BEST SOLID STATE

thermionic

ICBM said:

TimmyO said:

There was a time when this would have become "The Peavey Bandit Thread" - have they been overtaken or not fashionable currently or ? 

They're still great, but firstly the current models aren't quite as good as the older ones, and secondly you can pick up one of the old ones for a hundred quid... the OP's budget is a grand, and even I would have to admit that there are better amps for that much .

TEN PEAVEY BANDITS THEN!

I saw a Studio 110 in Cash Converters at the weekend, no price on it. I daren't ask, because although I really don't need one, one of my favourite bands in the 80s/90s always played through Bandits.

ICBM

thermionic said:

TEN PEAVEY BANDITS THEN!

Hmmm... like this, but.... bigger .

http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=142692.0;attach=7202;image

thermionic said:

I saw a Studio 110 in Cash Converters at the weekend, no price on it. I daren't ask, because although I really don't need one, one of my favourite bands in the 80s/90s always played through Bandits.

They are really great - I actually prefer the sound to the Bandit of the same era. I used one in a band for a while, it replaced a Mesa Subway Rocket! Which was only borrowed, but I actually preferred the Peavey anyway.

gasSeeker

I've been pretty happy with my Heptode Leo'64 head since I've had it. Love the cleans, takes my (very limited) collection of pedals well. It's a pretty simple single-channel amp, not exactly cheap, although it probably falls within the budget. 

Keefy

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.

+1 for Tech 21

p90fool

One thing this thread proves is that solid state amp reliability can be very questionable and that few manufacturers bother making a high end, tough amp which is easily serviceable and sounds great with all pedals, including fuzz. 

So given the budget, just buy a JTM45 Reissue, it ticks all the boxes no tranny amp ever has.

AdamHarkusBlog

100% the Katana.... I've had a few teethng problems, but all down to my own stupidity not the amp.

Even the 50w combo is loud enough but you have so many options in the range. All sub-£300.

... Get a new guitar too

ICBM

p90fool said:

One thing this thread proves is that solid state amp reliability can be very questionable and that few manufacturers bother making a high end, tough amp which is easily serviceable and sounds great with all pedals, including fuzz. 

So given the budget, just buy a JTM45 Reissue, it ticks all the boxes no tranny amp ever has.

True up to a point, but a really well designed and built solid-state should be completely reliable, and many are - even at quite a low price. A valve amp, no matter how good, can always blow valves.

On the other hand, a really good valve amp should only ever blow valves and fuses, so you can get it going again at a gig with just those - but a failed solid-state amp is always a workshop job.

Swings and roundabouts...

p90fool

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

One thing this thread proves is that solid state amp reliability can be very questionable and that few manufacturers bother making a high end, tough amp which is easily serviceable and sounds great with all pedals, including fuzz. 

So given the budget, just buy a JTM45 Reissue, it ticks all the boxes no tranny amp ever has.

True up to a point, but a really well designed and built solid-state should be completely reliable, and many are - even at quite a low price. A valve amp, no matter how good, can always blow valves.

On the other hand, a really good valve amp should only ever blow valves and fuses, so you can get it going again at a gig with just those - but a failed solid-state amp is always a workshop job.

Swings and roundabouts...

It definitely is. I'm not a valve snob and there are some solid state amps I love like Roland JCs and the Orange CR120, but it always seems to be a balancing act getting drive pedals to interact properly with them. 

If the OP had asked for a cheap, lightweight solution I'd have gone along with many of the suggestions here, but with a big budget and no worries about portability there are some rock solid, future proof valve amps available.

I haven't had a valve amp die on me for over 35 years...

AdamHarkusBlog

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

One thing this thread proves is that solid state amp reliability can be very questionable and that few manufacturers bother making a high end, tough amp which is easily serviceable and sounds great with all pedals, including fuzz. 

So given the budget, just buy a JTM45 Reissue, it ticks all the boxes no tranny amp ever has.

