Aren't solid state amps brilliant

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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31370
    I love my Orange Crush Pro 120 head. It can easily keep up with my band mates Rockerverb 100 and weighs 10kg less!
    This is the only solid state amp which remotely interests me these days, and I'd want to try it at gig volume to be certain. 

    I've dabbled with ss amps on and off for years, and the best I've ever achieved has been 'passable'. 

    I don't get the 8080 Valvestate hype, I had one for a couple of years and if you A/B it with the real thing it's not even close, it's just sort of ok in a pinch. 

    Amps which are their own thing, like the JC120 are different obviously.  
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028
    p90fool said:
    This is the only solid state amp which remotely interests me these days, and I'd want to try it at gig volume to be certain.
    I have one of these.  It's what replaced my Marshall JVM 410 head. 
    No issues with it as an amp and absolutely nothing to worry about with volume. 
    Even with a 2*12 it can do clean and more than loud.  And it crunches up beautifully.  Tbh it does what I would call high gain too but I don't know if a purist would call it that; not my thing.  But all your classic rock+ sounds:  no issues. 
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  • p90fool said:
    I love my Orange Crush Pro 120 head. It can easily keep up with my band mates Rockerverb 100 and weighs 10kg less!
    This is the only solid state amp which remotely interests me these days, and I'd want to try it at gig volume to be certain. 

    I've dabbled with ss amps on and off for years, and the best I've ever achieved has been 'passable'. 

    I don't get the 8080 Valvestate hype, I had one for a couple of years and if you A/B it with the real thing it's not even close, it's just sort of ok in a pinch. 

    Amps which are their own thing, like the JC120 are different obviously.  

    If you get the chance, certainly try a marshall Mosfet lead 100. It's an older head and sounds the nuts - very jcm800. You can pick them up for a couple of hundred quid. Alternatively, the lead 12 is similar but lacking the sheer depth of sound imo. 
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited April 2018
    Must admit I've wanted to try out the CR120H for a while now. SS has always appealed to me, love the Sunn tones and this seems like the only modern equivalent. I like that it's kind of it's own thing and not just another modeller, and seems to sound better in the demos than a lot of the Orange valve amps due to the tighter low end. Does it still get 120w into a 16 ohm cab or does it need to see 8 to be loud enough for a band? 
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    TTBZ said:
    Must admit I've wanted to try out the CR120H for a while now. SS has always appealed to me, love the Sunn tones and this seems like the only modern equivalent. I like that it's kind of it's own thing and not just another modeller, and seems to sound better in the demos than a lot of the Orange valve amps due to the tighter low end. Does it still get 120w into a 16 ohm cab or does it need to see 8 to be loud enough for a band? 
    I tried one in guitarguitar in the booth at gig volume. Can't recall what cab I was plugged into - prob 8 ohm - it's a loud amp with loads of volume still to spare. I couldn't see an issue gigging it. 
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  • mbembe Frets: 1840
    I've gigged with a Crush 35 and a loud drummer.
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9552
    I’ve got the Orange Crush Pro CR60C. Loud, and has that typical slightly loose and ‘breathy’ Orange tone. Would buy another in a heartbeat if anything ever happened to it. 
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    I had an 8080. It was my first "big" amp. It was my first "valve". It was my first Marshall. It was actually great marketing on the part of Marshall, as it was close to "the sound in my head" and gave me the bug. Little did I know it would die on me a few years later.

    I chose it over the Bandit that was also popular at the time. It was probably the Marshall badge I was after, but it did "seem" to sound better.
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028
    TTBZ said:
     Does it still get 120w into a 16 ohm cab or does it need to see 8 to be loud enough for a band? 
    Dunno is the honest answer.  I'm gigging it with a 2x12 8 ohm.  It really is loud enough!
    In fact the only issue with the sound is if you want it at bedroom levels -- it will do them but anything with the MV below 1 sounds thinner.  Above 1 and you sort of go from the amp's "head voice" to "chest voice" if you see what I mean.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    You will get less power into 16 ohms. I'm not sure exactly how much less, it will depend on how well-regulated the power supply is, but it will be between 60W and about 80W. Still loud.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    I love my Orange Crush Pro 120 head. It can easily keep up with my band mates Rockerverb 100 and weighs 10kg less!
    I had one of these and gigged it. It sounded great, could do the dirty clean/slight breakup really well but was way too heavy to lug around. If they ever came out with a more compact solid state head, I'd jump at it.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Saw Roxy Music live and Phil Manzanera was using two Roland JC-120's - he had a great tone.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    Aren't some of the folk in Slowdive using solid state amps?
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