Good cheap solid state amps

ICBM · November 2019

LastMantra said:

The two dirt channels on my roc-pro sounded good, but were a strange set up. One was full on overdrive, then there was the high gain one!

No "edge of breakup" just two slightly different voices of high(ish) gain.

I seem to remember the 'yellow' channel is higher gain than the 'red' one too, which seems backwards.

LastMantra said:

Actually sounded good and the clean was lovely. Don't know what kind of speaker (Fender branded) but very nice. I put a celestion in and it wasn't anywhere near as good.

Some sort of Eminence again.

The ones to really look out for are from the Stage, the Super 60 (valve) and 'The Twin' - they're from the same series but have a much larger, heavier magnet with a vent grille in the middle, and are the best-sounding speakers I've ever heard for a modern Fender amp.

LastMantra said:

EDIT; Was going to ask you if you thought it would be worth fixing. I plugged the wrong output into my computer interface and it went phut! (so did the channel on my focusrite!). One obviously burnt resister which I replaced. Didn't help.

Sounds quite serious - it may be fixable, but possibly expensive. Have a look at the main PCB around the high-power resistors and Zener diodes near the back of the PCB at the transformer end - if it looks cooked, the end is in sight anyway most likely.

jonnyburgo · November 2019

I remeber the Hiwatt Maxwatt getting amp of the year under £600 or something in one of the big mags.

LastMantra · November 2019

ICBM said:

LastMantra said:

The two dirt channels on my roc-pro sounded good, but were a strange set up. One was full on overdrive, then there was the high gain one!

No "edge of breakup" just two slightly different voices of high(ish) gain.

I seem to remember the 'yellow' channel is higher gain than the 'red' one too, which seems backwards.

LastMantra said:

Actually sounded good and the clean was lovely. Don't know what kind of speaker (Fender branded) but very nice. I put a celestion in and it wasn't anywhere near as good.

Some sort of Eminence again.

The ones to really look out for are from the Stage, the Super 60 (valve) and 'The Twin' - they're from the same series but have a much larger, heavier magnet with a vent grille in the middle, and are the best-sounding speakers I've ever heard for a modern Fender amp.

LastMantra said:

EDIT; Was going to ask you if you thought it would be worth fixing. I plugged the wrong output into my computer interface and it went phut! (so did the channel on my focusrite!). One obviously burnt resister which I replaced. Didn't help.

Sounds quite serious - it may be fixable, but possibly expensive. Have a look at the main PCB around the high-power resistors and Zener diodes near the back of the PCB at the transformer end - if it looks cooked, the end is in sight anyway most likely.

Thanks I'll have another look at it, it's been a while.

Think it is an eminence. I'll have a closer look at that too. Just a paper sticker over the original iirc. Can remember it being quite heavy. Ta

Greatape · November 2019

vasselmeyer said:

If you're looking for something lightweight then check out the DV Mark Micro amps and the Quilter amps. They need a cab, but I've paired mine with a 2x12 with neodymium speakers. Even together, they weigh 60% less than my previous 2x12 valve combo.

Yep, DV Mark have come out with a couple of things that interest me, particularly the Raw Dawg.

jhalliday89 · November 2019

DAMN YOU @ICBM ;
You fueled my GAS and now I've got an early red knob Princeton Chorus arriving tomorrow. Thank god it was cheap.

JayGee · November 2019

jonnyburgo said:

I remeber the Hiwatt Maxwatt getting amp of the year under £600 or something in one of the big mags.

One of these makes regular appearances as “house amp” at a jam night I’m a regular at. Sounds fine clean and with a couple of cheap pedals (generally a Joyo American Sound or AC tone depending on the owners mood and/or what’s on top of the cheap when he packs up and a Joyo Vintage Overdrive TS-a-like) way better than usable for everything else.

As far as I know it’s needed no maintenance or repair in about 5 years of regular thrashing (the owner runs several regular jam/open-mic nights, is in a couple of working bands, and does a fair bit of dep/side work with other local musicians) - really the only thing I can see against it is a certain amount of embarrassment at the idea of a cheap solid state amp with that branding and livery...

AndyJP · December 2019

Checkout the DV Mark Raw Dawg head. It's cheap, loud and crazy light. Good pedal platform too.

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Good cheap solid state amps

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