True up to a point, but a really well designed and built solid-state should be completely reliable, and many are - even at quite a low price. A valve amp, no matter how good, can always blow valves.

On the other hand, a really good valve amp should only ever blow valves and fuses, so you can get it going again at a gig with just those - but a failed solid-state amp is always a workshop job.

Swings and roundabouts...

Get it going again? In the middle of a song ?  

The worst thing is the uncertainty, valves are marketed as car tyres, look after them and they'll be fine, but that's just not the case.

i'm done with valves, it's the space year 2018 and I'd rather not have the niggling doubts and anxiety to kill my pre-gig buzz.

Your could pay over 2k for a valve amp and it would make no difference at all, a change in temp, humidity, a drop of water, and POP...

Game over as far as reliability is concerned.

ICBM

p90fool said:

It definitely is. I'm not a valve snob and there are some solid state amps I love like Roland JCs and the Orange CR120, but it always seems to be a balancing act getting drive pedals to interact properly with them. 

If the OP had asked for a cheap, lightweight solution I'd have gone along with many of the suggestions here, but with a big budget and no worries about portability there are some rock solid, future proof valve amps available.

I haven't had a valve amp die on me for over 35 years...

I've only had one personally, and that was a blown power valve. I do see quite a lot of dead valve amps though, both for valves and other faults. Most mid-priced valve amps have long-term reliability problems even if they don't have outright design/build quality issues.

A JTM45 reissue is also now well over a grand new, not including a cabinet. Even Orange's lower-priced amps - which are very good too - are getting up to that sort of money. The major exception I can think of is Jet City, which don't have any issues I know of. I'm not sure I would bet on something like a Mesa in the very long term either - too complex and with some specialist parts that may become difficult to get in 20 years' time or more.

I know what you mean about the way solid-state amps react to pedals too - we've talked about this before . (And digital amps seem to be even worse.) Whether that problem can be solved, I don't know - or whether there is even any pressure to do so now, since I can see all-digital systems becoming the norm in the future.

p90fool

adamlovesgin said:

 
The worst thing is the uncertainty, valves are marketed as car tyres, look after them and they'll be fine, but that's just not the case.

i'm done with valves, it's the space year 2018 and I'd rather not have the niggling doubts and anxiety to kill my pre-gig buzz.

Your could pay over 2k for a valve amp and it would make no difference at all, a change in temp, humidity, a drop of water, and POP...

Game over as far as reliability is concerned.

I'm honestly amazed that you have so little confidence in valve amps, you must've been very unlucky indeed. 

I've had a Marshall Superbass blow a fuse on me at a gig which was probably down to teenage ignorance on my part, and that was in early 1982. I've gigged the hell out of Fender, Marshall, Dynacord and Jet City valve amps ever since and never had a single one go down. 

I've had four solid state PA cabs die on me at gigs in the last 20 months, and that's with very light vocal-only use. I know where my niggling doubts lie pre-gig, and it's not with any of our valve backline.   

interstellar

adamlovesgin said:

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

One thing this thread proves is that solid state amp reliability can be very questionable and that few manufacturers bother making a high end, tough amp which is easily serviceable and sounds great with all pedals, including fuzz. 

So given the budget, just buy a JTM45 Reissue, it ticks all the boxes no tranny amp ever has.

True up to a point, but a really well designed and built solid-state should be completely reliable, and many are - even at quite a low price. A valve amp, no matter how good, can always blow valves.

On the other hand, a really good valve amp should only ever blow valves and fuses, so you can get it going again at a gig with just those - but a failed solid-state amp is always a workshop job.

Swings and roundabouts...

Get it going again? In the middle of a song ?  

The worst thing is the uncertainty, valves are marketed as car tyres, look after them and they'll be fine, but that's just not the case.

i'm done with valves, it's the space year 2018 and I'd rather not have the niggling doubts and anxiety to kill my pre-gig buzz.

Your could pay over 2k for a valve amp and it would make no difference at all, a change in temp, humidity, a drop of water, and POP...

