Archive for the ‘tube amps’ Category
March 10th, 2010 | 
Author: I am about to sell my Line 6 spider amp for a Fender Duluxe VM tube amp. I don’t like the emulation sound of my amp at the moment and really want to get that over driven tube tone for classic rock. However i am moving to uni in under a year, so having a solid state amp my be a good idea as it has the same tone at low volumes that it has at max.
My question is weither tube amps have turned up to get a good sound out of them, i hear all this ‘hotting up of the tubes’. both on clean and dirty channels.
thanks to anyone who can give me some help.
Well my only experience with tube amps is where I take my guitar lessons, and they certainly do have a great sound. The walls in the room are soundproofed, so we can go as loud as the amps can stand. While almost ANYTHING sounds better louder, tube amps do get that crisp feel once you reach a higher volume, for the very reason you said, and while this is definitely optimal you can turn the amp on twenty minutes or so before you play and it’ll tend to heat up, allowing you to play with a pretty low volume.
It’s really a decision that you’re going to have to make. Consider getting the tube amp, but just taking a high quality 15 watt with you. The better of these typically starter models can actually get impressively loud. Good luck with the decision anyway, and have a good time at U.
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I currently have a 15W Peavey Vyper and am looking to upgrade. Now I’ve heard both Tube and Solid State Amps, and I’m fully aware that tubes are better. However, I don’t have a sky high budget (around $200) and am wondering how the volume of tube amps compare to solid states. I know that tubes are louder, but not exactly sure how much louder. For my upgrade, I could get something like a 30W SolidState amp, or a 5 Watt Tube. Would they be about the same volume, or would it be better just to get the solid state?
No, the 30w SS amp will be way lounder than a 5w tube amp.
But really, i’d save my money for something more powerful.
The Bottom Line The future of modeling amps will be two-fold: the first will appeal to "tube-purists" and will include a tube-power-amp-section, while the second will appeal to the more "modern" guitarist.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve played many guitar amps, hundreds upon hundreds and perhaps even thousands when you factor in all the multiple models of the exact same guitar amp that I’ve had the pleasure of toying with. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, there was no question or debate surrounding tube amps and solid state amps. The tube amp was simply the guitarist preferred gigging tool. What a difference 25 years can make?
I must also admit that in 1997 and 1998, there was still a definite audible difference between tube amplifiers and solid state ones, especially when a tube amp was pushed hard and being played by a blues guitarist. Many electronic engineers who conducted double-blind sound tests comparing tube amps with solid state ones all concluded that same basic thing. The soft clipping overdrive “tone” of a tube amp was most noticeable with a blues guitar players’ particular style of playing. It was next to impossible to differentiate the clean setting of a tube amp (with no overdrive) over a solid state one, or the high gain setting of a tube amp with that of a solid state one.
Isn’t it amazing what 5 years of electronic technological advancements can do for guitar amplifiers? A couple of weeks ago, my buddy said to me that he can still tell the difference between a tube amp and a modeling (solid state) amp. I challenged him to a blind sound test! For the test, the studio owner made the following selections that nobody was allowed to know before hand: my Line 6 DuoVerb, a Vox Valvetronix AD120VT, a Yamaha DG80-112 and the Fender Stage 100 DSP-112. And for the tube amps: my pals Marshall JCM2000-TSL602, a Fender Deluxe Reverb II, a Traynor Custom Valve YCV20-WR and a Vox AC30.
Since we all agreed that it was impossible to differentiate between a tube and a modeler on the cleaner and higher gain sounds, we concentrated the exercise on the “soft clipping sound” of those tube amps when pushed into overdrive. We agreed on a young talented musician, who in turn took notes and tips from each amp owner regarding ideal settings for their amps and the different guitars and pick-ups he was to use. Every amp – 20 we’re brought into the studio but only 8 we’re selected – each was set-up in my buddy’s basement studio and our featured guitarist got to fool around with all of them before we arrived for a bonafide sound test experiment that would hopefully end the tube vs solid state debate once and for all.
The musician was out of sight and nobody was allowed to view the “setup”! 11 musicians and guitar amp owners with an additional 7 non musicians participated in the exercise as “judges”…
We all had to answer one simple question: “Tube Amp” or “Solid State Amp”? Each amp was played in random order, 3 separate times at slightly different settings and with different guitars. So what were the results?
