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Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 11:23 am
by macaronisalad
I was very interested in that RetroChannel RR1. But they faded into the ether.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 2:23 pm
by Guitarbilly
macaronisalad wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2024 11:23 am
I was very interested in that RetroChannel RR1. But they faded into the ether.
I was interested in that amp as well. But it wasn't around for long and they're hard to find. I think only a handful of units were made. Which would probably make them expensive these days and I wouldn't take the risk since I never played one. But the clips were good.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 2:56 pm
by ElDirtySanchez
My second amp was a Marshall Master Lead Combo, it was a solid state based on the JCM 800. Definitely had that Marshall tone, was a pretty big combo too, came with some sort of a celestion speaker. I wouldn't mind getting another one, maybe convert to a head.
I think I was too young to appreciate how good it actually sounded.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 5:03 pm
by Guitarbilly
ElDirtySanchez wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2024 2:56 pm
My second amp was a Marshall Master Lead Combo, it was a solid state based on the JCM 800. Definitely had that Marshall tone, was a pretty big combo too, came with some sort of a celestion speaker. I wouldn't mind getting another one, maybe convert to a head.
I think I was too young to appreciate how good it actually sounded.
I think that's the combo version of my head. Great amp indeed.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:23 pm
by zozobra
One thing I'm surprised at is that more people haven't had a crack at high voltage MOSFET based circuits that do a great job of capturing the tone of a tube preamp. I know henning did a pedal preamp using the lnd150 like this, but I'm not aware of anyone else taking a punt at it.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:27 pm
by RaceU4her
Aren’t those popular fender tonemasters or whatever they are called SS?
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2024 7:57 pm
by ElDirtySanchez
The Tone Master amps are digital
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 4:34 am
by broslinger
I have acoustic 150 head that sounds insane with a fuzz pedal.
Too many crummy ss amps give them a bad name
It’s about the money.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 9:14 pm
by screamingdaisy
Most industries seem to have room for two competing technologies... one that's the best, and one that's good enough but has something else going for it (cheaper, easier to operate, more convenient, etc).
On the budget end, solid state died shortly after Line 6 Spyder arrived.
On the high end, it's not much cheaper to produce a quality solid state amp than a tube amp, which means the people that can afford MOSFET can afford tube.
On the more affordable but not necessarily budget end, class D killed off all the MOSFET stuff because class D is cheap as fuck.
Re: Why there are no more good SS amps?
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 9:33 pm
by Guitarbilly
screamingdaisy wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2024 9:14 pm
Most industries seem to have room for two competing technologies... one that's the best, and one that's good enough but has something else going for it (cheaper, easier to operate, more convenient, etc).
On the budget end, solid state died shortly after Line 6 Spyder arrived.
On the high end, it's not much cheaper to produce a quality solid state amp than a tube amp, which means the people that can afford MOSFET can afford tube.
On the more affordable but not necessarily budget end, class D killed off all the MOSFET stuff because class D is cheap as fuck.
That makes sense for sure. It's a shame because these MOSFET amps are truly killer.
If you hear the Lead 10 MOSFET next to my 2204, it's scary how close it gets. Sure it's not 100% but it's super close and it's also 1/2 the weight and it maintains the same tone at any volume.
I think I'll use the Lead 100 for this Saturday show and get some clips of it live.