Reason why he doesn't hear the difference between tube vs solid state : he focuses on playing guitar, rather than paying attention to every little detail of the sound an amp produces. Some people focus too much on their pickups,amps, and every other little detail that they spend more time tweaking and talking about guitar than actual playing. Every amp i've heard this guy play sounds great because he's a great player. That's really all it is.
This is true. In the one music store where I work part time, we got in this vintage (or maybe just old?) Mesa Boogie that is covered in this red faux-suede like material. Beautiful piece of gear, and beautiful-sounding piece of gear! Can I afford it? Nope. Would I risk gigging it even if I could? Double nope!
Speaking of gigging if you hook up a 2000 Dollar tube amp to a solid state final stage how much drugs and hookers could you have bought while gigging in Amsterdam if you would have just gotten a line pod instead?
I think what happens is this: Player starts out with some cheap and nasty SS amp that doesn't sound very good. Then they decide to buy a valve amp and find even a low-end valve product sounds 10x better so they are convinced they shouldn't play anything else. But what's happened is they never tried a GOOD SS amp and played it through a nice cab so, if they do encounter a good SS, they are rather surprised that it doesn't suck like their old starter amp.
I think also what occurs is that 99% of solid state amps are sold with shit speakers. Put a creamback in a little Peavey rage combo, and it'll change your opinion.
Have you ever tried a Cube Stage amp? They are advertised a sounding just as good as a tube amp. I am thinking of getting the Fender 15W Humboldt cannabis rex speaker amp. What do you think of it?
I have to agree, I run various ss amps along with my Mesa road king 2, 4x12 cab and a les Paul and it sounds amazing, yes I have played through more expensive tube systems. Mesa power amps, digitech pre amps out to full stack of two cabs, but the difference is small and the expense is very great, not to mention hauling around a flight case rack system, along with 2, 4x12 cabs, plus pedals, it gets to be ridiculous when you want to play a gig and bring your tone with you, if you have to haul in all that gear to do it. Also, in smaller rooms, you really cant heat up those tubes the way you want to too get that tone that warm, brilliant tone, you just cant get it at lower levels and in small clubs you have a limit to your volume. I see merit in both, if I had a crew of people to move my things for me, and unlimited funds, then yeah I would probably build an incredible tube driven system, but alas, I am a starving artist, I work alone or with my band, I dont have much help and a bad back, so for me, the less gear I have to haul the better. I am down to a head, a 4x12 and a foot board and my guitar, I can carry it in two trips, one if I really get creative. With that gear I can get very close to the tube driven tone I used to have in my 8k$ set up with all that gear Id rather simplify and come really close for now, when I get picked up and have roadies and unlimited funds for touring, I will re think it.
It's nice to see a vid from a guitar player who thinks for himself. I've been playing guitar since the mid 80s. I've owned a lot of tube and solid state amps, and you are spot on about the cost of ownership of a tube amp and the high quality of many solid state amps. Only a fool would deny how great many solid state amps sound. I'm using a Roland Cube and a Boss GT-1 multi fx. This rig is totally solid state and I've got the best tone I've ever had, and I've owned Marshalls, Fenders, Boogies, you name it. I've experienced every nightmare you can with a tube amp. I had one particular plexi in the 80s that literally cost me three times as much to service and repair as it did to purchase. I got tired of it. So I started gigging with a solid-state Randall RG 75 around '88 in Hollywood. I never got so many compliments for my tone than I did when I played that Randall. I knew from that point on not to count out solid state. It did the job just fine, loud and clear. I eventually sold all my amps except for the Randall. I wish I still had that Randall. Great, great, great amp. My next amp will probably be a Boss Katana. I love them, and they are a great value, extremely affordible, and they rock hard.
Tube amps is totally high maintenance,and expensive to keep it up and running!!!!....I would go solid state all the way for touring night after night at the pubs.....
A good amp is a good amp. If you get the sound you're looking for then great! There are plenty of crappy sounding tube amps and the same can be said for solid state or digital amps. Im open to any amp that gives me a great tone.
I was a tube guy for years... I swore by them until I blew a few up at gigs. They all have their place. 25 yrs later I went back to Solid State... Peavey xxl is a fantastic amp. So is the Orange cr120. Tone is in the fingers.
I recently switched to a tube amp, and didn't realize how much of a money pit it would be. Before I used a rack mount and power amp, then switched to the EVH 5150 III 100w head. The real money pit was having to get a bunch of pedals for all the effects I needed.
So why, then, does nearly every pro musician for whom money/maintenance/weight is not an issue choose a tube amp?? I'll tell you why... because they DO sound different. More than that, though, they FEEL different and respond differently to subtle picking dynamics than do solid state amps.
+Gary Stackhouse Most likely because they are louder. At home you'll definetly see an ss amp sitting in their living room. And also because they are attached to them since every great rock artist came from the 1960-1980s and back then ss amps were shit. And also for the reason that most people play Fender and not G&L. They have to use certain amps, because they have a sponsorship deal with said company. Tonally, you won't hear almost any difference in same price ss and valve amps.
I've been using Fender amps of all sorts since I started, especially Super Reverbs. Until I got an old Peavey Bandit with an aftermarket Celestion speaker in it, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Almost felt like I was going crazy for a second there, but now I have definitely accepted the mantra: "If its good, its good!"
Just switched back to solid state after years of being a tube snob. Oddly, I was a solid state fan in high school and college when I was in bands. Then I was a bedroom musician for years and got into the tube snobbery. Then when I started actually gigging again this year, I found I wanted something light and reliable.
Because, these days, they’re just better, that’s why! Also, as Dave says, reliability, stability, convenience, ease of repair. Also, they sound better with pedals. I’ve never understood people buying valve amps and then sticking loads of transistor and digital effects in front of them!
I totally agree. There is a lot of snobbery about valve amps. My mate saved up for a Custom Shop Les Paul and a Boutique valve amp, then saturated his signal in shitty fuzz and overdrive pedals so that it might as well have been a Woolworths guitar into a Kay amplifier. He was smug about it too!
Jeffrey Albert 😂😂😂 Bizarre, isn’t it? We live in a golden age of excellent, inexpensive gear and still people will put themselves in debt to buy the “proper” stuff”.
I totally agree with you. Valve amps are so ridiculously expensive and such a pain to move around and maintain, they're really not worth bothering with. But then again, does a $4,000 super-duper special limited edition strat sound really better than a $500 basic MIM strat?
+Lenivy Gamer, the Fender CS "$4,000 super-duper special limited edition strat" would hopefully have a thin nitrocellulose finish, a body made from a single piece of wood, and a steel trem block as opposed to the multi-piece wood body covered in a polyurethane thick finish and a zinc pot metal trem block. However, the tuners would be the same for both (standard Fender Practice), the pots, and the 5-Way switch are the same, too. Let's say you might like the choice of the custom shop pups: Texas Specials, CS 69 is the Hendrix later 60s-70s post CBS sound, 54s the early vintage sound, Hot 50's will sound better than the MIM's stock ceramic pickups. Upgrade the MIM to Fender's CS pickup (as as in the $4K strat) and the difference is no longer that much, but it set you back $199. However, you can get a set of hand scatter wound pickups from Don Mare (any of his sets) for $55 more, it the MIM will IMHO sound better than the $4K Strat. Switch out the zinc trem block with Brass from GFS) or Cold Rolled Steel (Callaham), sand down the polyfinish, and the difference isn't worth the extra money of the customer shop.
