Noob question :Tube /SS amps
- Thread starter Mewmender
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Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
tube give more of a warmer sound and is usually preffered but it is more expensive and fragile and solid state is more reliable more less expensive for the most part but more artificial sounding although enhancing technology is making that line harder to distinguish. the difference between the 2 is transistors as opposed to tubes some people try to get the best of both worlds by getting a hybrid which is both more reliability better sound then solid state and less expensive than tube
tube give more of a warmer sound and is usually preffered but it is more expensive and fragile and solid state is more reliable more less expensive for the most part but more artificial sounding although enhancing technology is making that line harder to distinguish. the difference between the 2 is transistors as opposed to tubes some people try to get the best of both worlds by getting a hybrid which is both more reliability better sound then solid state and less expensive than tube
mnbaseball91
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
There are also several different types of hybrids, as if things weren't confusing enough already. Most, like the Marshall AVTs, use a solid state power amp and a tube preamp. The reality is that these aren't so much better than solid state, as technology is good enough that SS preamps sound pretty darn good. It's mostly a marketing ploy.
Some amps, like certain older Peaveys, use a SS preamp and a tube poweramp. This allows you to get great tube poweramp distortion and warmth, but isn't much cheaper than all tube.
A third kind is what the Vox Valvetronix amps use. They have SS preamps and poweramps, but have a third part, a miniature tube poweramp that goes between the preamp and main poweramp. It colors the tone like a normal tube poweramp does, then gets amplified by the solid state poweramp.
There are also several different types of hybrids, as if things weren't confusing enough already. Most, like the Marshall AVTs, use a solid state power amp and a tube preamp. The reality is that these aren't so much better than solid state, as technology is good enough that SS preamps sound pretty darn good. It's mostly a marketing ploy.
Some amps, like certain older Peaveys, use a SS preamp and a tube poweramp. This allows you to get great tube poweramp distortion and warmth, but isn't much cheaper than all tube.
A third kind is what the Vox Valvetronix amps use. They have SS preamps and poweramps, but have a third part, a miniature tube poweramp that goes between the preamp and main poweramp. It colors the tone like a normal tube poweramp does, then gets amplified by the solid state poweramp.
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Generally tube amps sound better, but a good SS will sound better than a bad tube amp. AVT may not sound the same as an all tube amp, but IMO they do sound better than SS amps around their price range. When I bought my AVT the price difference was much lower than a JCM 2000.
Generally tube amps sound better, but a good SS will sound better than a bad tube amp. AVT may not sound the same as an all tube amp, but IMO they do sound better than SS amps around their price range. When I bought my AVT the price difference was much lower than a JCM 2000.
Dankerella
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
It's a very personal thing. One day you wake up, and you say, "I must have a tube amp." Next thing you know, you're scoffing at solid state, and buying more tube amps than you'll ever be able to play. Let's face it - they are cool. The tubes glow, they get hot and smell intoxicating, all the great players of the past played them, the most expensive boutique amps are usually tube, there's tube emulation amps, and so on and so forth. A tube is like a little living being in your amp, replete with a life span. You're always afraid they're going to pass onto the tube afterworld. They harken back to a time when engineers made audio products to sound as best as they could with what they had to work with. An old tube amp has mojo, style, class, and strength. Solid state makes me think of swapping tone for cheap parts, a living being for a robot, or a classic car for a brand new Kia Sportage.
It's a very personal thing. One day you wake up, and you say, "I must have a tube amp." Next thing you know, you're scoffing at solid state, and buying more tube amps than you'll ever be able to play. Let's face it - they are cool. The tubes glow, they get hot and smell intoxicating, all the great players of the past played them, the most expensive boutique amps are usually tube, there's tube emulation amps, and so on and so forth. A tube is like a little living being in your amp, replete with a life span. You're always afraid they're going to pass onto the tube afterworld. They harken back to a time when engineers made audio products to sound as best as they could with what they had to work with. An old tube amp has mojo, style, class, and strength. Solid state makes me think of swapping tone for cheap parts, a living being for a robot, or a classic car for a brand new Kia Sportage.
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Tube amps are not more fragile than solid state. Most cheap solid state amps use cheap circuit boards that can crack, over heat, etc.,.
A good tube amp can take a lot of abuse with the biggest risk the breaking of a tube. (and that doesn't happen too often)
Tube amps produce much more volume per watt rating than solid state amps. Like a 1:3 ratio. In other words a 15 watt tube amp will sound like a 45+ watt solid state amp.
Tube amps have sonic features that SS amps generally do not. Terms such as sag and bloom are things you have to experience first hand.
Tube amps are not more fragile than solid state. Most cheap solid state amps use cheap circuit boards that can crack, over heat, etc.,.
