ShadowBlade Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I'm sure everyone who plays electric guitar has had someone shove tubes down your throat and refuse to even look at an amplifier that is not tube powered. I personally believe that any decent amp and guitar can sound great as long as the player is good and you know what you're doing with EQs, mixing etc. Basically, any other fans of solid states as well? Any differences on recording the different kinds of amps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Sounding great and having 'that tube amp sound' aren't the same thing. The guitarist in the band I play with, who's been playing electric guitar for probably 30 years, uses the Line6 Pod X3 Live (usually with a keyboard amp or monitor) now because it's relatively small, easy to program, and easily portable, but he's done his fair share of gigs with various pedals and tube amps, and there's a certain warmth and tone that he gets out of the tube amp that he doesn't get out of his current setup. Basically, the better and more experienced you are, the more you'll be able to tell the subtle differences between various pieces of gear and whether it's worth the tradeoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Solid state/digital amps have a lot of trouble with low/mid-gain overdrive. Their early break up is always a bit iffy and uneven. On a good tube amp (with a good dynamic guitar), you can have a crunch sound will your volume knob on 10 and a crystal clean sound with it on 2, and they will be more or less the same volume. This kind of dynamic response and flexibility is the strength of the tube amp. That said I use Guitar Rig on almost everything for budget reasons. You can achieve good results with all 3, but if you spend enough money and know what you're doing - the tubular response wins. It is worth noting that a large proportion of tube amps are noisy broken pieces of shite and should be destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Well said Fishy. I think my favorite amps in the way of tubes is the Engl Invader and Peavey 5150ii. The thing that gets me about this is people who think they have stellar tone just because they have a tube amp. Like a friend of mine refuses anything but tubes. Yet I've heard his live playing and recordings and the guitar is dead center, he kills the mids, the overall EQ sucks, not even a tinge of verb, delay or anything on leads....... Then he has the balls to tell me my solid state's tone sucks lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarretGraves Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Well said Fishy. I think my favorite amps in the way of tubes is the Engl Invader and Peavey 5150ii. The thing that gets me about this is people who think they have stellar tone just because they have a tube amp. Like a friend of mine refuses anything but tubes. Yet I've heard his live playing and recordings and the guitar is dead center, he kills the mids, the overall EQ sucks, not even a tinge of verb, delay or anything on leads....... Then he has the balls to tell me my solid state's tone sucks lol Well it sounds like he can't mix for shit. That's point #1. If you don't know how to pan your shit, ugh. Second, I now use a Line 6 Spider IV amp miked with 2 sm57's and am loving it! My tone has a really great crunch to it which I like and have been searching for for what seems like years. I had been very unhappy with my sound up until now. So to talk shit about solid state is just stupid. Solid states can be great amps if made right. I have very little experience with tubes. But a friend of mine told me that you have to replace the tube every year or so? Is that correct? Because if it is then pfft fuck it. Im too lazy and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Well it sounds like he can't mix for shit. That's point #1. If you don't know how to pan your shit, ugh.Second, I now use a Line 6 Spider IV amp miked with 2 sm57's and am loving it! My tone has a really great crunch to it which I like and have been searching for for what seems like years. I had been very unhappy with my sound up until now. So to talk shit about solid state is just stupid. Solid states can be great amps if made right. I have very little experience with tubes. But a friend of mine told me that you have to replace the tube every year or so? Is that correct? Because if it is then pfft fuck it. Im too lazy and cheap. I KNOW MAN! So true! I got a spider III and I love it. Everyone on ultimate-guitar.com hates that amp. With my batman beyond cover I did recently, so far everyone on UG has said they love tone, especially the lead. So I must doing something right. I haven't told anyone on the site what I used. I wonder if their opinions would change if I told them lol. Well a lot of metal and rock players actually prefer solid states because they have harder clipping. Different harmonics. Still, you can get a sweet warmth out of tubes that you can't really emulate with solid state. So it depends what yur looking for I guess. And yes, you do have to replace tubes. How often depends on how much you use the amp and how hard you drive it. Since most tube amps have more than one tube. It can cost you...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Well said Fishy. I think my favorite amps in the way of tubes is the Engl Invader and Peavey 5150ii. no Saldano slo 100 I dont pan my rhythem track all the time(and i do one side pans ), and i get a good mix, your friend's gear must not like him! (altho i dont post guitar tracks on hear ) But i think peavey revalver and guitar rig have some nice sounds that emulate tube pretty good (altho i would KILL for a saldano slo 100, i only need like $3,600 ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darangen Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I'd have to echo Fishy with my opinion. When you have a great dynamic player with a decent guitar, tube amps win hands down. The flexibility really is what makes them better. That said, I've used a solid state amp for about 12 years now and love the tone I get from it. I'm currently saving for a tube amp (shooting for a mesa boogie mark v!), but I won't be retiring my solid state for it. My tube amp will become my primary amp, but I'll still have my solid state as an additional amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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