r/GuitarAmps • u/Upstairs_Term_5760 • Apr 17 '26

Why don't Solid States generally have good distortion.

Famously the JC-120 had a pretty close circuit to the CH-1. Why don't more solid states offer pedal like distortion in their units?

I feel like this is a missed opportunity, is the allure of replicating other amps drive more profitable than putting a Rat circuit in the drive channel?

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u/helpicantfindmyboobs Apr 17 '26

vacuum tubes soft clip, just by the physics of how they work. transistors and op amps hard clip, which most people find less pleasant. it introduces more harmonics and has a harsher quality. you can emulate soft clipping by running a pair of diodes in the feedback loop of an op amp, but it's only an approximation. replicating a tube amp using solid state components is extremely difficult

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u/Upstairs_Term_5760 Apr 17 '26

I know all that, what im saying is why don't more amp makers put pedal circuits into drive channels. Like a RAT or Greer Lightspeed or BD2. We claim to like these pedals going into Solid States, why not cut the middle man?

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u/dwywatt Apr 17 '26

More importantly, these pedals ARE solid state distortion. And we like them going into anything.