+BDaMonkey, My favorite twist on this is what sounds better, a $4k Guitar through $500 Solid State amp or a MIM basic strat through a $4K tube amp? That's a variant of the what sounds better, a $5k guitar through a beginners 10Watt practice amp, or a entry level guitar through Marshall hand wired tube Combo or Head and half stack.
Yes it would, however cheap gear will get you 90% of the way there, every percentage point after that gets exponentially more expensive. Btw the wort strats I've ever heard are all MIM. Worse than a half decent squire.
Finally, someone who has a similar point of view! Almost all the tube amps I had, had issues at one point or another. It was very embarrassing one time, when, during a concert my tube amp stopped functioning completely ( I was plugged directly into a Marshall, no pre-amps or pedals). None of my solid state amps have ever betrayed me.
I actually just bought a Fender Sidekick 30 Reverb SS amp from 1984. I bought it because Kevin Shields said that he used one exclusively until about 1990. He actually didnt like valve amps back then. This amp is seriously amazing and super cheap because they arent super well known. Friends made fun of me for buying it.
Dude, I'm totally with you!! I can't tell the difference in sound...only the damn price tag!! All my gear is Solid State, and it gets the job done just as well as any tube amp out there in my opinion. And you're right...tube amps cost WAY too much to service and keep running, they keep discontinuing and changing the types of tubes that go in them...too much of a hassle to be honest. I'll stick with my Solid State gear thank you.
I love the hell out of my Valvestate combo! Also have a mid-80's Randall that is WAY sikk, and so damn loud even on 1! SS amps have their spot in the biz for sure!
I bought my Marshall MG 100 FX..9 years ago not one single issue..i also run it with a Marshall JCM900..Sounds fantastic..in the 9 years i have had the MG 100 FX..no issues..but have had many issues with my JCM900..What I'm saying is very true..my Marshall MG FX 100 Always has the power and the wonderful tone..i would get rid of the JCM900 before i would the MG 100 FX..
I run my slightly modded Valvestate 8080 combo into an old all valve 70s Fender Silverface Bassman and the sound is huge !!! I play classic / psych / stoner / blues rock. Being a tech. It still costs me a bomb to get a valve amp going. I just blew almost $200 aussie on new tubes for a Marshall DSL401 combo and that's wholesale, but because of the bad design, I have new problems that have manifested in the preamp after repairing the power & phase inverter section. A solid state amp, if it goes DC can cool your speaker where as a valve amp has a transformer which can protect the speaker if a valve shorts out
All I hear Is TONE TONE TONE,Tube amps. I have solid state amps.And what Dave said is so true. Solid state amps are so "consistence" I get great tone w/ Solid S. I'm not going crazy to find that SOUND I had. (consistence)...... Lighter,Price,Sound, All three "consistence" Thank You, Dave. Peace*
Great video Dave! I think this is an important point for beginners especially. When i think back at all the time and money I wasted over the years trying to get "that sound" thinking it was because I didn't have a tube amp. Then you finally get one and realize that it really doesn't make much of a difference. Skill is more important than anything. I own SS, digital and tube amps now and I'm perfectly happy to play on any of them. They all sound great to me.
Watched all your "Tone" videos and had no idea the CR120 was solid state. Great tribute to your playing skills, championing of modestly priced guitars and of course a great Orange amp. I hope Orange have suitably rewarded you for doing one hell of a demonstration of their product!
I agree with everything you've said about solid state amps, I've had a peavey 100 watt valve and it let me down at a gig half way through but my Laney 100 watt combo has never let me down and I still have it after all these years.
Agree 100%. Over my 50 year's playing I've owned everything from my first Selmer Treble 'n Bass 50 (and Goliath 1x18 cab!), to Boogies, VHT Pitbull, Cornford, Marshalls, Fenders etc., but I still come back to my Bandits which I have used since the early '80s. 'Consistency' is absolutely what I like about them; no susceptibility to crap, tone-robbing mains power supplies, reliability and zero running costs-and at my age (65), I'm not about to be shlepping 50lb amps around any more!
Nobody has ever walked away from a great show and said "Well, It would have been 10% better if the guitarist was playing a tube amp". Love your practicality Dave CHEERS!
@@NeungView well there’s something to be said for the guitarist writing the music. Is the guitarist going to be inspired to play what they play on something that doesn’t reach out and touch them? I had a solid state for 15 years before I tried owning a tube amp. I didn’t know. Then I got one, and I’m totally converted. Nothing ones close to playing a tube amp. *You FEEL IT.* Screw the crowd a second. Will there be a crowd when the guitarist doesn’t have enough fun playing? No digital sound can set the air on fire like a tube.
@@justinTime077 agreed! I've played solid states for 30 years and finally bought a 5watt valve head and now i can't put my guitars down. It just feels right!. Maybe most of these ppl haven't really played valve amps like me and don't know what there missing.
Hey Dave, just wanted to take a minute and let you know how much I enjoy your channel. You enthusiasm and energy is contagious. Hope all is well in your world and wish you great success as your journey continues forward!!
My first two amps were Peavey tube combos .. third was a Laney pro tube AOR. My Fender Mustang ii modeling amp does what they did and sooooo much more.
After many really bad SS amps, my first "good" amp was a Marshall 3203, which only has power tubes. Still have it. Sounds great. Never getting rid of it. Can't promise that about my all tube DSL.
Finally I have seen this video on why. As a military veteran with multiple injuries and getting closer to 50. I absolutely agree with you. I am not lugging heavy tube amps anywhere. But, I do here the difference in tube and solid state. Tubes are richer in sound. But, the advantages of the solid state outweighs that only advantage the tune amp has.
In my opinion 90% of a player’s tone comes from the finger work. If Jimi Hendrix was playing through my crap amp, you could still tell it was Jimi and it would be sound amazing. 👍
I have had tube amps and solid state amps and now just got another amp. The Blackstar ID260 TVP 2X12 combo and I am loving it! A few pedals with it like a compressor and the amp just tears the walls down.
THANK YOU! Finally someone who sees it the same way I do! As long as the SS amps are made to sound like tube amps without the tubes, like Bandits and XXLs, they sound great while being far more reliable. I got sick of buying replacement tubes only to discover some were already bad or weak to begin with, and the slight difference with power tubes isn't worth the maintenance dollars to me. My Rocktron Velocity (soon to be the Rocktron Mainline) is plenty for me!
I once owned a solid state Peavey Studio Corous and it was nothing but trouble. I now own a Fender Twin and it sounds incredible...... I absolutely love it and it has been reliable for years.
I agree with your points. If you’re a working musician ss is the way to go. If your a star with a budget yea super reverb and jmp all day because it’s not gonna be your problem.
