Are tubes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kingofpain678
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Kingofpain678

Kingofpain678

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As important in a clean guitar tone as they are in dirty/distorted guitar tones?
 
I'd say so. While they could possibly be driven harder with overdrive pedals or by simply cranking up the volume, they will still provide a warmer, more dynamic clean tone. The level of headroom will of course depend on the amplifier you are using.

For what it's worth, there are people out there who use tube heads for their overdrive/distortion sounds and switch to a solid-state amp for cleans (most commonly a Roland JC-120 combo).
 
The only people I've seen who prefer solid state cleans are a few jazz guitarists and metalheads. Tubes will always be > solid state as well as digital.
 
NCdan said:
The only people I've seen who prefer solid state cleans are a few jazz guitarists and metalheads. Tubes will always be > solid state as well as digital.
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Well I'm a metalhead. well... not as metal as everyone assumes, I'm more on the hard rock side of metal but still.
I just wondered because the amp I have now is just a one channel amp that was made for only dirty sounds and I though I might get a little 1x12 combo amp for cleans and just wondered if I should look into tubes or solid state.

I'm still not 100 percent sure how I want to approach clean tones yet, and the separate combo amp is just an option...
 
In ANY tube amp, the tubes, in conjunction with the transformers, the circuitry, and even the location of the tubes in association with the transformers have EVERYTHING to do with the tone.

If you have an amp with controls that include a preamp volume control as well as tone controls and a master, then the settings you use (gain staging) will determine how much of the preamp tubes or the power amp tubes will affect the final output of the amp to the speakers. Each set of tubes does something different to the sound and only by experimenting with your guitar and your style are you going to determine what you'll get .
 
cavedog101 said:
In ANY tube amp, the tubes, in conjunction with the transformers, the circuitry, and even the location of the tubes in association with the transformers have EVERYTHING to do with the tone.

If you have an amp with controls that include a preamp volume control as well as tone controls and a master, then the settings you use (gain staging) will determine how much of the preamp tubes or the power amp tubes will affect the final output of the amp to the speakers. Each set of tubes does something different to the sound and only by experimenting with your guitar and your style are you going to determine what you'll get .
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Yup :)
10 Chars
 
I've compaired 2 similar amps, one solid state the other tube. The solid state is a Fender Pro 180, 100 watts, 2 chanel, 2X12 stock Fender speakers. The tube amp is a Fender Twin Reverb (the twin,) 100 watts, 2 chanel, 2X12 stock Fender speakers. Both have spring reverb and a feature which allows opperating each chanel seperately or in combination, front panel controls almost identical.

On the gain chanel, the Twin has a much smoother, mellow tone while the Pro 180 has a slightly grainy, more fuzz like tone. The Twin seems to have more sustain (to my ears anyway) and a little more volume.

On the clean chanel, The Pro 180 has more attack and shorter decay while the Twin has slightly less attack and a much slower decay, this seems to be the main difference as they both have a very similar tone. This is more noticable at lower volumes than at mid volume, at high volume the Pro 180 is more brittle while the Twin maintains a smoother quality.


This is a pretty limited comparison, just some notable differences between two amps with basicly the same features, but one being solid state and the other tube.
 
Clean tones are for the...oh nevermind. :p

Subjective question. All answers are a matter of perception. I dig having an amp that'll let me shred through steel, or sing with the angels (naked ones) at the stomp of a switch. :cool:

My perception: I don't like SS all that much. To me it's just too trebley, too much white noise rather than the fuzzy warm blend that I prefer.

Best bet is to go rent a small tube amp or buy a cheapie off craigs. Your own perceptions will build from the experience.
 
VP is a hack and a fraud that doesn't know anything about guitars.
 
Hybrid amps

I used to have two amps that had solid state and tubes in them. One was a Peavey Heritage combo. It had solid state preamp and tube power amp. The other was a Legend head. It had tube preamp and solid state power amp. What a weird combination those two amps were. I find tube amps to be smoother with some compression. Solid state seems cleaner with tight headroom. Apparently one difference between the two is that when tubes overdrive they tend to produce even harmonics that are pleasing to the ear. When solid state overdrives they tend to produce odd harmonics that seem harsh. A MOSFET solid state amp sounds similiar to a tube amp. I think they have output transformers in them which could explain the similiarity.
VP
 
Victory Pete said:
When solid state overdrives they tend to produce odd harmonics that seem harsh. A MOSFET solid state amp sounds similiar to a tube amp. I think they have output transformers in them which could explain the similiarity.
VP
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You really have no clue, do you? What kind of harmonics do saturating transformers produce?
 
mshilarious said:
You really have no clue, do you? What kind of harmonics do saturating transformers produce?
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Is this a trick question? Are you saying tubes dont produce more even harmonics and transistors dont produce more odd harmonics?
VP
 
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