Electric Amp Recommendation, Please

[GoPappy]

Originally Posted by Bluesdale

Here is a couple of pretty good reads that explain it better than I can:

https://georgedyermusic.com/2016/11/...ter-amps-work/

https://reverb.com/fr/news/quilter-a...ehind-the-buzz

Thanks for those links. That's interesting stuff. I don't understand a lot of it, but it's interesting nonetheless. I've been thinking seriously about getting a Quilter SuperBlock US.

[Matthew Sarad]

Last night at band practice I used my MIM Tele with HarmonicDesign
pickups into the beat up old Tweed Deluxe. Volume at 3 with tone maxed put, it was plenty loud and sounded the way a Tele should.
After practice ended, the singer/Harmonica player told me how great it sounded.

My friends swear by their Quilters.

If I weren't 68 and a devoted fan of Tweed Amps since the 70s, Quilter would be my first choice.

With 2 Tweed Deluxes, a 1980 handwired Deluxe Reverb with Vox Celestion from the mid 60s, a PRS H head with paisley tolex and a Tech21 65 watt SS combo, I'm not looking for anything new.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

A well thought out solid state analog design except for the power supply, power amp and reverb which are digital (not rocket science: no visible transformer, no heat sink, no reverb spring). I can’t find a picture of a Quilter printed circuit board online, but would be surprised to find a 100% through hole design.

Originally Posted by jonfields45

In all likelihood Quilters in the hands of a music repairman are surface mount constructed PCB swap repairs just like the DSP amps maligned earlier in this thread…

It's a shame that a repair tech can't learn to do basic component-level repairs. I have only the very basics of understanding electronics but even I can do such as far as replacing SMDes go. Not easy depending on the density of the board but definitely quite doable.

Originally Posted by Bluesdale

Here is a couple of pretty good reads that explain it better than I can:

https://georgedyermusic.com/2016/11/...ter-amps-work/

https://reverb.com/fr/news/quilter-a...ehind-the-buzz

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

I think of mine as solid-state. Now I guess I'll learn what it really is.

This is the correct answer.


BTW, SMPS arent digital, same as Class D is not digital.

[jonfields45]

We guitarists are a strange bunch...



Imagine watching this thing and bragging about a recent recapping. Or that easy repair trumps a new "color" LCD TV.

Even my friend who collects old TVs doesn't actually watch them

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

We guitarists are a strange bunch...

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

BTW, SMPS arent digital, same as Class D is not digital.

Maybe this is a question for philosophers…

The latest ICs for switching power and class D are satisfyingly digital, tiny surface mounted plastic packages, and optimized to make the passive components and not integrated semiconductors as few and tiny as possible (spread spectrum and higher frequencies).

And as unlikely to be repaired as any DSP chip and its decoupling caps.

[Brent Hutto]

Jon,

I don't think it's a philosophical question, it's just the way the world works. Virtually no consumer electronic product is designed to allow component level (i.e. soldering iron) repair or replacement. Module swapping is the way of the world now on higher end product and disposable is the way it works for the very cheapest stuff. Nobody did that for philosophical reasons, it's just the way manufacturing evolved over the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

A few specialty markets exist where there's demand for (and money to be made from) selling throwback electronics reminiscent of mid-20th-century design and manufacturing. Home audio, guitar amps, stuff like that with a huge number of people wanting to turn back the clock. Tube amps and turntables and all the rest will continue to be sold for a while until the boomers die off and the hipsters move on to their next collective retro obsessions.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by Rolph

Avoid sold state if you can. My Fender rumble died after about 1 month, Fender refused to support it! You need to play them and choose. Good luck.

Sorry that happened to you Rolph. But I honestly feel like your experience is anomalous. While anything can fail, Fenders have a well-deserved, decades-long reputation for extreme reliability. That's been my take playing in bar bands on and off for half a century.

Playing tube amps (sorry, I just like them), I've observed that they can be heavy, fussy and difficult to troubleshoot quickly. I took the precaution of taking two amps to every gig - just in case. Never had one fail onstage, probably just because I had a spare handy, lol.

For what the OP is looking for, solid state is the way to go. Guitar Center carries a wide variety of amps that'll suit the presented scenario. Several brands if you're not thrilled about one or another - including Fender. And they have a 45-day money back satisfaction guarantee. Best way to tell if a particular amp will fit in with the rest of the band's sound is to play it with the band.

