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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ To Tube Or Not To Tube

Posted by: EricGhart Nov 10 2008, 03:47 AM

Hey everyone. I've always used solid state amps because I mostly practice at home or just jam with some friends. However, I was looking at new amps today and was wondering whether I should step up and go for a tube amp. I've heard that they are miles above solid state from some friends who own them. However would a tube amp be worth really what I'm going to pay for it?

EDIT: sorry guys just saw this same topic in another post. pretty much just ignore this.

Posted by: SensE Nov 10 2008, 04:07 AM

Tube amp is always superior. Tube amp has warmer and fuller tone which every guitarist dreams for. If money is not a constraint, I would wonder why not getting yourself one.

I'm always want to get myself one for a long time. Its just that I do not have a band at the moment and its kind of useless to get a huge and expensive amp. Besides, I have not yet decide what kind of amp I want to go for. "Tube" is like another far side of the world to me

Posted by: audiopaal Nov 10 2008, 07:16 AM

Well, Hughes and Kettner has a solid state amp that rivals a tube amp.
The downside: It's so expensive it's not even funny biggrin.gif

So yeah, tube amps are the way to go.
Just be careful with the wattage, nobody usually needs more than a 50W tube amp.
I've got a 100W, and that's just over the top, too much really..
I'd go for a 30W, and if it's just for home practicing a 5W would be good smile.gif

Tube amps sounds warmer and fuller than a solid state amp, I'm never going back smile.gif

Posted by: MickeM Nov 10 2008, 08:45 AM

For home a small tube amp, like 5 watts mentioned, would be just great. And you don't have to pay all that much for a small 5W Blackheart.

Now there are solid state combos that sound really good aswell, check out the Hughes and Kenner Attax 100

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Nov 10 2008, 10:48 AM

Its definitly worth it! But be careful when choosing the power, they can be very loud (and you need to turn them up in order to get a good sound) smile.gif

Posted by: Jesse Nov 10 2008, 09:43 PM

I got a 65 watt solid state for home P. Its TOO MUCH WITH THE VOLUME ON 2!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Nov 11 2008, 12:40 AM

Tube is definitely the right choice mate. Do you have some kind of a budget for it? Maybe we can help with your decision.

Posted by: tommyboy Nov 11 2008, 12:55 AM

QUOTE (EricGhart @ Nov 9 2008, 08:47 PM) *
Hey everyone. I've always used solid state amps because I mostly practice at home or just jam with some friends. However, I was looking at new amps today and was wondering whether I should step up and go for a tube amp. I've heard that they are miles above solid state from some friends who own them. However would a tube amp be worth really what I'm going to pay for it?

EDIT: sorry guys just saw this same topic in another post. pretty much just ignore this.


Be very careful and think long and hard about getting a tube amp. Once you start down that road there's no going back to how things were. Tubes are life changing and guitar tone as you know it will cease to exist. laugh.gif

Posted by: Muris Varajic Nov 11 2008, 12:58 AM

Tube all the way,5-10watts for home use,
50-100 watts for gigs etc.
There are many great tube amps out there,
be sure to check out as many as possible to find your own match. smile.gif

Posted by: Praetorian Nov 11 2008, 02:50 AM

I have no knowledge of amps to add to this topic...but I wanted to say this was a hilarious topic title! laugh.gif

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Nov 11 2008, 03:27 AM

Tube or not depends on what you want to do.

Crap amps are crap amps...you can find cheap trash tube amps as easily as cheap trash solid state amps. Even "bad" sounds can be good depending on what you want your sound to be. Dimebag played mostly solid state amps in Pantera. Most people on the site here don't really like Kurt Cobain but I like his tone and he played through crap gear.

Roland's JC-120 is solid state and is a fantastic clean sounding amp.

Posted by: SensE Nov 11 2008, 03:27 AM

QUOTE (Praetorian @ Nov 10 2008, 08:50 PM) *
I have no knowledge of amps to add to this topic...but I wanted to say this was a hilarious topic title! laugh.gif


What was in your mind, dude? Haha. I don't get it.

Posted by: fkalich Nov 11 2008, 04:05 AM

QUOTE (Muris Varajic @ Nov 10 2008, 06:58 PM) *
Tube all the way,5-10watts for home use,
50-100 watts for gigs etc.
There are many great tube amps out there,
be sure to check out as many as possible to find your own match. smile.gif


I have three tube amps. Two Carvin and one of those little 5 watt Epiphone jobs. The Carvin sound a lot better than the Epiphone, maybe different tubes would help the Epi.

The Carvin's have the Celestion Vintage 30 speakers in them. One can run at 5 or 15 Watts, the other at 50.

I run the smaller one at 5 Watts. But only one speaker on that Amp. So I cable it to the dual speakers on my bigger Carvin. Sounds real good.

If I used a solid state amp, I would feel like something was missing.

I also feel that my Zoom G9.2tt sounds much better because of the two tubes. Around here everyone is line 6 crazy. Everywhere else I look, people would say the Zoom sounds better. The tubes make a difference. It has one for preamp, and one for the output circuitry. Both really effect the sound, if I cut them off it really does not sound as good.

Anyway that illustrates what tubes do. Them make it sound better. Also they have mystical magical powers that operate in the astral plane, so modern science cannot detect that.


Posted by: JVM Nov 11 2008, 05:16 AM

QUOTE (Scott Gentzen @ Nov 10 2008, 09:27 PM) *
Tube or not depends on what you want to do.

