low voltage tap to feed the well made digital Korg section above was basically just a zener diode.
The soldering looked like it had been done by a blind man sat upon a mechanical ball!
The ethernet socket should have been an Ethercon or similar ... instead they used a standard RJ45 socket intended for a network card

Myself and 2 friends all brought the amps because they sounded superb and the large floor  controller was great for gig'ing, containing a good tuner, volume pedal, wah etc and as many patchs as you needed. But I was constantly fixing them as they kept going wrong. In the end I point to point wired half the board on one of the amps in the power section from component leg to component leg to make the PCB tracks redundant. I lost patience with my own one and removed the whole bottom PCB and used a Marshall 80\80 SS PCB instead. 
I ended up going over to the fantastic Tonelab SE into a Marshall 20\20 valve amp .... that was a fantastic combination once I sorted the venting problems out

I understand a lot of the problems were solved so Voxman's doesn't have the same hassles I did  

 

 I think they upped the build quality standards when they brought out the VTX versions and fixed some of the issues on the original AD60/12VT's.  The biggest problems included dry solder joints and poor quality jack sockets that oxidised and stuck.  I think I've probably been lucky.  Re jacks I clean these once or twice a year with electrical switch cleaner to keep these clean and working properly.

It's a great amp and the best most veratile gigging rig I've ever had (I have the VC12 and AD212 extn cab too) but because of weight and size I now use a Tonelab SE which is still a great unit even today (and I posted here some tracks my band recorded last month where I used the TLSE). I also have the smaller foot print and lighter TLLE ...sounds the same (identical modelling and effects mostly other than some slight variations/quirks)  but I like the extra expression pedal, A/B patch option and extra rotary cab dial on the SE. I do like the wider global EQ options in the TLLE and little things like having the tuner in the single LCD window and the green and red led indicators.  So I use them both.    

Grunfeld

metz3683 said:

I' looking at getting rid of my 2 valve amps and get a solid state, purely for reliability. I can spend about a grand. What would you all recommend? 

I like the Orange CR120 head.  Been gigging one with a 2*12 regularly for a few years now and no complaints.
I don't know how clean you like your cleans though. 
Not super expensive either.

ellwood

Tech 21 Trademark 60. I have two. They are not just my favourite solid state amps - they are one of my favourite amps full stop. Very tweakable, take pedals well and respond well to modulating the guitar volume control.

My first one cost me £160 and the second (which is a lot more worn and needs some tlc) was £220.

ICBM

Voxman said:

I think they upped the build quality standards when they brought out the VTX versions and fixed some of the issues on the original AD60/12VT's.

Yes, I've fixed a lot of the original VTs but never a single VTX, of any model.

Voxman

ICBM said:8

Voxman said:

I think they upped the build quality standards when they brought out the VTX versions and fixed some of the issues on the original AD60/12VT's.

Yes, I've fixed a lot of the original VTs but never a single VTX, of any model.

Interesting, and consistent with other tech sources too. The VTX differences were marine birch ply closed back cabs replacing open backed mdf, Neodog speakers (80w versions of G12 Celestion Century Vintage) replacing 'voiced' seventy 80's, the addition of an 8/16 ohm switch to better manage extension cabs, and an upgraded power section to better match the Neodogs. But they also upped the build quality including better quality solder. Tonally the VTX are much better with more bottom end and definition but less overkill sound due to closed back. Much better directionally for audiences but takes getting used to on stage.

Danny1969

ellwood said:

Tech 21 Trademark 60. I have two. They are not just my favourite solid state amps - they are one of my favourite amps full stop. Very tweakable, take pedals well and respond well to modulating the guitar volume control.

My first one cost me £160 and the second (which is a lot more worn and needs some tlc) was £220.

I love those amps, have had 2 myself. 

Nightmare to repair though, power section is OK but pre amp and eq Sansamp bit must be a bit of a secret because it's potted in epoxy resin in a metal frame on the PCB ... so any problems there mean a new PCB !

musteatbrain

I had a tech 21 amp which was good but the transformer died on it after 18 months.

Grunfeld

ellwood said:

Tech 21 Trademark 60. I have two. They are not just my favourite solid state amps - they are one of my favourite amps full stop.

Good call!  The only problem I had with the TM60 was it wasn't quite loud enough for gigs back when I didn't mic up.  Such a good sound though. 
To solve the lack of volume I ended up getting the Power Engine 60 too -- literally just a clean make louder box -- but it went kaput and the magic smoke escaped.  Unfortunately the bloke I took it too didn't have a clue how to repair it -- which may echo what Danny's just said (although I actually suspect the "repairer" in this case). 
But yeah, the Trademark 60 sounds really good.