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Post by just42dave on Jun 18, 2020 10:53:52 GMT -6
Looking for advice choosing a decent ss amp. Something in the 50w range with lots of clean headroom. I have a variety of pedals for overdriven tones. Willing to spend +- $500. Currently playing through a Vox valvetronix 15w amp that I've had for several years. All sources/experiences welcomed, thanks. |
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Post by Tbone81 on Jun 18, 2020 11:22:45 GMT -6
I forget the exact model, but I want to say it's the Fender Princeton Chorus, the older red knob version, that had a really nice clean channel. And they're like $200 or less.
What are you using it for? Gigging? Practicing? Rehearsal?
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Post by Guitar on Jun 18, 2020 12:44:40 GMT -6
Yeah the red knob fenders are great. I have a Deluxe Eighty Five and a Pro 185 (much, much louder). They might need a little maintenance, though.
My current recommendation is the Boss Katana amp line. I have the 50W combo and the 100W head. People generally comment on the positive qualities of the sound, and the 100W can get deafeningly loud, enough to overpower a heavy drummer. I really like them. They are inexpensive and they can do so many tones and effects. Whatever you want. The swiss army knives of modern solid state amps.
I use the 50W katana combo for jamming and smaller rooms. I use the 100W head currently as a "Kemper" or "Iridium" etc. It's my little virtual amp thingy in the current setup. It's a little more satisfying to me than in the box VST amp simulators. Mainly, it's just faster. Just using the Record/Line output.
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Post by svart on Jun 18, 2020 12:48:22 GMT -6
500$, SS, 50W.. Hmm. That's a tough one. Sounds like a used Peavey bandit/pacer to me.
Modern stuff might be Fender Champ 50 or 100, Orange Crush CR60, Blackstar silverline 50..
Honestly I think a lot of these amps now use the same power amp chip on the outputs so most of the difference will be in the front-end stuff like EQ and effects.
i don't know where you live, but if you're in the USA, check and see if there's a MusicGoRound near you and you can probably find all kinds of cheap used SS amps.
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Post by Ward on Jun 18, 2020 13:36:03 GMT -6
Roland Jazz CHorus JC77 or JC55 is all you need. Deliciously clean without being sterile!
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Post by stratboy on Jun 19, 2020 6:30:13 GMT -6
Friend of mine has a Fender Champion. 40w, SS, 1x12 combo with DSP. It sounds great clean, with plenty of juice. He runs a Fulltone OCD for drive and only uses the DSP for spring reverb. I’ve seen them for as little as $125 plus shipping on Reverb.com. At that price, you could upgrade the speaker (put a WGS Veteran 30 in it) and have a really nice, light combo amp.
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Post by forgotteng on Jun 5, 2021 8:08:25 GMT -6
I picked up a used Randall Head for dirt cheap to get that SS distortion to balance my tube amp collection. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the clean channel was used it a couple times that I didn't expect to. Also the Roland stuff is surprisingly good.
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Post by stratboy on Jun 14, 2021 9:51:12 GMT -6
Looking for advice choosing a decent ss amp. Something in the 50w range with lots of clean headroom. I have a variety of pedals for overdriven tones. Willing to spend +- $500. Currently playing through a Vox valvetronix 15w amp that I've had for several years. All sources/experiences welcomed, thanks. Just curious; what did you end up doing? |
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Post by mattbroiler on Jun 26, 2021 17:56:15 GMT -6
many good used guitar and bass amps cost less than most amp sim plugins -
Ampeg BA108 20w bass amp $45 Vox AVT15XL $40 the Marshall and Vox 50 watters were $100 each they all sound nice
I spent more on Vox grill cloth to make those cheap ones look better than the amps themselves but that was worth it they look great!
Ampeg bass amps are also very good for guitar don't forget that
Marshall Valvestate and Vox Valvetronix are both decent for clean solid state and they take pedals well.
I was surprised at how good the clean channel on my Marshall sounded and ended up never using the boost channel. eventually I sold the Marshall and kept the Vox 50AVT and 15AVT but now I am thinking about selling them because too many amps. These can all be found for a reasonable low price I got them all on Craigslist local.
Right now I am looking at a Boss Katana 50 for practice/studio/gig amp which is just what I need another amp right?