Crap amps are crap amps...you can find cheap trash tube amps as easily as cheap trash solid state amps. Even "bad" sounds can be good depending on what you want your sound to be. Dimebag played mostly solid state amps in Pantera. Most people on the site here don't really like Kurt Cobain but I like his tone and he played through crap gear.

Roland's JC-120 is solid state and is a fantastic clean sounding amp.


Cobain used SOME crappy gear, but the majority of it was actually rather good, or at least some of the "standard" stuff (like some of his pedals) that everyone uses.

But on the point that crap amps are crap amps, I agree. You can definitely find solid state amps out there that sound better than some tube amps. The thing about solid state amps is that they're viewed by us players generally as low end, cheap, practice kind of amps when the reality is there are also expensive ones, great sounding ones, and gig-worthy ones.

If I had the choice of absolutely any amp in the world, it would be a toss up between a line 6 vetta II, or a fender deluxe reverb. Why the vetta? Sure, it's solid state. But it's really GOOD solid state, plus it's an extremely versatile and interesting amp.

When it comes down to it, tube amps are better, overall. But solid state amps can sound almost as good, can be more versatile, and can also be more rugged and dependable. I'll go with what tommyboy said, just be wary of going down that road tongue.gif

Posted by: kjutte Nov 11 2008, 02:18 PM

QUOTE (EricGhart @ Nov 10 2008, 03:47 AM) *
Hey everyone. I've always used solid state amps because I mostly practice at home or just jam with some friends. However, I was looking at new amps today and was wondering whether I should step up and go for a tube amp. I've heard that they are miles above solid state from some friends who own them. However would a tube amp be worth really what I'm going to pay for it?

EDIT: sorry guys just saw this same topic in another post. pretty much just ignore this.


Tube=by far superior. There are no votes against.

Posted by: Xuestor Nov 11 2008, 04:19 PM

Kurt used Mesas alot, wouldnt call that crap.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Nov 12 2008, 12:30 PM

Definitely go for a tube amp, they are far superior. As the others mentioned you only have to make sure you get the right power for your needs, it doesn't make sense to get a 150W monster if you plan to play it in your bedroom, this might lead to some angry neighbors... tongue.gif

Posted by: Saint_arc Nov 13 2008, 05:29 AM

From my own experience, Tube amps to seems to be the way to go. I just did a gig recently and had to use one of my solid state amps because my main rig went down..........I absolutely hated it. It doesn't sound right. Even after spending hours adjusting here and there its just not the same. So don't be cheap and my a solid state for a backup if you gig alot. One thing to think of though. Keep in mind with tube amps, you really have to crank it to get that nice tone so if you are in an bedroom or just another room you really don't want more than 5 to 15 watts coming out so unless your amp is rated at that your going to be killing your self and the walls will be tumbling down around you. Now I saw recently that there are tube amps out there now that can be a 50 watt amp and 5 watt amp in one by simply flipping a switch. If anyone can remind me who makes these please tell me. Good luck to you!!

Mike

Current gear:

Fender strat
Taylor 414ce
Parker Fly
Fender deluxe HSS Strat quilted maple top.

Fender Supersonic
Fender Deville
65 Fender Twin Reverb

Boss GT-10
Ibanez TS808
Cry Baby Slash wah pedal
Route 66 overdrive/comp
DF-7
And lots more


Posted by: PanicProne Nov 13 2008, 01:26 PM

Just to add to the topic. My solid state amp died the other night and since there's time left on the warranty I'm thinking about swapping it+some cash for a tube amp. The solid state has been great for my punk band but useless for my alternative band. Anyone got a nice tube amp to recommend? I nice clean is important to me and also I use alot of pedals so if it's good with effects it's definetely a plus. As for sound. Really enjoy the Marshall JCM800 fiery sound for distortion. But since pedals/boosting can always do the trick for nice distortion the clean seems more important.

Any suggestions? And yeah. Can't afford Mesa rectifiers and such but half of that is allright...
Vox AC30? Fender tube amps?

Posted by: tommyboy Nov 13 2008, 11:21 PM

QUOTE (PanicProne @ Nov 13 2008, 06:26 AM) *
Just to add to the topic. My solid state amp died the other night and since there's time left on the warranty I'm thinking about swapping it+some cash for a tube amp. The solid state has been great for my punk band but useless for my alternative band. Anyone got a nice tube amp to recommend? I nice clean is important to me and also I use alot of pedals so if it's good with effects it's definetely a plus. As for sound. Really enjoy the Marshall JCM800 fiery sound for distortion. But since pedals/boosting can always do the trick for nice distortion the clean seems more important.

Any suggestions? And yeah. Can't afford Mesa rectifiers and such but half of that is allright...
Vox AC30? Fender tube amps?


Go to any rock show and look at there back line. 9 times out of 10 you'll see a Marshall. JCM 2000's are had used in great condition for less than a grand. 1/2 the price of a Mesa Boogie. Once your playing through a Marshall you'll be selling your distortion pedals on ebay! biggrin.gif

tommyboy

Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea Nov 14 2008, 12:19 AM

100% tube amp.

Posted by: RandomVictim Nov 14 2008, 03:08 AM

QUOTE (Saint_arc @ Nov 12 2008, 11:29 PM) *
Now I saw recently that there are tube amps out there now that can be a 50 watt amp and 5 watt amp in one by simply flipping a switch. If anyone can remind me who makes these please tell me. Good luck to you!!


I actually own that amp. Its from Mesa Boogie its the 5:50 Express.


Tube! you wont regret it

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