Electric Amp Recommendation, Please

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

I don't understand the "SS is risky" part. Did Fender say they would have fixed it for you if it had tubes?

If it had tubes, I could fix it myself.
I'm just upset that no electronics shops can fix my 4 broken SS amps! The shop that's supposed to be best in Calif. kept my $75 bench fee and returned the head to the SS Carvin acoustic amp, 200 W.. They even called me to send them the postage. America is broken.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Rolph

If it had tubes, I could fix it myself.
I'm just upset that no electronics shops can fix my 4 broken SS amps! The shop that's supposed to be best in Calif. kept my $75 bench fee and returned the head to the SS Carvin acoustic amp, 200 W.. They even called me to send them the postage. America is broken.

So now you have 4 broken solid-state amps. What on earth are you doing to them?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Rolph

...I'm just upset that no electronics shops can fix my 4 broken SS amps! The shop that's supposed to be best in Calif. kept my $75 bench fee and returned the head to the SS Carvin acoustic amp...

When my Randall RB-120 combo needed service, the now-defunct Central Jersey Music Service in Edison (run by the late Dennis Kager, the last surviving link to the blue-check heyday of Ampeg) performed the necessary repairs with no balking...

Same can be said for Jeff Bloch's Guitar & Amp Wellness Center in my old Gravesend (Brooklyn) stomping grounds, when my '80s Peavey Bandit 65 developed a couple sonic gremlins...

IME any good tech will happily work on a name-brand analog SS amp - you might just have to search a little harder these days. By the same token, I've yet to find one that'll go anywhere near a digital amp for love or money - so for all you folks who sunk your bucks into the whizbang bells-&-whistles modeling-rig-of-the-week (whether that week was in 1998 or 2023) my advice is to use them for as long as they work, consider them disposable when they don't, strip them for useable parts (speakers, knobs, etc.), learn from your experience. and invest in a quality analog (tube or SS) rig next time around...

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

I've yet to find one that'll go anywhere near a digital amp for love or money - so for all you folks who sunk your bucks into the whizbang bells-&-whistles modeling-rig-of-the-week (whether that week was in 1998 or 2023) my advice is to use them for as long as they work, consider them disposable when they don't, strip them for useable parts (speakers, knobs, etc.), learn from your experience. and invest in a quality analog (tube or SS) rig next time around...

While I mostly agree with your indictment of repairing what is essentially a small PC motherboard, I am interested in the internal design of the stuff I buy and look for tear down or repair videos on YouTube. For the higher cost and volume products such as an HX Stomp, you’ll find videos of successful repair. Though generally out of the skill set of music techs. Given my good experiences with computers and cell phones I’m not worried about getting my money’s worth out the latest digital toys, but recognize they don’t have the repairable lifetime of tube amps that have relatively few in number, giant in size, and simple internal piece parts.

[Bluesdale]

Quilter's aren't exactly a solid state amp although they have no tubes. They are definitely not digital. Much more engineering goes into them. They are excellent amps and won't give you any problems. Plus you can call them up and talk to Pat directly. Can't beat the customer service. I have two and highly recommend them.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Bluesdale

Quilter's aren't exactly a solid state amp although they have no tubes. They are definitely not digital

So, not solidstate, no tubes, not digital. So what exactly are Quilter amps?

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

So, not solidstate, no tubes, not digital. So what exactly are Quilter amps?

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.

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…

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

When my Randall RB-120 combo needed service, the now-defunct Central Jersey Music Service in Edison (run by the late Dennis Kager, the last surviving link to the blue-check heyday of Ampeg) performed the necessary repairs with no balking...

Same can be said for Jeff Bloch's Guitar & Amp Wellness Center in my old Gravesend (Brooklyn) stomping grounds, when my '80s Peavey Bandit 65 developed a couple sonic gremlins...

IME any good tech will happily work on a name-brand analog SS amp - you might just have to search a little harder these days. By the same token, I've yet to find one that'll go anywhere near a digital amp for love or money - so for all you folks who sunk your bucks into the whizbang bells-&-whistles modeling-rig-of-the-week (whether that week was in 1998 or 2023) my advice is to use them for as long as they work, consider them disposable when they don't, strip them for useable parts (speakers, knobs, etc.), learn from your experience. and invest in a quality analog (tube or SS) rig next time around...

Good advice, as usual Steve.

[xStonr]

Were you looking for a amp for electric or acoustic guitar? The Vox VX50AG is a 50 ss amp weighing only 9lbs but is for acoustic guitar.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Rolph

Avoid sold state if you can. . . .

Ohiopicker wants a solid state amp. There are plenty of reliable ones. Let's help.

[Charlie Bernstein]

See what Quilter has to offer. My Quilter Microblock 45 must be under five pounds. I plug it into a speaker cabinet, and a small cabinet with a neodimium speaker won't weigh much.

You might also check the weights of some of Roland's Blues Cube models.

Let us know what you get!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

So, not solidstate, no tubes, not digital. So what exactly are Quilter amps?

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

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

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

I think if any part of it is digital, it IS digital. And that makes it, you know, digital. [shudders]

[Bluesdale]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

So, not solidstate, no tubes, not digital. So what exactly are Quilter amps?

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

[Horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Rolph

America is broken.

This thread is escalating quickly.