All good examples. However, nothing out there beats a THUNDERFUNK . Nothing.
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Enough Tubes. Let's Talk Solid State! Name Your Favorites and Why?
- Thread starter Neon Blues
- Start date
GK800RB
Peavey Mark Series especially the 3 and 4
Traynor TS50B
Acoustic 140, 370
I prefer older solid state amps that can get a little bit of grit and grind and growl.
Peavey Mark Series especially the 3 and 4
Traynor TS50B
Acoustic 140, 370
I prefer older solid state amps that can get a little bit of grit and grind and growl.
My favorites being gk400rb and gk800rb, and acoustic 370. They sound full of life and less sterile than all the other SS amps I've tried. They have a character I like. The acoustics are rounds and low end machines and the GKs have a good bark and sound pretty good set flat.
I am still thrilled with my Epifani UL902c custom made in a smaller 502 amp. It's the best head I've ever owned for sure. I think the only reason I'd ever get rid of it is if I needed the money.
Tronographic Rusty Box
Yesterday I got one (finally). It was love at first play. Clanging, mid-less snarl over big, tough bass is easy. And there's much more if you experiment. Small changes go a long way. The input impedance switch is like having two pedals in one. Dig in while playing for credible "nasty" solid state amp distortion. So much fun! Rusty Box is a true preamp and DI, too; it can drive a power amp properly. I seem to recall that its sound is based on solid state Traynor amps.
Fuzzrocious Broke Dick Peanut Gallery (BDPG)
Gets an honorable mention since it partly was inspired by Rusty Box. BDPG is more truly an effect pedal, and is not as fully featured as Rusty Box. But the comparison ends there since BDPG forges its own unique sonic territory. Very flexible and powerful. Very Fuzzrocious. Fun and serious, I'm surprised it isn't more popular.
The 800RB. Hasn't changed in 30 years, hasn't needed to.
I'm a big fan of the markbass stuff- EVERYTHING sounds good through it. Everything.
For the clean machines, the acoustic image amps are wide open, and the epifani UL series sit right between the acoustic image and markbass, where the markbass has the most flavour.
Excited to play some Glockenklang amps one day- they're supposed to be as.good as it gets!
I'm a big fan of the markbass stuff- EVERYTHING sounds good through it. Everything.
For the clean machines, the acoustic image amps are wide open, and the epifani UL series sit right between the acoustic image and markbass, where the markbass has the most flavour.
Excited to play some Glockenklang amps one day- they're supposed to be as.good as it gets!
The old Acousitic Control Corporation's 360/361 stack was the "be all end all" bass rig for me. Mine is sadly gone for many years now. However, I still have an old Acoustic 301 folded horn enclosure packing a CV-189E 18". I think I'd be almost afraid to plug it into an amp these days. The SPL and amount of low frequencies that thing can produce, even with just a few hundred watts pushing it, can be lethal. There's actually a hearing damage warning label stuck on the back of it by the manufacturer. And even though it came from an era which produced almost nothing but very loud amps, this particular cabinet was considered potentially dangerous! If you punched an open E-string pedal tone through it at volume while standing in front of it, you'd swear you could feel your kidneys move sideways and your spine rattle.
I think I still keep it more for the memories associated with it than anything else. (Those were happier and more innocent times, that's for sure.)
More modern? I think the GKs are pretty impressive as are the new Ampegs.
I own an old SWR SM-400 which I use for those rare times when I need a lot of power.
It's not the worlds greatest or easiest to dial-in amp. But it has some very nice tones in it if you're willing to invest the time needed to find it's sweet spots and tweak it just so. Which is far from ideal. But it works - and it's paid for. So it'll do for me for now.
I think I still keep it more for the memories associated with it than anything else. (Those were happier and more innocent times, that's for sure.)
More modern? I think the GKs are pretty impressive as are the new Ampegs.
I own an old SWR SM-400 which I use for those rare times when I need a lot of power.
It's not the worlds greatest or easiest to dial-in amp. But it has some very nice tones in it if you're willing to invest the time needed to find it's sweet spots and tweak it just so. Which is far from ideal. But it works - and it's paid for. So it'll do for me for now.
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I lived through that era, and trust me, it produced PLENTY of non-loud amps.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I had one of those non-loud amps from back then. It was a non-sound good amp, too. Not all vintage solid state was good. Some was only worthwhile as ballast. The Kustom Bass I qualifies as ballast.
I don't need to trust you Jim. It may come as a surprise, but I lived through the era too. And the trend was for higher and higher wattage in case you don't remember. That was the era of amps like the Sunn Coliseum, The Acoustic 360, the SVT, the Marshall stacks, the Super Twin, etc. And yes, there were plenty of quieter amps out there. Many that dated back to the 50s and 60s. But the dream rigs were pretty much all monsters. At least along the axis between NYC and Boston where I did the bulk of my playing back then. And I was a hard rock musician at the time, so maybe things were different if you played in a different genre than I did.
All I can speak to is my own experiences. If your's are materially different than mine, I'm good with that. How about you?
Old school Peavey Mark series.
Also old school Sunn and most GK. Also Ampeg's Pro series (besides the SVT 2Pro, which, of course, is tube), are good SS amps.
Love the Ampeg PF series. With the SEALED cabs; Very important! Also the SVT210 AV cabs are great.
GK MB series amps and combo's are awesome sounding. With my GK MB head I use the Ampeg SVT210 AV cabs as well.
GK MB series amps and combo's are awesome sounding. With my GK MB head I use the Ampeg SVT210 AV cabs as well.
I always loved the tremelo circuit and reverb tank on those old 150s. (I owned several Acoustic Control Corp. amps at one time.) Sorry I ever loaned out the one I had despite the concerns I had about doing so.
Turned out I was right to have concerns. Because it never came back.
