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I am totally "on board" with the solid state amps discussed of recent for tone and features. And the more I read the more I get excited about the possibilities. However, one of my fundamental issues with solid state amps is getting them repaired. I can still find techs that can fix tube based amps, but finding someone that can diagnose and getting the parts for a solid state amp is even more rare based on my experience. Many techs will not touch a solid state as the price point to repair and buy a new one can be rather close. Also, the assumption to find a good tube amp guy to repair some thing in the future is suspect to me.
I went back to tube amps, 1964 Blackface Bandmaster head chassis loaded in a Mojo tone Fender Blackface Deluxe cab with a single 12" Jensen Neo 4 ohms, based on issues with Polytone Mini Brute and Fender Jazzmaster solid state amps and the ability to find a good tech to repair them. With the smaller solid state amp builders and the fine products they produce maintenance is contingent on them being available to repair an amp when a problem has occurred. Solid state amp outside of the US is even more an issue.
Finding information on common issues with solid state amps is difficult to find based on my experience. However, when I did sell my Fender Jazzmaster, the individual who bought was well aware of the issues with it. He asked me specific questions on the repairs that I had done and acknowledged that repairs where common problems. But he had knowledge as he sold the amps in the past. That knowledge is hard to come by.
Perhaps some of you have had better luck than I have and have the resources to overcome the above discussion. Also having faith that a good solid state builder will be able or be around in the future to repair amps would be necessary to me.
Finally, when it come to a solid state set up, Jim Soloway's SS amp set up using individual components, power section, speaker cab, modeling amp ..... makes the most sense to me other than it is difficult to pick up and go to play out. With individual SS components that can easily be ordered and swapped out and the mass production of these components maybe the way of the future. Just saying, not hating.
ps The Peavey Transtube line of amps, Bandit and Envoy illustrates the low cost SS that emulate tube amp extremely well especially in our "throw away" society today. I am old enough that I take my shoes to be repair by the guy down the street. But they are a rare and dying breed today as many people just toss them and get a new pair.
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01-21-2014 06:15 PM
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Must agree I've had quite a few issues with my SS amps (Gallien-Krueger and others). Almost more than with my tube amps. I guess with tube amps you expect to have regular maintenance....
I love both and right now I am a Peavey player... Classic 30(changed speaker) love it and plenty of headroom for my gigs. Fairly small but a bit heavy. And a Peavey Microbass amp for SS tone, I was totally surprised by it. Modelers can be cool too, I have Scuffham's software and really like it! Can do a great Dumble tone.
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Repairs will continue to be an issue with SS amps. Many of the chips are custom designed or programmed and if they go bad, it is very difficult to replace. Older SS amps with descrete components are a little easier to fix, but you still have to deal with parts that are no longer available. Sometimes you can substitute a newer part, but not always.
From a repair standpoint, tube amps are easier to fix because they use descrete components and aside from tubes, they are mostly filled with resistors and capactiors.
Right now I have a Polytone on my bench and I'm waiting a difficult to source chip to arrive from overseas.
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I guess I am lucky, my techs never complained working on SS.
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Luck perhaps, but sometimes I think it is perhaps a culture aspect with the repair and re-use and the infrastructure in place to repair items. As I mentioned growing up in my small home town in the 1960's, USA, there were 3 shoe repair shops. None now and the closest is 30 minutes away.
Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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A lot of goods are built to be unrepairable these days Originally Posted by Wildcat
they're built to be thrown away
There are sound economic reasons for this (apparently)
I don't hold with it myself and prefer to keep the old stuff going
I don't even like new things , till they're worn-in a bit and have a bit of personality etc
But industry even tries to cater for these feeling with
pre worn-in jeans , trainers , guitars , retro amps , retro everything ..........
the world's gone mad
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well as for ss amp repair i have the same mindset ... that if i use ss amps they must be relatively cheap to replace if needed... and as we all know a lot of ss problems are minor and relatively cheap to fix.... but if as mentioned above a 'custom chip " is fried it can be problematic and even if the part is available from the builder it may not be a quick fix....
and of course any old 80's/90's /2000's ss amps like an old cube.... i'd buy cheap and exactly that if it gives problems i will salvage the speaker or the cab and toss the rest if it's not a quick fix
so what i'm saying is i'd definitely rather commission a point to point hand wired tube amp as a boutique/custom build as a lifetime investment in my music than buy a really expensive ss amp ... but i'm a dinasour myself so of course i think like this
however that said i love my ss amps and gig them because they small and very light ....