I'm amazed every time when I'm watching a video like this one here and I realize that a lot of people are still "hearing" a difference between tubes vs solid state :))) For sure they don't know that smart musicians have moved away from this mentality long time ago. And for sure they don't know either how many big names are touring using solid state amps or how many big names have recorded great albums using solid state amps. And I'm talking about big names that were using tube amps before and have no financial issues to maintain a tube amp. Everything is about who's playing that amp and who's mixing the song. Period. I mean...Def Leppard - Hysteria and Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire (just to name two of them), were recorded with cheap solid state amps and they won Grammys and went Platinum. Jeez. 😮
I spilled a glass of water down the back of my Marshall 6100lm 30th anniversary amp once and it took out a power tube and an H.T. fuse. So I tore my rig down, found my spare tubes & fuses and had the amp back up and running again before the rest of the band had even finished the song we were playing. The amp used to go through a set of tubes about every year or so, but then I put a cooling fan in the amp, pointed it right at the power tubes and haven't had to put another tube in it since, and that was about 15 years ago. It's been working great ever since, I love my 6100lm. It's become a part of me. Lol.
You make some valid points. I had a valve amp blow a fuse at a gig and guitar player from another band was gracious enough to loan me an amp - a solid state B52. Interestingly enough, afterwards, I had a number of folks tell me they couldn't really tell the difference and it still sounded like me. It did feel a bit different at first but as the set progressed, I got past that and had a great gig.
Totally agree with u 100%! The past tube amps I’ve had are a Vox ac30c2, Marshall dsl40c, Vox ac15c1, none of them sounded great to me, the glass in back was something I always worried about and the upkeep of them. Since then I purchased an Orange cr60c crush pro, and couldn’t be happier, it has all of the tone and volume I need, no worries of tubes. Sounds as good, if not better then any tube amp I’ve had. I’ve learned over time, it’s just using your ears for tone, plain and simple.The fs2 foot switch is on its way! I love these orange crush pro 60c amps!
I've always owned solid state amps. I've played mine alongside marshalls, fenders, oranges, and I've never had any problem. I love that they're cheap and sound great. My 120w acoustic lead series is $300, my friends 100w Marshall was $1000 and mine is louder and I loaded with great effects. Not to mention is sounds just as good. Needless to say I can agree with you lol
I bought the solid state CR120 based on your demo video and you are so right! A truly lovely sounding amp that stays consistent and continues to amaze me. It can fool complete tone snobs as well. Thanks for another great video!
Wow, dislikes are over 10% - tube amp babies really get their knickers in a twist when someone prefers SS over tube. They don't really care if you prefer and play SS amps, they just don't want you to say it. Keep on being real, brother!
Im a tube amp guy but I have respect for the solid state players. Those guys tend to not care as much as gear and just play guitar. They care more about practicing their guitar over trying to spend a ton of money on gear
I am not a rich person, he said. You are mman. First - you have skill and talent; 2. You do what you apparently love; 3. You are not chained by brands, and valves, and names and so on - you just get the freaking piece of wood with wires on it and play the you know what out of it! Love your channel and everything you do!!! Cheers, Peter Y.
I completely agree with Dave. I've had both types as well, but I've always reasoned that there hasn't been an amplifier invented that can improve playing. It all starts in the fingers and only gets louder through an amp.
I recently bought a Fender Frontman 212R ( after watching Dave's review of one). Love it! It has that Fender tone (I've played through lots of twins), versatile tone settings, usable two-stage OD channel, and if I come home and find it's been stolen I'll be upset, but I won't be having a heart attack thinking about the cost of replacing it.
Just what I needed (youtube recommended...) I can hear and feel the difference but is not that big to justify the loss of time, money, and peace. Nice and sincere review. Tubes aren't going to make play better xD
I have a Vox Cambridge 15 and I am still often amazed at the tone it produces. Great amp. I had the Vox DA5 when I lived in a tiny apartment. It was very good. I appreciated the wattage option and usually played on O.5 watt... but the modelling option were far too many (especially in the dirty and distortion models. Also couldn't really use the effects well with the interface available.
I have mostly used solid state my whole life and I love them. I do have an Orange Tiny Terror 15watt 1x12 that sounds really good though. My favorite though is my Gibson Lab Series L7, which I believe is the best solid state ever made. Thanks for posting this video!
totally agree, also have found that my valve amps will pick up room noise more. I can't get a tight low end response from a valve amp where a solid state ( like Randall RG), is super tight with out the modulation or after humm that valve amps regularly emit. Big names use valve amps with lots of glass so people think that valves are the way to go but in a lot of cases the reality is they just have the valve amp on clean and then use solid state effects to get the sound.
I have played through solid state amps for almost 25 years. I had one great Peavey tube amp when I was younger, and the tubes went out. Took it in and had a guy fix it. While he had it in the shop, he lent me a Crate, and I fell in love with how loud it was and how light it was. Fast forward to the last 13 years, and I bought a tube pedal with a 12 AX7 built in. That’s what I use to get my sound, and I plug into a SS amp, Garage Band, etc. I don’t understand why some are so hell bent on tube amps, when the ss world has improved by drastic measures. Peace bro. New to your channel, and I dig it.
kemper is proving a lot of your points. for me the relationship with tubes is part of the relationship and journey. im a tube guy but i always have my modded marshall mg50 to get decent clean for my sigbal chain of joy
***** If anything, it's heavily distorted music where you really need valves, transistor overdrive/dirt never sounds good to me - for me, a good metal tone is simply a Les Paul (or comparable axe) into a heavy-gain Marshall (or similar) via a valve distortion pedal.
Tell me a list of all "valve" distotion pedals with a true tube circuit. Placing just a tube somewhere in the circuit hasn't anything in common with a true tube amp. I love good tube amps. And I love good transistor amps. There is no "better". A fact is, that the most transistor amps are very cheaply made. Who would think of a good sound from a damn cheap amp? For the most, it's not me. The best qualitity transistor stuff is from the late 70s to the late 80s. And the most famous is the Roland JC-120.
I've been a professional musician for 30 years, and I stopped using valve amps on stage in 1988. The sonic consistency you mention here is my #1 reason, I don't want to deafen myself and my bandmates by having to crank the amp beyond reason to find the sweet spot. But all the other reasons, reliability, weight, expense, etc. are all a pain in the ass too.
Loving the Peavey Bandit 112 over your right shoulder. My first good amp was the same model. I now use two older Bandit 65 amps in stereo style setup. Blue and white knob version. I like the fuzziness of the drive circuit and the quick transient response. Reliable and $100 Cdn each.
This video perfectly exemplifies the effect of sample size. This guy found solid state amps that sound very similar to his valve amps, and the ss amps were more reliable and easier to maintain- that's perfect, and it works for him. I have had the exact opposite experience. All my solid state amps had nasally tone, and when (not "if") something went wrong, it was anyone's guess as to what it was. Worst of all, they wouldn't cut through the mix live. My tube (valve) amps have beautiful tone that was easy to dial in. I am one of the ones who can notice that the tube amps have more body, depth, and warmth (from my sample size), plus my tube amps (Mesas) are built like tanks- no biasing required, either. Yes, they are more expensive, but they work for me and my style. To emphasize the point of the video, go with what works for you, not with what you think *should* work for you!
