Why Choose a Tube Amp Over Solid State? | Master Your Tone – #7 | Thomann
5 reasons to stick with tube amps instead of solid state. Don’t worry, we’ll make a follow up video very soon with the reasons why to play solid state amps instead.
Enjoy the video and leave a comment below!
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Interesting bits and pieces:
0:00 Introduction
0:50 Reason 1 | Don’t laugh, this is a real thing
1:34 Reason 2
3:07 Reason 3
3:30 Reason 4
4:51 Reason 5
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#Choose #Tube #Amp #Solid #State #Master #Tone #Thomann
Originally posted by UCtvgPVBJ_r1vjN4mRuHCbog at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HkABcXAAjk
A lot of modern tube amps have a ton of solid state components. I was shocked when i did a repair on my buddies blackstar.
I build amps for myself . The famous vintage ones that made all the classic music i love.
When you compare those amps, plexis , bassmans , deluxe reverbs, trainwrecks, etc. There is a massive difference.
I think people who prefer ss amps are comparing ss to crappy tube amps. Fender hot rod , marshall origin etc etc..
And i find people who want massive distortion aren't hearing what tube amps do best.
I couldn't live without the touch sensitivity and dynamics of a good tube amp.
Amps like ceriatone are hand wired vlones of the greats and are affordable.
People are cheating themselves by buying modeling and ss amps. And fender tone master amps reportedly sound correct ( thry dont ) and when the warranty us up , they do Not service them. They are dispisable… buy tube.
how is the peavey bandit 112 transtube? A joke or passible tube like sounds?
the solid state is more shrill
I don't miss my tube amps it's boss katana for me now,
No, it’s not equally as great. We can say all that to make these guys feel good but tube is the bomb.
Electrifies the strings JK
Tube Heads running into Full Stacks , Just…. COME OFF AS…. TOTALLY FREAKIN COOL LOOKIN ( Think ol Rock Concerts w/ say….ol 10 OR MORE FULL STACKS….ON EACH DAMN SIDE OF THE DRUMS TOO…. ya just KNEW ya were In For Some CHEST THUMPING,HEAD BANGING TUNES man (Even IF they didn't USE EM ALL !! Show right?? PA's supplied da Umphh as well ….. And Kris…JUST LIKE IN UR INTRO..
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????????????????????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️????️
WHEN YA PLUG INTO A TUBE HEAD,ya wanna just CLICK ON HIGH GAIN SWITCH,CRANK THEM KNOBS UP ….AND JUST LET ER RIP !!!! And then Hear that BEAUTIFUL,WARM,RICH, ."WOOHHAAA AHH WOOOHHAAA AHH… WOOOOHHHHHHHHHH !!"SHEER MAGESTIC TO THE EARS,CHEST,AND SOUL….. HELL man ..I say
"GET EM BOTH…???? STAGE SHOWS,and Recording are 2 different Animals eh ????" Even ol EDDIE VAN HALEN WROTE "We Can Have The BEST OF…BOTH WORLDS"…..ok…ok… I know….taken OUT OF CONTEXT…. BUT, ???? HMMMMM…NOT A DAMN BAD IDEA MAN…
My friend brought his quilter amp over to my place, turned it on, it sounded like an amp under a packing blanket? I said, put some top end on it, he said it’s all the way up, sound like crap.
Sometimes I'm left perplexed when folks say I can't tell the difference, but in this instance … I cannot tell the difference. The demonstrations for example don't indicate from what I'm hearing anything about one being "warmer" or less "warm" than the other.
In the 90's, I had the luxury of buying and testing a few vintage Fenders at a stupid low price. BUT…I wound up selling them back and buying a vintage Solid State 2×12 Standell, because I was (am) into effects (coincidently purchased at a pawn shop next to the famed "Oasis Bar" in Oklahoma…."I buy at amps at low places"). Then I got a JC-120….I digress.
More recently, I did an A/B test against an Ampeg SVT III rack preamp into a Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp VS the same preamp but with a 100/100 Watt solid state pedal (like the Harley Benton, but by whoever makes it in the states). On bass, the tube vs solid state debate was HANDS DOWN tube. I need to recreate the same situation with my tube pedal preamp and the same solid state power amp vs my MESA 20/20 tube power amp…I'm pretty sure who will win, but…ya gotta try it, right?
