anyone else prefer solid state?

[anomaly]

Honestly, i haven't found anything i like better for metal tones than my old Randall RG100ES heads. They sound great up LOUD, and cut very well in a band situation too.

For other music styles i do prefer tube though.

 

[HottKarl]

I can't say that I prefer solid state heads over tube heads. I can say that I loved the Triple Recto I used to have. It was a sick amp for death metal...especially with a boost. But I found that I was using one channel/setting 95% of the time...so I just felt that it was probably more amp than I needed.

That said, the solid state Ampeg VH-140C that I have now works perfect for me. It wasn't expensive and absolutely EXCELS at metal. I enjoy it and will most likely always keep it. I may go back to tubes in the future....but am enjoying the hell out of my Ampeg.

 

[jonny toetags]

I really like my Mosvalve 962 poweramp with my preamps

 

[iplayloudly]

I had a Mesa Rectoverb head for a long time, and then I downgraded to a Peavey XXL head because of money issues, and I can honestly say I've been happier with the XXL... and I play a wide variety of styles.

 

[BOOGIE444]

I used to have a bunch of solid state amps after selling a bunch of tube amps for money reasons, and I used to tell myself that amp "x" sounds as good as my old tube amps did. But then I bought a mark III and it really showed how sad my randall's, old valvestate and ampegs sound in comparison.

The ampeg is one of the coolest s.s. amps around but when you use it with a emg equipped guitar it really starts thinning out bad and really starts to sound like a s.s. amp. With my TSL-100 and mark III emg's bring out the clarity and tightness while still sounding thick and fat. Although my RG-80es never thinned out with emg's, to me thats the one amp that gets the closet to actual tube amp tone.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Best I've ever heard is the Pearce G2R... by far!!!

 

[1big1]

i wouldn't say prefer either.. but they have thier uses. two that i have are modelers.. a micro cube and a cube 60. what do i like about them? i can plug into the recording out and direct line into a board for late night practice and recording. they work just fine for that. i've also got an old yamaha g 100 210 that i've had almost forever because it does a nice warm clean. the other ss i've got is a peavey special 1x12 because i like it for its nashville clean. i've also got a fender bassman 200.. but it's for bass and keys.. so ss isn't a drawback there imho.
i'd still rather play guitar through any of my tube amps though.

 

[mentoneman]

i've played a ton of ss amps recently, as my son's friends sorta treat our garage as a gear storehouse and honestly they aren't bad. i actually like the crate powerblock i bought for a utility stereo power device.

it's the smallest lightest stereo power amp i've ever seen, and used for a wet effects amp, the tubey amp head tone realism isn't as critical, but for 100 bucks i'm not banking on longevity/reliability.

 

[MOAAH]

solid state is more hi fi.

OMG, don't try and tell that to the audiophiles that spend 10s of thousands on tube gear

Or VHT fans

Yeh

The cleanest amp with the most headroom that I ever tried was an Ampeg SVT. Pretty much Hifi with P90s!

Although I like the some of the dirt from my Randall RG125, mostly I keep it around just to allow folks to compare it to a tube amp of the same power capability.

No attenuators here, luckily my neighbors love rock, blues, jazz...anything but country

 

[badger71]

For late night/quiet home playing: solid state

Low volume mic'd gigs (casino lounge, restaurant, etc... solid state

Practice/gig where volume isn't so much an issue: tube w/ a little attenuation

They both work when applied correctly for the situation.

 

[blackba]

For late night/quiet home playing: Fender Champ

Low volume mic'd gigs (casino lounge, restaurant, etc... Fender Champ

Practice/gig where volume isn't so much an issue: tube w/ a little attenuation

They both work when applied correctly for the situation.

Fixed