Does everyone arrive at tube amps, eventually?

[justFred]

Mark Knopfler ended up with a profiler...however he could afford a tech guy to spend months dialing in his tone settings....
would say at some point if your into overdriven tone spectrum ya gotta be hands on with a tube amp for a period of time...

[Ascension]

I sure did and will never go back to a modeler! Ran racks for years they would not respond like i wanted live to touch and technique and would spend time tweaking a parch then get it in a live setting and it sounded like poo through that system so spent more to time programing a computer than I did playing guitar. Went back to a very simple rig Tube amp few effects and most times a miced cab or IR load box. Super straight forward quick to set up and super easy to tweak on the fly.
Example is here. Playing a conference with my Carvin DC 127 loaded with a ALT 8 and a Sentient through my tiny 1/10 Mesa Subway Rocket that you can barely see on stage at super low volume miced with a Beta SM 57 and the only effects are a little verb and a delay in the loop.

[Demanic]

Spidervalve.

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[Sirion]

With my ADA MP-1 (which admittedly features two preamp tubes) I have used both tube and solid-state power amps. I like the top end of the tube power amps slightly better, but the difference really isn't enough to warrant the extra headaches (in this case, a Sonic Maximizer is the common solution to get that top end back. I have yet to try it, but it is on my list for 2021), so I've gone hybrid in this case. With the righ replacement preamp I have no reason to think that you couldn't get a similar all-solid-state rig to sound great.

[beaubrummels]

I would say most everyone at least passes through a tube amp at some point. If you are chasing that tone, a real one solves all the deficiencies of an emulation of it. But an emulation provides a lot of convenience that could be considered an improvement - lower weight to haul around, support for multiple configurations/preset sounds, little relative maintainence, etc.

[ArtieToo]

I have a pretty decent selection of both tube and SS amps and modelers, (and like them all), but my main amp of the last few years is my Bogner Alchemist. A Line 6 / Bogner collaboration. It's all tube, pre and power, but with some Line 6 effects. Mainly delay and reverb. Works great, sounds great.

I also have a SpyderValve 112, that's also a Line 6 / Bogner team effort. That one though, is the Bogner tube power amp with a whole Line 6 modeling frontend.

[Demanic]

I have a pretty decent selection of both tube and SS amps and modelers, (and like them all), but my main amp of the last few years is my Bogner Alchemist. A Line 6 / Bogner collaboration. It's all tube, pre and power, but with some Line 6 effects. Mainly delay and reverb. Works great, sounds great.

I also have a SpyderValve 112, that's also a Line 6 / Bogner team effort. That one though, is the Bogner tube power amp with a whole Line 6 modeling frontend.

I knew someone else had to have one!

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[solspirit]

I wouldn't mind a little tube amp and cab but I don't need it. I've got 2 SS amps that are fine for my house. I'd rather not deal with another guitar related expense either.

[Dave Locher]

I sold my last tube amp in the late 1980s and since then have only played solid state, mainly one Randall RG I got around 1988 or so. I thought it was a tube anp when I bought it used, found out a couple days later it was ss, *did not care*, and have been rocking that sucker ever since. It still sounds like the day I bought it, when it literally made every guitar in the shop shake. No maintenance, no wear items. I have played through a dozen or so tube amps since then, mostly out of curiosity or convenience, and some of them I liked just fine but nothing ever makes me go "oh, I need this instead of what I have!" It just suits me.

I will be happy to try a modeler someday. Whatever sounds good is fine by me.

[Mincer]

I tend to choose modelers for live playing and recording because of very practical reasons. They are light, full of effects, consistent in tone, versatile, and sound great at any volume level. I use my Boogie at rehearsal and for practice at home, but at 50 lbs or so, I ain't loading that to every gig. There is a 'sweet spot' where it sounds its best (it doesn't have a master volume), and that is too loud for most home use. It does sound good, but I still am not sure that it sounds much much better than other rigs I have. It is just another great sound.

[UnderTheFlame83]

No, I prefer solid state Randall amps. Although I used to have an Ampeg from the late 80s that was tube that I loved. Don't remember the model but it was a 3 channel with reverb and chorus 2×10 combo.

[Bogner]

It is important to have a well stocked sound arsenal. Each tool has it's place. The key is getting the most out of your tools and feeling comfortable with them to allow your skill to shine as freely as possible.

[SoPhx]

I have tube amps back to 1954, SS amps, and hybrid amps. They all do different things and I use them where they fit best.

[Mincer]

We can probably all agree that more amps = a better life.


Well, really, the funny thing in my case is that no matter which amps I have or use, I tend to go for the same clean sound.

[Sirion]

We can probably all agree that more amps = a better life.


Well, really, the funny thing in my case is that no matter which amps I have or use, I tend to go for the same clean sound.

This is what I have found as well: for my own things, my basic sound tends to be however close I can get to my ADA MP-1 with the amp at hand.