My rule for any amp (tube or SS) is that it should deliver the sounds you want without having to turn any of the controls all the way up or all the way down. If that becomes necessary, you're either getting too much of something or not enough and it will always bug you. The right amp will give you plenty of wiggle room within a broad sweet spot.

Another thought here is that any channel switching or effects should be easy to get to. I have zero patience for scrolling through a sequence of digital sounds to find the one I want. "Oops! Went past it, hang on," click, click, click...

[maxtheaxe]

The technology has advanced significantly, such that any clean power amp, with the right tube or modeling based front end to go with it will be virtually indistinguishable from a traditional amp. All that's needed is a good cab at whatever size you're comfy with and the rest can fit into a briefcase.

Case in point...
https://carvinaudio.com/products/mac...edal-amplifier

I've had nothing but stellar result with every piece of Carvin gear I ever owned, & while I haven't tried this one, I'd call it a good bet. They also have tube-based guitar preamp pedals endorsed by guys like Satriani and a few others.

Heck, you could almost carry these around in your jacket pockets.

[Vigier]

Blackstar silverline series are good amps,plenty of effects & are footswitchable for the channels & the effects,they will be more than loud enough,I bought my daughter one a few years ago & it sounds great,check them out

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Just to set the record straight, from an electrical engineer's perspective, hand wiring is much less reliable than a PCB (hand wired means relatively giant blobs of now lead free solder crying out to crack). In unskilled hands, hand wiring is easier to repair. Lead free solder is a problem Leo Fender never encountered.

I like modern DSP solid state amps better than tube. They not only can do tube, but can also do stuff that is not slavish tube and better, in my opinion :~).

Smiles here from an electrical engineering child with a passion for things physical, mechanical and musical. No one will stop him from loving the Princeton Reverb but he is correct about lots of myths. It is also interesting to see his generation approaching all this without my boomer gen biases.

Originally Posted by Rolph

If Fender has a 5 year warranty, why did they refuse to repair/replace mine after just a couple of months, limited usage? I even argued with them, they never mentioned a warranty at all. SS is risky.

It still seems like we are missing information. Just your receipt is a warranty or basis for a maker having to comply in most US states. A few times personally and many times from my job standing on that got warranty claims done. Most states also have a consumer protection agency to help.

Here's how I've had success. If I have a stinker of a situation an approach like "I don't want to fight with you. You are not fulfilling your obligations. Are you the right contact for my state's consumer protection agency to pursue this? That way the two of us don't have to fight this out. I've got the receipt, warranty, and everything they need".

For the original topic, I know some folks who like the larger Yamaha and Spark products much like many of us enjoy their home sized stuff. I did not drill into all the II (v2) Yamaha hardware but the first gen has nice port and dial real estate so you can do effects loop, input and output. Now Positive Grid has expanded their line.

I swapped the Yamaha and Spark with my son. Now I also better get the app aspect. Both have a good set of pros and cons. A PA system should be able to pick up how both lines have good sounding output.

[CASD57]

As funny as it sounds and as humbling as it is... After thinking I could only get a life-changing tonal experience with a tube amp... I've been humbled by a $40 pedal and a Gemini PB300BT (Battery powered) PA...Yes, I said my Electric guitar sounds great through Cadline "The American" pedal(Joyo Copy), and through the Gemini, Who would have guessed it..
I use a TC Helicon Perform VG for the Vocals and acoustic
What led me to this is my desire to have minimum gear to haul, work with Vocals-Acoustic-Electric and portable
I have entertained getting a Fishman Artist for this but at $800 maybe later when the Gemini breaks
But my quest is for something better than the Cadline pedal.. but still simple to use so the Helix is probably out.....searching

I guess what I'm saying....SS can sound good and maybe something like the new Fender FRFR would be even nicer

[KevWind]

Well first I agree with others, there is absolutely no general (inherent) failure advantage or disadvantage SS or Tube, all electronics are subject to possible failure per. se.


Personally I happen to be a fan of Tube amps , heads mostly

That said if weight and simplicity is a significant issue for the OP

I would think the Quilter Super Block https://www.sweetwater.com/c623--Amp...w.dspedal/head into the PA or a good 1X10 or 1X12 cab , would be a great option choice ,, now it does not have trem/delay but has reverb, limiter and a gain control.
One could always get trem and delay pedals to add to it, which being foot switched might even be more handy than a setting on the amp

My self I would go with small tube head with a few pedals but that is just me