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Enough Tubes. Let's Talk Solid State! Name Your Favorites and Why?

#2
The modeling is working really good.

One thing I'm looking forward to is what TC comes out with as part of the Music Group. The TC head has very smart workings, the knobs work like what you'd expect a eq knob to do. And presets, tone-prints. If they just bump up the warranty to that of the Music Group it would be a great bargain.
 
#5
I really like my Crest CA9 and my Aguilar TH 500. The G-K2000RB, 1001RB, and 400RB amps that I used to own were great sounding and bulletproof. IMO G-K is one of the best bass amp companies out there.

Another couple of bulletproof solid state amps I owned were the Peavey Mark IV bass head and the Combo 300. They both served me flawlessly for many years of constant gigging.

And +1 to Gaolee and the Acoustic 360. I got to gig with one on a few gigs eons ago. What a cool amp!
 
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#7
I'll start by saying that I don't really have a ton of particularly positive experience with full SS amps. These days I primarily use either full tube or hybrid and am very happy with those.

I had a very meh experience with a TC 450 about 2 years ago. It had a bunch of very nice/useful features, but I could never make it sound good to my ears.
Back in the day (mid to late 70's) I used and enjoyed Kustom gear (K200 into a 2x15 blue sparkle tuck and roll cab), and in the 80's I used a GK 800RB and liked it well enough. I also used an Acoustic 220 into an Acoustic 2x15 cab back in the 80's somewhere. I remember that amp/cab combination working well too.
Currently I only have one full SS amp, an Ampeg PF500/115HE rig. It sounds fine, very reasonable version of the Ampeg tone, but it has caused me some headaches due to cutting out on gigs unpredictably a handful of times.

So, I suppose a few SS amps have worked out for me, but my ears really respond to some tube influence in the sound.
 
#8
cfsporn said:
My favorite solid state amps are the ones I own. A GK 1001RBII and a Mesa Walkabout. Between them, I can get just about any tone at any volume I want.
Click to expand...
Walkabout is really a Hybrid, with a Tube preamp running into a torroidial transformer - so not sure it really counts as SS.
Your GK 1001RBII is right on the SS money though.
 
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#10
pfschim said:
Walkabout is really a Hybrid, with a Tube preamp running into a torroidial transformer - so not sure it really counts as SS.
Your GK 1001RBII is right on the SS money though.
Click to expand...
It is a hybrid, but the power amp is 100% solid state so I felt it deserved a mention. Besides, the fact that it has a torriodal transformer doesn't make it a deviation in the world of bass amps. I'm pretty sure my 1001's power tranny is shaped like a bagel;)
 
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#12
I have a Euphonic Audio Iamp 500 that I love, great little amp. I also have a vintage Lab Series L4 (200 w.) that has an interesting tone. Thinking about getting the new Fender Bassman 500.

I've had most of the usual tube heads , Traynor, Fender , Ampeg V4-B, SVT etc. Cant afford the maintenance or the doctor bills for bad back, give me a 10 or 15 lb. amp head any day, done with tubes, don't care how good some of you say they sound, you can lug one around if it means that much to you.
 
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#14
Gk400rb is my favorite of the ones i've owned. They (the 400rb and 800rb) are really good at giving a distinct distortion (known as the gk growl) sound when pushing the power amps. Not many ss amps are known for producing a good overdriven sound and GK actually created an amp sought out for it. I'm also intersted in the new orange ob1 amps like friendlybass because they seem like they could be orange's modern take on a gk style amp.
 
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#15
All I have ever played is SS. But I have to pick my current amp. The Acoustic B600H. It's loud, tough, and has always been reliable. I have a B410 that I use with it, but I'm on the hunt for a 4 ohm cab that can handle at least 600 watts. I have a friend who runs his B600H with an Ampeg 8x10 Classic. I love how big that amp sounds. Tube amps are awesome but they make me nervous as they are fragile.
 
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#16
GK 800 RB, Peavey Bass series 400 the one with fuzz and distortion though I run it clean, Focusrite platinum vocal pre into any power amp. Solid state is great! I wish there were boutique solid state amp builders. Tubes are great but the maintenance and weight keep me going back to solid state. If any one knows of any boutique solid state amp builders please do tell.
 
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#19
I've had a GK 700RB-II since I joined this forum 11 years ago. I bought it in the 10th grade with money I made as a bus boy. It's never failed me on tone, power, or reliability. I had a brief affair with a 1969 Sunn 2000S, and while the tone was stellar, the maintenance (pretty minimal for a tube amp) and weight ended up bringing me back to the GK.
 

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