Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

[tone?]

recently when buying my new amp i heard alot of newer boutique stuff.The one thing that kinda freaked me out is how some are rigged up super tight. and i was wondering why people would like some amps to be so darn tight.

To me that makes them sound like SS. I know that is gonna annoy some people but i heard the Diezel and the VHT deliverance and they were overly compressed and tight as heck. I prefered the Diezel but still that was tight and overly compressed. I thought one of the main things people choose tube amps for is that they are more 'open' sounding and warm and responsive.

Yeah i got a vht 50 and it is pretty tight but it is based on the classics plus has a tube rectifier that makes it even more loose.

i think it is kinda like putting cards in bicycle spokes. Remember doing that when we were kids?
Well a El34 sounds like one or two plaing cards hitting the spoke, at the most. But the KT88 in the Deliverance sounded to me like about 4-5 cards hitting the spokes. something that is too much for me. waay too percusive is the way i can put it. Also the Diezel was like that as well but not as much.

plugged into a CAE OD100 and it was a nice balance of not too tight.

i like that extra millisecond of hearing the note. not too much but not too little. i dont want it to be so loose that the notes blend together but i dont want it to be so percusive that i dont hear enough of the notes' tone.

do you guys feel the same way??
I think it is all the 'new metal' scene that just has tons of distortion like buzz saws. It sounds so sterile to me and compressed and SS.
Someone put it here nicely saying something like a 'can full of bees' or something like that!
Whats with all these new Ultra/uber amps?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

I agree...I hate that tone you're describing.

Corny...it's what I call "the bagful of angry bumble bees" tone.

But lots and lots of younger players are after that exact tone and that's who those amps are made for.

Lew

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

My favorite overdrive is my Bogner Shiva. I think of it like a refined Mesa: smoother, not as gainy, fatter, but still has that compression and tightness. It's not a sound that works for everybody (I don't think anything does for that matter), but when you're playing stuff like modern rock, it works really well. I would never use it as overdrive for a blues or jazz gig (I'd use my Fender Vibrolux Reverb), but it definitely has its niche and its place where I don't think anything else can touch it.

 

[greendy123]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Yup that the thing I'm seeing more and more. Every time I got to guitar center there usually is one of those teenage kids playing metal and shred on a Marshall mg or some modern amp. Very rarely do I see the younger people play the nice crate low wattage tube amps or fenders. Thats usually the older people who seem to appreciate the tone of the amps better instead of loading up the gain on the amp.

 

[tone?]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

yeah lew, i mean i got the VHT 50ST which is about the lowest gain and it could get Halen on it totally. why more gain than Halen????!! more than that and it starts loosing clarity and everything you got the tubes for in the first place.

Yeah the bag full o bees! thats great!

i think what these people want is sustain or something and they confuse it with gain. I dont know. I think they dont want tube amps but dont know it.

Im serious about the Cards in the spokes. Some of these amps are like hitting wood on the spokes!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

yeah lew, i mean i got the VHT 50ST which is about the lowest gain and it could get Halen on it totally. why more gain than Halen????!! more than that and it starts loosing clarity and everything you got the tubes for in the first place.

Yeah the bag full o bees! thats great!

i think what these people want is sustain or something and they confuse it with gain. I dont know. I think they dont want tube amps but dont know it.

Im serious about the Cards in the spokes. Some of these amps are like hitting wood on the spokes!

What's weird to me is that alot of these kids are so talented and they can play thier fingers off...but then they dial in that gawd-awful buzztone.

It's just kid's stuff I guess...

So many players feel they need way more gain and distortion than they really do need...and the result is that they all sound alike and lose thier individual personality.

The genuinely talented guys will grow out of it though.