Ultimately, our guy here at Thomann is giving it to you straight. It is taste, but there are things to expect. Personally, I like approaching things like this at a "modular level"…meaning, I have tube and solid state/transistor based preamps AND tube and solid state power amps. Depending on the use case, I can mix and match.
Good job Thomann guitar guy!
Very usefull, as always … I admit I am more confident with a solid state amp such as a Quilter or Ethos Custom Tones: the sound is maybe not as good as a valve amp (and honestly sometimes I wonder …), but you have far more reliability and we don't all have guitar techs to do bias setting or change valves ….
Is "colder and technical" equally great to "warm and alive"? I'd say NO.
"Looks"? You want a nice and good looking SS Amp then you can always have the classic beauty of a Fender silver cloth or even a classic Vox or Marshall cabinet too. Most non musicians don't care what your Amp looks like and even the "Best" Legendary or High End amps can look Fugly to someone who knows very little about guitar amps. Don't sweat it you youngsters out there, just learn to play first and then go ogling pretty Amps when you can impress the audience.
ive got a Boss Katana MK2 212 100, it looks like a boring black box its really nothing to look at, we are forced to keep a piece of cardboard attatched to the top of it to give it some kinda style lol its ugly!, however it comes with 100s of free effects you can simulate pretty much any pedal effect this saves you a fortune, the amp is under £500 so very affordable it sounds great it have a lovely warm tone, i hear it can keep up with a drummer so its good for live gigs, it also sounds good on low volume in the bedroom to practice on.
Have you tried the Super Crush 100 yet?
"It'S A fEeL tHiNg!"
It's not what's best. It's what works for you!
I use both: Fender Deluxe, Hot Rod, and Boss katana
Yeah well , tube amps are nice , but the modern day tube amps from the main brands are poorly build ( cheap components ect . ) and therefore will fail after a while , and repairs will become difficult ( because of the filmsy pcb boards ect. ) and expensive ( and trying to find a good repairguy in you're nighboorhood is also not so easy ) . The other option is to buy an handbuild ( mostly really expensive ) tube amp wich will last longer but then there is this reset the bias / buying new tubes thing . So why go to all this trouble if you have options like the fender tonemaster amps , wich cost less , are lighter to carry around and have more options and sound just like an tube amp and do not fail after a certain amount of time , so lets face it , tube amps have become a "niche " , nice to have but not pratical in many ways , i guess a nice 5 watt tube amp for home use and an digital / solid state amp for gigging is the ultimate solution .
I think that (in general) if you want an accurate representation of what's coming before your amp (effects, pickups etc) a solid state amp is best. Tube amps are like their own instrument with a lot more character an colour potentially. The maintenance of a tube amp must also be considered, and availability of tubes could be a problem in the future too.
The thing about fuzzes is true, vintage fuzzes especially sound much better on tube amps.
Solid State sounds like modern MP3 and Tubes like vinyl records. Only the crackle is left. ????
These kind of videos are hard to really do right because I feel like my favorite solid state amp (Sunn Beta Lead) does so much that is on the same level as a tube amp from the perspective of sound, but the feel of playing through it is different. Like running a distortion pedal into it feels more like stacking pedals instead of how it feels to put a pedal into a tube amp. There's really no substitute for just trying a lot of amps yourself.
Great video dear Kris as usual ???? !! I think we live in a fantastic time for us guitar player, as we have infinite possibilities. I am sure all the missing elements on the Solid State Amp could be compensated with pedals.
This could be a great part two video ????
For example when you cranked the volume on the first playing, I personally heard more compression and warmth on the tube amp. So my idea would be to use a compressor (subtle settings) on the SSA front and an eq in the loop to boost some low mids.
Again for cutting in the mix, an eq in the loop with a mid boost.
There are so many incredible pedals today that would help a SSA come to life.
However with a great tube amp you can save money as you won’t need much pedals to achieve a great compression, warmth and sweetness.
