Songs that featured solid-state guitar amps

[ElectroVibe]

Here's some spectacularly solid-state-sounding guitar action for you:



I saw these guys when they came through St. Louis around the time of that recording, and they were pretty interesting...but there were two guitar players with different gear and approaches and their parts intertwined enough that it was a challenge to figure out exactly what was going on.

The really abrasive, scratchy thin stuff came (I think) from the guy with the weird-tuned strat copy and some beat-up solid-state 2 x 12 combo (Yamaha, maybe). But I'm not sure. I think it's a combination of oddly set-up guitar, really weird tuning, weird chords/intervals AND solid-state distortion...but hard to say. The playing approach was so out there that it was kind of disorienting.

Pretty good stuff.

 

[Michedelic]

They sounded good on "Love Me Two Times".

Not necessarily Acoustics on that tune. It's fairly unverifiable(unless you can track down Robbie Kreiger), but I'd bet against it. Take a look at this:
The Doors' Robby Krieger Sheds Light — Album by Album — on One of Rock’s Most Mysterious Bands
The 'Strange Days' sessions, when LMTT was recorded, lasted from May to August, 1967. Acoustic Control Corporation history lore is pretty vague online; yes, the company started up in 1967, but who knows when they brought their products to market. All that I can remember is that their advertising profile didn't start till 1968. That's when the Doors became the Acoustic poster boys, especially at the Hollywood Bowl concert. Up until that time, as a club band(then moving into theaters as the first album became a hit)they used the usual suspect Fenders, Gibsons, small Ampegs, and Thomas Organ(solid state)Voxes, as well as an obscure LA area brand, Jordan, which was seen circa 1966-67(check the 3rd photo; also, the seminal Sunset Strip band Love used them as well, and on the brief US Yardbirds tour that featured both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, autumn '66, Jordans were in their backline at some shows).

 

[dbsfgyd1]

To be honest, I was sort of hoping to hear a "bad" sounding guitar amp. Like something the player had to use out of financial necessity.

But when it comes to Adrian Belew and those 4 artists, I'll use any excuse to listen.

I played bass through a 5 watt Lafayette back in the 60s, and it sounded pretty bad. It it was durable. Really. I tried on many occasions to get it to blow up so I could get a better amp... no such luck. “Accidentally” fell in a dumpster fate..

 

[Michedelic]

Now, here's a perfect example of Thomas Organ-made Vox solid state shriek, psychedelic style...


My mind is melting, baby...now, yes, those clips are silly lip-synch TV shots, but I saw them in 1969(scarred my fragile adolescent brain), and it was a wall of Vox Super Beatles. Looks like bassist Lee Dorman drifted over to Sunn at some point that year.

 

[Michedelic]

Half the '60s West Coast psychedelic and garage rock bands (including Captain Beefheart, early on) used solid-state Vox amps, although the fact that the amps had active tone circuits meant that setting the treble above 50% made the guitars sound screechy, which is probably where that reputation comes from.

I have several Vox solid-state amps from that era, and they're the most versatile guitar amps I've ever owned. On the rare occasions that I've been able to turn one of them up all the way (with the treble set below 50%, of course), the distortion sounded so good that people were convinced that there must be tubes in there.

Yeah, but that clip was shot on a beach in France, and they're using UK hybrid amps, SS preamps with tube power, the UL series, you can always tell them by the front loaded controls(not on top and in back). The bass rig appears to be a T60, the first UK Vox solid state amp, the type that Macca used to blow up before going to an AC50, then AC100, head. The Beatles used the UL amps live in Germany, 1966, and on the Sgt. Pepper album(then the related Conquerer and Defiant amps seen as props in the "Hello Goodbye" promo video later that year); notable users later were Midge Ure of Ultravox and Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order...