Yeah I have both a Solid State Peavey and a Laney A/B'd just to be able to have tons of different tones and sounds. The Laney Tube Amp sounds better than any Solid State I've ever owned without a single pedal hooked to it. The tone is amazing and Laney is not super overpriced if someone wants to get into Tube Amps...
just listened to a laney in a tube/ss comparison and honestly it sounded horrible. It was being compared to a vox tube as well and the vox blew it away too.
It might be your ear too. I can tell the differrence between Very good tube and Very good ss amps if i listen VERY VERY carefully. It's a TINY difference that i dotn think anyone but a musician could hear. I also think it's the manufacturers pulling bullshit as usual. "Hey toss a cheap tube or two into the design we can double the price".. even though the amp design was shit and whether it had tubes or not was irrelevant.
I can definitely tell the difference in sound... but, for me, it's not as much about sound, per se, as it is about FEEL. A solid state amp does not react the same way to picking dynamics as a properly set-up tube amp rig. There is a reason that the VAST majority of players who have an unlimited choice, repair techs on the road with them, and someone else to carry and set-up their gear choose to use tube amps.
Good video. For myself, I feel like my tone is too bright and brittle when I run through a solid state amp, but I know people who use solid state amps and have killer tone. Like everything else in the guitar world, it's a matter of what works for each individual. Even if, in the end, I choose to stick with my tube amp, I appreciate your thoughts on the subject. A good friend of mine uses an old Peavey 212 solid state amp, and has the rawest, grungiest rock tone you'll ever hear. She was thinking of moving on to a tube amp, and all I could say is "why"? Her tone was already perfect, why change just because someone said tubes are better? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Absolutely agree that solid state amps are more consistent, reliable, and sound every bit as good as valves, so glad I dumped the valve snobbery label and started listening!
While I wouldn’t go so far as to say solid states sound “every bit as good”, but when weighed against cost, reliability, practicality and maintenance I would agree.
I've owned ss amps and several tube amps. All of them sounded good on cleans. The ss amps started sounding hissy under moderate distortion and badly hissy with high distortion. I hear the same on every review of ss amps when I listen to them.On the other hand I never really liked my Marshall or h and k valve amps. It wasn't until I got a mesa boogie 5:50 that I understood what valve amps really could sound like. That smooth buttery rise and fall in dynamics and tone is out of this world.I fully understand the points you make Dave but I'd never swap the boogie for anything else. I'd rather break my back carrying it :)
Well then, you obviously haven't toured your state playing 3 -4 times a week...Weight is a big issue when you travel by yourself.. I think you like it because of the $$$ you spent on it..If you didn't like it, you would of had buyers remorse of the century!
Hi, I happened to stumble upon your video here, and I just wanted to say that your assessment is spot on. At the end of the day its all about the individual player and knowing how to properly use your gear. A great player can make a $100.00 solid state amp sound great. Also while watching the video you keep talking about playing pub/club gigs, and that old peavey behind you is ideal for that and is a tride and true workhorse! : ). Great video and perspective, just subscribed, and will be watching for future videos.
A lot of the difference with solid state and tube is when you're in higher gain- tube just has a lot more natural sound than solid state on that front, but yeah I mostly agree. Unless you're in the studio or something, you're absolutely fine with a good solid state.
There is a huge difference in sound and the feeling of playing between solid state and tube amps.Some say tube amps are not reliable.Of course if you don't know how to use them properly ,why there is a master volume and standby switch, if don't know how to connect them properly with a cab and don't try them before you buy to see if it's a non-fuctioning properly model.. I had the Marshall Mg100hdfx, the same as David plays.I bought it because of his videos.I liked it very much, it had good sounds. But yet something didn't feel completely right to my ears.. Recently I bought the Marshall jvm205h.I was blown away and I immediately sold the Mg.I mean, come on guys. There is no way for someone who knows how to play to not feel the difference between the sound of solid states and tubes.Also It's a myth that tube amps have to be cranked to sound good enough. I use mine in master volume in 2 and it's killing.But I agree in one thing. If you suck at playing you will suck in both tubes and solid states.Take care guys. Sorry for the long comment but in the end it all comes to everyone's personal preference and choice.
Love your videos! Good to hear from a real musician. I am in my fifties, and a i cannot put in words as well as you have, about the practicality and quality of sound of SS. You were very polite about a tube amps ability to burn your face off. Have a good one
I'm with you. If trained musicians can barely (if at all) tell the difference between solid state and tube, then how many casual listeners can tell the difference? At this point I'm considering just using something like bias on my mac and then plugging into any headphones/speakers/whatever that I need to.
+James Wellington yes there is sonic differences but not something like chinese vs english yet more of different accents english.. It sounds different but not necessarily one better over the other.
Unfortunately, I can hear a great and very obvious difference - all in the favor of tube amps. Otherwise, everything he said is true. They are expensive, heavy, hard to keep going, etc. - a general pain in the ass. I wish I couldn't hear the difference. Maybe I just haven't come upon the right solid state amp!
I feel the same way as you Bob. If I find a solid state or digital amp that is as musical as my Orange Rockerverb 100 then I'll be happy to leave the tube amp at home instead of dragging it everywhere. No success with that so far...
you're talking to untrained "trained musicians" if that's what you've been told. some of the high end modeling units are getting very good, but you can most definitely tell the difference between a tube and an SS amp. Anybody who's been playing a few years can pick out a tube breakup in a chord or 2.
My Roland Jazz chorus is solid state, and what I love about it is that the tone doesn't change as the volume increases. Every valve amp I've played has got more driven as it got louder.
Rob Broome tone and drive are two different things. To me it's fine to have the breakup with increased volume, its part of a player's dynamics. The valve is the heart of the amp, its alive!
I find it's easy to get good sounds out of almost any amp. I've gigged with a roland cube and a marshall mg in the past with no issues. I find that the issue with soild state is not sound per se, it is more how the amp reacts to the way the guitar is being played. I know how to induce feedback and sustain from my marshall dsl 50 by physically leaning into it. Pretty much the same for most valve amps i've found as long as you can turn it up enough!
A good guitarist will sound good through most decent amps SS, Digi or Tube. Yes, the feel is different but a proficient guitarist needs to adapt. Plus1 thumbs up for the good old Roland Cube amp, mines a keeper.
I think we've all heard great SS amps and great tube amps. We've all heard terrible ones from both sides as well. I think these newer modelers are pretty killer and I think they are the future.
I really enjoyed this mate, your honesty was refreshing. I also love solid state amps for the reasons you say! I also like Valve amps but hate carting them about
Reason why he doesn't hear the difference between tube vs solid state : he focuses on playing guitar, rather than paying attention to every little detail of the sound an amp produces. Some people focus too much on their pickups,amps, and every other little detail that they spend more time tweaking and talking about guitar than actual playing. Every amp i've heard this guy play sounds great because he's a great player. That's really all it is.
Thank you very much indeed. :)
Koki Zuniga I thought everything is a means to the end, which is sound.
Interesting point
How true :) My friend is a hell of a guitar player. Anything he plays sounds good or better than it should.
so true........
