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Comments
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(I COULD of course mention "A Name" but my experience is now several years out of date.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.
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.
I love the sound of a JC-120 but I wouldn't choose something that large and heavy these days.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Feedback
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
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.
I don't know how clean you like your cleans though.
Not super expensive either.
My first one cost me £160 and the second (which is a lot more worn and needs some tlc) was £220.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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 !
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.