It's interesting that after Epstein was gone, and as Vox UK went further into solid state, the Fabs started utilizing Fenders(not to mention tube Selmers) in the studio more and more. If you're at all inclined to go deep on Vox history, go here...
The VOX Showroom - www.voxshowroom.com
And if you have deep pockets, pick up on this...
https://www.amazon.com/Vox-Amplifiers-Years-Jim-elyea/dp/142431769X
I had to plug the book as I'm listed in the 'thank-you' section. Jim is a great guy, and an ultimate amp historian, especially Vox stuff. He owns a prop house in North Hollywood, History For Hire, and has been been gear consultant/historically correct music equipment provider for films like "That Thing You Do" and "Jersey Boys".

 

[-Asdfgh-]

The ADA MP-1 was pretty popular and used by Nuno Bettencourt, Suede and others. Granted that's a preamp, but used to record direct.

Some of the Cardigans stuff used a Focusrite in the studio. I have the chorus song most famously using it going through my head, but I can't remember the actual name of it! It's the one that goes dodada dodada dooo daaah

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Looky what I found...pretty much like what I remember of the show I saw(except Kira had a Rickenbacker); as far as I can tell, both Greg and Kira have those dark brown Peavey preamps of the era going into second generation QSC's, and then those huge cabs...



In America, in the 'Nuggets' era of garage bands, '65-'67, the Thomas Organ-built Vox solid state amps reigned supreme. Everyone wanted a piece of the Beatles(and British Invasion)sound, but the irony was that those amps were nothing like the UK tube rigs, aside from cosmetics. I once read a description, "a blizzard of nails", or something like that, and that's not too far off. While yes, those amps have their fans(a result of nostalgia more than anything else, I reckon), I thought they were horribly shrill. Very expensive back in the day as well. Now of course there was Fender, Sunn, Ampeg Gemini and Rocket, SS Kustoms, and a few lesser-known brands in use by those bands, but for that two year window, Vox was, as they used to say, happening. Once Marshall made it to the US circa 1968/69, all those Super Beatles got kicked to the curb. While Chicago's garage punk kings The Shadows of Knight(of "Gloria" fame)are seen in archival footage using smaller Fenders, to my ears the tone on this track(with some added fuzz, obviously)pretty much sums up the US Vox sound, as I remember it...

Pure conjecture on my part, of course, however...
When The Who finally got to the US to tour extensively for the first time in 1967, they were fairly unknown, and on a minuscule budget. Even though they had moved on from UK Vox gear to Marshall right at that moment, they couldn't afford to bring anything over, so US Vox marketing stepped in and gave them a bunch of Super Beatles to use. But as you can tell from the Monterey footage, it was a very thin sound, Pete also relying on fuzz for some crunch and sustain...

Here's an American band that was on the cusp of garage and psychedelia, and had some great stuff beyond their "Ain't Got Nothing Yet" one hit wonder. Now, of course this is one of the usual lip-synched TV appearances of the time, and I have no idea what they might have used in the studio, but in this clip you see them with Standell 'candy dish' top solid state amps...


In the UK post-punk era, plenty of Roland JC series were used, Siouxie/Banshees, Killing Joke, Smiths, Japan, and so on(XTC and Gang Of Four used some obscure SS stuff)), but there was also H+H, an interesting solid state line. Initially used to some extent by Pink Floyd(Waters), TRex, and Be-Bop Deluxe, Daniel Ash put one through its paces in Bauhaus and Love+Rockets...

As well as the Buzzcocks...

The Magoos are plugged into their amps there and the sound is a bit rough... but probably still not live.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Doh! The MP-1 has a tube in it.

 

[Michedelic]

The Magoos are plugged into their amps there and the sound is a bit rough... but probably still not live.

Which I did mention; but to my ears the guitar work has that clean solid state sound. The band was from New York, that clip was shot in California, Standell was a California company, so it's very plausible that they were given those amps and a bit of kickback to be seen on television as a backdrop(Vox was notorious for that kind of promo publicity). On the other hand, Standell was an established brand, used by many country players at the time, and fellow New Yorkers The Lovin' Spoonful had Standells in their back line and the studio, so they were available on the east coast(music gear distribution in those days could be very spotty). Unfortunately, info on the Magoos is very vague, however, they did use Sunn amps, shared with their open act, The Who, on a 1967 tour. So, Magoos and Standell, conjecture, yes, but plausible.

