I honestly can't hear a difference between tube and solid state amps.

[Nick Fanis]

Ah, and there you go touting your blinkered opinions and prejudices as a universal truth, and that's just baloney. Because all that is a matter of taste, and thus 100% personal and subjective, and modern modellers DO produce good and usable sounds if you know how to use them.

No touting from me.....just a simple side by side comparison with my vintage 68' drip edge DR (w/ a Tone Tubby Nashville ceramic speaker) , the difference was so IMENSE that my prejudice didn't even had time to kick in.
It was like comparing US Budweiser to the real thing from the Czech Republic

 

[msalama]

Huh? You still fail to comprehend that it's all subjective to YOU as well, and someone else might've thought otherwise - and we don't even know how the modeller was configured, if at all. Which, again, means that there's no universal truth to this, and that's something you just don't seem to grasp. Well your business, not mine...

 

[Nick Fanis]

your business, not mine...

Thank God ,you finally understood this

 

[omahaaudio]

You should listen to some REALLY good tube amps (no a rack mounted ADA or H&K does not fall into this category).
Than I am sure you WILL hear the difference.

I really DOUBT it.

 

[msalama]

you finally understood this

Well I'm just giving thanks to Lady Fortuna for personally understanding that I'm not as ossified in my opinions as some seem to be, myself.

 

[Dacious]

It was like comparing US Budweiser to the real thing from the Czech Republic

Well, Monty Python in the guise of The Bruces got it right about US beer decades ago....

 

[Rick Lanahan]

If you play clubs, you and the audience won't know the difference.

 

[ZackyDog]

Well, I hear a difference but if you're happy with solid state amps, more power to you.

Image courtesy North Coast Music.

 

[Brent Hutto]

This whole thread just makes me feel relieved that I only need clean tones. When you don't care about breakup, much less edge of breakup, much less distortion then any halfway decent guitar amp will do.

 

[maxvintage]

Break your back?
Both of my tube amps (Marshall 1974x and Tweed deluxe) are featherweight , in fact lighter than your modeling amps.

View attachment 1034493 View attachment 1034494

It's fascinating that this post about the advantages of tube amps is accompanied by a photo of a pedal board full of solid state devices. If tube amps sound better, why is there such a huge market in boutique solid state drive pedals?

 

[maxvintage]

The reason is because circuit designers have spent the last 40 or so years getting solid state amps to respond and sound like tube amps. Try comparing a tube and solid state amp from the 70's or 80's and you'll probably have a different opinion.

There is a documentary about Creedence Clearwater Revival on Netflix and it's got lots and lot of live footage of Fogerty playing through solid state amps and getting a great tone

 

[Beebe]

Try a 200 watt Quilter head.

I have heard great things about those.

 

[maxvintage]

the difference was so IMENSE that my prejudice didn't even had time to kick in.
It was like comparing US Budweiser to the real thing from the Czech Republic

Budweiser? You are touting the taste of budweiser? If my tube amps sounded like Budwesier tastes I'd be a sad person indeed

 

[Brent Hutto]

Budweiser? You are touting the taste of budweiser? If my tube amps sounded like Budwesier tastes I'd be a sad person indeed

I'm pretty sure he was touting the taste of "the real thing from the Czech Republic".

 

[markal]

+1000

A mic (and a decent pair of ears) ,never lies.
Even if it's a ....measly M160 (my favorite guitar amp mic btw)

“Decent pair of ears.” Do you see why lots of us find the tube snobbery to be so completely obnoxious?

Like this issue matters so much that you have to comment on people’s abilities.

If you prefer tube amps, buy them and play them. Let other people choose differently without offering your opinion on their ears or abilities or anything else.

Eric Gales plays SS. Any thoughts on HIS abilities?

Sigh.

 

[NoTeleBob]

It was like comparing US Budweiser to the real thing from the Czech Republic

Budweiser is the Fender Frontman 10G of beers.

 

[Terrygh1949]

I thought I could, and spent years in a "tube only" phase. But this past week or so, I've come to the realization that it was all in my mind. Now, I can tell the difference between a good and a bad amplifier, regardless of technology. And I have owned bad tube amps and bad solid state amps; however, as far as tube "warmth", "dynamics", etc., I simply don't hear it. The seeds of doubt began a few years ago when I had a Fender Frontman with a built-in LED distortion circuit. I also had an ADA MP-1 which was the rackmount tube preamp of the late-80's into the early 90's. Anyone who was anyone had one of those. I plugged that MP-1 into the Fender Frontman clean channel, A/B'd back and forth between that and the Fender's distortion channel (with the MP-1 bypassed), and with a little gain and EQ tweaking, both sounded identical. The LED distortion of the amp sounded exactly the same as the MP-1.

"Dynamics" is one element that tube amplifiers supposedly excel in (responsiveness to picking), but every single amp I've played through, tube or solid state, would respond dynamically if the gain knob was set right. "Warmth"? I've been fooled plenty of times by what I thought was a tube amp that turned out to be solid state. I thought I got a fantastic deal on a Hughes & Kettner tube rack preamp when I was stationed in Germany. The price was great for what (I though) I was getting based on the tone I heard in the store. I opened it up to see how many 12AX7's were in there and all I saw was a circuit board...

Of course, there are things like tube rectifier "sag" that is exclusive to tube amps, and that is something I've never really had a thing for, though I understand some people love it. But as far as tone itself and dynamics, no - I can't hear the difference. Odd and even-order harmonics? Can't hear the difference.

I'm open to the possibility that if I sat down with one good example of each, and spent some time going back and forth, there might be something I'd notice, but that "something" just might be the difference between two different amplifiers anyway.

There is a difference. I played nothing but tubes back in the 60s because that's all there was. First solid state was a Kustom. I really didn't care and, as far as difference in sound I didn't notice or even care. The amps were lighter that was a plus. Tubes were a pain in the butt and, had to be tested and, expensive then and now even more expensive! I've ditched the tubes and, went with SS only. No more tubes for me.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Budweiser is the Fender Frontman 10G of beers.

Budwar. I remember that from being stationed in Germany.

 

[Schlumpfmeister]

I thought I could, and spent years in a "tube only" phase. But this past week or so, I've come to the realization that it was all in my mind. Now, I can tell the difference between a good and a bad amplifier, regardless of technology. And I have owned bad tube amps and bad solid state amps; however, as far as tube "warmth", "dynamics", etc., I simply don't hear it.

I agree. The best clean tone I ever had was a Yamaha G100ii 212 (the 50w version was not half as good, and its predecessor "fifty" outright sucked, it had everything you would expect from an old transistor amp!) I also played a red-stripe Bandit with amazing edge-of-breakup tone. I own a few of the classic tube amps, all of which I love. So I think I know the benchmark. But sound wise, I could live with my (long sold) old Yamaha and a decent boost pedal.

 

[Dostradamas]

This and my Excelsior are quite close.
I hear a difference and savor the hot glass.

Both are the best examples of both I have owned for me and what I like to hear.