Trying to talk myself out of bying it or figure out how it would "fit in" and actually get used and what to do with all these other amps if I were to get it.
to the OP if your budget is $500 then you have a lot of good choices both new and used so think about what type of sound and features you are looking for. When I was "ultimate" amp shopping a few years ago my budget was also around $500 and I ended up with a MusicMan 210 65 which has turned out to be an ideal amp choice for me.
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Post by johneppstein on Jun 27, 2021 13:30:36 GMT -6
500$, SS, 50W.. Hmm. That's a tough one. Sounds like a used Peavey bandit/pacer to me. Modern stuff might be Fender Champ 50 or 100, Orange Crush CR60, Blackstar silverline 50.. Honestly I think a lot of these amps now use the same power amp chip on the outputs so most of the difference will be in the front-end stuff like EQ and effects. i don't know where you live, but if you're in the USA, check and see if there's a MusicGoRound near you and you can probably find all kinds of cheap used SS amps. Yeah, Peavey was the first thing that came to mind for me, too. They made a lot in the 50-100 watt range and they'rte often underpriced.
The Roland JC series is good too, but watch out for problems with some older versions of the JC100.
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Post by johneppstein on Jun 27, 2021 13:36:16 GMT -6
Friend of mine has a Fender Champion. 40w, SS, 1x12 combo with DSP. It sounds great clean, with plenty of juice. He runs a Fulltone OCD for drive and only uses the DSP for spring reverb. I’ve seen them for as little as $125 plus shipping on Reverb.com. At that price, you could upgrade the speaker (put a WGS Veteran 30 in it) and have a really nice, light combo amp. You can't do spring reverb with dsp. Can't get the attack right on percussive sounds. |
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Post by Ned Ward on Jun 27, 2021 17:01:03 GMT -6
For those still looking, Gibson LAB amps have always done well as have some of the older Yamaha SS. I owned a Music Man 65 410 and it was a great amp.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,059 
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Post by ericn on Jul 12, 2021 17:12:59 GMT -6
A lot of solid state amps are better at clean than their reputations. The problem is they always seam to be packaged with either speakers designed to break up or just plain crappy speakers. Always amazed me how good a red knob Fender could sound if you swapped the 12 for a JBL e120 or d120.
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Post by Ned Ward on Jul 13, 2021 8:44:22 GMT -6
Eric - good point. While its loathed by many, I don't mind the Line 6 Spider amps at our local rehearsal space - just set them on clean, loud, and they're a good pedal platform. And if it means not hauling my amp down to rehearsal, even better. Although I did bring my Princeton Reverb when I was trying to chase a hum issue - amp hums at home, but not at the rehearsal studio or at my guitar amp tech's shop. So I have electrical gremlins... already have an isolation transformer on the output, but it's a bigger deal than that. but I digress.
The D120 is a great clean speaker, but I'm not a fan of how they can sound shrill and don't breakup. I had a 65 Bandmaster combo with 2 Weber California 12's with the silver dustups, and it was way too shrill. Swapping to Warehouse G12C/S was a much better sound for me, but I know speakers are totally subjective for each player.
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Post by robschnapf on Aug 12, 2021 6:02:05 GMT -6
Musicman hybrid pretty damn clean and loud
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 5, 2021 6:38:18 GMT -6
Isn’t the new quilter aviator right around 500 bucks? I believe it’s 50 watts as well. Cool little amp.
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 5, 2021 22:42:01 GMT -6
Eric - good point. While its loathed by many, I don't mind the Line 6 Spider amps at our local rehearsal space - just set them on clean, loud, and they're a good pedal platform. And if it means not hauling my amp down to rehearsal, even better. Although I did bring my Princeton Reverb when I was trying to chase a hum issue - amp hums at home, but not at the rehearsal studio or at my guitar amp tech's shop. So I have electrical gremlins... already have an isolation transformer on the output, but it's a bigger deal than that. but I digress. The D120 is a great clean speaker, but I'm not a fan of how they can sound shrill and don't breakup. I had a 65 Bandmaster combo with 2 Weber California 12's with the silver dustups, and it was way too shrill. Swapping to Warehouse G12C/S was a much better sound for me, but I know speakers are totally subjective for each player. Just have a reconer swap out the aluminum dustcaps for paper. Problem solved. Should be around $20/speaker, last I looked. Or DIY, be careful. |
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