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I have an AER60 Cube in the attic that regularly cuts out after an hour. It's been to AER for repair twice, and returned no-fault-found both times. I tried a Fishman Loudbox Pro, but in the end really had no choice but to revert to another AER60 (managed to find a damaged carton one from Thoman for 25% off) - it's the ideal amp for Gypsy Jazz !
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Most PCB components are very, very small, you need good eyes, good steady hands and good soldering skills to fix them, most of the functionality is done by the Chip processors. Chips are cheap, cheap as chips. I like experimenting we the circuits and the chips.
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buy from a reputable company and you shouldn't have any problems. I've had my AI corus prototype for many years and it's had drinks spilled on it and traveled all over the country. Twice I've sent it in for repairs and always got it back within about 5-7 days at no charge.
Quilterlabs seems to have a good reputation for reliability and service. I'd be nervous dealing with some of the smaller, one-man-shop companies that deal in boutique solid state gear for guitarists because the jazz guitar market is so small and I gotta believe some of these companies are one recession away from being out of business.
I personally believe we're at the beginning of a SS boom which will end up relegating tube amps to turntable status...
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Thanks Jack as I appreciate your perspective and knowledge. I noticed that your were posting quit a bit recently. More free time? Also that Heritage of yours is a fantastic guitar at a bargain price. I never knew they made a thin-line, but that really appeals to me with that model.
Originally Posted by jzucker
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. . . and this point undercuts the basic premise of this thread. Originally Posted by GuyBoden
Most tube amps built today are built on PC boards. Almost all Fender reissues and revisions, the entire Mesa line and many, many more. Like Guy says, those amps are a royal PITA to repair. De-soldering on a PC board is just hellacious.
Which is just one more reason why I'm so happy that my hand-wired 1985 Fender original Super Champ sounds so good for jazz.
Jack, having played my upright bass into Walter Woods amps for 15+ years now I'm not scared of solid state. But I think kids will be hauling Fenders, Boogies and Marshalls into bars for a long time to come. Originally Posted by jzucker
Last edited by Sam Sherry; 01-24-2014 at 06:29 PM.
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I don't think so. The kids don't have an attraction to tube amps the way the older cats do. More and more kids are playing SS and/or modeling amps. The guys playing tube amps nowadays are the hardcore metal guys. Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
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http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Used-Amp-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/ll0AAOxyzfNRujmv/$T2eC16ZHJF8FFpkp5cLZBRujmu6v2Q~~60_57.JPG Originally Posted by jzucker
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your link doesn't work but here it is rendered. I'd love to see how this compares to a quilter.
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i'm in communications with a guy who's a great guitarist and engineer who is making a 150 watt guitar amp that sounds like a tube amp. Not similar to a tube amp like the quilter. It actually sounds like a dumble amp for clean and dirty and has gorgeous reverb built in. I'm working with him to try to get a demo version of the amp for review.
As this technology becomes more and more prevalent tubes will be a thing of the past.
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An SS Dumble amp is interesting, there's been a lot of DIY builders making Dumble amp/preamp clones over the years, but they're always tube driven. Here's a picture of a Dumble tube preamp clone that's doesn't look too difficult build. Originally Posted by jzucker
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The ethos is all SS and it sounds very tube like. I have a hand built dumble preamp that a friend of mine made and the ethos compares very favorably.
I wish someone would make a SS showman preamp.
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Originally Posted by jzucker
Talented Engineering. Which Fender Showman, there's quite a few models.
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Barb EQ? Blackface preamp.
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they pretty much all share the same basic preamp Originally Posted by GuyBoden
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I'd have to try it again. My impression of it from memory was that it was an eq that mimic'd the fender eq center points but didn't really have the "fender" sound. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
The ethos clean channel actually has the dumble clean channel sound.
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Most but not all. Originally Posted by jzucker
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there aren't any significant differences to my knowledge. A few resistors and capacitors that are different unless you're talking about the really later versions with master volumes and such. Any of the BF showman amps will do... Originally Posted by GuyBoden
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I'm interested in this subject, because I've built a few amps, including BF amps, I'm researching the possibility of building a guitar preamp, maybe a Fender type preamp, that works well with a Class D power amp, but I'm still researching. Originally Posted by jzucker
Interestingly, the Blackface Fenders; Showman, Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Pro, Super Reverb, Vibroverb share the same electrical board design, an AB763 board design.
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