Solid State Amps

B

bionicmark

Well-known member
What are some of the best bang for the buck (or not) solid state heads/amps out there today?

Looking for something for the house and smaller venues.

Good gain channel, possible f/x loop or built in f/x, etc..

Roland Cube 50, etc..?

Thanks!
 
-peavey transtubes...i prefer redstripes
-ampeg ss150h...my favorite, even over the vh140c
-amt stonehead...more expensive but sounds ace
-some randalls
 
BOSS Katana is great value.

More expensive but can be had for reasonable prices used and on sale is the Yamaha THR100HD. Very versatile and good sounding amp, the ability to run different speakers for different channels is pretty good too. It's not the loudest amp ever but should work fine for smaller gigs.
 
My vote is for the Ibanez tbx 150, I gigged that for years and had many compliments, great clean channel too. Also the newer Randall RG series is great sounding in my opinion. Personally I think the boss katana only sounds good at lower volumes
 
Zachalou":p5qr6uix said:
My vote is for the Ibanez tbx 150, I gigged that for years and had many compliments, great clean channel too. Also the newer Randall RG series is great sounding in my opinion. Personally I think the boss katana only sounds good at lower volumes
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You are right,I sold mine a year ago and it sounded as close to a real cranked high gain tube amp,even at the lowest of volumes..awesome SS amp !
 
Another vote for the Randall RG80ES/100ES and RG80SC combo. They're far and away the best solidstate amps I've played.

For more recent stuff, the Peavey XXL is supposed to be pretty good. Older versions (Supreme 160, Transtube Supreme, and XL) are nice too.
 
Guys.. really appreciate all the responses. I subscribed to this thread and wasn’t alerted to any responses. :thumbsdown:

I’ll check some of these out!

Thanks!!
 
Since many folks are recommending old SS amps, I'll throw in the Gallien-Krueger guitar amps. The 2100SEL and 250ML/250RL mainly. Hardly any good clips available to hear them though.
 
I got one of the newer Randall rg’s recently but don’t have a lot of time on it yet. The new Randall’s have a lower mid center than I’m used to, and compared to the old rg100’s. Just practiced with my drummer on it Friday, and for the money(cheap), it’s a lot of amp. I have the rg3003, 300 Watts, switchable loop, and a noise gate. I got mine less than $300 used.
 
The older Peavey Bandits sound killer. I also liked the VH-140C but would need an EQ to dial out some of the lower frequencies.
 
Marshall MOSFET Lead 100 is great. I did a whole tour with one a few years ago. Needs a 4ohm cab to open up properly though, but most 1960 cabs have that option.
 
I recently bought the small Quilter 101 head and it's great as a pedal platform. Super light, 50w of pretty loud noise. Not too spendy either.
 
apophis":1lam4og4 said:
-peavey transtubes...i prefer redstripes
-ampeg ss150h...my favorite, even over the vh140c
-amt stonehead...more expensive but sounds ace
-some randalls
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That guy has done his homework! I totally agree! I used tp have the ampeg and a randall one.
 
guitarbilly74":358357hv said:
Marshall MOSFET Lead 100 is great. I did a whole tour with one a few years ago. Needs a 4ohm cab to open up properly though, but most 1960 cabs have that option.
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This... I had a mosfet 75 watt reveb combo that was awesome, I gigged that amp for years even though I also had a nice 2203. I would take it to jams and place it next to a halfstack and keep up with anyone, they were always like it that volume really coming out of that 1x12 combo. I wish they still made them like they did back them with the good mosfet's and the Randalls I would buy another in a heartbeat. I have held off buiying a Mosfet 100 head due to the age of the components probability of failure like my 75 watter that died after about ten years and no techs could fix it so I gave up on it.
 
ISP Thetas!

You could do the pedal, the ISP Stealth power amp and a cab, or if you're lucky, find a Theta Combo (they are extremely rare these days...), or possibly the rack preamp... I went through Marshalls, Mesas, and Engl's and kept coming back to the Theta line... love 'em...
 
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