#1
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Solid State or Tubes these days
When it comes to acoustic/electric guitars which amps are king in your world? Is it Solid State or Tube amps that rule the roost? Me, I'm SS whether I'm playing acoustic/electric or full electric. I had my fill of tube amps going sour. Way too temperamental, noisy and need too much maintenance. Yeah, I know, tubes-the holy grail of sound blah, blah, blah. Heard it all before. Todays Solid State offerings can emulate any sound imaginable. Tubes are the dinosaur of sound reinforcement in the new millennium.
But then again YMMV
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I love playing guitar Last edited by Chickee; 04-13-2018 at 10:26 AM. |
#2
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No tubes
I gave up on tubes years ago when I ran out of my new old stock tubes.
Solid state is much lighter and for me no different sound. I spent 39 years in servicing industrial electronics so I am familiar with the circuitry. I once removed the tube amp from my Fender deluxe and replaced it with a cut down Sidekick 65 so it looked like a black face Deluxe from a distance. I played a show in a pit band. I got a number of glowing compliments from a tube worshiper on how good that old tube amp sounded. I agreed with him without telling him it was solid state. If it looks like a tube amp then it sounds like a tube amp.
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"My opinion is worth every penny you paid for it." "If you try to play like someone else, Who will play like you". Quote from Johnny Gimble The only musician I have to impress today is the musician I was yesterday. No tubes, No capos, No Problems. |
#3
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Quote:
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#4
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Oh, man, gotta have that Marshall stack!!
If you're playing an arena and roadies are schlepping the gear. For me, playing an occasional gig with old friends, my Katana is just fine. |
#5
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Then there's the $99 Scuffham S-Gear amp sim which is simply fantastic with no tubes or transistors. Not to mention total recall.
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#6
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I'm looking for two distinctly different things when playing electric vs. acoustic. For my Strat I typically use my '64 Deluxe Reverb all tube amp. Tubes still sound great when driven hard. It's about natural distortion. I love that sound for my Strat. For clean sounds solid state is king. If you want to be loud and clear as most acoustic players desire, solid state is the way to go. If I dial my old Deluxe Reverb up to 5, it doesn't get much louder but it starts to distort in a very musical way. I don't know of any dedicated acoustic guitar amps that have tubes. Acoustic guitar amps are voiced differently than Electric guitar amps anyway.
Last edited by Guitaurman; 04-10-2018 at 08:22 PM. |
#7
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I don't suppose there is any point to mentioning that reliability much has to do with the quality of construction/design -- with respect to either tube or solid-state-powered amplifiers? |
#8
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I totally agree! For electric guitar you can’t beat the growl of a good tube amp. Many years ago I had a pre-CBS Fender Bandmaster. Now I have a Fender Hot Rod Deville 410, same growl in a smaller box. My acoustic guitars sound like crap through it. I use a Fishman Loudbox with my acoustics and it is a perfect match.
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Taylor V-Class 814ce, 717e BE WHB, 520ce, 454ce, 420 Cedar\Maple, T5z Classic Martin D18E Retro Cordoba C10 Crossover Emerald X20 Rainsong H-OM1000N2 Voyage-Air VAD-04 Custom Les Paul Hot Rod Deville 410, Fishman Loudbox Performer |
#9
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I used to think that tubes sounded best, but several amps and pedals have changed my mind: Quilter Labs, and Tech21 NYC. Whatever type of transistors they use in these have me where I can’t tell the difference. |
#10
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used to be tubes were it., The technology has improved.
Just for nostalgia would be the only reason to use tubes these days. The tone and warmth is hard to distinguish . Between the two. Old tube amps still have a cult following. especially on the left coast. I sold my last tube amp. (A 66 bassman head) for 10 times what i paid for it.. yea ebay. |
#11
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I sold my 69 Fender Bandmaster Reverb head (which had been rebuilt with new power transformer twice and caps) and 68 2x12 cabinet quite a few years ago - wasn't using them, the tubes needed replacing, which would have cost me close to $200. I paid $200 for the whole set up in 1975, gigged for years with it, just replacing single power tubes with Radio Shack specials, and got about 4X what I paid originally (I had done a lot of mods to the head, which lowered its value).
I don't miss moving that set up - the cabinet weighted 90 lbs, the head 40 lbs. As I'm not gigging electric regularly any longer (done a few songs here and there), my Line 6 Spider 4 and a few pedals get me all the sounds I need in the studio. But I'd still like a 68 Deluxe, just for that 'once in a while' sound!
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Mike My music: https://mikebirchmusic.bandcamp.com 2020 Taylor 324ceBE 2017 Taylor 114ce-N 2012 Taylor 310ce 2011 Fender CD140SCE Ibanez 12 string a/e 73(?) Epiphone 6830E 6 string 72 Fender Telecaster Epiphone Dot Studio Epiphone LP Jr Chinese Strat clone Kala baritone ukulele Seagull 'Merlin' Washburn Mandolin Luna 'tatoo' a/e ukulele antique banjolin Squire J bass |
#12
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Tubes for electric. There’s some great low wattage amps out there. Anything 6v6 floats my boat. I have a Deluxe reverb for that but to be honest I haven’t had the time to play electric since switching to acoustic.
For acoustic my Bose L1C is all I use. |
#13
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I have a couple of modelers that get heavy use but... um... uh... honestly... my two cents worth.
The Princeton Reverb on the bottom left is the latest. I quit solid state in the '70s with tuck n' roll Kustoms. Sorry you can't hear the difference. By the way, modeling isn't the same as solid state. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#14
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Must admit that my digital reverb and delay pedals and tremelo pedals all sound better to me than my Fender Deluxe Reverb amp, and I don't like the hum. Used totolerate it, not now. But as far as durability goes, I had a vintage tube amp many years ago. It was old. Played it hard for a few years, none of the old tubes needed any type of servicing. Then just 4 years ago a new Blues Junior lasted about a month and just died.
So just bring your guitar to a store, open your mind, and try out amps, tube or not, until you find one that works for you. Tons of excellent choices out there, tube or not. Must admit too, that I plugged a cheaper guitar into an expensive Fender tube amp recently, and was blown away at the sound I got.
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Neil M, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
#15
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I've had the good fortune to play nearly every iconic tube amp anyone could mention over the past 45 years.
And also the good fortune, or the good sense, to not parse whether amplification sounds are "pure" or not. I tend to like anything that sounds good to me, but yes, I can tell the difference(s) b/w tubes and ss, if it's a contest. But it isn't. I tracked with a Quilter Micropro Sunday night, for an engineer who is -- WAS -- as skeptical as could be. I had some pedals in front, but Mr. Skeptical was as impressed with that Quilter as he could be. The truth is in the playback and everything subsequent. AC |