Game over as far as reliability is concerned.

surprisingly histerical post:)

vasselmeyer

There are plenty of extremely reliable solid state amps these days and the new breed of high powered Class D amps from the likes of Matrix, DV Mark and Quilter can give you massive volume in under 2kg. One of the reasons I finally moved my valve amp on was the weight. I just needed a loud clean sound that worked well with pedals and I ended up with a DV Mark Micro 50 that weighs less than 2kg 8nto a neodymium 2x12 cab which weighs less than 15kg.

There are many reasons for choosing a solid state amp and not all of them are about how well they react to the volume control. Horses for courses.

p90fool

vasselmeyer said:

There are plenty of extremely reliable solid state amps these days and the new breed of high powered Class D amps from the likes of Matrix, DV Mark and Quilter can give you massive volume in under 2kg. One of the reasons I finally moved my valve amp on was the weight. I just needed a loud clean sound that worked well with pedals and I ended up with a DV Mark Micro 50 that weighs less than 2kg 8nto a neodymium 2x12 cab which weighs less than 15kg.

There are many reasons for choosing a solid state amp and not all of them are about how well they react to the volume control. Horses for courses.

I agree, although I threw my Matrix in the recycling when it died at 13 months old. I wish I'd known they weren't that far from me or I'd have thrown it in their bloody skip, not mine!

Voxman

It seems to me that the ideal solution is to always take a back up amp with you that in a clinch will at least get you through a gig. The problem is that schlapping one amp around is usually big and heavy enough. 

But there are some really small lightweight solutions that you can easily stick in your gig bag if you are using a head and cab, or have the option to go through the PA.  The Vox range of little MV50 amps with 'Nutube' weigh just 1lb and are tiny but can kick out between 12.5-50 watts depending on speaker cab, and come in 5 flavours (High gain, Boutique, Clean, AC and Rock).  And a little Vox Stomp Lab (1.3lbs), Zoom G3n (2.8lbs) or similar plugged into the PA should easily get you through a gig. 

But if you play a combo and don't have a PA to go through then you'll probably need to take a small, light back-up combo if you're worried about being left high & dry. And here a modelling amp is likely to be your best option purely re size/weight.  Of course if you are happy to take a bigger, heavier, better second amp then go for it - but I was more thinking of something as minimal as possible.     

JayGee

Voxman said:

It seems to me that the ideal solution is to always take a back up amp with you that in a clinch will at least get you through a gig. The problem is that schlapping one amp around is usually big and heavy enough. 

[...]

But if you play a combo and don't have a PA to go through then you'll probably need to take a small, light back-up combo if you're worried about being left high & dry. And here a modelling amp is likely to be your best option purely re size/weight.  Of course if you are happy to take a bigger, heavier, better second amp then go for it - but I was more thinking of something as minimal as possible.     

Many (admittedly not all) combos can pretty be used as a cab for an external head, you might sometimes have to fit longer speaker leads but that’s all. For that matter, even combos with hard-wired internal speakers could be converted with a pretty unobtrusive, simple, cheap modification...

ICBM

When I’ve used valve amps I always take spare valves and fuses, and something I can go through the PA with in a last ditch emergency - never a spare amp.

OK you can’t change valves in the middle of a song - but unless you have it sitting there on stage all set up and ready to go you can’t change amps in the middle of a song either.

The one time I had a power valve blow, I had the amp back up and running in about two minutes. Admittedly it was an easy one where you don’t have to undo anything to get at them.

Dopesick

Quilter Pro Block 201 - it is built for running pedals through it. Can use it in the bedroom and on stage and it's light as a (very heavy) feather. I've used it at numerous gigs and it's always sounded stellar.

randerson

Mike Stern uses a 100w Yamaha G-100. There is one on Ebay now with a £175 buy now.

ESBlonde

randerson said:

Mike Stern uses a 100w Yamaha G-100. There is one on Ebay now with a £175 buy now.

I saw the Barron Knights a couple of years back and they were using a couple of those. Sounded decent and I bet very reliable.