A good tube amp can take a lot of abuse with the biggest risk the breaking of a tube. (and that doesn't happen too often)
Tube amps produce much more volume per watt rating than solid state amps. Like a 1:3 ratio. In other words a 15 watt tube amp will sound like a 45+ watt solid state amp.
Tube amps have sonic features that SS amps generally do not. Terms such as sag and bloom are things you have to experience first hand.
Jimbojsr
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Hey mew, also bear in mind that just because an amp is "tube" (or "valve", as it should really be called ) doesn't make it the right one for you - a fender tube amp sounds delish on clean, but you ain't gonna see slipknot using one of them. Likewise, Marshall tube amps are the badger's nadgers for straightforward rock, but they won't do you good for Jazz. What sort of music do you play, and what's your guitar like?
Hey mew, also bear in mind that just because an amp is "tube" (or "valve", as it should really be called
) doesn't make it the right one for you - a fender tube amp sounds delish on clean, but you ain't gonna see slipknot using one of them. Likewise, Marshall tube amps are the badger's nadgers for straightforward rock, but they won't do you good for Jazz. What sort of music do you play, and what's your guitar like?Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
I'm one of those who love them both- But part of it was I gigged a lot in the late 70s and early 80s when you had to have a wide variety of sounds and I was often the only guitarist- So I used both with a fade pedal and still use a lot of the same sounds in modeling land- Here's what I observed-
1. Tubes are far warmer and the only way to get good fat sounds
2. Solid state, especially with compression and chorus, can give you a much thinner but 'bigger' sound for the clean stuff-
For example doing any of the late 70s, early 80s Rush, both sounds were key compants- Tubes provided the growl and the body of the sound, but the SS provided the 'sparkle'- You just cant get all of the top end chorus going otherwise-
Or doing new wavish stuff like The cars or Cheap trick, a compressed SS foundation with just a bit of growl on top was far, far more articulate than the same thing just on the tube side alone- In really small venues I sometimes didnt have room for my Labseries and got a Yamaha G112 as well becuase tube by itself just didn't work on a lot of these songs-
One really cool sidebar was a lot of in between sounds- Just a little bit of tube added to SS gets a really cool thick blackface kind of sound-
Other than my back , this is one of the main reasons I moved over to modeling- My old GP100 lets me get these in between sounds and not just SS/Tube- Perhaps my favorite patch is a lightly overdriven soldano with light reverb that morphs into a completely overdriven marshall with delay- Those middle sounds are just wild and I use them all of the time-
hope this helps
I'm one of those who love them both- But part of it was I gigged a lot in the late 70s and early 80s when you had to have a wide variety of sounds and I was often the only guitarist- So I used both with a fade pedal and still use a lot of the same sounds in modeling land- Here's what I observed-
1. Tubes are far warmer and the only way to get good fat sounds
2. Solid state, especially with compression and chorus, can give you a much thinner but 'bigger' sound for the clean stuff-
For example doing any of the late 70s, early 80s Rush, both sounds were key compants- Tubes provided the growl and the body of the sound, but the SS provided the 'sparkle'- You just cant get all of the top end chorus going otherwise-
Or doing new wavish stuff like The cars or Cheap trick, a compressed SS foundation with just a bit of growl on top was far, far more articulate than the same thing just on the tube side alone- In really small venues I sometimes didnt have room for my Labseries and got a Yamaha G112 as well becuase tube by itself just didn't work on a lot of these songs-
One really cool sidebar was a lot of in between sounds- Just a little bit of tube added to SS gets a really cool thick blackface kind of sound-
Other than my back , this is one of the main reasons I moved over to modeling- My old GP100 lets me get these in between sounds and not just SS/Tube- Perhaps my favorite patch is a lightly overdriven soldano with light reverb that morphs into a completely overdriven marshall with delay- Those middle sounds are just wild and I use them all of the time-
hope this helps
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Do the peavy transtube amps have the best of both worlds?
I play basically rock stuff like GnR , VR and so on, nothing too heavy and a little bit of SRV.im using a strat with cool rails neck, vintage stack mids and lil59 bridge.Jimbojsr said:
Do the peavy transtube amps have the best of both worlds?
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STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
The SS stuff is getting better each and every model now...Even the "feel" of some of these amps is getting close...I've always been a die hard tube amp guy(Still have my tube amps)but the SS stuff is great now also...It's really going to depend on what you try out...My Vox Valvetronix head has been giving me inspiring tone and it's very versatile for the many styles of music our band covers...It's hard to beat a great sounding tube amp,but there are other avenues now available to us and it doesn't always have to be a tube amp..
The reliability issues between tube and SS amp,again depend upon what amp,how it's built(Lots of tube amps also have crappy PCBs)...The price makes a difference and you still get what you pay for...
