Archive for the ‘tube amps’ Category
August 30th, 2010 | 
Author: Why is it, in an old plexi marshall for instance, that a 50 watt tube amplifier breaks up into crunch a bit sooner than the 100 watt? And is it just with these that this applies? Or can this be so with any tube amp, old or new?
Oddly enough, Jeep Diva is closer to the correct answer than anybody so far. In a 100 watt, you’re splitting the load between 4 power tubes instead of two. Because each tube is carrying less of an individual load, it takes more volume to get them to run outside their normal operating conditions.
There are ways you can compensate for this. Break up doesn’t just come from the amp circuit. If you change the speakers, the character and time of the breakup will change. Your amp tech can also change the cathode resistance on your power tubes, thus changing how much power your tubes are dissipating. This is biasing. If you run a 50 watt with a cool bias and high wattage speakers, you’ll get closer to the breakup of a 100 biased hot with low wattage speakers.
Well, this is all assuming you are setting the two amps for the same resistance at the speaker end (your ohm rating). Also, that’s assuming you’re using the same pickups, the same boost pedals (or lack thereof). There’s more to this than I could list in a few words.
A side note: your tone will be different on a 100 which could account for some of this as well. Higher wattage amps tend to have more bass response.
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I know tubes in general are more popular, but there have been a lot of advances in digital technology over the last few years.
I prefer solid state amps because they have a nice clean sound, perfect for jazz and folk guitar without adding any unneeded color to the sound.
http://www.oldtonezone.com – Part 3 of this series of videos where I try to explain the basics of tube amps for people without engineering or technical backgrounds. This video explains the difference between preamp and power tube distortion.
Duration : 0:8:18
Tags: i know the sound of tube vs solid state and ive played numerous tube guitar amps
but my guitarist is looking into the marshall Haze 40 and 40w is plenty loud for auditoriums and small clubs, but does tube really make it as loud as a 120 watt amp??
It varies from amp to amp. My 5 watt Epiphone Valve Jr. is louder than my 15 watt Fender Princeton. Both tube amps of course and I’m pretty sure they are both class A power. But yeah, I don’t gig with any guitarist that use over 40 watts of tube power. Most use 15 to 30 watt tube amps and mic when necessary.
I’m planning on buying a Mesa boogie single rectifier head used. Now I have some questions. Do the tubes have anything to do with the sound? Do some tubes make it sound different? And do the cabinets effect the sound too? I’m just really confused and concerned about buying one.
The tubes have everything to do with the sound. In the early years, all amps were tube amps. Solid state hadn’t been invented. Tube technology wasn’t perfect. It had some harmonic distortion and uneven response under different power loads. Tubes also wear out and need replacing. As solid state technology developed, they were able to build amps that has a more even frequency response and less distortion. While desirable in a stereo system, musicians came to realize that the old tube sound with all it’s flaws actually enhanced the sound of a guitar. Or maybe it was just how we were expecting to hear it. Anyway, since then, solid state amps have been playing catch-up trying to emulate the imperfections of tubes. Some of the new breed of amps are coming close.
Purists will tell you that different brands of tubes respond and sound different from each other. It must be true, because they spend a lot of money swapping them out. You can’t really interchange types of tubes like 6L6 or 6V6 tubes, but you can change brands. Cabinets, and the speakers they contain also affect the sound. Larger speakers will reproduce bass frequencies better than small ones. Larger magnets (heavy duty speakers) will handle more power without breaking up (distorting). More speakers will move more air, which means the sound will carry better.
You don’t have to be concerned about buying one. If you like the sound, buy it. Understand that it may need some periodic maintenance, but that’s no big deal. Tubes have filaments in them, be gentle when transporting the amp and it should last for years without changing tubes.
Thanks
Marshall Super Lead 100 (Plexi)
Marshall JCM 800
Marshall JCM 900
Marshall DSL 2000
Marshall JVM410
Marshall Kerry King JCM 800
Marshall Zakk Wylde JCM 800
Marshall Jubaliee
Marshall Slash 1990’s signature
Marshall Slash AFD100
Marshall JCM 2000
That’s quite a few, off the top of my head!
