best sounding high gain solid state guitar amps for metal?

[liquidsmoke]

Anyone have any recommendations? I know next to nothing about solid state amps aside from the shitty little low wattage ones I had in the past and bass combos. I'm looking for something that doesn't break up at higher volumes and has enough gain that I won't need to run a distortion pedal into it so at least on the distortion level of a Laney GH, Peavey 5150, etc... I'm hoping to discover something cheap on the used market that doesn't sound super fizzy and crappy.

[Slow]

Ampeg VH-140C

[bloodofkings]

+1 on the Ampeg.

[Instant Dan]

Randall

[Corey Y]

Randall RG100ES is worth a go.

[Corey Y]

The Dime Amp D100 made by Dean might be worth looking into also. It's pretty cheap new (and you could probably find one used) and the demo videos I've watched of it don't sound bad. I mean if you're already open to solid state amps and looking for that high gain sound, that's exactly what it's shooting for. You could always pry the cheesy logo off the front if it rubs you the wrong way.

[justinhedrick]

try the peavey xxl. they sound pretty good. they sound even better w/ a graphic EQ in the loop cutting some of the high mids.

[Hemisaurus]

Crate G130CXL or any G130 I guess if you don't need chorus.

It's pretty much the same as the Ampeg, but usually cheaper.

[justinhedrick]

Crate G130CXL or any G130 I guess if you don't need chorus.

It's pretty much the same as the Ampeg, but usually cheaper.

i've heard this a lot, but i've never seen anything to back it up.

[Hemisaurus]

Bring through your Ampeg sometime, we can A/B it with Freightshakin Bob's Crate. I've played bass through that sucker and it's hell of a loud. We had a death metal band in the practice space, one guitatr was using a Peavey Rockmaster tube head through 2 4x12's and that Crate drowned it out, with no pedals, and sounded better doing it, and that's only one channel (65W) you need two cabs, or a cab wired stereo to get the whole enchilada.

[justinhedrick]

Bring through your Ampeg sometime, we can A/B it with Freightshakin Bob's Crate. I've played bass through that sucker and it's hell of a loud. We had a death metal band in the practice space, one guitatr was using a Peavey Rockmaster tube head through 2 4x12's and that Crate drowned it out, with no pedals, and sounded better doing it, and that's only one channel (65W) you need two cabs, or a cab wired stereo to get the whole enchilada.

i don't have an ampeg . . . i just always see those crates for sale sometimes in pawn shops for dirt cheap and i know that cannibal corpse cut one of their first records on one, so . . .

[Hemisaurus]

Maybe you should pick one up, maybe you'd like it.

I should fix that second channel on it, and run it through both my 2x15's, that would be fun.

[liquidsmoke]

I read some reviews of the VH-140C and they confirm that it's a great sounding amp as do the youtube clips I've seen/heard. I will also investigate the other amps mentioned, thanks everyone!

[liquidsmoke]

Randall

RG100ES? Is that 100 watts?

edit: I just read that it's 150 watts and 8 ohms, no 16 ohm jack. Arg.

[liquidsmoke]

So apparently the Ampeg VH-140C is a stereo amp and as I understand it if you only use one output(like if you are playing it through one cab) you only get half the power...?? Lame.

[bitter]

Yeah that's probably for the chorus. A stereo 4x12 or dual 2x12s would solve that problem 

[liquidsmoke]

Yeah that's probably for the chorus. A stereo 4x12 or dual 2x12s would solve that problem  

Annoying and now I'm reading that it only has 8 ohm outputs and of course my cab is 16. Fuck me.

I guess Ampeg made a VH-150 which isn't stereo for a short time but it seems to be very rare. Arg.

[liquidsmoke]

The Dime Amp D100 made by Dean might be worth looking into also. It's pretty cheap new (and you could probably find one used) and the demo videos I've watched of it don't sound bad. I mean if you're already open to solid state amps and looking for that high gain sound, that's exactly what it's shooting for. You could always pry the cheesy logo off the front if it rubs you the wrong way.

The Randall RH and RX amps are even cheaper. I suspect that most of these sound the same or would be fine on clean with the right pedal... and then I'm searching for the right metal pedal, again. Arg, been down that route before, my Laney sounds great without one, at lower volumes anyway. I guess Crowbar used a Metalzone(yuk) into a Randall RG in the '90s and now use that new Dean Dime model. Every fucking Youtube clip of any of these solid state amps is someone playing Pantera or death metal, it's time to go play some amps myself.

[Hemisaurus]

So apparently the Ampeg VH-140C is a stereo amp and as I understand it if you only use one output(like if you are playing it through one cab) you only get half the power...?? Lame.

I think I stated that about the Crate G130 as well, but don't knock it 'til you try it, even on half power they are f--in loud. Crate released a bunch of stereo 4x12's, and it's a pretty easy mod to do to your own cabs for full power.

Remember solid state only has a minimum impedance, it doesn't do impedance matching. So as most heads are 4 ohm minimum (some are 8 ohm) you'll get about 2/3 power into an 8 ohm cab and 1/2 power into a 16 ohm cab.

[liquidsmoke]

So apparently the Ampeg VH-140C is a stereo amp and as I understand it if you only use one output(like if you are playing it through one cab) you only get half the power...?? Lame.

I think I stated that about the Crate G130 as well, but don't knock it 'til you try it, even on half power they are f--in loud. Crate released a bunch of stereo 4x12's, and it's a pretty easy mod to do to your own cabs for full power.

Remember solid state only has a minimum impedance, it doesn't do impedance matching. So as most heads are 4 ohm minimum (some are 8 ohm) you'll get about 2/3 power into an 8 ohm cab and 1/2 power into a 16 ohm cab.

Thanks for the info. It just sucks that I will have to get a different cab just to use one of these amps although I am thinking about getting a different one anyway. I could use my bandmate's 8 ohm bass cabs temporarily though(ding!).

[Hemisaurus]

Sorry, I'm missing why you need to get another cab? I've said, loud as fuck, one channel into 8 ohm, easy to mod cabs to be stereo if you want full power, there's no issue is there?

[liquidsmoke]

Sorry, I'm missing why you need to get another cab? I've said, loud as fuck, one channel into 8 ohm, easy to mod cabs to be stereo if you want full power, there's no issue is there?

My cab is 16 ohms.

[VOLVO)))]

Sorry, I'm missing why you need to get another cab? I've said, loud as fuck, one channel into 8 ohm, easy to mod cabs to be stereo if you want full power, there's no issue is there?

My cab is 16 ohms.

Rewire it to four ohms.

[liquidsmoke]

Sorry, I'm missing why you need to get another cab? I've said, loud as fuck, one channel into 8 ohm, easy to mod cabs to be stereo if you want full power, there's no issue is there?

My cab is 16 ohms.

Rewire it to four ohms.

That's possible? I'm like a new born baby when it comes to most of this stuff. Why 4 instead of 8?

[VOLVO)))]

It's got four ohm speakers, or 16 ohm speakers...

4 ohm drivers for 16 ohms:
Series 4 + 4 = 8
Series 4 + 4 = 8
Series 8 + 8 = 16

16 ohm drivers for 16 ohms:
Parallel 16 + 16 = 8
Parallel 16 + 16 = 8
Series 8 + 8 = 16

4 ohm drivers for 4 ohms:
Series 4 + 4 = 8
Series 4 + 4 = 8
Parallel 8 + 8 = 4

16 ohm drivers for 4 ohms:
Parallel 16 + 16 = 8
Parallel 16 + 16 = 8
Parallel 8 + 8 = 4

Easy enough?