You sir are fighting the good fight man! "Solid state" does not have to be a dirty word, and I wish more people realized that!
Thank you very much. :)
No problem! I have two of those MGs myself! They haven't let me down yet!
Most people realise that. A tube amp has that cool factor though.
This is true. In the one music store where I work part time, we got in this vintage (or maybe just old?) Mesa Boogie that is covered in this red faux-suede like material. Beautiful piece of gear, and beautiful-sounding piece of gear! Can I afford it? Nope. Would I risk gigging it even if I could? Double nope!
Speaking of gigging if you hook up a 2000 Dollar tube amp to a solid state final stage how much drugs and hookers could you have bought while gigging in Amsterdam if you would have just gotten a line pod instead?
That Orange Micro Terror sitting on top of that Marshall 4x12 makes me happy
I hate the sound of orange amps
@@jasonbuhagiar1708 Sucks to have shit taste.
@eldenjohn4540 lol
I think what happens is this: Player starts out with some cheap and nasty SS amp that doesn't sound very good. Then they decide to buy a valve amp and find even a low-end valve product sounds 10x better so they are convinced they shouldn't play anything else. But what's happened is they never tried a GOOD SS amp and played it through a nice cab so, if they do encounter a good SS, they are rather surprised that it doesn't suck like their old starter amp.
I think also what occurs is that 99% of solid state amps are sold with shit speakers. Put a creamback in a little Peavey rage combo, and it'll change your opinion.
Have you ever tried a Cube Stage amp? They are advertised a sounding just as good as a tube amp. I am thinking of getting the Fender 15W Humboldt cannabis rex speaker amp. What do you think of it?
I have to agree, I run various ss amps along with my Mesa road king 2, 4x12 cab and a les Paul and it sounds amazing, yes I have played through more expensive tube systems.
Mesa power amps, digitech pre amps out to full stack of two cabs, but the difference is small and the expense is very great, not to mention hauling around a flight case rack system, along with 2, 4x12 cabs, plus pedals, it gets to be ridiculous when you want to play a gig and bring your tone with you, if you have to haul in all that gear to do it.
Also, in smaller rooms, you really cant heat up those tubes the way you want to too get that tone that warm, brilliant tone, you just cant get it at lower levels and in small clubs you have a limit to your volume.
I see merit in both, if I had a crew of people to move my things for me, and unlimited funds, then yeah I would probably build an incredible tube driven system, but alas, I am a starving artist, I work alone or with my band, I dont have much help and a bad back, so for me, the less gear I have to haul the better.
I am down to a head, a 4x12 and a foot board and my guitar, I can carry it in two trips, one if I really get creative.
With that gear I can get very close to the tube driven tone I used to have in my 8k$ set up with all that gear
Id rather simplify and come really close for now, when I get picked up and have roadies and unlimited funds for touring, I will re think it.
I think you are right about that.
Very reasonable observation Mr. Hammond. Cheers mate.
"blues is easy to play, hard to feel" I think that intro nailed it my friend
Thank you. :)
It's nice to see a vid from a guitar player who thinks for himself. I've been playing guitar since the mid 80s. I've owned a lot of tube and solid state amps, and you are spot on about the cost of ownership of a tube amp and the high quality of many solid state amps. Only a fool would deny how great many solid state amps sound. I'm using a Roland Cube and a Boss GT-1 multi fx. This rig is totally solid state and I've got the best tone I've ever had, and I've owned Marshalls, Fenders, Boogies, you name it. I've experienced every nightmare you can with a tube amp. I had one particular plexi in the 80s that literally cost me three times as much to service and repair as it did to purchase. I got tired of it. So I started gigging with a solid-state Randall RG 75 around '88 in Hollywood. I never got so many compliments for my tone than I did when I played that Randall. I knew from that point on not to count out solid state. It did the job just fine, loud and clear. I eventually sold all my amps except for the Randall. I wish I still had that Randall. Great, great, great amp. My next amp will probably be a Boss Katana. I love them, and they are a great value, extremely affordible, and they rock hard.
Tube amps is totally high maintenance,and expensive to keep it up and running!!!!....I would go solid state all the way for touring night after night at the pubs.....
A good amp is a good amp. If you get the sound you're looking for then great!
There are plenty of crappy sounding tube amps and the same can be said for solid state or digital amps. Im open to any amp that gives me a great tone.
Me to. As long as it sounds and does what i want of it it I'm happy. :)
I was a tube guy for years... I swore by them until I blew a few up at gigs. They all have their place. 25 yrs later I went back to Solid State... Peavey xxl is a fantastic amp. So is the Orange cr120. Tone is in the fingers.
I recently switched to a tube amp, and didn't realize how much of a money pit it would be. Before I used a rack mount and power amp, then switched to the EVH 5150 III 100w head. The real money pit was having to get a bunch of pedals for all the effects I needed.
I couldn’t agree more
@@ballsofdoom3124 just bought a peavey xxl and I think it sounds awesome
229 people dislike this video coz they have spent thousands on tube amps and still cant achieve a tone as good as Daves!
Thank you very much. :)
Donald_J_Trumpski this comment gave me cancer
I hope thats of the unfatal kind :)
So why, then, does nearly every pro musician for whom money/maintenance/weight is not an issue choose a tube amp?? I'll tell you why... because they DO sound different. More than that, though, they FEEL different and respond differently to subtle picking dynamics than do solid state amps.
+Gary Stackhouse Most likely because they are louder.
At home you'll definetly see an ss amp sitting in their living room.
And also because they are attached to them since every great rock artist came from the 1960-1980s and back then ss amps were shit.
And also for the reason that most people play Fender and not G&L.
They have to use certain amps, because they have a sponsorship deal with said company.
Tonally, you won't hear almost any difference in same price ss and valve amps.
I've been using Fender amps of all sorts since I started, especially Super Reverbs. Until I got an old Peavey Bandit with an aftermarket Celestion speaker in it, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Almost felt like I was going crazy for a second there, but now I have definitely accepted the mantra: "If its good, its good!"
I'm nostalgic for those old vintage kerosine powered amps.
I always preferred the coal powered ones. Haha. :)
What about the windup/crank amps? Those were nice too. Haha.
+rod rosenkratz the origin of the term to "crank" up the volume!
How bout them funnel shaped amps that the announcers at a carnival yell into?
I had a hamster thats real name was Amster
Just switched back to solid state after years of being a tube snob. Oddly, I was a solid state fan in high school and college when I was in bands. Then I was a bedroom musician for years and got into the tube snobbery. Then when I started actually gigging again this year, I found I wanted something light and reliable.
Because, these days, they’re just better, that’s why! Also, as Dave says, reliability, stability, convenience, ease of repair. Also, they sound better with pedals. I’ve never understood people buying valve amps and then sticking loads of transistor and digital effects in front of them!
I totally agree. There is a lot of snobbery about valve amps. My mate saved up for a Custom Shop Les Paul and a Boutique valve amp, then saturated his signal in shitty fuzz and overdrive pedals so that it might as well have been a Woolworths guitar into a Kay amplifier. He was smug about it too!