First, some astonishing facts:
- every single tube amp was mistaken for a solid state amp, and
- every modeling amp was mistaken for a tube amp.
Our analyses of the results:
- we all agreed that many had chosen “solid state” simply because all of the sound samples could not be from tube amps alone!
- there was no correlation between tube amp owners, modeling amp owners and non musicians when it came to distinguishing between a tube or a solid state amp.
And the big winner was…
“Tube Amps” continue to rule when it comes to its’ mild overdrive soft clipping sound and tone!
Close to 90% of our listening audience could tell they we’re listening to a real tube amp when it was set to a soft clip overdrive tone. The big winner in the modeling samples on hand was the DuoVerb, 70% had mistaken it for a tube amp on both the Fender and Vox settings. While the Vox Valvetronix faired just as well as the DV on its Vox settings it did very poorly on other settings for an average of 35% overall, the lowest percentage of all modeling amps on hand which still managed to fool some who had mistaking it for a tube amp. The Fender Stage 100 did really good, considering 55% had mistaken it for a tube amp. The other surprise was the Yamaha DG80-112. It came as a complete surprise to many when it was announced that close to 60% of the audience had mistaken it for a tube amp.
What can we conclude from this little sound test?
One of the biggest realizations was that those supposedly “subtle things” like “tube feel” that “tube purists” say they can hear on their tube amps, well they also appeared to be present on “Modeling Amps” as well. 
Obviously, with every new generation of modeling amps, the accuracy of modeling technology is only getting bette
Ok, so I’ve been playing guitar for a couple years now. I currently have a Vox ad15vt. It’s decent. I’m not blown away by it, but it’s the only amp I have besides my first Fender 15W. My guitar is a Jackson RR3.
My question is, what are some good tube amps, or SS amps, that can be played at reasonable volumes at home. My Vox is 23 watts, and the walls shake when the volumes only at 3/4. I need something that sounds amazing but won’t blow my windows out, and can play anything from Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer to Ensiferum and Moribid Angel. Basically an all around metal amp.
Some amps I’ve been looking at are the Mesa boogie express amps, Peavey Vyper, and Peavey Valveking royal 8.
Thanks for any help.
Marshall MG50DFX. I’ve got one, they sound great, and get the perfect metal sound.
And they sound great at all volumes.
Cheers
-Will
http://www.oldtonezone.com – the first in a series of videos explaining the basics of tube guitar amplifiers.
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Tags: Alright I been playing guitar for around 6 years now and its time for a new amp and I will be starting a new band soon.Who likes what and why. The sales guy and guitar center was acting like I was a new b and didnt know the difference between them.I know tube amps tend to have better sound to them but solid state are cheaper and some are excelent amps.What should I do . Solid state have never let me down.
Check them out, plug in and play through them with the guitar you like best. Fender and Marshall are the best tube amps, they have a warmth, and tone that is the best, but if you like the sound of a non-tube amp go with it….your opinion and what you like is as important as anyone else. Tube Amps are usually heavier, than solid state.
You can always look at the lower cost Marshall’s they have good sound, and are smaller and easier to carry around. I love my Fender Twin Reverb, but it’s like carrying around a car engine. I got a smaller Marshall that is mostly solid state but has a tube or 2 for warmth, much cheaper, much lighter. Play them all…if they won’t let you, take your business elsewhere.
I am curious about car tube amps. Butler audio specifically, others as well. If you own or have seen/heard one in operation I would like to know how they compare with other amps.
tube amps are pure sound(clean sound).
they are good for a front stage of your car but not powerfull enough for a sub.
The build continues with installation of the silver ground buss
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What are some good tube amps that are 30w or more that are no more than 750$ …. thanks
Hard to answer this question not knowing where in th world you wish to source it and for what purpose.
Are you referring to 30 watts RMS (audio) or 30 watts ERP (radio)?
If audio, a producer or reproducer amp?
Please post an update for proper answer. Cheers.
I have 2 tube amps of the same kind (Peavey Valve King 112) one is silent one has an annoying humming sound even when no guitar is plugged in and all controls are set to zero. What could be wrong? (tubes, static?) – Thank you
http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/hum.htm
All Amplifier is made by myself I used the best electronic components.specially the output transformer I have used the Plitron toroidal transformers Sound is great!!!
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