Introduction to ‘The Valve’ Bimbo 5W Amp with POWER SCALING
The BIMBO is a 5 watt amplifier that incorporates the preamp design based upon one of the most legendary rock guitar amplifiers ever produced in the early 1970 and it is able to achieve 100% full blast tube tone at low volumes operate from its full 5 watts of output power down to 1/20th watt still retaining the same tone!.
BIMBO CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS:
GUITAR Plug in guitar here. You can also use your favorite Overdrive or Distortion pedal in series with your guitar before plugging in here for extra gain.
ATTENUATION This can be thought of as the Bimbos unique way of controlling the overall volume of the amplifier even when the VOLUME and GAIN controls are run at full volumes for maximum crunch and sustain. This is one of the key controls which allows the Bimbo to achieve it’s large tone and low volumes.
Running the VOLUME at MAX (”Loud” position) and using the ATTENUATION to control overall volume allows the BIMBO to operate like a vintage tube amp that does not use Master Volume circuitry.
This is our favorite way of using the BIMBO for great tones since the power tube and transformer contribute to the sound.
Lowering the Attenuation control down to the “Whisper” position reduces the volume while the Power Scaling incorporated circuitry increases the gain at the same time by clipping the power amp allowing you to achieve full blast stack tube tone at whisper levels!
VOLUME This works like a conventional Master Volume you may have seen on other tube amps. It can also be used to control the volume of the amp but will produce a different sound than using the ATTENUATION.
Running the ATTENUATION at MAX and using the VOLUME to control overall volume allows the BIMBO to operate more like a modern tube amp.
This is also useful for getting good clean sounds with the BIMBO.
TONE A specially and carefully designed single TONE control that allows the player to get a wide range of classic guitar tones.
A brighter sound is achieved the more you crank to the right. Many of the best sounds are found in the 10-2 o’clock positions.
GAIN This controls the amount of input gain applied to the guitar signal. In combination with the VOLUME and ATTENUATION controls, this GAIN control can be used to dial in a wide variety of tones from clean to crunchy.
For those needing super hi-gain tones, the use of an overdrive or distortion pedal is advised.
RUN/REST This is the main ON/OFF switch for the amplifier. The “standby” feature normally found in tube amplifiers is built into this power switch thru the use of delayed power up sequence.
CONTACT:
www.the-valve.co.uk
Duration : 0:2:47
Learn how to correct crossover when changing the tubes on a vacuum tube amplifier in this free video.
Expert: Jeff Naylor
Contact: www.Mtroniks.com
Bio: Jeff Naylor is the owner and operator of Mtroniks Engineering in Mesa, Arizona.
Filmmaker: Eric George
Duration : 0:2:7
i notice that tube amps are much expensive than non tube amps, does the price really worth it? o.O
im looking at these amps, wich should i get
tube amp: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Peavey-Vypyr-Tube-60-60W-1×12-Guitar-Tube-Amp-104922893-i1413609.gc
non tube: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Line-6-Spider-IV-120-120W-2×10-Guitar-Combo-Amp-105482848-i1470461.gc
most peoples ears cannot hear the difference between a solid state amp and a tube amp.
FETs are the closest to a tube, some techs joke that a tube is a FET with a pilot light.
Tube amps are usually class A amps, so they reproduce the input very well. While transistor amps are (Yamaha are class A and very high end amps are also class A) usually AB1.
BUT!!!!! If you are listening to a CD, it does not matter what amp you use because the source is digital and not a good source to start with.
NEITHER Amp give the specifications of the amp.
They list the rated output, but at what THD%? at what output level?
A high THD would make the amp sound like a class C amp.
http://www.oldtonezone.com – the second in a series of videos explaining the basic concepts behind tube amps.
Duration : 0:9:24