Jeffrey Albert 😂😂😂 Bizarre, isn’t it? We live in a golden age of excellent, inexpensive gear and still people will put themselves in debt to buy the “proper” stuff”.
Lololo yes sir ,,,, it's because they know that a tube without some kinda digital infront is basically dull and boring g
@@jeffreyalbert6560 Haha Wow ,,, Really ??? Lol cool thanks for that storie sir
John Doole
Because you're tone deaf..Solid state is STERILE as is this guys tone..! SMH
I totally agree with you. Valve amps are so ridiculously expensive and such a pain to move around and maintain, they're really not worth bothering with. But then again, does a $4,000 super-duper special limited edition strat sound really better than a $500 basic MIM strat?
yes it would
Probably not enough to justify the massive difference in price.
+Lenivy Gamer, the Fender CS "$4,000 super-duper special limited edition strat" would hopefully have a thin nitrocellulose finish, a body made from a single piece of wood, and a steel trem block as opposed to the multi-piece wood body covered in a polyurethane thick finish and a zinc pot metal trem block. However, the tuners would be the same for both (standard Fender Practice), the pots, and the 5-Way switch are the same, too. Let's say you might like the choice of the custom shop pups: Texas Specials, CS 69 is the Hendrix later 60s-70s post CBS sound, 54s the early vintage sound, Hot 50's will sound better than the MIM's stock ceramic pickups.
Upgrade the MIM to Fender's CS pickup (as as in the $4K strat) and the difference is no longer that much, but it set you back $199. However, you can get a set of hand scatter wound pickups from Don Mare (any of his sets) for $55 more, it the MIM will IMHO sound better than the $4K Strat. Switch out the zinc trem block with Brass from GFS) or Cold Rolled Steel (Callaham), sand down the polyfinish, and the difference isn't worth the extra money of the customer shop.
+BDaMonkey, My favorite twist on this is what sounds better, a $4k Guitar through $500 Solid State amp or a MIM basic strat through a $4K tube amp? That's a variant of the what sounds better, a $5k guitar through a beginners 10Watt practice amp, or a entry level guitar through Marshall hand wired tube Combo or Head and half stack.
Yes it would, however cheap gear will get you 90% of the way there, every percentage point after that gets exponentially more expensive. Btw the wort strats I've ever heard are all MIM. Worse than a half decent squire.
I love my valve amp, but you can never go wrong with a good solid state amp
Finally, someone who has a similar point of view! Almost all the tube amps I had, had issues at one point or another. It was very embarrassing one time, when, during a concert my tube amp stopped functioning completely ( I was plugged directly into a Marshall, no pre-amps or pedals). None of my solid state amps have ever betrayed me.
I actually just bought a Fender Sidekick 30 Reverb SS amp from 1984. I bought it because Kevin Shields said that he used one exclusively until about 1990. He actually didnt like valve amps back then. This amp is seriously amazing and super cheap because they arent super well known. Friends made fun of me for buying it.
Dude, I'm totally with you!! I can't tell the difference in sound...only the damn price tag!! All my gear is Solid State, and it gets the job done just as well as any tube amp out there in my opinion. And you're right...tube amps cost WAY too much to service and keep running, they keep discontinuing and changing the types of tubes that go in them...too much of a hassle to be honest. I'll stick with my Solid State gear thank you.
I still have my Marshall Valvestate 100w combo. Still does the biz after 20 years ;0)
I've owned two Valvestates- my nephew owns the first and I'll never part with the second. Great amps!
I love the hell out of my Valvestate combo! Also have a mid-80's Randall that is WAY sikk, and so damn loud even on 1! SS amps have their spot in the biz for sure!
same here I got the 8100 model and it rocks to play metal especially DEATH. r.i.p. Chuck
I bought my Marshall MG 100 FX..9 years ago not one single issue..i also run it with a Marshall JCM900..Sounds fantastic..in the 9 years i have had the MG 100 FX..no issues..but have had many issues with my JCM900..What I'm saying is very true..my Marshall MG FX 100 Always has the power and the wonderful tone..i would get rid of the JCM900 before i would the MG 100 FX..
I run my slightly modded Valvestate 8080 combo into an old all valve 70s Fender Silverface Bassman and the sound is huge !!! I play classic / psych / stoner / blues rock.
Being a tech. It still costs me a bomb to get a valve amp going. I just blew almost $200 aussie on new tubes for a Marshall DSL401 combo and that's wholesale, but because of the bad design, I have new problems that have manifested in the preamp after repairing the power & phase inverter section.
A solid state amp, if it goes DC can cool your speaker where as a valve amp has a transformer which can protect the speaker if a valve shorts out
amazing how much feeling you can put in your guitar playing.. wonderful
All I hear Is TONE TONE TONE,Tube amps. I have solid state amps.And what Dave said is so true.
Solid state amps are so "consistence" I get great tone w/ Solid S. I'm not going crazy to find that SOUND I had. (consistence)...... Lighter,Price,Sound, All three "consistence"
Thank You, Dave.
Peace*
Great video Dave! I think this is an important point for beginners especially. When i think back at all the time and money I wasted over the years trying to get "that sound" thinking it was because I didn't have a tube amp. Then you finally get one and realize that it really doesn't make much of a difference. Skill is more important than anything.
I own SS, digital and tube amps now and I'm perfectly happy to play on any of them. They all sound great to me.
Thank you very much for watching. :)
Watched all your "Tone" videos and had no idea the CR120 was solid state. Great tribute to your playing skills, championing of modestly priced guitars and of course a great Orange amp. I hope Orange have suitably rewarded you for doing one hell of a demonstration of their product!
Thank you very much and one can hope. :)
I agree with everything you've said about solid state amps, I've had a peavey 100 watt valve and it let me down at a gig half way through but my Laney 100 watt combo has never let me down and I still have it after all these years.
Really enjoy your videos! Keep up the good work.
Thank you and shall do. :)
Pantera. Solid state! Later Death. Solid state. Black Flag. Solid state.
Frank Gambale. Solid state!
Jazz that's different!
Justin I never really liked ginn's tone a whole lot (With the exception of jealous again) He is an amazing guitarist tho
I would listen to him even if he played through a conventional toaster.
Chuck used a hybrid amp
Agree 100%. Over my 50 year's playing I've owned everything from my first Selmer Treble 'n Bass 50 (and Goliath 1x18 cab!), to Boogies, VHT Pitbull, Cornford, Marshalls, Fenders etc., but I still come back to my Bandits which I have used since the early '80s. 'Consistency' is absolutely what I like about them; no susceptibility to crap, tone-robbing mains power supplies, reliability and zero running costs-and at my age (65), I'm not about to be shlepping 50lb amps around any more!
The feels. The feels I get every time I watch this videos intro
Nobody has ever walked away from a great show and said "Well, It would have been 10% better if the guitarist was playing a tube amp".
Love your practicality Dave CHEERS!
