Re: Caught in a Mosh eyetoy!
SeraphimTN said:
That's why I like this amp. Sounds like a tube amp but acts like a solid state. Hybrids rock
Mids are there out the wazoo, right now I'm runnin the ol 666 EQ with the OD adding some warmth and clean boost.
Well, don't get me wrong here. It
doesn't sound like a tube amp. It sounds like a good-sounding solid-state amp. While there's nothing wrong with that, and if you're happy with your tone (which it seems you are), then this doesn't matter... But it's best not to get confused about the amp's design, lest you find yourself talking about amps with someone a little more experienced.
The sound of a tube amp is derived by the signal actually being
amplified by tube circuitry. While the preamp in most tube amp designs is most often generated by tube circuitry as well, it's really secondary in the tonal equation. For instance, you can run a SS preamp into a tube poweramp and wind up with tube amp tone (like you see in the Atomic Amplifiers products designed to be used with modeling preamps), but not the other way around. You can throw as many 12ax7s as you want in front of a SS poweramp, and in the end you still have a SS amp.
"Tube tone" comes from several factors of the the poweramp tubes working a little harder than they were originally designed to. Current passing through the filament in the tube heats it up so that it gives off electrons, which are attracted to a positive plate in the tube. A grid of wires between the filament and the plate is negative, which repels some of the electrons and hence controls the current to the plate. When a tube is pushed to OD, the filament is heated up a lot more, and it's kicking off more electrons than the grid can control. It's a very organic thing, since what's happening inside is basically stuff burning and reacting chemically, and particles are flying around at the atomic level. There is ebb and flow, varying levels of compression, increased harmonic content, etc.
A transistor can't do this. Beyond the point the SS poweramp can handle, a certain amount of signal is distorted into noise and lost, or scrambled. Of course if you never push a SS amp beyond it's limit, the "bad distortion" aspect is a moot point.
Anyway, all this isn't really that important - I'm not trying to tell you that your amp is bad - SS worked just fine for Dimebag most of his career. It definitely seems to agree with your playing style and your clip is still a cool clip! I've just read a few posts from you where it seemed you were confused/unaware of a few things regarding tubes vs. SS so I try, in my unsolicited and meager way, to clear them up for you.
Post another one!
