Is it still worth it?

[Bob Sykes]

It's worth it enough (for me) to carry this. My speaker "cabinet" has a built-in backup SS amp.



I haven't tried any SS amps that are more modern than the PV Transtube, so my preference may evolve one day.

[Javier Schulenburg]

Nowadays I'd say they're not worth buying new and often don't sound better than a well built solid state amp, that being said there a lot more bad solid state amps than there are bad tube amps

[David Ball]

Nowadays I'd say they're not worth buying new and often don't sound better than a well built solid state amp, that being said there a lot more bad solid state amps than there are bad tube amps

I think you're right. Sort of the opposite of home recording equipment--it's a lot easier to get a good sounding digital home recording setup than it is to get a good analog setup. My preference is still analog, but there are plenty of good inexpensive digital recording options while good analog options are very pricey. Better in my opinion, but way out of my budget.

Dave

[Chris Templeton]

If there's a house mixing board, one's amp can become a personal monitor and if the volume of an instrument on stage is at or above the house, most engineers don't like that.
Buddy's favorite amp, in his later years, was the Peavey Session 500 and he really liked the built in phase shifter with its leg attachment switch.
Clean at a high volume.
There's the Standel amps that Buddy liked too. Great for tone at lower volumes.
When I worked as Robert Randolph's guitar tech in 2002, he used my session 500 and blew it 3 or 4 times before he got something more substantial.

[Steve Hinson]

If there's a house mixing board, one's amp can become a personal monitor and if the volume of an instrument on stage is at or above the house, most engineers don't like that.
.

There’s two sides to that coin…

I don’t like hearing my amp so loud out of the house that I can’t hear my amp sitting right behind me.

SH

[Donny Hinson]

Steve has a very good point! I've always thought it should be the engineer's job to just capture the true sound of the band, rather than to remake/remix the sound of the band, both on stage and in the venue. When you give a sound engineer total control, then the sound isn't "the band's true sound" at all, but rather what the engineer thinks it should be. The band never hears what they really sound like, they hear someone else's doctored version of what he thinks the sound should be. This can be detrimental because the band never learns to master and control their own sound. Everyone just does whatever he or she wants, and they depend on the engineer to smooth it all out and make it sound good. That's a half-ass way of doing things, IMHO.

Once you start miking everything, the realism and dynamics of the band are gone. You might just as well play a record or CD and let everyone fake it.

[Steve Hinson]

Steve has a very good point! I've always thought it should be the engineer's job to just capture the true sound of the band, rather than to remake/remix the sound of the band, both on stage and in the venue. When you give a sound engineer total control, then the sound isn't "the band's true sound" at all, but rather what the engineer thinks it should be. The band never hears what they really sound like, they hear someone else's doctored version of what he thinks the sound should be. This can be detrimental because the band never learns to master and control their own sound. Everyone just does whatever he or she wants, and they depend on the engineer to smooth it all out and make it sound good. That's a half-ass way of doing things, IMHO.

Once you start miking everything, the realism and dynamics of the band are gone. You might just as well play a record or CD and let everyone fake it.

All of this...

SH

[Mike Christensen]

I play lap steel so a little different requirements. I use a Tonemaster Blonde Deluxe Reverb and a Peavey Classic 30. Like em both but they are different as night and day. I am 71 so the Tonemaster usually goes with me because of the weight.

[Lee Baucum]

I agree with those Hinson boys...

[Keith Murrow]

I've owned and played through multiple examples of both tube and solid state amps. I can't get the sound I want through a solid state amp, so I will use tube amplification until I can't. I have not tried the Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb but I have no reason to at this point - I'm quite happy with my current setup, a Fender Bassman 135 through a 2-12 cabinet.

[Bob Carlucci]

Any good steel amp is a good steel amp.. It all depends on perception of the individual involved.. Personally, the best sound I ever got in my life was with fender tube amps.. I have owned and used session 112/400/500, Roland JC120, various hybrids such as Music Man, Peavey Classic, clean all tube amps by Peavey,Traynor,Ampeg, and so many others... I still say the best tone of all the amps I played my steel through was Fender Super Reverb amps, as well as a Quad Reverb, and Vibrosonic, .. Those 3 were just special sounding to my ears... I have used Showman/bassman/Bandmaster/fender 75/Fender 140.. all were ok, but the 3 amps I mentioned were special, and I could never duplicate that sound with any other tube amps, regardless of builder//bob