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Old 04-13-2019, 09:27 AM
numb fingertips numb fingertips is offline
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Default What makes a tube amp better?

From reading on here, I got the impression that tube amps are better or there is a preference for tube amps. Am I mistaken? What makes them better? How about a low watt tube amp for home?
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Old 04-13-2019, 09:46 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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I don’t know the science but I think it has something to do with the relative inefficiency of tubes in amplifying signals - the tubes colour the sound with overtones and slight (and I mean slight) distortions that add resonance and overtones that solid state amps don’t. The perceived difference is that tube amps are somehow warmer with more character.

Whatever the reason I love my amps - an old Duncan Tube 84-40, a lovely Vox AC4tv and my favourite, a 22 watt Fender Deluxe Reverb.

Small tube amps are great - the Princeton and the Deluxe Reverb are two of the most recorded amps in rock history and they can even hold their own on stage. I’ve even used my AC4tv (Max 4 watts) on stage though it struggles a bit to stay clean with its stock 12AX7 tube so now I run it with a 12AW7 tube in preamp stage. It is an amazing amp for playing at home without annoying the neighbours too much...
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Old 04-13-2019, 10:09 AM
Jaden Jaden is offline
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Depending on how much sound proofing your home has, it’s often said tube amps perform best at higher volume to produce full rich tone, and their power ratings in watts is a little deceiving in that a 5 watt tube amp with volume turned up is able to cause disturbance and even hurt your ears.

I once read a worldwide statistical survey that included all manner of musical instruments and acoustic guitars are currently enjoying healthy sales but tube amps are in steady decline. The future may be in solid state for low volume home use flexibility outside of one having access to a sound proof studio.
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Old 04-13-2019, 10:24 AM
harpspitfire harpspitfire is offline
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the only thing better should mean is quality- circuit design and tube preference will be the amp you end up looking for, for sound
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Old 04-13-2019, 10:37 AM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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Default Not

Tube amps are better if you believe they are better. After spending a thousand dollars more than the solid state equivalent it has to be better.

A short story I have told many times.

I replaced the tube chassis on my old silverface Deluxe with a solid state chassis Sidekick bass 65 that I cut down to fit in the box. I played in a pit band shortly after that and from a distance it looked like a black face Deluxe.

After the show the soundman ( a die hard tube man ) said to me "You just can't beat the sound of those old tube amps", I said no you can't and never let him know it was a solid state amp.

So if it looks like a tube amp and sounds good it must be a tube amp.

As a electronic technician for 39 years I would never waste money on old obsolete technology.
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Old 04-13-2019, 10:51 AM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by numb fingertips View Post
From reading on here, I got the impression that tube amps are better or there is a preference for tube amps. Am I mistaken? What makes them better? How about a low watt tube amp for home?
If you're playing them very loudly and want distortion (especially if you want power-amp distortion), the way in which tubes clip is generally more pleasing to the ear than the way transistors clip. Tubes when overdriven produce even-order harmonics that most people like the sound of more.

If you're playing clean at more reasonable volumes, some people think they hear or feel "something" from the tubes that they don't hear from solid-state. I'm in this camp, but just barely. In general, I think people recommend low-wattage tube amps for this more from herd instinct than from anything else.

Keep in mind that for anything over 1 Watt in a tube amp you need to get pretty darned loud to get any natural clipping from your tubes. I think it's comical when folks recommend a 15-18 watt amp for home use so you can drive the tubes. That's like recommending a Corvette to someone who only drives from the street to the garage. Yeah, the Vette is fantastic but a better tool for the job would be a golf cart.
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Old 04-13-2019, 11:00 AM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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There are a lot of great, great players with a tremendous amount of experience (and knowledge) out there. Even they do not all agree. Some even prefer modeling amps. Who am I to disagree with them?

You will need to get more experience and decide for yourself.
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Old 04-13-2019, 11:42 AM
Birdbrain Birdbrain is offline
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Default But for acoustic guitars?

I haven't heard many claims that tube amps work better with acoustic guitars. Many prized acoustic amps, such as Fishmans and my own Boss Acoustic Singer, are solid state. As I understand it, the tube benefit is in distortion quality, and most of us aren't using that. But then why do I hang on to my beloved Dynaco Stereo 70 amp? I'm not playing my home stereo in distortion.

