| What type of amp are you using? |
| Solid State |
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44% |
[ 70 ] |
| Tube |
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25% |
[ 41 ] |
| Hybrid |
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13% |
[ 22 ] |
| Preamp direct to the monitor/house sound system |
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1% |
[ 2 ] |
| Depends on the gig |
|
15% |
[ 24 ] |
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| Total Votes : 159 |
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| Author |
Topic: Solid State or Tube Amp - You Decide |
Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2017 3:21 pm |
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In my 50 years of playing I have owned many guitar amplifiers. Here's a partial list:
Ampeg B15
Southwest Technical Products 60w solid state amp from kit
SF Fender Twin Reverb with factory JBL's
BF Fender Pro Reverb
EMC solid state piggy back amp.
Acoustic 150 with 4x12 cabinet.
BF Fender Twin with EV SRO speakers.
SF Fender Vibrolux Reverb
BF Fender Bassman small piggyback 2x12
Polytone Mini Brute 12"
Fender Princeton Chorus
1970's Fender Vibrasonic with orange basket JBL
BF Princeton Reverb (what I use now)
GK MB500 with Epifani 12" cab
So, I might be nostalgic, but have tried solid state amps. Some of them have the liveliness of a stack of tortillas, for lack of a better explanation.
_________________
--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 30 Jan 2017 5:02 pm
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SF Twin Reverb w/ factory JBLs
Session 400
Session 500
Webb 6-14E head into custom JBL cabinet w/K130
Nashville 400 (my current amp)
Webb 6-14E Bradshaw amp
Fishman Loudbox (the tri-amped one) still have it
Behringer Acoustic guitar amp. Still have it.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 30 Jan 2017 5:13 pm
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I'm now mostly a tube guy. But my widow will be the one to sell my Session 400
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2017 5:23 pm
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"Hybrid" in this survey is an amp with both solid state and vacuum tube signal amplification. I don't care about power supplies 
_________________
--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown |
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Paul Arntson
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 6 Feb 2017 10:14 am
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Nash 1000 with reverb pan changed to 3-spring.
_________________
Excel D10 8&4, Supro 8, Regal resonator, Peavey Powerslide, homemade lap 12(a work in progress) |
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Michael Butler
From:
California, USA
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Posted 6 Feb 2017 11:31 am
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i have a bunch of tube amps and love them. however, when i'm recording, i've found that i can use the amp models in logic to create a quick rhythm guitar part and it sure fits in the mix. later, i record my other guitar part(s) with one or more of my tube amps. i try to keep an open mind on all of this stuff and i realize that it is all subjective.
play music!
_________________
please see my Snakeskin's Virtual Music Museum below.
http://muscmp.wordpress.com/ |
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Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 6 Feb 2017 1:18 pm
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I'm a newbie to Pedal steel, but my Milkman Half-and-Half sounds amazing (and it's my only steel amp) so I picked Hybrid.
My main instrument is bass and there it really depends. I do gravitate toward "tube" tone and in practice situaions I feel that I can tell the difference clearly. However, in some gig situations I'd honestly be hard pressed to tell the difference between my all-tube Peavey VB4, solid state Ampeg Portabass or my hybrid Rocket Bass B100R. |
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George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 6 Feb 2017 4:11 pm
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All you guys using the Sarno "Steel Guitar Black Box" by rights should also be considered a hybrid player. Just try to pry that black box away from a steel player using one....ya know, just say'in.  |
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Scott Appleton
From:
Ashland, Oregon
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Posted 12 Feb 2017 8:12 pm all those amps
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| Session 400 & 500 ..Nashville 112 , Randal steel man , Music Man 130 , Fender Twin, Vibrasonic custom, Eden bass head, Mesa Maverick, Delux Reverb , Acoustic 160 tube amp .. and now my latest is the Kemper Profiler and a Quilter steel air .. which i really like a bunch .. The Steel air is light and punchy .. sounds great .. easy to record with the built in comp . |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 12 Feb 2017 8:22 pm
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For many years I used a Mesa/Boogie (tube) stacked on a Webb (solid state). Then I stopped hauling the Webb around and just used Mesa/Boogie for about 15 years. Now I am using a Milkman Half & Half (hybrid tube pre & digital power) and loving it. As powerful as my original stack, with about a quarter of the weight.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 7:41 am
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| Hybrid |
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Bill Cunningham
From:
Atlanta, Ga. USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 5:47 pm
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Hybrid Sarno SMS Classis + Furlong SPLIT
_________________
Bill Cunningham
Atlanta, GA |
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Tom Mossburg
From:
AZ,
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 6:39 pm Amp
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Telonics. All the way from the pickup to the speakers. Best stuff available IMHO. Best customer service.
_________________
MSA Studio Pro U-12 x 2, Telonics |
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David Higginbotham
From:
Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 7:39 pm
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| Hybrid...Walker SS preamp into Carvin TS-100 tube power amp. |
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robert kramer
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 7:41 pm
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| Black Box > Peavey |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
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Posted 13 Feb 2017 9:06 pm
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Using a Peavey Heritage VTX (4x6L6 hybrid) with a Peavey Blue Marvel speaker from the original N112 amps. 8.5+/10. Looking to optimize speaker further. .. maybe even switch cabs with the Vegas to get into a 1x15 open back cab. I really love this amp! Easy to use. .. sounds great. .. two eq channels is awesome. Paid 100 bucks for it... 150 in upgrades, parts, and repairs. Never heard a cleaner more precise 6L6 power amp... better sounding than a SS Power amp or traditional 6L6 all tube amp for PSG purposes. The power amp design is. ..perfect... the onboard preamps are vg+.
