Anyone have an opinion of this hybrid amp?

yeah, I wouldn't call it a hybrid either.
Hybrid generally means the pre-amp section has a tube and the power section is SS although I have seen at least one amp where it was the other way around ..... the power section was tubed and the preamp section was SS.

Anyway ocnor's correct ..... that Peavey amp is a modeling amp.
Although I haven't played thru the Vypyr I have played thru other modeling amps such as a Line 6 and did not like them.
But since he already ordered one you tell us when it comes in how it does.
 
Lt. Bob said:
I have seen at least one amp where it was the other way around ..... the power section was tubed and the preamp section was SS.
.
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I think the Marshall JMD is like this. Modeling preamp stage, fed into an EL34 power section.

In any case, I don't think the amp will suck or be great. Like anything else, it's in the user's hands. A good player with a good ear for tone will be able to make the amp usable. A bad player with bad ear will sound like shit on even the most legendary tube amps.

I think where these modeling amps shine is at low bedroom levels. They're great for dinking around at home for practice or just goofing around for fun. You can dial up all sorts of amp models and plop on a shit ton of effects with little effort or expenditure. But, to me, that's about where their usefulness ends. They never sound good loud at gig levels nor do they pack any punch. There's a reason 100 yr old tube technology still reigns supreme in the guitar world.
 
Greg_L said:
I think where these modeling amps shine is at low bedroom levels.
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This.
If you want a bedroom amp, you can't beat a cheap SS modeling amp.
The tone is there in all its splendor at any volume,
where even a 4 watt tube amp is too loud for, say apartment living
by the time you get it turned up enough for the tubes to start to do their thing.
 
Telegram Sam said:
This.
If you want a bedroom amp, you can't beat a cheap SS modeling amp.
The tone is there in all its splendor at any volume,
where even a 4 watt tube amp is too loud for, say apartment living
by the time you get it turned up enough for the tubes to start to do their thing.
Click to expand...


That's where you guys are missing the boat. Of course you can't get power tube distortion at a decent volume. A solid state amp relies on it's preamp distortion to get a good tone. But most tube amps will have a much better preamp section than any modeling amp. So when played at the same volume the tube amp will win every time. I use a 100 watt head and 4x12 cab as my bedroom amp and even at very low volume the tone that rig produces smokes any solid state/modeling amp.
 
ocnor said:
That's where you guys are missing the boat. Of course you can't get power tube distortion at a decent volume. A solid state amp relies on it's preamp distortion to get a good tone. But most tube amps will have a much better preamp section than any modeling amp. So when played at the same volume the tube amp will win every time. I use a 100 watt head and 4x12 cab as my bedroom amp and even at very low volume the tone that rig produces smokes any solid state/modeling amp.
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Good for you. Here's where you miss the boat - This Peavey Vypyr thing only costs like 200 bucks. I'd rather have my 100w tube amps any day just like you, but these modern modeling amps are plenty adequate if space, versatility, cost, and volume are an issue for someone.
 
Greg_L said:
Good for you. Here's where you miss the boat - This Peavey Vypyr thing only costs like 200 bucks. I'd rather have my 100w tube amps any day just like you, but these modern modeling amps are plenty adequate if space, versatility, cost, and volume are an issue for someone.
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plus when you're playing a 100 watt amp at bedroom volumes you'll HAVE to have some decent pedals to get anything other than CLEAN!
That's even more expense.

For me I find modelers to be acceptable for practicing and even recording in some musical situations.
It's live where I feel they fall short.

And they fall WAY short in live playing for me although they continue to get better.
 
ocnor said:
That's where you guys are missing the boat. Of course you can't get power tube distortion at a decent volume. A solid state amp relies on it's preamp distortion to get a good tone. But most tube amps will have a much better preamp section than any modeling amp. So when played at the same volume the tube amp will win every time. I use a 100 watt head and 4x12 cab as my bedroom amp and even at very low volume the tone that rig produces smokes any solid state/modeling amp.
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I have a feeling what you consider 'very low volume' would annoy my wife and neighbors! Like other say, you can't get true tube saturation until the volume is cranked, but if all you want is CLEAN sound, then, yes you can use your 100W/4x12 at low volume.