My Bugera V5 ("Little Bugger) is what I usually plug my electrics into. But the Boss gives a wonderfully different sound, bright, immediate and crisp. Dial in a little chorus and it's worlds apart from the Bugger's sound. Today, I'll connect them with a delay unit and explore the many possible combinations.

So I think you need both: a small tube amp with (very important) an attenuation circuit (usually I run the Bugger at 1.5 volts) and a clean little solid state amp. That's more useful to me than one big one.
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Old 04-13-2019, 12:07 PM
numb fingertips numb fingertips is offline
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I was considering a Bugera T5 infinium for home use. Any input for that model?
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Old 04-13-2019, 12:13 PM
perttime perttime is offline
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Tube amps are better because players are accustomed to the sound and FEEL generated using 1930s tehnology, with all the imperfections of inadequate output transformers and such.

If your tube amp doesn't give you the sound you want, you put a solid state pedal in front of it.
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Old 04-13-2019, 12:33 PM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by numb fingertips View Post
I was considering a Bugera T5 infinium for home use. Any input for that model?
Good choice IMO. Good clean, reverb, above average dirt channel. DI to the PA is good, which many aren't. Footswitch. Good price. I sold mine just because I had no further use for it.
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Old 04-13-2019, 12:36 PM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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I think of tube amplification as a dynamic filter. It can impart a pleasing sound, yet it is always somewhat inaccurate.

Kind of like using a Shure SM-57. If you like what it adds to the sound, great. Just never think you are getting higher fidelity by using it.
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Old 04-13-2019, 12:48 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar View Post
Tube amps are better if you believe they are better. After spending a thousand dollars more than the solid state equivalent it has to be better...

As a electronic technician for 39 years I would never waste money on old obsolete technology.
My Bugera V22 cost me all of $300 @ GC in 2011, another C-note for primo tubes...

Picked up a Bugera V5 Infinium two years ago for under $150, $50 for a tube upgrade...

Had some nice tube stuff over the years - Ampeg, Fender, Music Man (actually hybrid SS pre/tube power) - currently looking at a Vox AC10...

I own/have owned/will continue to own analog solid-state amps - Randall, Kustom, Ampeg, Peavey, Carvin, Tech 21, Fender...

When I need clean power and/or light weight - jazz comping, clean country/pop, amplified acoustic, bass - I'll grab one of my SS rigs...

For lead work it's tubes every time, hands down: there's a real touch sensitivity that allows me to change subtleties of dynamics/expression not only across a passage but within the individual notes themselves - and not necessarily at flight-deck volume levels - that I find impossible to achieve by any other means with my preferred instruments...

I've tried all the highly touted pretenders to the tube tone-throne through the years (MOSFET, J-FET, SCG, TransTube et al./ad infinitum/ad nauseam - and don't get me started on modeling) - including many of the big-buck solid-state boxes - and I've yet to find anything that satisfactorily replicates the sound of those little glass tone bottles singing their hearts out...

Bottom line: in today's market good tube tone doesn't need to cost a grand more than a decent-quality analog solid-state rig (when you consider high-end specialized SS jazz amps like Evans and Henriksen you're in four-figure territory anyway), and for many players - myself included -there's a legitimate need for both types; as regards the obsolescence question it isn't obsolete until there's something that performs exactly the same function, to exactly the same standards (in this case tone), with unquestioned advantages of economy and/or ergonomics - as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke...
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Old 04-13-2019, 06:42 PM
Jerry D Jerry D is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar View Post
As a electronic technician for 39 years I would never waste money on old obsolete technology.
Hogwash!!
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Old 04-13-2019, 07:37 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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Here are my thoughts!

Amps (and even TV's) were originally powered by tubes because that was the available technology at the time. (Nobody has a TV powered by tubes these days and there would be few who would reminisce about the sound of an old tube TV).

Having said that, players want to be able to sound like the records and players they loved who used this tube technology. (And I get that even though I believe you can go close to getting their sound using a solid state amp if you really wanted to). As for me, I'm a fan of both and like the idea of having a solid state and tube amp to cover me for all situations.
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