Will:

Here are a few additions to your list of solid state users:

Bill Nelson - H&H, Carlsbro

David Hidalgo (Los Lobos)- Tech 21 Trademark 60

Nori Bucci - Fender SS

Duke Robillard - Peavey PA Head

Craig Chaquico (Jefferson Starship) Dwarf, Pignose

Allan Holdsworth - Yamaha DG80

Eric Clapton - Pignose (461 Ocean Blvd.)

Larry Coryell - Kmd

Ritchie Sambora - Kmd

Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Control

Jorma Kaukonen - GK 250ML

Sorry, Will - I don't have the exact links, but all references are from interviews in Guitar Player magazine (I don't know the exact issues offhand, but I own them) except for the following:

Duke Robillard - might have been mentioned in Vintage Guitar magazine interview. I personally saw Robillard both solo and with the Fabulous Thunderbirds when he used the Peavey PA head.

Larry Coryell - plays the Kmd amp in his instructional video.

Nils Lofgren - used a brown Acoustic Control combo amp when he was guest guitarist with the Pretenders during their first (2) US tours. Lofgren was good friends w/the late James Honeyman-Scott.

Greg Ginn- Roland SIP-300 preamp / QSC power amp through various 4x12 cabs during the Black Flag years, he currently uses some type of Sansamp (as you noted).

Personally, I think the JC-120 is evidence that all solid state guitar amplifiers over 15 watts should be banned under the Geneva Convention!

I know this probably will sound sacrilegious, but I hate Marshalls. Never been able to get a good sound out of them. Have played probably over 3 dozen over the past 30 years. Only found one that I liked. My band, Nekron 99, got on MTV in the 1980's and our EP got distribution in 8 countries. I cut the EP with a Music Man HD210 but played practically all of band's gigs with either a Yamaha G30-112 or a Peavey Bandit 65. If I'm playing very heavy rock, I'll take Hughes & Kettner, Orange or Peavey any day over Marshalls.

Love what you're doing here Will; your outlook on maximizing bang for the buck when buying gear mirrors my own philosophy.

Okay, I'm a fan of JohnSS -- anyone who can mention Kaukonen, Nelson, & Holdsworth in the same post has clearly turned away from the herd.

I too have had terrible luck at getting tube amps to sound right for me, & I envy guitarists that make 'em sound like choirs of angels. But I'm vaguely shopping for a combo-size tube amp, so who knows.

As a longtime Bill Nelson fan, I asked a couple weeks ago on his forum site about the status of Carlsbro. Only two units of the "Nelsonic" model exist. BN said:

You can see it: http://www.carlsbro-online.co.u...rlsbroWeb/billnelson.php

I can find only tube/valve amps from Carlsbro, though they may've had such models in the past.

I remember the Kaukonen interview in Guitar Player like 1975 -- yeah, I'm that old -- & he had mixed feelings about his Orange, so he's at least omnivorous. I saw him onstage five years ago (Hot Tuna), & I was more into the tunage than gear-watching, so I can' tell ya what was there. (Though I noted Jack wasn't playing one of his signature models.)

Nowadays, the "tube vs transistor" thing has gotten VERY cloudy. I've got an overdrive pedal with a 12AX7 tube in it. My pocket-size Zoom Studio has some simulators that do a surprisingly good job at the characteristics of tube "crunch." And then there's that whole wild rumpus that Line 6 started!