@@NeungView well there’s something to be said for the guitarist writing the music. Is the guitarist going to be inspired to play what they play on something that doesn’t reach out and touch them? I had a solid state for 15 years before I tried owning a tube amp. I didn’t know. Then I got one, and I’m totally converted. Nothing ones close to playing a tube amp. *You FEEL IT.*
Screw the crowd a second. Will there be a crowd when the guitarist doesn’t have enough fun playing? No digital sound can set the air on fire like a tube.
@@justinTime077 agreed! I've played solid states for 30 years and finally bought a 5watt valve head and now i can't put my guitars down. It just feels right!. Maybe most of these ppl haven't really played valve amps like me and don't know what there missing.
@Far Stox great comment. Thanks 👍
Hey Dave, just wanted to take a minute and let you know how much I enjoy your channel. You enthusiasm and energy is contagious. Hope all is well in your world and wish you great success as your journey continues forward!!
Thank you so very much for your kind words. They mean the world to me and i'm so happy you like what i do. :)
My first two amps were Peavey tube combos .. third was a Laney pro tube AOR. My Fender Mustang ii modeling amp does what they did and sooooo much more.
Just got my new orange cr120 combo 2x12 and love it! Largely based on your feedback. Thanks for the info
After many really bad SS amps, my first "good" amp was a Marshall 3203, which only has power tubes. Still have it. Sounds great. Never getting rid of it. Can't promise that about my all tube DSL.
Finally I have seen this video on why. As a military veteran with multiple injuries and getting closer to 50. I absolutely agree with you. I am not lugging heavy tube amps anywhere. But, I do here the difference in tube and solid state. Tubes are richer in sound. But, the advantages of the solid state outweighs that only advantage the tune amp has.
In my opinion 90% of a player’s tone comes from the finger work. If Jimi Hendrix was playing through my crap amp, you could still tell it was Jimi and it would be sound amazing. 👍
Actually, it’s the other way around. 90% of the sound comes from the pickups, pedals and the amp. If you set your amp badly, it will sound bad.
I have had tube amps and solid state amps and now just got another amp. The Blackstar ID260 TVP 2X12 combo and I am loving it! A few pedals with it like a compressor and the amp just tears the walls down.
That's the best comparison review I've herd on here. Great job!
Thanks you very much. :)
THANK YOU! Finally someone who sees it the same way I do! As long as the SS amps are made to sound like tube amps without the tubes, like Bandits and XXLs, they sound great while being far more reliable. I got sick of buying replacement tubes only to discover some were already bad or weak to begin with, and the slight difference with power tubes isn't worth the maintenance dollars to me. My Rocktron Velocity (soon to be the Rocktron Mainline) is plenty for me!
I have both valve and solid state amps, and I can sure feel the difference. I love my tube amp, but play ss alot , too.
And thank you for being IN TUNE😊 I enjoy your videos.
Thank you very much indeed. :)
I once owned a solid state Peavey Studio Corous and it was nothing but trouble. I now own a Fender Twin and it sounds incredible...... I absolutely love it and it has been reliable for years.
I agree with your points. If you’re a working musician ss is the way to go. If your a star with a budget yea super reverb and jmp all day because it’s not gonna be your problem.
I'm amazed every time when I'm watching a video like this one here and I realize that a lot of people are still "hearing" a difference between tubes vs solid state :)))
For sure they don't know that smart musicians have moved away from this mentality long time ago. And for sure they don't know either how many big names are touring using solid state amps or how many big names have recorded great albums using solid state amps.
And I'm talking about big names that were using tube amps before and have no financial issues to maintain a tube amp.
Everything is about who's playing that amp and who's mixing the song. Period.
I mean...Def Leppard - Hysteria and Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire (just to name two of them), were recorded with cheap solid state amps and they won Grammys and went Platinum. Jeez. 😮
I spilled a glass of water down the back of my Marshall 6100lm 30th anniversary amp once and it took out a power tube and an H.T. fuse. So I tore my rig down, found my spare tubes & fuses and had the amp back up and running again before the rest of the band had even finished the song we were playing. The amp used to go through a set of tubes about every year or so, but then I put a cooling fan in the amp, pointed it right at the power tubes and haven't had to put another tube in it since, and that was about 15 years ago. It's been working great ever since, I love my 6100lm. It's become a part of me. Lol.
I really appreciate this dude’s honesty. Subscribed.👍
John Fogerty from CCR used a vintage Kustom K200 solid state guitar amp and the tone was legendary.
only live. in studio he used tube fenders. and if you listen to bootleg recordings of CCR live... well... not that great amp sound. very harsh.
I like both. The classic Sunn solid state amps are amazing to me.
Thanks for your candor. I agree completely.
You make some valid points. I had a valve amp blow a fuse at a gig and guitar player from another band was gracious enough to loan me an amp - a solid state B52. Interestingly enough, afterwards, I had a number of folks tell me they couldn't really tell the difference and it still sounded like me. It did feel a bit different at first but as the set progressed, I got past that and had a great gig.
Has anyone ever in the history of mankind listened to a record and thought, oh I wish they had used a valve amp with that guitar.
I agree Dave! I don't even own a Valve Amp because I hear what you hear!!!
Totally agree with u 100%! The past tube amps I’ve had are a Vox ac30c2, Marshall dsl40c, Vox ac15c1, none of them sounded great to me, the glass in back was something I always worried about and the upkeep of them. Since then I purchased an Orange cr60c crush pro, and couldn’t be happier, it has all of the tone and volume I need, no worries of tubes. Sounds as good, if not better then any tube amp I’ve had. I’ve learned over time, it’s just using your ears for tone, plain and simple.The fs2 foot switch is on its way! I love these orange crush pro 60c amps!
You look like the spirit of the 70s dude! Your look, your sound, your whole vibe is just screaming the 1970s and it's rad, man! Groove on...
Me and my JC-40 love this. I'll never go back to valves. Enough is enough.
That's my next amp ;). Using a Roland Blues Cube Stage 60 now.
I've always owned solid state amps. I've played mine alongside marshalls, fenders, oranges, and I've never had any problem. I love that they're cheap and sound great. My 120w acoustic lead series is $300, my friends 100w Marshall was $1000 and mine is louder and I loaded with great effects. Not to mention is sounds just as good. Needless to say I can agree with you lol
I bought the solid state CR120 based on your demo video and you are so right! A truly lovely sounding amp that stays consistent and continues to amaze me. It can fool complete tone snobs as well. Thanks for another great video!
Thank you very much indeed and they are amazing aren't they. :)
Wow, dislikes are over 10% - tube amp babies really get their knickers in a twist when someone prefers SS over tube. They don't really care if you prefer and play SS amps, they just don't want you to say it. Keep on being real, brother!
hello i'm a 71 yr old guitarist. I have a mesa boogie king snake and a peavy bandit solid state amp. I like the sound of the peavey better.
Im a tube amp guy but I have respect for the solid state players. Those guys tend to not care as much as gear and just play guitar. They care more about practicing their guitar over trying to spend a ton of money on gear
I am not a rich person, he said. You are mman. First - you have skill and talent; 2. You do what you apparently love; 3. You are not chained by brands, and valves, and names and so on - you just get the freaking piece of wood with wires on it and play the you know what out of it!
Love your channel and everything you do!!!
Cheers,
Peter Y.