I got a splitter. One into a tube amp one into solid state. SOUNDS KILLER. Why does everybody make it so hard.
If it inspires you, play it. Don’t let looks, Brands, or your friends convince you otherwise.
I changed from a silver face Super Reverb, to an HX stomp plus some other pedals into some killer studio monitors. It does things that I could never do with the Super Reverb.
The only amp I would own would be a revv generator 120,amazing metal tone, on the other hand,I have a crate gt 212 120 watt I've had for more than 20 years that fires up the second I hit the power switch everytime
Für meine Bässe nutze ich einen cleanen solid State Combo (Markbass CMD 121)mit röhrengetriebenen Markbass Distorsore davor.
Contrary to popular myth, it's not the tubes that make a tube amp sound the way it does, and there's nothing inherent to solid-state transistor technology that prevents solid-state amps from sounding like tube amps. The difference is the specific circuit topologies that are typically used. The major factor in why tube amps sound the way they do is not the tubes, per se, but the fact that tube have very high characteristic output impedance and loudspeaker drivers have very low impedance. This means that tube amps typically need to be coupled to an output transformer to match their output impedance to the loudspeakers, and that has a dramatic effect on how the components of that system interact, and how the system as a whole reacts. Transistors typically have very low output impedances, and do not require output transformers, and it is this that results in a much different sound.
The Pandora pedal sounds tasty
For me it's all about the better feeling when playing tube amps. Like getting closer to the guitar tone and closer to my emotions. IMHO no one in the audience cares about what technology you are using.
I like having both. If your just playing rythm in the average cover band, I don't think most people can even hear a difference. Katanas are great.
For lead tones, its always nice to have at least a small lunchbox tube head. Getting the edge of breakup crunch I enjoy, comes way easier with an MT15.
I love the sounds of the tube amp when it distorts by itself but I prefer e distortion pedal to be plugged in a good solid state amp.
What about a hybrid amp?I have a 60 watt ‘90s Marshall “Valvestate” combo with pre-amp tubes, but everything else is solid state.
My landlord certainly had a preference…he liked my acoustic the best.
♥️????
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Most people would benefit more from practice than on a new amp.
Totally agree on looks, especially in the bass world where you need a lot more power. I don't care how good it sounds, a Darkglass head on top of your 2×10/1×15 stack, 4×10, or 8×10 cabinet looking like an old Mac Mini just seems so out of place.
Thankfully there are plenty of solid state & hybrid bass heads that still look & sound great without needing to lug around a massively heavy SVT head.
Reason 6: Tubes glow in the dark and give warmth in the winter! ????
After many great but heavy tube amps I switched over to Quilter and here I will stay. I love it. It has its own sound but it can compete with a 100w engl sovereign in volume. I have the one channel Quilter which has a Fender like setting and this gets my pedals.
In the 90s prs built an expensive transistor amp and no one heard the difference but it never went into production.
Courageous, Kris ???? (you’re not wrong)
compare the tube amp to a bluguitar amp1????
Having owned both tube and solid state amps, I say get the amp that gives you the sound you want. It really doesn't matter which as long as you can get your sound.
Tube for life! It's the real deal.
By the time it’s recorded digitally, compressed to YouTube, sent over the internet cables, broadcast over wifi to my iPad, and sent to my transistor hi fi amp via the headphone line out – then to my to my 6” hi fi speakers, the difference is not that noticeable. But I do get what you’re saying, and tend to agree, though ironically my amps for home use (wet/dry) are a tube transistor hybrid (Orange) and a transistor bass amp (Ashdown) so maybe I’ve stopped caring about prestige, pride of ownership and heritage – which are all part of owning a “real” amp. It’s a budget thing though – if I had money, I would be looking at a boutique tube amp head and cab.
oooooooo that intro was EPIC
Definitely agree on the looks aspect. Everytime I look at my tube ENGL I just wanna start playing!
I actually preferred the quilter!. Both sound awesome though. My personal opinion is that tube amps will always be around but become less common. This is purely because solid state has become so good that younger players will likely gravitate to the cheaper less physically heavy option
Das schöne an röhre ist das man den amp übers feedback super fahren kann, bei solid state fährste nix ????