distortion from a Tube or From a box

Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

What he meant is that you need to spend a bunch of hours with the thing cranked to really get the full picture.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

What he meant is that you need to spend a bunch of hours with the thing cranked to really get the full picture.

mmmmm.... you are right, well just in the part that I need to expend a few more hours.

PD: the crowd also have to spend a couple of hours to really get the sound?

PD: we are going out topic :lol:
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

mmmmm.... you are right, well just in the part that I need to expend a few more hours.

PD: the crowd also have to spend a couple of hours to really get the sound?

PD: we are going out topic :lol:

The crowd doesn't need a couple of hours to get it...they feed off of the joy the song brings them and your enthusiasm for it, so they get it right off the bat.

Lew's right...once you own one you can crank with a band regularly, you'll understand.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

Well I already said all I have to say, and to end this topic I have one last question
¿what is it that I have to understand?
this is not a joke, I just dont trust in my personal revelations
just in general aspects
short answers please

PD: and this is the end the topic is going to far from its originall meaning
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

The differences in sound...they're small, but make all the difference.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

It really dont make sence but thanks.
In fact I am saving money in 5 years from now I would be a Proud Owner of a Vox AC30
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

It depends, but if not from a 'tube' why not from a box that has 'tube's. Plenty of 'tube' drivers out there that are actually what they say they are and NOT modellers.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

lots of "tube" pedals run the tube at really low voltage so it acts as a tone filter rather than a gain stage. at tube needs to be run at 100v or more to be used as a gain stage, lot of em run the tube at under 20v in a starved plate config. cool sometimes but might as well be a chip
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

With the amp set clean and using a pedal, you're only either introducing distortion before the preamp, or pushing the preamp tubes with a high level, but that won't cause the power amp to break up...the power section won't give up the goods till you feed around half or more of the available volts to the power tubes.

Yeah, which means you still have to crank the amp to get the power amp distortion. It works the same way if you are getting your distortion from the preamp section.

The preamp section of tube amps -- even great tube amps -- isn't all warm, glowy, dynamic, lucid, etc. These are all things from the power amp section. Preamp distortion, even on a good Marshall, usually has a sharper, sterile quality to it. Cranking the amp, working the power amp section and hitting the speaker hard, makes it sound good by the time it reaches your ears.

I just use clean tube amps like Fenders and Peaveys. I've never been extremely impressed with the distortion from the preamp section of a tube amp. That includes amps I've played by Matchless, Dr. Z, Marshall, Vox, Fender, etc.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

PD: the crowd also have to spend a couple of hours to really get the sound?

Unless your guitar sounds really, really bad, it's not gonna matter to the audience. 99.9% of the crap we agonize over on here won't directly matter to the audience.

The way that it does matter is that it directly affects how you play.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

Yeah, which means you still have to crank the amp to get the power amp distortion. It works the same way if you are getting your distortion from the preamp section.

The preamp section of tube amps -- even great tube amps -- isn't all warm, glowy, dynamic, lucid, etc. These are all things from the power amp section. Preamp distortion, even on a good Marshall, usually has a sharper, sterile quality to it. Cranking the amp, working the power amp section and hitting the speaker hard, makes it sound good by the time it reaches your ears.

I just use clean tube amps like Fenders and Peaveys. I've never been extremely impressed with the distortion from the preamp section of a tube amp. That includes amps I've played by Matchless, Dr. Z, Marshall, Vox, Fender, etc.

That's my whole point, bro. The power amp is where the REAL good stuff is...anything else...either boost for the preamp tubes or SS distortion into the front end is close but no cigar.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

This has been said many times in many forums but solid state can sound good depending on how you use it. I've played gigs with cheaper solid state laney combos using the distortion channel set cleanish and it sounds alright not as good as the other guitarists Mesa Boogie Studio .22 but alright. Usually my pro junior does sound better but a gig the other day it sounded awful! The miced sound was ok but from where I was it was offputtingly bad nothing new tubes can't fix mind you. Everyone knows greats using the JC series solid states brilliant for bright chorusy cleans but I don't seem to get along with them but i also don't get along that well with silverface fenders. Some of my favourite cleans or from Roland JC's though ... Some Andy Summers stuff, Johhny Marr and Limp Bizkit (suprisingly)! Thats where the whole what sounds best ... well sounds best thing is. That said the average tube amp sounds better then the average solid state but alot of that is becuase most tube amps are made to sound good and most solid state are made for beginners and cheap. I like tube warm clean playing myself so I love VOX's and similar which give a sound only tubes can produce (although the valvetronix AC30 emulations are bloody close).
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

Most people that I know praises tube amps more for the simbol and "feeling" (a personal sensation) that for the real definition of the sound, well that are the tube worshiopers that I most despice.

