What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

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mad dog
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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by mad dog » Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:29 am

Early 80s Polytone Minibrute II. Really good sounding amp. Another that sounded great was the old Lab Series L3. Not sure it would have been loud enough for loud gigs though.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by mackerelmint » Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:21 pm

Man, I've always wanted to play one of those little polytones. I've never even seen one in person. Someday, I hope. They've been intriguing me for ages, sort of a mythical and elusive unicorn kind of thing. I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment. :D I've never heard a recording of one that sounded anything short of very good, though, and most of the time it's been a case of "what is behind that incredible sound? Oh, a polytone. Go figure."
This is an excellent rectangle

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by ConeyIslandFrank » Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:31 pm

I recently(within two months) purchased a Fender Super Champ x2 hybrid tube/solid state combo and can't begin to say how cool this little grab and go amp is. At 24 pounds and $400 delivered it has no right to sound as good as it does. If you have a chance, go play one with your regular workhorse guitar. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Horsefeather » Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:36 pm

It may amount to sacrilege but I recently bought a Peavey KB300 and I love the thing for guitar. It's montrously loud, has a serious width of tonal capabilities, yet is perfectly docile at low volume. It's not small or even medium but if the smaller versions are anything like the big brother, I'd say they're a solid (state) value, considering how cheap you can get them. It's nice to know you can run any instrument through them safely, too.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Lame Pseudonym » Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:28 pm

Pardon me if this is redundant, I didn't read the whole thread.

But responding to the original question, there seem to be a lot of Pathfinders here. I had one, and I didn't like it. but I play clean and maybe everyone else is doing otherwise.

Clean, I am totally happy and satisfied with red stripe US-made Peavey Rage 158s. Now, I have a 10" speaker in one and the other is now a head driving a 12" open-back cabinet, so what you hear off the bat with the original speaker will be a little impaired.

But I'm not happy with most amps and I'm very happy with this one. Very well-made, too.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by shadowplay » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:36 am

I really like the Yamaha THR10C which I learned about by way of recommendation by OSG member offyourface . I ended up buying two for my kids to use. OK I don't really go about trying amplifiers but it's still the best solid state new amp I've heard.

It's also not totally ugly and kinda it's own thing as opposed to a crappy version of one of its host brands betters.

D
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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by jobo » Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:30 pm

Recently bought a Norlin L3 from the Lab series, swapped the Celestion Rocket 50 someone had put on it for an Eminence 4ohm 150 Watts beastie . Super cool sound now, very bassy but the good way... you can a very stonery overdrive playing with the gain. More than happy with it now.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Larsongs » Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm

I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Larsongs » Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm

I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:57 pm

Larsongs wrote:
Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm
I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!
As a rule, assuming there's no toob emulation built in they compress less and tend to get less muddy with heavy effect use. Cleaner cleans if that's your thing.

I liked the Lunchbox I tried ok. It wasn't fantastic, but definitely decent. It has some kinda control that adds some lag to emulate playing through a bigger cab I think. I didn't care for the more overdriven sounds but it had a decent "edge of breakup" thing.

Definitely Polytone-curious as well.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Sauerkraut » Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:52 am

Larsongs wrote:
Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm
I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!
I think it's pretty simple really: Not everyone everywhere can afford a nice tube amp.
Generally speaking, decent SS amps can be bought for considerably less.

They also make good practice and home amps, as you don't have to crank them to get a good sound out of them.
With a tube amp you're more likely to feel like you're not getting the best out of it at lower volumes.

That's why I keep a great tube amp in the practice room, where I can get loud, while at home I play through my Roland Cube.
I think you'll find few people claiming SS amps are better than tube amps around here, although I'm sure a handful of models can definitely compete (like the Roland JC-120)

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Larsongs » Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:23 am

Sauerkraut wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:52 am
Larsongs wrote:
Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm
I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!
I think it's pretty simple really: Not everyone everywhere can afford a nice tube amp.
Generally speaking, decent SS amps can be bought for considerably less.

