High Gain Ss Amps?

[robin623]

I'm not a Death or Pantera fanboy by any means, but i have to confess i like the sound of a solid state growl. There's something distinctive in there that's completely lacking in the more recent 8-string-through-6505 generation of metal music.

I've also gathered they're cheaper and theoretically lower maintenance.

But am i missing something else? Or are valves mostly just popular for their clearer and more melodic sound?

And yes, i have the experience of a 4-year-old bassist.

Edited August 15, 2012 by robin623

[DropTop]

Isp Theta is supposedly a good SS amp.Also krank uses SS at least some of their amps and of course there is randall.Valves are just different.Better for the most guitar players.But if SS does the trick for you there is no reason to not prefer it.Although i wouldn't choose a SS amp if i needed great volume and headroom,they tend to make a hissing sound at higher volumes.

[Tim37]

Valve amps tend to be warmer and have some natural compression and a few other things. If solid state amps float your boat then by all means go with one. The best amp out there sounds good to you, it doesnt matter what i think itsa your music.

[westhemann]

Tubes just have a tone that cuts through the mix at a lower overall volume,so they don't get drowned out by the other instruments...plus it just adds a bit of an edge to the tone.

At lower volumes in a bedroom SS is fine and can sound really good,but in a live situation at higher volume tubes just sound better IMO.When I used to play SS on stage I just added a hint of reverb to help cut through the mix.Now that I have a great tube amp everything else sounds like mush

[NoSaintNick]

I'm not a Death or Pantera fanboy by any means, but i have to confess i like the sound of a solid state growl. There's something distinctive in there that's completely lacking in the more recent 8-string-through-6505 generation of metal music.

I agree though I think it has as much to do with the lower range guitars being used these days too. There's a certain smooth grind to SS distortion that I really like in the right context.

I don't want to step on anyones toes or get into an argument about what sounds better but I always laugh at the strange attitude some guitarists have when it comes to tone, especially considering the analog vs. digital or tube vs. solid state arguments. Guys will poo-poo SS amps yet swear by "analog" pedals, without really ever realizing or caring that they're precious pedal board is mostly solid-state.

I think SS amps just got a bad rap over time given the economics behind the technology. Amp makers saw they could build cheap amps in quantities they weren't able to achieve with tube amps and probably didn't pay as close attention to quality engineering or over all sonic appeal of each model since it was quicker and cheaper to get that many more out the door. It's certainly possible to make high quality, nice sounding SS guitar amps but not too many manufacturers bothered. Musical trends were changing too, popular musicians didn't cesessarily need great high gain amps when the switch started. New Wave was the new thing, clean chorused guitars where in, Robert Plant was crooning about big logs...

As far as maintenence goes, certain models may or may not be more sturdy than some tube amps. nothing about the technology would make it more vulnerable. It's just that a lot of amp techs HATE working on surface mount boards, which modern tube amps may use as well, but it's even more difficult to deal with when everything is surface or through mounted on a dual layer board. So it's going to be more espensive to fix if you can even find a guy in your town who will deal with them. Most of the techs around here just don't bother anymore. Cheap amps (cheap anything really) just aren't made to be reparable.

Anyway, I started to like the last Peavey Bandit I had. The last iteration of the "trans-tube" topology was pretty damn decent. All still solid state before they made the switch to the digital modeling vypyr seriers (which isn't bad itself).

Edited August 19, 2012 by NoSaintNick

[ihocky2]

A big difference also come between the brand or style of tube amps. Marshal sounds different than Mesa, which is different than Peavey, which is different than Diesel, which is different than Bogner. I've played through various brands and at higher volume I like the tone from tube amps better. But I only mess around at home so I don't play at those volumes so a SS amp suits me better since you don't get the true tone of a tube amp at bedroom levels.

[Tim37]

i personaly think one of the big problems with a lot of amps including cheaper tube amps is speaker selection. speakers can make a huge diffence in tone they can turn a cold harsh sounding amp in to a nice smooth warm delight.