Solid State Rectifier,tube Questions/recommendation

[Kimmi]

Hi,

would like to ask if any one has any ideas on these solid state,rectifier,valve or tube terms.

From my understanding is that tube amps..they use tubes.haha..obvious..but required alot of TLC then solid states.

solid state...mm..i understand no tube but are more durable.

rectifier wise, I've been searching but i don;t quite understand.

e.g.I was reading on the budda superdrive 80,stating it was a solid state rectifier on ultimate guitar review but then i read on the budda site that it consisted of tubes so i'm quite confuse.



the purpose of my question is because i'm looking for a solid state amp.basically something durable because i recently purchased my first cab+ head amp( night train ) and ran into trouble after just 3 weeks. Now,i might have a possibility of having a unused cab for quite sometime.worst case scenario a few months possibly.

So i'm thinking of getting a solid state head to go with my cab as a backup in guess the tube amps fails again. something that i will spend just once. something durable.

I play more alternative rock.something that takes pedal wells.recommendations are welcomed too!

i did some search on soft and couldn't find much. I do apologise if this topic as been brought up before and failed to find it.

if there is,do link me to the url if possible and close this thread.

Thanks plenty in advance.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Solid-states are definitely more durable and require barely any maintenance, but tube amplifiers supposedly sound better. Still... Tone is suggestive.

Rectifier is a component, not a type of amplifier I think. Mesa Boogie's Single, Dual and Triple Rectifiers are tube amplifiers.

 

[dudelove]

dont get confused by mesa. they called they're amps dual rectifier, triple rectifier, thats the name.

i aint not tech geek but i can explain this:

the rectifier is a part of the amp which simply converts ac current to dc current. in a tube amp, it consists of a preamp, power amp and rectifier. the power amp and preamp are tube, but the rectifier can be solid state. or tube. i dont know why.

just answering ur question, a tube amp can have a solid state rectifier, and still be called a tube amp.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

rectifer is a ac to dc converter circuit, not just a component. It is used in many engineering circuit. Simplest form is a diode. Within the amp, its part of the amp circuit that convert the ac voltage supply from electrical outlet to dc that our amp need.

Rectifier doesnt start with mesa nor only associated with mesa... Theres rectifier circuit within other amps as well, just that none is as cheesy as mesa to use it in the name.

 

[dudelove]

double post f***

 

[Breen]

Give it to Mesa's marketing side of things though, Dual Rectifier makes boys quake in their pants. Better then old men in tweed jackets going mmmmm Mark IV....

What happened to your Night Train? Did you bring it back to the shop you got it from?

Tone is suggestive and up to the individual on how you would like to sound, and while everyone aspires for a full tube amplification system for perceived warmth, pleasant harmonics and compression, a SS amp can give you satisfaction at a lower price and with almost zero maintenance upkeep.

A happy sound means a happy player, and a better player (if he practices happily).

And in the end, I recommend you to stay with the tube direction since you already have a cab and a tube head. If you want a good SS backup, which I feel is not really necessary, I played a Sound Drive at Standard Value that was pretty cool, it was a bigger one. Yes sorry for lack of any other details. Fender has some decent bigger solid state stuff too.

 

[Whitestrat]

Theres rectifier circuit within other amps as well, just that none is as cheesy as mesa to use it in the name.

I beleieve the name for Mesas actually matters in how many Rectifiers it uses... From what I remember, a single rectifier will convert a sine wave AC current into a non negative camel hump curve current. (cannot remember the functional expression of that curve lah). There are points where the current (because it's cyclical) becomes 0 or close to 0. The more rectifiers you add eventually provides a more linear curve? In that sense? hence giving a different power characteristic? Aiyoh... my amp design sux man... Cannot remember all this stuff.

You get my point lah...

But you're right... Mesa is cheesy to put it in the name... hahahaha...

 

[Whitestrat]

the power amp and preamp are tube, but the rectifier can be solid state. or tube. i dont know why.

