New Mackie tube amp

[therage!]

Great tone and flexibility were only two parts of Greg Mackie's vision for the ultimate guitar amp; portability was also key. The iron power section components of traditional vacuum tube guitar amps are heavy and bulky, but contribute the natural compression that guitar players associate as "the tube sound." The Hotwire replaces those heavy components with a discrete MOSFET power section that emulates the sag and soft-clipping of traditional analog tube components that give tube amps their distinct character.

Key word here is EMULATE.

They can emulate until they're blue in the face and this thing is still NOT going to be a real tube amp. Just ain't gonna happen.

There's just something about them real power and rectifier tubes and all them iron components.

Street price of $1500.....I'd buy a real tube amp any day over this thing at that price.


http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2008/Mackie-Hotwire-VT12-Guitar-Amp.html

 

[CoolCat]

Mackie's goal was to design a single combo guitar amp that could replace the six-plus boutique and classic tube amps he'd been lugging around for years.

 

[cusebassman]

Yea, it really comes down to priorities... its not going to sound the same as a real tube amp, but it packs a lot more sounds in than a single tube one would. So, if you don't mind the weight, and really want the tone vs. versatility, go for the tube amp. For live applications, I don't think you are going to notice a vast difference between the two, to be honest. For the studio, definitely

 

[Henry Mars]

The curves on some V Channel power mosfets look a lot like pentode curves.

I have seen some incredible power amps that were designed with them.

Now I am going to confess that I have become a tube snob over the last few years, but I am willing to bet that a well designed mosfet power amp can get very close. Close enough that a person with an uneducated ear will not be able to tell the difference. Some times I wonder if lugging around my hernia machine is actually worth it. ( Then I recover from the momentary lapse in sanity)

 

[soundchaser59]

Key word here is EMULATE.

They can emulate until they're blue in the face and this thing is still NOT going to be a real tube amp. Just ain't gonna happen.

There's just something about them real power and rectifier tubes and all them iron components.

Street price of $1500.....I'd buy a real tube amp any day over this thing at that price.


http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2008/Mackie-Hotwire-VT12-Guitar-Amp.html

I can get a Mesa 5.50 Express for $1200 that will blow this thing right outa the sky.

 

[zazz]

acctually i think mackie make some great stuff that has never let me down ..i also have some mesa boogie stuff which has broken down and no one knows how to fix....i have lot of respect for mackie quality.

 

[Lt. Bob]

acctually i think mackie make some great stuff that has never let me down ..i also have some mesa boogie stuff which has broken down and no one knows how to fix....i have lot of respect for mackie quality.

I like Mackie quite a bit and have never seen anything from them that wasn't well built and designed and it's all bullet proof.
But this is a fancy modeler .......Now maybe it's gonna be the first modeler to succeed in replacing tube amps ...... someday one will and maybe this is it.
But it'll have to prove it to me. Every single modeling amp I've ever seen was introduced with language much like the ads for this ...... "replaces a bunch of amps" .... realistic tube sound" ...."blah blah blah".
I'm not seeing anything in the description that makes it sound like there's anything very new about this. Just another modeler with Mackies' personal preferences guiding how it's voiced.
I'll look forward to trying one out.

 

[therage!]

I like Mackie quite a bit and have never seen anything from them that wasn't well built and designed and it's all bullet proof.
But this is a fancy modeler .......Now maybe it's gonna be the first modeler to succeed in replacing tube amps ...... someday one will and maybe this is it.
But it'll have to prove it to me. Every single modeling amp I've ever seen was introduced with language much like the ads for this ...... "replaces a bunch of amps" .... realistic tube sound" ...."blah blah blah".
I'm not seeing anything in the description that makes it sound like there's anything very new about this. Just another modeler with Mackies' personal preferences guiding how it's voiced.
I'll look forward to trying one out.

Exactly!

I really like the new POD X3, not bad at all...for what it is.