A good solid state amp in 1993 was about $450. Would you pay $999 for a great one today?

Would you pay $900-$999 for a really good solid state amp?

  • Yes, if it were well made and sounded great, I’d plunk down $999 for one

    Votes: 15 46.9%

  • Are you f*****g kidding me? Tubes for life!

    Votes: 8 25.0%

  • I use modelers, bro. Amps are dead.

    Votes: 9 28.1%
  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .
paisleywookiee said:
When did the Axe 3 drop below FM9 prices? News to me.
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Well 1 - you just said FM9 rackmount, not that it would be the same or less price, and 2 - if you're not buying the turbo, used ones come up sub 2k occasionally which isn't that much more. But a rackmount fm9 would basically just be an Axe3 with different chips anyway, wouldn't it? A tiered down axe3?
 
paisleywookiee said:
Yup. I'd own an Iridium if were a regular head shape. Picture a Mesa Subway D-800 bass head. I've got no interest running my amp on the floor. My buddy sold his Mercury, because it was too noisy.
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Interesting, mine is the opposite of noisy. It has been far less noisy than any of my tube amps.
 
JiveTurkey said:
The idea of a pedalboard amp is an interesting one for about 5 minutes. Then you go gig on a dark stage and the great idea of a master volume knob anywhere NEAR my foot goes away instantly.
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Most of them put the footswitches far away from the knobs. I could see it being an issue with something really compact like the H&K Stompman.

Nothing stops you from just putting a pedalboard amp on top of your cab as if it was a head. You still gain the size/weight advantages.
 
northern_fox said:
Well 1 - you just said FM9 rackmount, not that it would be the same or less price, and 2 - if you're not buying the turbo, used ones come up sub 2k occasionally which isn't that much more. But a rackmount fm9 would basically just be an Axe3 with different chips anyway, wouldn't it? A tiered down axe3?
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1. Of course it implies it’ll the same price or cheaper than the FM9; why would else would I even mention it? Obviously I’m aware the AxeIII exists.

2. Used is always irrelevant in discussions like this, because everything used will be cheaper. But it also holds no warranty, you have to deal with private sellers, etc. I’m not talking about the used market.
 
I recently bought a SS power amp from Palmer that is one of the best power amps I've tried. In fact, I had 2 tube power amps at the same time as the Palmer (synergy and carvin) and the Palmer sent them packing.

I also really like the Bluguitar Amp1. Killer amp that will hang with any tube amp out there.
 
GuitarBilly said:
I recently bought a SS power amp from Palmer that is one of the best power amps I've tried. In fact, I had 2 tube power amps at the same time as the Palmer (synergy and carvin) and the Palmer sent them packing.

I also really like the Bluguitar Amp1. Killer amp that will hang with any tube amp out there.
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That Palmer looks very interesting
 
GuitarBilly said:
I recently bought a SS power amp from Palmer that is one of the best power amps I've tried. In fact, I had 2 tube power amps at the same time as the Palmer (synergy and carvin) and the Palmer sent them packing.

I also really like the Bluguitar Amp1. Killer amp that will hang with any tube amp out there.
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Which Palmer?
 
I don’t have any problem with SS, or paying 1k for a SS amp head (or anything gear related for that matter, looking at my purchase history) provided it sounds great and meets whatever feature set threshold I’d have relative to the price point and toanz.
 
just grabbed this stupid cheap

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I'd maybe pay $1000 for a great solid state amp, but it depends on a lot of things.

For me I want great sound and build quality but don't need a lot of volume. For $1000 I'd want something that sounds good not just clean but distorted as well, and takes pedals very well. And I want a power amp in for running modelers.

I really need to try the Fender Tone Master stuff as that hits most of the requirements, outside of the power amp in. I also need to try a Boss Katana Artist at some point. Maybe I'll run over lunch.
 
I am just about done trying to coerce a good sound from anything digital. I have a Mig 50, DSL 40 and Fender Deville but I am tired of messing around with tube amps, they sound different in every venue depending on the power source and tubes are getting scarce and expensive . I've never had a problem with ss so I bought a Quilter Tone Block and realized I do not like class D amps there is some annoying frequency you can't dial out and when you do it sounds muffled. So I bought the Orange Super Crush for the clean channel it's usable but my old Peavey Special 130 would run circles around it. So my long winded answer is ya I would pay top dollar for a good Class A/B solid state amp for sure.
 
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If I could A/B it against my favorite tube amps, and it sounded and felt just as good, yep. Otherwise, no.
 
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