These days,I stay open minded and I've lost the tube amp snob mentality that tube amps "are it".....I use both,and love em both....I also own many amps and that helps..
The SS stuff is getting better each and every model now...Even the "feel" of some of these amps is getting close...I've always been a die hard tube amp guy(Still have my tube amps)but the SS stuff is great now also...It's really going to depend on what you try out...My Vox Valvetronix head has been giving me inspiring tone and it's very versatile for the many styles of music our band covers...It's hard to beat a great sounding tube amp,but there are other avenues now available to us and it doesn't always have to be a tube amp..
The reliability issues between tube and SS amp,again depend upon what amp,how it's built(Lots of tube amps also have crappy PCBs)...The price makes a difference and you still get what you pay for...
These days,I stay open minded and I've lost the tube amp snob mentality that tube amps "are it".....I use both,and love em both....I also own many amps and that helps..
STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Not my first pick,but I'm still a big pusher for the Vox Valvetronix 60 and 120 VTX series amps these days....I'm getting great tone and I didn't have to sell one arm and one kid to get that tone....
Mewmender said:
Not my first pick,but I'm still a big pusher for the Vox Valvetronix 60 and 120 VTX series amps these days....I'm getting great tone and I didn't have to sell one arm and one kid to get that tone....
metallicajs1
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
And your guitar???
(Post a Picture!)
Mewmender said:
And your guitar???
(Post a Picture!)
Gamera
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Good thread. A lot of good, impartial info here.
Y'know the term "solid state" actually is starting to conjure up similar warm fuzzy feelings for me. Today's integrated circuits, LED's, and programmable technologies are pretty far removed from those primitive, brightly-colored plastic "solid state" AM radios and TV's that I fondly remember from the 60's and 70's.
Good thread. A lot of good, impartial info here.
Dankerella said:
Y'know the term "solid state" actually is starting to conjure up similar warm fuzzy feelings for me. Today's integrated circuits, LED's, and programmable technologies are pretty far removed from those primitive, brightly-colored plastic "solid state" AM radios and TV's that I fondly remember from the 60's and 70's.
greendy123
New member
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
While we're on this topic, could you guys give me any advice on using tube amps such as do's/don'ts, and anything else I should know. I doing this because I switching over from my small fender practice amp to a marshall tube head amp. I could also use some help with the setup between a head and cabinet as I'm not familar with these items yet.
While we're on this topic, could you guys give me any advice on using tube amps such as do's/don'ts, and anything else I should know. I doing this because I switching over from my small fender practice amp to a marshall tube head amp. I could also use some help with the setup between a head and cabinet as I'm not familar with these items yet.
STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Basically most of the big amp companies have found a way to cop the whole attitude and feel of a tube amp...Naturally some companies do it better and it's up to the consumers(us) to spend time with these new amps...Alot of people were bashing my Fender Cyber Twin when I bought it new in 2001 on another website..This amp today is one of Fender's top sellers...Why? Because it sounds great...
I thought it was pretty cool that I was able to buy my Vox head new for $600 and was able to learn from the amp,dial in great tone intuitively,and plus the amp looks great and has the weight of a tube head...I still love my Cyber Twin equally as well as I did in 2001...Do I still play through my vintage BF Fender and Marshall stuff....Hell yeah! :dance:
Gamera said:
Basically most of the big amp companies have found a way to cop the whole attitude and feel of a tube amp...Naturally some companies do it better and it's up to the consumers(us) to spend time with these new amps...Alot of people were bashing my Fender Cyber Twin when I bought it new in 2001 on another website..This amp today is one of Fender's top sellers...Why? Because it sounds great...
I thought it was pretty cool that I was able to buy my Vox head new for $600 and was able to learn from the amp,dial in great tone intuitively,and plus the amp looks great and has the weight of a tube head...I still love my Cyber Twin equally as well as I did in 2001...Do I still play through my vintage BF Fender and Marshall stuff....Hell yeah! :dance:
STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
The 2 biggest things to worry about are...
Speaker/amp matching impedences
Making sure the amp stays on standby for at least 30 seconds before you switch the amp totally on...
You'll have to let us know what cab you'll be using and the cab impedences though?
greendy123 said:
The 2 biggest things to worry about are...
Speaker/amp matching impedences
Making sure the amp stays on standby for at least 30 seconds before you switch the amp totally on...
You'll have to let us know what cab you'll be using and the cab impedences though?
sosomething
Seymour Duncan Customer Support
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
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FELIX57 said:
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STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Noob question :Tube /SS amps
Nice axe....I really like the off white guard and pickup covers over the white body..Looks cool..
Mewmender said:
My no.1 now ... pic taken before it was "seymourised" with a cool rails in the neck, a vintage stack mid and a lil59 bridge
Nice axe....I really like the off white guard and pickup covers over the white body..Looks cool..