Because a tube, in essence, in a rectifier circuit, functions like a diode... i'm not sure there's much diff between using a tube or a diode, except it will probably respond differently. Good or bad, I can't remember... Got to go study schematic...

 

[Whitestrat]

tube amplifiers supposedly sound better.

Most of the solid state amps today sound like crap. Odd, considering there are some REALLY nice solid state amps in the past.

Market demand and production costs are probably the culprits. SS amps cheaper to make, so they use these to make cost effective (read: beginner) amps. They know Tone Gurus usually swear by tubes, and that's also where the bulk of the margins lie. So they make tube amps ONLY for the better sounding circuits, and are very expensive.

Today, the ego trip is on point-to-point wiring, so some ppl will pay more for that, and they get more margins there. But SS amps, being cheap to produce, are still the main volume drivers for starter kits.

Who here has NEVER played thru a solid state amp? Compared to who here actually has a tube amp? You'll find the proportions quite skewed.

 

[Kimmi]

What happened to your Night Train? Did you bring it back to the shop you got it from?

after 3 week of playing it...the triode channel gave this super low growl/hum sound with no guitar sound at all. i needed to turn the dial way up but that too gave a timid guitar sound.the pentode,while i tested at home gave the same low growl/hum problem,at the shop,showed no sign of hum while the triode still had hum.

yeap i sent it back and the shop is doing the best they can to help or worst case scenario would be replace it one to one..but thats the worst case scenario.lucky for me,the company is efficient at what they do.however, still worried on it failing out again being its my first tube amp. i did the whole warm up and warm down protocol. just it suddenly puffed out.first unit to return since.so i guess its my bad luck.

i was thinking of of sound drive but just hoping on widening my options if ( touch wood) it happens again.

 

[Kimmi]

i was hoping to find a solid state the size of a TT or NT but all i find are tubes.rebel20 and haze.

theres suprisingly more tubes then SS from all the search i done even for the bigger heads. maybe those that i found which are mention commonly are the "famous" ones.which turn out to be tubes.

sadly,theres no production of Jc120 heads.

 

[edgie]

To the OP, I would recommend having a solid state rectifier over the tube ones for reliability purposes since if your solid state rectifier is good enough that it can have that sag that tube rectifiers are known for, then i would opt for one less tube to worry about. Besides, as I know it, tube rectifiers don't contribute to to tone of the amp in a direct way as preamp and power tubes as it's not on the signal path of the amp.

 

[Whitestrat]

if your solid state rectifier is good enough that it can have that sag that tube rectifiers are known for.

Good enough? Being good enough has got nothing to do with sag in rectifiers. It's an artificially induced effect by adding resistance in series.

 

[gsonique]

What a funny thread !!

 

[edgie]

Good enough? Being good enough has got nothing to do with sag in rectifiers. It's an artificially induced effect by adding resistance in series.

Sorry man, i don't know how to say it in a technical way.: ) All i know now is that tube rectifiers are partly responsible for the spongy feel of the strings of tube amps which is also what some of solid state rectifiers are trying to simulate like THD's reactive rectifiers which is now discontinued.

 

[gsonique]

reactive rectifiers

 

[edgie]

haha. That's what they really called it. It does sound like it's from a sci-fi film.

 

[Indigo_blues]

Sorry my twin reverb has a solid state rectifier but its the ultimate clean tube amp. hurhur.

Yup and its true that tube rectifiers give you that spongy feel from the amps.

 

[Kimmi]

wow,theres really alot to know bout amps.

Thanks all for chipping in and helping in my questions.

slightly clearer on certain component.

just got the night train back and it turns out 2 of the tubes were faulty and city music service was really efficient in getting it fixed.kudos to them!

though still on a slow hunt for a more "reliable" head i guess.=)

 

[gsonique]

It's norm for tubes to go dead without notice especially after ship ....
..since you got the amp back with new tubes ....Enjoy.