BEST SOUNDING SOLID STATE AMPS FOR METAL \m/

[jgcable]

Ampeg SS140C

Laney PL100 Linebacker Pro

Randall SS amps are great

Marshall VS100

[rjohnstone]

My old Crate G120C with a Metal Zone slammed in front of it was pretty kick ass.
The chorus on it was awesome. Not as good as a JC-120, but damn close.

[Jackson-Charvel]

the ss150 and the vh140c were very similar. same preamp circuit, but the ss150 had a single 150 watt power amp and the vh140 had 2 70 watt power amps (it's a stereo head) and chorus.

I seem to remember there was also a vh150 and/or an ss140, they basically used the ss/vh interchangably.

the lee jackson designed tube ampegs were the VL series

Now I can understand why I would be confused VH series and VL series. Weird thing is when I bought my SS150 from a friend which was basically new back then I never saw advertisements for Ampeg amps and I was a voracious reader of every guitar magazine back then. So basically I stumbled on the SS150 and only later did I even realize there was a VH140.

[Jackson-Charvel]

I guess partly out of cheapness, (I never wanted to have the expense or hassle of replacing/rebiasing tubes) I stuck to solid state from the beginning until now. Solid State FOREVER!!!!!!!

1) Peavey Bandit 75 from early 80's grey faceplate. My first amp. Upgraded with Carvin British servies VL30 speaker and I still have it. It rocked with a decent pre-amp/pedal. (bought in 1986)

2) Randall Century II 270 early 90's. Great clean and dirty/gritty AC/DC tone but not like the Dimebag Tone I was expecting. A huge letdown and I would up giving it away to a kid at church in the youth band. He seemed to dig it. (bought in 1990/91)

3) Ampeg SS150 bought it and the 4x12 Ampeg celestion cab from a friend that was ditching his gear so got it for cheap. (bought in 91/92)

4) Fender M80 pretty compressed and high gain. Gets a good clean / reverb tone too. (bought new in 1994/95)

5) Even my rack stuff turned into SS, my Rocktrom Velocity power amps, and then the Mos Valve stuff I had to buy since Rocktron stopped making the Velocity 300. (bought 94/95)

6) I wound up buying a true tube amp Fender Deville and it is nice but heavy as heck and I do like it but for $700 it should blow me every night and make me breakfast in the morning. (1996/1997)

7) Got into jazz stuff and got me a sweet Polytone Mega Brain head (yes it is SS) paired with my Raezor's Edge cab it is sweet! (2000/2001)

8) Roland Cube 60 modeler amp that I use rotated between it and my Polytone. (bought here from the man JimmyB!!! 2007)

[Robert Burns]

Ive never seen a Peavey product that did not deliver! All their stuff is
nice. Thank goodness i kept my SS X200 stereo rack amp... it delivers
and is dead silent. Doesnt get hot, and still sounds like the day i bought
it back in 93'. My vote is Peavey

[Jackson-Charvel]

I forgot the above post that I did also have a Peavey 50/50 Stereo Tube Power Amp (the blue letter version) and got a decent EBay deal on it, except the mofo shipped it loose in the oversized box with just a handful of peanuts. The thing came with holes in the box and the flaps were opened. Huge dents and one of the rack ears was bent beyond recognition. Surprisingly it worked even though the guy shipped it with the tube installed!!! Sent it to Fed Ex for them to reimburse me for the damage and it disappeared never to be seen again. I basically got my money back... It sounded great for brutal metal with my Digitech 2112, Rocktron Progap/Piranha rig.

[Maximum_Crunch]

I have a Crate GX140C sitting in my living room that i never play anymore. Man i used to think that was the best sounding amp ever for metal. I plug it in every couple months or so. It used to be my main amp but now i stack it between my Carvin head and cab so that my 1 yr old daughter can't reach up and try to dial my Carvin in like she likes to do.

[emperor_black]

my 1 yr old daughter can't reach up and try to dial my Carvin in like she likes to do.

:ROTF: I know what you mean. Last night, my kid came by and threw all my gt-8 settings out of whack when i wasn't lookin. I started wondering how come my patch started sounding so shitty all of a sudden.

[SlasZ]

I have a 8100 Marshall VS head and together with a BBE 422A it really sounds a lot more like a tube amp, even though it only has 1 pre-amp tube

[Sludgecore]

My first amp was a tiny practice amp. A Peavy Rage 108, I thought it had the best sound ever! Sadly enough I sold it during a weak moment, wish I still had it. (After that I got a "real amp" A Laney Pro Lead, with tubes and all. But that got stolen along with my Gibson SG-X) Now I´m going through a Hughes & Kettner Warp7 2*12 combo, and it works good for me and what I´m doing.

[Racerx2k]

I had a Crate GX900H head for a few years that I really dug, but it seemed like it was EQ'ed for metal-only, and I had needed more of a classic Marshall tone, so I sold it, otherwide, I'd still have it.
Always dug the Randall RG80s, and, apparently, so did lots of others, from Lynch to Dimebag. The proprietary footswitch has always been the rub for those, but I believe it can be duplicated, if needed.
Although I love Laney AOR and Pro Tube tube amps, I never warmed up to the Linebacker series. Just seemed to buzzy and weak to me. Might've been the used ones I came across, I don't know.

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

JC-120 and a GT6/8/10, and call it good.

[DrDestruction]

I've got an '82 Fender Princeton Reverb II (the ones made when Paul Rivera was consulting for them), which is kinda solid-state. It's probably the LOUDEST twenty-watt amps I've ever heard in my life. Totally kick-ass amp.

I've also got a late-80's Randall "Bluescaster", which is a solid-state blues combo amp made to look sort of like an old Fender Bassman. While I personally think it's also a great amp, some of my buddies are torn about it- some love it because it can get real crunchy when you overdrive it, while others HATE it because of that same reason. So it's got a love-hate thing goin' on about it.

[surfreak]

I've got a Tech 21 Trademark 30, the ltd edition with the solid oak cabinet, and its Marshall setting sounds amazing!
Plus it has a really good DI output for recording, if you can find one around I highly recommend it, the solid wood cabinet does make a big difference if compared to the regular Trademark 30.

[OnlineStageGear]

Crate G120C was a good SS head. Only problem I had with it was the volume stopped increasing after halfway. loved the chorus it had and with stereo outs sounded good for SS. Now it's Tube heaven for me baby! V3!

I had one for bot 10 years and I couldn't agree more although I never needed to go near 1/2 way cause by then it was louder than any drummer I have ever jammed with. I have a 40 watt version now in my living room for low volume jammin.

Matt