Position:Home>Performing Arts> Guitar: Tube Amps?

I wouldn't say natural, but I would definitely say "musically pleasing"!.

To clarify that other answer, there is only so much room for a signal to wiggle through in a pedal, or amp, or cable, or wherever!. When the signal is amplified and the space isn't big enough, parts of it get chopped off to "fit through"!. Put simply, higher gain = less space = more chopping (clipping)!.

The biggest differences between a tube amp and a solid state amp are how they clip the signal and how they interact with the speaker!. Tube amps have rounded clipping, while transistors tend to have jagged clipping!. The rounded clipping is still distortion, but it is a musical and pleasing distortion, whereas transitors lack this quality!.

I wouldn't say that a solid state amp "mimics" a tube amp per se!. They both do the same thing - but tube amps did come first, and our ears definitely like the sound of a tube amp and those juicy even order harmonics!. (and low output impedance, low damping factor, etc)

All that said, a well-designed solid state amp can be made to sound just as musical and pleasing as any tube amp!. BB King uses a solid state amp, for instance!. Dimebag Darrell used solid state amps!.

Personally, while I like the sound of a tube amp, I've noticed that they tend to be bloody heavy and sometimes a little temperamental!. You've got to worry about blowing a tube, cuz if you don't have a replacement the gig is basically over!. I'm starting to design some solid state circuitry to replace my mesa boogie tremoverb on stage!. Yes, it's heresy to some, but you try carrying around something that bloody heavy all the time - it's a killer in all meanings of the word!. =) Solid state circuitry is incredibly dependable, and that's what I need on stage!.


SaulWww@QuestionHome@Com

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it's sort of a moot point in this day and age of tube emulation!. Line 6 does a great job of it, Vox has awesome Solid State amps, and Marshall's Valvestate series speaks for itself!.

But!.!.!.
there is a difference, for sure!. Tubes break and clip the signal in a very unrefined way!.!.!.sort of random!. The end effect is a softer clipping, and a lot of sort of random tiny chunks of sound that solid staters filter out!. It's sort of the difference between mashed potatoes from powder, or from mashing by hand!. It's the little chunks of wonderful that make tube amps worth everything they're priced at!.

Metalheads swear by the Peavey 5150s, Mesa Triple Recs (their particular distortion sound comes from the rectifier stage, by the way), Kranks!.!.!.all of these have a whole row of 12ax7 tubes effing up the signal into a mean sounding blaze, but hi-gain sounds are easy to emulate with pedals and digital means!. It's the jazz players and the low-gain players who show off what real class-A tube sounds can do, and how much more the human ear likes that sound versus solid state!.

A sound wave is just that, a wave, right!? "clipping" is what happens when the top of the wave, basically the loudness of the sound, smashes up against the ability of the tube to handle it!. THis is where the sound starts coming apart, and this is where distortion/overdrive comes from!. Solid state amps know where that line is, and cuts the sound off with more accuracy, like a surgeons scalpel!. Tubes sort of!.!.!.uh!.!.!.smush it!.!.!.as opposed to cutting it!. smoother, more messed up!.!.!."busted"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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No, definitely not!. I have used both tube and solid state amps, and they both require added effects to make a rock distortion sound!. The main difference in sound between the two is that tube amps sound much better at high volumes than solid state amps do!. also, solid state amps are generally milder mannered than tube amps are!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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goatsemarathon!.com -- search for ur answer on there tell me if u find itWww@QuestionHome@Com

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