Whether a SS amp will work for live work depends entirely on the type of music being played as well as how things are hooked up - are all the instruments being miced through the PA, or possibly DI-ed into it? This is an age-old (well, as long as SS amps have been around) argument.
 
Greg_L said:
Good for you. Here's where you miss the boat - This Peavey Vypyr thing only costs like 200 bucks. I'd rather have my 100w tube amps any day just like you, but these modern modeling amps are plenty adequate if space, versatility, cost, and volume are an issue for someone.
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I agree with the cost part but there are tube amps as small as a Vypr. I'm not saying that everyone should have a half stack in their bedrooms. Most modeling amps are not that versatile as they use basically the same few sounds with different EQ curves and call them different amp models.


Lt. Bob said:
plus when you're playing a 100 watt amp at bedroom volumes you'll HAVE to have some decent pedals to get anything other than CLEAN!
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I plug straight into the amp and I have no problem getting a good distortion or clean tone at bedroom levels.


mjbphotos said:
I have a feeling what you consider 'very low volume' would annoy my wife and neighbors! Like other say, you can't get true tube saturation until the volume is cranked, but if all you want is CLEAN sound, then, yes you can use your 100W/4x12 at low volume.
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I'm talking about a volume level equal to watching a TV at night. You don't get power tube saturation unless a tube amp is cranked but you don't get power tube saturation from a solid state amp at any level. As I pointed out before at low levels both types of amp will have to rely on their preamp sections for tone. So with all Db levels being equal I'll take a multi tube preamp over a solid state preamp every time.
 
ocnor said:
I agree with the cost part but there are tube amps as small as a Vypr. I'm not saying that everyone should have a half stack in their bedrooms. Most modeling amps are not that versatile as they use basically the same few sounds with different EQ curves and call them different amp models. .
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That may be true for the cheapo stuff. Some of them are pretty good though. I had a tube amp way smaller than the Vypyr. It was loud as shit. Look around any site, even this one. Guys with 1 watt tube heads are building iso boxes to contain their monstrous one watt tube amps because even one tube watt is sometimes too loud for bedroom guys and people that don't want to disturb their famiy, neighbors, etc. This is the one and only area in which I think a good modeling amp is a better option than a tube amp. With a modeler, you get the preamp gain AND simulated power tubey goodness. Is it as good as a real cranked tube amp? Hell no. Is it totally suitable for bedroom levels? Yup. And, on top of that, you usually get hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars worth of "pedals" and reverbs and loopers and all sorts of shit crammed into the sim amp.
 
plus ultimately it's all what you do with it.
I can make almost anything sound acceptable ..... and for recording I absolutely can use a modeler and there's no way that you'd be able to tell.
It's live where I start to have issues with them because they don't have the dynamics of a straight tube amp and I don't feel like having 4 different patches for every sound just to be able to have slightly different volume levels.
With a good tube amp I can just bear down on it and bring the git to the front but with modelers you have to have different presets for any volume change you want to make.

I like my Mark V and my Blue Angel and my Orange and my Ampegs and my Fenders and my Marshall.
But I'm no gear snob ....... I've heard and recorded too many guitars where you can't tell it's a modeler to be all snooty about it.
 
"Hybrid generally means the pre-amp section has a tube and the power section is SS although I have seen at least one amp where it was the other way around ..... the power section was tubed and the preamp section was SS."

Yes Lt Bob....And then! There amps that have hybrid preamps, sstate AND valves and a valved power stage. With proper design you can have the best of both worlds.

In fact a GREAT many famous "valve" amps have the odd op amp lurking in there if only in the FX loop or reverb driver/recovery.

Dave.
 
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