Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

[Loserchief]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

I was completely using modeling amps for gigs and practice for quite some time and it isn't so far behind that the switch to all tube was completed. Had a Line 6 Vetta II and a Line 6 Spider II 30w for practice. Both had some pretty cool tones and the Vetta of course could give you hundreds of tonal options, but when i tried the powerball for the first time i just couldn't get back so i traded the vetta in for the Powerball. The response and feel of tubes just can't be duplicated and so i need tubes to be completely happy with my tone.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

It depends on what your trying to do. A SS power amp controls the speaker in a totally different way than a tube power amp. A SS amp is very precise and fast in dictating cone movement. Regardless of tubes, power supplies, or deep switches, a tube amp is comparitively loose at controling cone movement. For some forms of metal the SS amp can be more tight and heavy than most any tube amp. In such a case the timbre is created in a Preamp device(s) and the speaker damping properties of a SS power amp can make that sound like heavy artillary.

For decades one of the standards for totally clean guitar tone has been the Roland Jazz Chorus. For some totally clean guitar applications, a SS amp has a place.

Having said that I'm a complete tube convert and would not even consider anything SS my self.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

Many Metal Heads are fan of Dime's tone. It was always SS!!!

At least 'til he went to Krank. :smokin:

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

Look, guitar is BARELY getting there with digital technolgies - but I can tell you from playing with great keyboard players - they don't need US to have all the tips and tricks, they need us for that classic tube tone that rocks the house. Even guys like the Edge are using samplers and backing tracks and for the guitar stick to AC30s.

Tube tone is archaic - but if it a'int broke.

YOU CAN GET DECENT SOLID STATE TONES, even great ones - but take that tone and play it thru a ridiculous tube rig and it gest better. That's why many studios RE-AMP the signal to make it better.

Guitarists own a certain domain, and it's not worth giving it up just yet. Experimenting on the side is one thing, but you gotta have a fat Marshall in your arsenal just in case.

I did 2 studio sessions for an indie band a couople of weeks back, and in an A/B test, the old Marshalls just had the great tone out of the box, no tweaking.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

It depends on what your trying to do. A SS power amp controls the speaker in a totally different way than a tube power amp. A SS amp is very precise and fast in dictating cone movement. Regardless of tubes, power supplies, or deep switches, a tube amp is comparitively loose at controling cone movement. For some forms of metal the SS amp can be more tight and heavy than most any tube amp. In such a case the timbre is created in a Preamp device(s) and the speaker damping properties of a SS power amp can make that sound like heavy artillery.

The reasons mentioned is a reason I like SS a little better. Remains tighter and heavier pushed than loose like tube-- sounding like 'heavy artillery'.

I mean, I hear recordings with obvious cranked tubes that definitely inspires, but mainly use SS amps for mainly practicallity, flexibility and it's 'sterile' factor.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: Wow. I have no respect for what is sacred.

What SS Crate preamp are you using that gives you gobs of harmonic overdrive and tube-like feel? I figure this thing would have caught on like wildfire by now :laugh2:. I'm not necessarily being skeptical, just curious really.

I'm using a Crate MX65R and I believe many (or Crate SS) amps can set wildfire if you spend hours, days, and months tweaking your gear.

For years I've spent in darkness of tonal territory unknown by always accepting my tone as it was. Always setting and forgeting, being afraid of turning knobs to set me in a wilderness unknown.

Until one day, I decided to take that plunge and quit accepting the crap I threw at myself.

Taking the plunge opened the terms 'balls and chunk', 'tube drench' or wet, and muscular to name a few. And I achieved this all with an SS pounding pavement day to day for nearly 6 months (though I know it will never be truly over). Of coure, I took days off only to go back and hear somthing not quite right about my tone, but in the end it paid off.

To actually hear the things I hear coming out of a SS for a few hundred bucks, tone rivaling (albeit subjective) the tone heralded and offered by tube amps, I couldn't understand the fuss about paying top dollar for tube when you don't in certain cases (as in feel like it) have to.

This my experience but I think we've all had days like this.