They also make good practice and home amps, as you don't have to crank them to get a good sound out of them.
With a tube amp you're more likely to feel like you're not getting the best out of it at lower volumes.

That's why I keep a great tube amp in the practice room, where I can get loud, while at home I play through my Roland Cube.
I think you'll find few people claiming SS amps are better than tube amps around here, although I'm sure a handful of models can definitely compete (like the Roland JC-120)
As has been posted in the Amp Section here on many other Threads there are inexpensive choices for good Tube Amps.. What is considered expensive?

I find SS Amps to be harsh, ice picky & hard to listen to in most cases. Very few I've heard sound good. The times they do it's because a very good Player knew how to dial it in. Most Players don't dial them in or can't that I've heard.....

For a few hundred bucks You could get a good little Tube Amp.... If you need loud you can always Mic it thru a PA. That's what most Pros do.....

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Sauerkraut » Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:51 am

Larsongs wrote:
Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:23 am
Sauerkraut wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:52 am
Larsongs wrote:
Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm
I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!
I think it's pretty simple really: Not everyone everywhere can afford a nice tube amp.
Generally speaking, decent SS amps can be bought for considerably less.

They also make good practice and home amps, as you don't have to crank them to get a good sound out of them.
With a tube amp you're more likely to feel like you're not getting the best out of it at lower volumes.

That's why I keep a great tube amp in the practice room, where I can get loud, while at home I play through my Roland Cube.
I think you'll find few people claiming SS amps are better than tube amps around here, although I'm sure a handful of models can definitely compete (like the Roland JC-120)
As has been posted in the Amp Section here on many other Threads there are inexpensive choices for good Tube Amps.. What is considered expensive?

I find SS Amps to be harsh, ice picky & hard to listen to in most cases. Very few I've heard sound good. The times they do it's because a very good Player knew how to dial it in. Most Players don't dial them in or can't that I've heard.....

For a few hundred bucks You could get a good little Tube Amp.... If you need loud you can always Mic it thru a PA. That's what most Pros do.....
I'm not a that big a fan of solid state amps, and for anything but home practice, I'd normally go tube myself.

Still, consider the following: I bought my Cube 30 for about €100 used. They can be found for less (a friend got one for €60). It doesn't sound harsh or ice picky, though obviously it can't compete with my Tremolux for warmth and just plain good tone. It doesn't need to either, cause it's only really meant for practicing at home. I have actually used it for small gigs though (30-50 people), when I didn't want to haul around my 30kg tube amp and it did the job just fine (both mic'd and unmic'd; it's loud)

Good lucking finding a tube amp with good reverb and tremolo, decent gain and a headphone jack for €100.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by Larsongs » Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:21 am

You got me there.. I doubt you can find a good Tube Amp at that Price.

That said for about $400 US I prefer my new Tube Vox AC10C1 which I can use at home for Practice, in the Studio for Recording & for Gigs (Mic'd if need be). I wouldn't need to buy 2 Amps.

Which to me sounds better than any SS Amp I've heard....

If people still prefer SS that's their choice & it's ok.

I'm just trying to show that inexpensive Tube Amp alternatives to SS Amps do exist.

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Re: What are your favorite small/medium solid state amps?

Post by shadowplay » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:32 am

Larsongs wrote:
Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:51 pm
I have yet to find a SS Amp I like. Tube Amps sound so much better...

I'm not getting what the SS appeal is?

What am I missing!
Lots of great records are recorded on solid state amps, they generally sound different but good ones act and sound differently in a way that suits a lot of people. One of the problems with a lot of modern SS Amps is that they are speaker deficient compared to the SS Amps that were made for serious/professional use in the late 70's and early 80's when these Amps were having resources spent on them.

The thing about gear is virtually everything you've seen someone slag off on a forum has been used to make good music. There will be loadsa folk shaking their heads at this statement but IMO real tone hounds don't seem to make demonstrably superior music than the use what's lying around or what you can afford rock steady crew . In fact IMO most of the big tone boners make utterly shite music.

D
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