Who makes the best sounding solidstate amp ?

[1jimbo]

Never had one before and Im looking for one that is great sounding (as much as possible) and dependable. Thirty to sixty watt. :icon_scratch:

 

[Alfang]

You gotta check out Tech-21, i have the 60 watt 4-10 amp, most of my buddies still think it's a tube amp. I love it as it can hit the "Sweet Spot" at low volumes and just overall sounds great.

The designer really tried to design a solid state that sounds like a tube amp, I bought mine because I was blown away at the sound/tone of my brother inlaw's tech-21

 

[jackthehack]

"Best sounding solid state amp" is an oxymoron....

 

[mayfly]

actually, depending on what you are looking for, polytone makes an awfully good jazz SS amp.

 

[dmraco]

Fender frontman 100 makes some decent tone...for a good price.

 

[MUYFUE]

Never had one before and Im looking for one that is great sounding (as much as possible) and dependable. Thirty to sixty watt. :icon_scratch:

It's a fair question to ask you...What will you be playing? Jazz, Tejano, Metal, Blues, Funk?...Love songs? Etc.
Depending on the style you know...

Alfang has a good point, the Tech 21 amps sound great overall.
If you can find an old Trace Elliot SuperTramp Combo, those sound real nice.

 

[Superlizard]

I'd say Roland Jazz Chorus from the 80s... but only for clean tones.

 

[erogenousjones17]

I'd say Roland Jazz Chorus from the 80s... but only for clean tones.

The lead singer in my band has one of those and uses it as a vocal mic.  :icon_scratch:

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Vox VT30 (although it does have one 12ax7 to drive the output). 10 inch speaker & 30 watts. I thought it had some really good tones in it for a modeler. The foot switch that's available with it can give you 8 different sounds on the fly if I remember correctly. And the price is right. I paid just over $300 for the amp and foot switch at GC. Add about $!00 and you can get the 12 inch, 50 watt version.

I had one for a short time, wasn't anything wrong with it, but my HT-5 got a lot more play time for my bedroom needs.

 

[jay4321]

If you can find an old Yamaha G30 or G50 on ebay real cheap, I can vouch for those as far as SS amps go.

 

[SlingBass]

"Best sounding solid state amp" is an oxymoron....

:laughing7:

 

[1jimbo]

I play mostly Blues.

 

[Rick]

Yamaha JX 30 ... blows away most equivalently powered tube amps on the market today.  Try to find one  ...  You can't! Cause they don't make 'em anymore ... I got one
Roland Jazz Chorus ... if you don't love it, you're not using your ears.
Tech 21 ... these are excellent.

There are some nice solid state amps for electric guitar out there.  I've found them to be more reliable then tubes, so don't let the cork sniffers (I mean tube sniffers) dissuade you.  you definitely get more amp pound for pound with solid state.  Believe me when you gotta lug around these bitches weight is a factor.

Now that said, for certain applications, tubes are great, and for others solid state.  I say get one of each.  For me, solid state analog meets 85% of my needs, so you can take that for what it's worth.

 

[MUYFUE]

I play mostly Blues.

I'd check out the Tech 21 then. They have a good range of sound controls and the best part about them, in my view, is that they are responsive They seem to 'pay attention' to what you play better than a lot of other SS amps.

I'm not a big fan of the VOX SS, but they are ok. Between the two, the Tech 21 is the winner, I say.

 

[koshersteel]

If I'm going solid state I like to use a modeller (usually a line6 floor pod) directly into a P.A. speaker...

 

[Rouse]

Vox VT30 (although it does have one 12ax7 to drive the output). 10 inch speaker & 30 watts. I thought it had some really good tones in it for a modeler. The foot switch that's available with it can give you 8 different sounds on the fly if I remember correctly. And the price is right. I paid just over $300 for the amp and foot switch at GC. Add about $!00 and you can get the 12 inch, 50 watt version.

+1

 

[blue313]

You gotta check out Tech-21, i have the 60 watt 4-10 amp, most of my buddies still think it's a tube amp. I love it as it can hit the "Sweet Spot" at low volumes and just overall sounds great.

The designer really tried to design a solid state that sounds like a tube amp, I bought mine because I was blown away at the sound/tone of my brother inlaw's tech-21

+10.   I played one of these at GC last winter and was impressed for SS.  Surprisingly good and worth trying out.