Too big or not too big? That is the question

[FPA_687]

Re: Too big or not too big? That is the question

I think the problem is that alot of guitarists, especially younger guitarists, confuse thier guitar/amp with thier penis. Or at the very least, it's all jumbled together in some confused way. They'll learn...but maybe not until they've lost thier hearing.

LOL :laugh2:

 

[aleclee]

Re: Too big or not too big? That is the question

With technology nowadays, would it be extremely hard to make up an all tube, 2 watts amplifier for metal for instance? Let's say the output valves distort with the volume about halfway through, it would be just ok (maybe on the loud side though) for room practise...

The problem with headroom is that it's not just loudness but signal amplitude. When you whack the strings, there's a big signal spike (transient) that is the initial attack. On an amp with less headroom (either in the preamp or power amp), that transient will get distorted sooner and it won't sound the same as an amp with more headroom and definitely won't feel the same. If your output tubes are distorting during sustained notes, your tone has probably gone to mush.

With technology nowadays, would it be extremely hard to make up an all tube, 2 watts amplifier for metal for instance?

It is, according to Mr. Peters, and I'm inclined to believe him. I'm not so inclined to believe that "technology nowadays" has much to do with tube amplification anyway. When was the last technology advance in anything tube-related?

From a practical standpoint, you can't get anything resembling "tight bass" with a low power amp. Another problem is with speakers. A speaker operating at a very small percentage of its rated power is going to sound different that when it's getting pushed. Lower capacity speakers probably aren't going to sound the same, even if they can move air reasonably well.

Let's say the output valves distort with the volume about halfway through, it would be just ok (maybe on the loud side though) for room practise...

The problem is that valves don't distort until they're at full power. The only way to get power tube distortion at lower volume (without attenuation) is to reduce the power capability of the tubes. That gets you into problems with headroom discussed in my first paragraph.

 

[Pierre]

Re: Too big or not too big? That is the question

What is headroom exactly?
And still, what we're talking about now is present technology. Research brought us modelling, and yet it can't bring us a 2 watt full tube amp? Even not for metal (we have pedals), would it still be this hard?

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Too big or not too big? That is the question

Headroom is the amount of clean signal you get before it starts to break up.

See Aleclee's post again. Unfortunately, what you hear with higher wattage can't really be fully replicated at much lower power. At lower volumes, you perceive tone differently. It seems to me that there is more lowend and a fuller presence with a higher wattage amp.

Keep in mind, I have a 30/15w amp, so I'm not necessarily siding with high powered amps. I realize that with smaller amps, not having quite as much fullness is something I am happy to sacrifice to get decent volume breakup.

15w amps seem to be the best compromise tube developers can come up with giving us the right amount of signal so that tone isn't severely impacted while making it more tolerable than higher wattage ones. Unfortunately, 15w can still be very loud.

There is Power Scale technology that I forsee being the future of tube amps, but unfortunately they're not mainstream yet.

 

[Forbes]

Re: Too big or not too big? That is the question

I think the problem is that alot of guitarists, especially younger guitarists, confuse thier guitar/amp with thier penis. Or at the very least, it's all jumbled together in some confused way. They'll learn...but maybe not until they've lost thier hearing.

lol! :laugh2:



I can see the point being made, but if this was a realistic option that would sell alot, i would think one of the many amp manufacturers would have done it and scored big. For me 50watts tube and 15 watt SS does my band and home use fine, in fact i wouldn't want any more for either, sure its not ideal having more than one amp, but its not like Small SS amps are really breaking the bank either.