Hybrid amp good for pedal users?

[Lomo]

I know in a tube amp that most of the overdrive sound comes from the poweramp, but what's more important for the responsiveness, the preamp or poweramp?

If I want tube feel, but use a pedal for distortion, would I be well off with a tube preamp/solid state poweramp hybrid?

 

[adrian]

Re: Hybrid amp good for pedal users?

I had a hybrid amp once. It was a MusicMan 112 Fifty. The power section was tube, and there was one pre-section with a tube, and another which was solid state. Ok, after some years I realized I always used the SS section with different pedals, and the sound was always great. Hybrid amps with 2 different pre-sections is a very good idea how to make great amps.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Hybrid amp good for pedal users?

Responsiveness is all poweramp. Tube preamps just clip the signal (like a master volume). To get that 'tube tone' everone raves about, you need a tube poweramp, with no master volume. I use a Mesa Blue Angel.
Unfortuneately, it is also very very loud. There are always tradeoffs. Sacrifice portability and weight for a digital modeler- it sounds better than preamp distortion, and it is controllable. An SS amp is good too, just not as touch sensitive.