Alright, so I've decided that the next amp I'm going to get will be solid state, since in the end, seems like the kind of tone I prefer.
I've read lots of threads on this forum about what people consider to be good choices for a S.S. amp, like the Randall Cyclone, Crate Shockwave [yes I know about the headroom], and Ampeg VH series. A couple of questions.

- Is it true that I can't crank a solid state loud without losing some sound quality? This seems to be a major issue w/ the Shockwave, do all S.S. amps suffer the same problem?

- I heard soundclips of the Cyclone and was VERY pleased. However, they don't seem to showcase it on Randall's website. Is it still in production or do I have to get one secondhand?

- Let's assume $$$ is not a concern. Besides the Randall/Crate/Ampeg contenders, is there any other brands' S.S. amp worth trying out?

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I would check out some of the Tech21 Trademark heads as well. A friend of mine who owns some seriously brutal amps, (modded 5150, Two-Rock, and Bogner Ecstacy, the only amp that is capable of slaying a Powerball) likes the Trademark, so if a tube guy like that gives it a thumbs up, its probably pretty badass.

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You dont lose sound quality as long as you have some headroom. Once you push the poweramp enough, it will shit, but the more s.s. watts allows more volume before that happens.

This is true, when SS power amps are driven into distortion, thats when the tone starts to suffer.

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Be sure to get cabs with low ohm or rewire them so that they are.

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These days they have amps with a tube pre section and a s.s. power section..
but I want to try out the other way around!

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Meh, I want to try a tube power mobile phone.

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I've never been able to turn Cyclone up loud enough to distort. Believe me, I have tried. It gets so loud so fast that it can become painful to be near, but the tone remains pure and doesn't become shrill. I'm afraid of what would happen if it were ever maxed at 10. Anyone remember Hiroshima

As far as I now the Cyclone was discontinued. I'm not sure why but I bet it has to do with killing the sales of the Vmax. I played the Cyclone, Vmax, Shockwave, and different Mesa heads next to each other before I decided on the Cyclone. Money wasn't an issue. I just wanted something I really liked and for some reason pure S.S. Randall tone sounded the best to me.

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I really really like my SS Randall amps, all pure solid state, like Soulinsane mentioned, none of that new tube driven ss hybrid amps that randall is making now. Mine is an older discontinued model so you wont be able to find it unless you look on ebay maybe. I'm also looking into a Tech 21 Trademark 300 head, that is one of the best ss amps out there IMO.

the crate shockwave is a good amp.
it can get plently loud. two 4 ohm cabs and i can almost guarantee you it will be loud enough.

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Some amps you might want to consider are the Line 6 Spider models, among some others from Line 6.
Hughes and Kettner makes some good s.s. ams, with TONS of feature built in.
But i'll stick with the pretty glowing tubes.

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yeah i used to be real into SS, then i got my blue voodoo. I havent touched my shockwave in months.

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Yeah thers no1 else like him, really unique growl and good singing voice, hard mix

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wrong thread?

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Hybrid guitar amps are a giant steaming waste of time. Until they switch it around so the preamp is SS and the Power amps is tubes, its just a marketing gimmick. "But its got TOOOOBZSSS!!11!1!!"

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That has been the best hybrid combo I've played so far as well.

S.S. pre with tube power amp.

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What you could do if you're interested in the S.S. preamp with a tube poweramp is to use rack gear. Think of all of the s.s. preamps you can use : GT-8, POD, Sansamp PSA-1 ( ask xdx about this one, one of the best s.s. preamps ever made ), ADA MP-1 ... and then all of the tube poweramps you can use ... I don't even need to list anything there.

If money were no concern and I had to have a S.S. rig, I would get a Cyclone with a really nice 4x12 cab of choice, probably a Marshall 1960A.

Damn, I was wondering why Randall was plugging all this new tube stuff on their website. It sucks to hear that the Cyclone got axed. I already have a 1960 4x12 Marshall cab, luckily enough, which I haven't been able to use since my Flextone head got some kind of glitch and stopped booting up into the amp models, thus making it unplayable.
There seems to be a Cyclone out on Ebay now, it's at $550 with four days left. This time I'm gonna be smarter and try it out first before I buy it [something I should have probably done with my Flextone, or I'd be playing a 5150 today.]

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I might end up selling it, but....I love my VH140c, it's not as muddy as lot of people lead you to believe it is..

I'd like to slide in one question before the thread gets too old ;P

Are there any good s.s. combos ?

I know of the Cube 60 and the Trademark 60 but those really dont look like they could handle gigs in front of maybe 100-200 people.

I'm looking for something like the Trademark 300 or the Shockwave in a 2x12 combo basically, any ideas?

Edit: Please, anyone?

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why is that?? i dno much about amps or electronics. but i like ss amps, since i can never play loud enough to make a tube amp sound nice

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That way you get the maximum overhead out of SS to maintain target tone. Higher Ohms cause the transistors in in SS amps to work harder, clip at lower volumes, brake up, and become shrill. That is undesirable for SS amps but great for tube distortion.

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Ding ding Grindchord if you're reading this here is another person saying what I said about hte THD hotplate. A large resistor (ohms) that make the amp work harder (same endstate output just having to work harder to get there).

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And I am a US Navy nuclear electronics tech ( ET2 )

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yeah wtf do you know...

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ahh i see

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I normally use 8 ohms with my SS amp and it sounds fine, but then again I dont play too loud. Just curious though, how much is "high ohms"?

Im pretty happy with my Marshall VS100R head. Once you get to know it and how to properly set it up, its a decent amp. Ive probably got 5,000 hours or more on it

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one more question. say i have a tube amp, and i run it at as much ohms as i can (say 16 or so??) wuld this make a tube amp sound better cuz it has to work harder?? i guess so from what i understood from your story quoted.

but, will this also give the tubeamop that highvolume satured tube sound on lower volumes due to the high ohms?? i guess not but im not into electronics at all. it would be col though to be able to play a 100 watt tube amo with good satured tueb sound at low volumed without any hotplate colouring the sound someway

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Well, tube amps use an output transformer. The tubes really see like 4000++ ohms.. but the transformer lowers the output impedance so you can use speakers.

from my understanding isnt 16 ohms is less than 2 ohms so the amp would work harder at 2 ohms and less at 16 ohms?

mayeb this explains??



the more ohms the harder the amp has to work

so low ohms for ss
high ohms for tubes

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From my experience with solid state amps personally I do think that you loose some of the sound quality when the volume is turned up very high. I've got a Marshall MG100DFX and when I turn the main volume up to full the amp doesn't actually get much louder than it just sounds kinda bad to be frank. It's as though the amp can't cope with the distortion from my pedal so the sound just turns to shit at high volumes and doesn't get louder and clearer. It's lound enough with the volume at 3 to play in my house but I wouldn't use my solid state amp to play a gig.

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