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My brain is currently flooded. Lol looked and listened to Line 6 Spider IV 75 & 120, Mesa, Randalls KH 75, Marshall C5 and even Blackstars "mini" stack. Looking for something my soon to be 17yo could play in his room or with his friends in the garage. Likes '80's Thrash style metal, Zakk Wylde, Father VanHalen, and so on, but he plays other stuff too. Considering the Line 6 since it has all the pre-sets and you can download to it. Its a modeling amp which is also a negative in some ways maybe no "true" SS or tube sound. He likes them all and told me to decide. As soon as he gets his new amp Dad aka me gets his old one lol. Lookin to spend in the $500 range. Any suggestions or alternative ideas welcome. He has a DigiTech modeling processor already. Thanks again!

 I'm gonna say it again. I'm starting to sound like a broken record but Line 6 is hard to beat. I don't have any experience with the others you listed but from my experience Line 6 has been solid. As far as SS or tube tones well, everything is a trade off. Although digital modeling is getting better and better, anyone who doesnt play a guitar couldnt tell the difference and wouldnt care as long as it sounds like what they want to hear. Vox and Peavey also make some good products. It gets mind boggling but they're all good products.

Got the SPider IV 75 Watt kranks, can barely turn it a quarter of the way up without worrying if my tenant can hear it.  When hes gone I can really Blast it, I havent had much time to delv into the programability but it has a tone of effects and lot of great presets. I still prefer pedals but its a great. Really good be a travelling setup if you like to play on vacation, or if you have a work setting where you could bring it to jam on lunch breaks. 

Youll be happy with it, I have 75 watt and cant even go a quarter of the way, it really does crank. Its fun all of the effects he'll now have at his fingertips.

If your son wants to use this amp in a band Id suggest anything over 5watts because the Blackstar Ht-5's and mini amps are really not powerful enough to stack against drums.   Personally I like warm tube tones over ss crunch, but Line 6 is alright.   May I suggest getting him a Line 6 Pod HD Pro rack?  It is $700 but it has 22 HD model amps which Line 6 has spent years trying to get the feel of the amps right and they feel confident in their models.  Also it has 100+ effects modeled after name brands like the Tubescreamer, phase 90, ect.   If I personally had the money Id buy it in a heart beat because it has a very nice layout for the controls. 

Have you looked into like Jet City Amps, or Bugera?

Link to Line 6 Pod HD

http://line6.com/podhd/pro/

If your going to get an amp for bedroom to band, get a combo with a powered line out. That way when he gets into a band, he can buy an extension cab for more volume.

Line 6 amps do not handle pedals with grace in my experiences. I have been looking at a Blackstar combo amp, I would recommend that.

I think the trick to gigging w/ SS is to have max wattage / headroom.  Unlike a tube amp that sounds good when cranked – SS amps don't sound that good when cranked.  That's why companies like Randall produce 250, 300 and 450w SS amps.  Look at their V2 and T2 amps.  They range from 280 – 480w, which in my book is way gig-capable.  They are one of the few companies that produce full bore SS amp heads that are gig worthy (IMO).

92Standard said

I have actually read many great reviews regarding Tech 21 but I personally have no experience with them.

Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen a Tech 21 locally ever. Who carries them in stores? GC has them online, but even when I go there, I've never seen any on the floor.

The Tone King said

I think the trick to gigging w/ SS is to have max wattage / headroom.  Unlike a tube amp that sounds good when cranked – SS amps don't sound that good when cranked.  That's why companies like Randall produce 250, 300 and 450w SS amps.  Look at their V2 and T2 amps.  They range from 280 – 480w, which in my book is way gig-capable.  They are one of the few companies that produce full bore SS amp heads that are gig worthy (IMO).

but the V2 and T2 are not pure SS heads.  Channels 1 and 2 on the V2 uses a handful of 12AX7's, as does channel 1 on the T2.  I think the only SS signal path on those amps are in their clean channels.  Their power sections are full SS though…  But i think that's a tangent….

That said, the band Arch Enemy spent many years touring with V2's, and they are quite the guitarists band.  It really does have a lot to do with having a power section that matches your cabs when dealing with SS.  A 100 watt tube amp into a pair of 300 watt cabs sound fine… but in an SS amp, you really should be thinking ~400 watts.

Tritium said

The Tone King said

I think the trick to gigging w/ SS is to have max wattage / headroom.  Unlike a tube amp that sounds good when cranked – SS amps don't sound that good when cranked.  That's why companies like Randall produce 250, 300 and 450w SS amps.  Look at their V2 and T2 amps.  They range from 280 – 480w, which in my book is way gig-capable.  They are one of the few companies that produce full bore SS amp heads that are gig worthy (IMO).

but the V2 and T2 are not pure SS heads.  Channels 1 and 2 on the V2 uses a handful of 12AX7's, as does channel 1 on the T2.  I think the only SS signal path on those amps are in their clean channels.  Their power sections are full SS though…  But i think that's a tangent….

That said, the band Arch Enemy spent many years touring with V2's, and they are quite the guitarists band.  It really does have a lot to do with having a power section that matches your cabs when dealing with SS.  A 100 watt tube amp into a pair of 300 watt cabs sound fine… but in an SS amp, you really should be thinking ~400 watts.

Of course you also have to factor in your effects chain as well when arriving at the sum of the tone when comparing Tube to SS. The effects often times will introduce a measurable difference between each amp's summary tone.