Lew

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

I look at amps as being necessary shades of tone for every kind of music.
Yeah, there's tones that I don't find appealing, but I also don't care for some styles of music either. I'm more fascinated with sound, than I am worried about a tone being different than what I'm used to. To not do that is like being an artist with a palette of 4 colors. No thanks, I'll be the artist with the whole paint set at his disposal. If I want 6L6 clean, Bassman, EL-34 clean, Matchless, EL-34 crunch, Marshall, 6L6 highgain, Dual Rec, EL-84 chime, Vox, EL-34 mid-highgain, Bogner, bag of angry bumblebees, Behringer modeling amp. hahaha

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Being a (somewhat) younger cat, I think I know the answer.


Most of the young kids dial up the gain to 10 in an effort to get a bigger sound at a lower volume with their MG's and AVT's.

After years of playing likœ

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

After years of playing like this, they upgrade to amps that have a similar character, i.e. tight, compressed, and with a ton of gain.

 

[Marcel]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

a tight amp just feels better for "riffing"...
if the amp is loose it is like the amp stand far away from you and it's like you get response from a note while you're playing the next note

IMO it has nothing todo with AVT and MGs..

 

[greendy123]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

a tight amp just feels better for "riffing"...
if the amp is loose it is like the amp stand far away from you and it's like you get response from a note while you're playing the next note

IMO it has nothing todo with AVT and MGs..

I think this may be another reason that skills like muting strings comes into play. I totally understand how guys like tight amps, I even turn up the gain and scoop mids to get tight sounds. I just makes it easier to place some stuff.

 

[Marcel]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

I do it the other way ... I raise the mids ... it's important to get clarity in such heavy sounds or you can really use a buzz saw (whatever this may be)..
different things for different styles

 

[greendy123]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Actually I was thinking slight scoops more like staying about the 5 in mids just tight the sound a bit. It sounds much looser with something like 10 mids.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Yea if all i played was chords under gain, nobody would need that much distortion. Its the punch you get from palm muting under gain that people like. When guys say high gain tube amps are too compressed and sound like SS, i cant understand that. The difference between a good tube and SS amp under high gain is HUGE. You cant get that fat warm crunch with an SS amp.. plus the feel. Tube amps feel totally different than SS amps under high gain.. unless you use EMG pickups :laugh2: :laugh2:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Amps are just tools for music. You don't show up to play metal using a tele and Blues Jr. You don't show up to play country blues with Dean V and Krank amp.

I don't like bagging on guitar tones, because most good ones have their place in a particular type of music. For the rest, refer to my signature slogan from Krankguitarist.

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

If you don't understand it, or think its "angry bumblebee" tone... you obviously aren't playing the style of music it's made for.


For me, the tighter, the better.

 

[Corbic]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

It appeals to them I guess. Definetly not my tone, I'm the odd 14 year old who walks into Guitar Center, while everyone else is cranking out their metal riffs on the Line 6 modeling amps, picks up the nicest Strat or Tele I can find, walk over to the '59 Bassman LTD, crank it for a bit of drive, and start playing Crossroads by Cream

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

If you don't understand it, or think its "angry bumblebee" tone... you obviously aren't playing the style of music it's made for.


For me, the tighter, the better.

Actually, my exact words were: "I hate that tone..." :laugh2:

It's just not for me...it's an angry tone for angry kids.:laugh2:

Lew

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

Actually, my exact words were: "I hate that tone..." :laugh2:

It's just not for me...it's an angry tone for angry kids.

Lew

Lew,

Im telling you...we have to get together one day and drink a beer and play some guitar!

 

[FretFire]

Re: Why the heck do People like real tight/compressed amps?

yeah lew, i mean i got the VHT 50ST which is about the lowest gain and it could get Halen on it totally. why more gain than Halen????!! more than that and it starts loosing clarity and everything you got the tubes for in the first place.

Yeah the bag full o bees! thats great!

i think what these people want is sustain or something and they confuse it with gain. I dont know. I think they dont want tube amps but dont know it.

Im serious about the Cards in the spokes. Some of these amps are like hitting wood on the spokes!

Nah, the Pitbull 45 is even lower gain, it's more like a Vox than Marshall. That aside, the amps you speak of are mainly aimed at metal and hard rock, which these days demands a very percussive, tight, focused tone.