Also(and I know this is kinda irrelevant), in recording studios on the east coast, in that time period, Ampeg guitar amps(the older ones, more often than not with accordion inputs)were more prevalent than Fender or others, just in case a band didn't arrive with their own backline.

 

[Michedelic]

Now, while I don't know of any specific recorded examples, Fender briefly cranked out some of the most hated solid state amps early on(circa 1968, thanks, CBS)...

I once tried the SS Bassman(in the middle of that pic, the cab had three 12" speakers crammed into that box), pretty awful. The line got dropped quickly, but did they learn their lesson? Aw hell no, just a few years later were these cosmic wonders, even more hated...

And then there were others, like this monstrosity...

All of which disappeared just as fast as the '68 stuff

 

[JTE]

Terry Kath (the sparkplug of Chicago when they were a kick-ass R'n'R band with a killer horn section) was a fan of Acoustics at one time, and he said he used an old Knight-Kit solid state amp for some of his studio stuff. Knight-Kit was a company that made electronics kit, sort of like Heathkit, for people to build at home. My only electronics class in High School (graduated in '73) had some Knight Kit stuff on the shelves.

Of course Kath also used a Bogen PA head into a Showman (both all-tube) for "Free Form Guitar" on the first album.

 

[swarfrat]

What? Wasn't the drinking age like 13-1/2 back then?

 

[JimmyM]

Now, while I don't know of any specific recorded examples, Fender briefly cranked out some of the most hated solid state amps early on(circa 1968, thanks, CBS)...
View attachment 3316526
I once tried the SS Bassman(in the middle of that pic, the cab had three 12" speakers crammed into that box), pretty awful. The line got dropped quickly, but did they learn their lesson? Aw hell no, just a few years later were these cosmic wonders, even more hated...
View attachment 3316527
View attachment 3316528
And then there were others, like this monstrosity...
View attachment 3316529
All of which disappeared just as fast as the '68 stuff

Honestly, it took Fender till the 90's to make a good bass amp. I don't know why, but they historically dropped the ball on bass amps till then. Good stuff in many ways, but always with one or two major flaws.

 

[Michedelic]

View attachment 3316786
What? Wasn't the drinking age like 13-1/2 back then?

Only in England

 

[mexicanyella]

Not necessarily Acoustics on that tune. It's fairly unverifiable(unless you can track down Robbie Kreiger), but I'd bet against it. Take a look at this:
The Doors' Robby Krieger Sheds Light — Album by Album — on One of Rock’s Most Mysterious Bands
The 'Strange Days' sessions, when LMTT was recorded, lasted from May to August, 1967. Acoustic Control Corporation history lore is pretty vague online; yes, the company started up in 1967, but who knows when they brought their products to market. All that I can remember is that their advertising profile didn't start till 1968. That's when the Doors became the Acoustic poster boys, especially at the Hollywood Bowl concert. Up until that time, as a club band(then moving into theaters as the first album became a hit)they used the usual suspect Fenders, Gibsons, small Ampegs, and Thomas Organ(solid state)Voxes, as well as an obscure LA area brand, Jordan, which was seen circa 1966-67(check the 3rd photo; also, the seminal Sunset Strip band Love used them as well, and on the brief US Yardbirds tour that featured both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, autumn '66, Jordans were in their backline at some shows).
View attachment 3316376
View attachment 3316377
View attachment 3316378

Wow! Lookit Manzarek in that middle photo; he looks like he walked right out of the McQueen movie "Bullitt" and sat down at the keys! The carefully arranged sophisticated late 60s look. (I look kind of like a toad by comparison.)

 

[ElectroVibe]

I played bass through a 5 watt Lafayette back in the 60s, and it sounded pretty bad. It it was durable. Really. I tried on many occasions to get it to blow up so I could get a better amp... no such luck. “Accidentally” fell in a dumpster fate..

That's funny because I had been imagining a really durable well built amp which wasn't really worthy of it's construction. Like a gold watch with a $5 movement inside.