I may be wrong but I take it that when people talk about a "feel" of a tube amp they're not talking about how it's so nice to have a full stack making your heart arhythmic or such, not that it isn't. The "feel" means how the amp responds to your playing and how you can get the most out of your personal expressiveness out of the amp. This is in my opinion the biggest difference between a tube and a ss amp and it comes especially out in amps that excel in clean tones.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

I may be wrong but I take it that when people talk about a "feel" of a tube amp they're not talking about how it's so nice to have a full stack making your heart arhythmic or such, not that it isn't. The "feel" means how the amp responds to your playing and how you can get the most out of your personal expressiveness out of the amp. This is in my opinion the biggest difference between a tube and a ss amp and it comes especially out in amps that excel in clean tones.

Uh.... nope, belive me most of them want the tubes just because, that doesnt mean ALL people are like that. I agree with james. the tubes dont make an amp great, the sound makes an amp great (and the tubes doesnt make the sound, you cant say all Tube amps sound the same, is not just the tubes) and I think a SS can sound as great or better than a tube amp (yes you can kill me now) just depends how you play throug it, diferent amps means different sounds just that.

One of the great Features of the tube amps is the wonderfull overdrive, if you get your distortion from a box you are not using the full potential of your amp, the only amps that REALLY NEED (with urgency) a distortion box are the SS, I ve heard wonderfull clean tones from SS but none of them have a decent distorion.
That dont necesarlly mean that a fuzz box sounds better that a good amp

as some one said:

And it's interesting that so many rock guys who play with a heavily overdriven tone and have to have fabulous tube amps to get that distortiom actually get their distortion from the transistors in distortion pedal.

Lew

And if some one of you is going to say something like "I´ve never been able to get my sound from a SS", well I think your sound comes from HOW you play throug a rig, so your right rig is just that YOUR right rig :friday:

I should have done a poll, so we could see how many people use the distortion from the tubes an how many use a distortion box regardless of what kind of amp the play
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

Recording kevlar3000 made with a solid state PA amplifier: put this in your web-wheelin pipe and smoke it: Forget everything you think about solid state tone


My latest, perhaps greatest??? Oddball score ever. A friend gave me this ugly lil beast last week. Came with the two mini tower speakers, he had told me it was a tube PA, figured it would be right up my alley. It was not, it is S.S, but being free, and having drove to get it, I picked it up and figured I would sell it off. I got home, plugged it in and pretty much dropped my jaw. Set the master volume to about 7, dime the input 1 volume and this is what comes out. It is a screamer that I have heard no SS amp come close to. The how and the why, I have no clue. But it is a proud keeper in my misfit stash. In the room with it, it is huge, full and rich, responds to every nuance of playing from clean to scream. The following clip is a quickie, I will likely record my next official tune with it. Useing my Ibanez Roadstar ( in this clip)..

Anyone else mess with these??



In a Solid State of Mind

hi-fi URL: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6067469&q=hi

l_0ce7608fe2bed0f60557a0bf1f795078.jpg
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

The dozens of legendary guitarists who have recorded hundreds of classic songs with pedals in front of tube amps disagree with you.

and so do i...and i am a guitar legend...ask my daughter!!! oh wait she might roll her eyes if you ask her!!!

well...it's all about the sag!!!
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

That's my whole point, bro. The power amp is where the REAL good stuff is...anything else...either boost for the preamp tubes or SS distortion into the front end is close but no cigar.

This whole post has got me thinking.

If say a guitarist like Gilmour prefers pedal distortion into a clean amp, and the 'sound' we all dig is in the Power Amp. We could all save ourselves some money and buy Pure Tube Power amps and SS pre's.

Then again, Gilmour's new stage rig uses tubes in as many places as possible.

But then I like the sound from both the 94 and 07 rigs.
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

if we could have pete cornish custom taylor our pedals to our rig, i bet we would all use a pedal or two
 
Re: distortion from a Tube or From a box

This whole post has got me thinking.

If say a guitarist like Gilmour prefers pedal distortion into a clean amp, and the 'sound' we all dig is in the Power Amp. We could all save ourselves some money and buy Pure Tube Power amps and SS pre's.

That's the entire basis of the Music Man amps, right there.
 
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