Peavey Vegas with BW1502... with OPA2604 opamps.
.. 6/10.. before the chip upgrade 4.5/10... I have recently concluded the speaker is the weak link... I have always been trying to dial out the crunchy midrange this amp has ... and recently read elsewhere someone describing the 1502 as having crunchy midrange.
Peavey Bandit Transtube w/OEM Sheffield speaker.. In right room with right guitar and band. .. 9.5+/10. In wrong room/band/guitar... 3/10.... finicky but worth the hassle in intimate small band settings. When this thing is set right it is dream / to die for... tone.
1972 Fender Bandmaster Reverb Ch1 w 2×12 JBL K120. 8/10. ...or BMR with 1×15 JBL D130f 8.5/10
These BMR rigs lack clarity and crispness down into low C6 range. But above a low E... very very nice tone woth potential to be a dynamite dual channel rig with some amp mods.
MusicMan RP65 w/original Sylvania 6CA7 and MM stock speaker. Unsatisfactory for PSG in stock form. |
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Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 21 Feb 2017 6:52 pm
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I have a Nashville 112 and Nashville 1000. I Recently picked up a Quilter rack. I also have a transtube bandit 112 which actually doesn't sound bad at all on steel.
Just got my quilter head. I can't wait to try it out on a proper open back 12 or a 15 ext cab.
Amps I would love to try...
Milkman Hal and half
Surgical steel
Sarno revelation preamp
Last edited by Quentin Hickey on 26 Feb 2017 6:08 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Ken Metcalf
From:
San Antonio Texas USA
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Posted 22 Feb 2017 6:02 am
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Hybrid here.
Only prob with tube amps is if you push them hard and want clean headroom. my tubes need to be replaced every couple years.
Old twins sound good though.
I am thinking of selling my 1967 Twin for a new Telonics head. Scary  |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 22 Feb 2017 6:45 am
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I have a Hybrid. It is a Carvin BX500 bass amp head. It has a 12AX7 tube in the preamp section, everything else is solid state.
The first stage (triode) in the 12AX7 is a true amplifier in the BX500. Many devices that have a tube are only the "starved plate" type operation and the tube is only a "buffer" and not a true amplifier. I've had several starved plate devices and they do nothing. An example is the Presonus "Blue Tube" mic/instrument preamplifiers - the 12AX7 tube operates in the starved plate mode. The small ART Tube MP preamps are also starved plate. The old Tubeworks RT922 preamp (like Herby Wallace used) is also a starved plate device. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 22 Feb 2017 8:14 am
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When things get loud, my ears distort before my amp does. I hear distortion from any steel amp at high volumes.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Tom Campbell
From:
Houston, Texas, USA
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Posted 22 Feb 2017 10:44 am
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| Black Box+Evans SE200 w/Sica 15" |
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Ad Kersten
From:
Beek en Donk, The Netherlands
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Posted 25 Feb 2017 3:28 pm
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I started with a Roland GP100 and a Peavey Session 500 long ago, both solid state.
Then I switched over to Peavey Tubefex with a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp, both tubes and also long ago.
When the Tubefex unit died, I bought a 2nd hand Digitech 2120 (tube).
The 2120 died too (OK, 20 years old unit) and last week I bought a 2nd hand Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp, also tubes....
Both the Tubefex and the 2120 had more noise than the Studio, which is by far the best preamp (but no effects).
I like tubes better, also because I play electric guitar, which benefits even more from tubes over solid state.
Ad
_________________
Zumsteel S12U
Yo, Man! |
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Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
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Posted 25 Feb 2017 6:08 pm
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| Tube most of the time but use SS also. |
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Dale Rottacker
From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2017 6:57 pm
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This is the order of ALL my amps
Fender Twin
Session 500
Session 400 Limited
Session 500
Session 400, (76)
Revelation Tube Pre-Amp
Crown XLS 1002
If I had been Lloyd Green I may have been able to make the Twin work, but I could never get what I wanted out of it.
I loved the 1st Session 500 I had, but talked my self into getting a Session 400, not realizing it would be a Limited.
Quite playing for about 8 years and got another Session 500, and have always been happy with it.... And then finally got and OLD 76 Session 400 that I added to the Session 500 and really liked the combination.
For the last year or so, I’ve been using a Revelation Pre-Amp into a Crown XLS 1002 Power Amp... I’ve REALLY been happy with this and have paired that up with a Lexicon MPX1
So I guess right now I’m happiest with the Hybrid Revelation/Crown... But then I haven’t been to the Dallas show yet... 
_________________
Dale Rottacker, Steelinatune™
https://www.youtube.com/@steelinatune
*2021 MSA Legend, "Jolly Rancher" D10 10x9
*2021 Rittenberry, "The Concord" D10 9x9
*1977 Blue Sho-Bud Pro 3 Custom 8x6
https://msapedalsteels.com
http://rittenberrysteelguitars.com
https://www.telonics.com/index.php
https://www.p2pamps.com
https://www.quilterlabs.com |
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