Thank you very much. : )
I completely agree with Dave. I've had both types as well, but I've always reasoned that there hasn't been an amplifier invented that can improve playing. It all starts in the fingers and only gets louder through an amp.
I have two tubeamps hand wired and one solid states .tubeamps stay at home and the solid states goes too the dive bar
I could not possibly agree more, and for all of the reasons mentioned.
Thank you very much indeed. :)
I love my Marshall Valvestate 8100 head. Kills most amps I've compared it to every time. Great video, Dave!
Bro, what did you compare it to? Seriously?
Patato Keftes * I have a valvestate2000 AVT50 combo with celestion g12h speaker and it sounds better than most full tube Marshalls that I've played !
I'm with you man. I've been the same for a long time.
I recently bought a Fender Frontman 212R ( after watching Dave's review of one). Love it! It has that Fender tone (I've played through lots of twins), versatile tone settings, usable two-stage OD channel, and if I come home and find it's been stolen I'll be upset, but I won't be having a heart attack thinking about the cost of replacing it.
Just what I needed (youtube recommended...) I can hear and feel the difference but is not that big to justify the loss of time, money, and peace. Nice and sincere review. Tubes aren't going to make play better xD
I like analog circuit solid state amps, don't care for the digital modeling kind.
Me too, no damn digital necessary, we're not recording!
I have a Vox Cambridge 15 and I am still often amazed at the tone it produces. Great amp. I had the Vox DA5 when I lived in a tiny apartment. It was very good. I appreciated the wattage option and usually played on O.5 watt... but the modelling option were far too many (especially in the dirty and distortion models. Also couldn't really use the effects well with the interface available.
I have mostly used solid state my whole life and I love them. I do have an Orange Tiny Terror 15watt 1x12 that sounds really good though. My favorite though is my Gibson Lab Series L7, which I believe is the best solid state ever made. Thanks for posting this video!
totally agree, also have found that my valve amps will pick up room noise more.
I can't get a tight low end response from a valve amp where a solid state ( like Randall RG), is super tight with out the modulation or after humm that valve amps regularly emit. Big names use valve amps with lots of glass so people think that valves are the way to go but in a lot of cases the reality is they just have the valve amp on clean and then use solid state effects to get the sound.
For me, Boss Katana amps changed everything............. I loved my dual showman head but the Katana head smokes it...... Period.
Katana is absolutely badass
I love my new Quilter 101 Mini... 2.5 lbs for the win!
BOSS KATANA IS GODLIKE.
Katanas are ok. But, don't underestimate the Vox VT-100 Hybrid modelling amp. Very sweet amp👍
"I just do... Goodbye!" Brilliant.
:)
I have played through solid state amps for almost 25 years. I had one great Peavey tube amp when I was younger, and the tubes went out. Took it in and had a guy fix it. While he had it in the shop, he lent me a Crate, and I fell in love with how loud it was and how light it was. Fast forward to the last 13 years, and I bought a tube pedal with a 12 AX7 built in. That’s what I use to get my sound, and I plug into a SS amp, Garage Band, etc. I don’t understand why some are so hell bent on tube amps, when the ss world has improved by drastic measures. Peace bro. New to your channel, and I dig it.
kemper is proving a lot of your points. for me the relationship with tubes is part of the relationship and journey. im a tube guy but i always have my modded marshall mg50 to get decent clean for my sigbal chain of joy
B. B. King preferred his Lab Series L5s to any valve amp. The Roland Jazz Chorus is a properly legendary amp too. They have the best clean tone ever.
BB could have had a way better tone too. I saw him live 3 times and his tone was not good.
Roger Moore
Maybe live, but he used a lot of different amps live, mostly valve amps, as the Lab Series have been out of production since the 80s.
*****
If anything, it's heavily distorted music where you really need valves, transistor overdrive/dirt never sounds good to me - for me, a good metal tone is simply a Les Paul (or comparable axe) into a heavy-gain Marshall (or similar) via a valve distortion pedal.
Tell me a list of all "valve" distotion pedals with a true tube circuit. Placing just a tube somewhere in the circuit hasn't anything in common with a true tube amp.
I love good tube amps. And I love good transistor amps. There is no "better".
A fact is, that the most transistor amps are very cheaply made. Who would think of a good sound from a damn cheap amp? For the most, it's not me.
The best qualitity transistor stuff is from the late 70s to the late 80s. And the most famous is the Roland JC-120.
Ty Tabor of Kings X also used Lab Series L5s, and his distorted tone is something nobody else has ever been able to emulate, and it is very cool.
I've been a professional musician for 30 years, and I stopped using valve amps on stage in 1988. The sonic consistency you mention here is my #1 reason, I don't want to deafen myself and my bandmates by having to crank the amp beyond reason to find the sweet spot. But all the other reasons, reliability, weight, expense, etc. are all a pain in the ass too.
I'm into the honesty, and utilitarian aspect, rock on man!
Thank you so very much. :)
Loving the Peavey Bandit 112 over your right shoulder. My first good amp was the same model. I now use two older Bandit 65 amps in stereo style setup. Blue and white knob version. I like the fuzziness of the drive circuit and the quick transient response. Reliable and $100 Cdn each.
This video perfectly exemplifies the effect of sample size. This guy found solid state amps that sound very similar to his valve amps, and the ss amps were more reliable and easier to maintain- that's perfect, and it works for him. I have had the exact opposite experience. All my solid state amps had nasally tone, and when (not "if") something went wrong, it was anyone's guess as to what it was. Worst of all, they wouldn't cut through the mix live. My tube (valve) amps have beautiful tone that was easy to dial in. I am one of the ones who can notice that the tube amps have more body, depth, and warmth (from my sample size), plus my tube amps (Mesas) are built like tanks- no biasing required, either. Yes, they are more expensive, but they work for me and my style. To emphasize the point of the video, go with what works for you, not with what you think *should* work for you!
Yeah I have both a Solid State Peavey and a Laney A/B'd just to be able to have tons of different tones and sounds. The Laney Tube Amp sounds better than any Solid State I've ever owned without a single pedal hooked to it. The tone is amazing and Laney is not super overpriced if someone wants to get into Tube Amps...
just listened to a laney in a tube/ss comparison and honestly it sounded horrible. It was being compared to a vox tube as well and the vox blew it away too.
It might be your ear too. I can tell the differrence between Very good tube and Very good ss amps if i listen VERY VERY carefully. It's a TINY difference that i dotn think anyone but a musician could hear. I also think it's the manufacturers pulling bullshit as usual. "Hey toss a cheap tube or two into the design we can double the price".. even though the amp design was shit and whether it had tubes or not was irrelevant.
I've never heard a very good solid state amp lol... Except acoustic ones.
I can definitely tell the difference in sound... but, for me, it's not as much about sound, per se, as it is about FEEL. A solid state amp does not react the same way to picking dynamics as a properly set-up tube amp rig. There is a reason that the VAST majority of players who have an unlimited choice, repair techs on the road with them, and someone else to carry and set-up their gear choose to use tube amps.
Good video. For myself, I feel like my tone is too bright and brittle when I run through a solid state amp, but I know people who use solid state amps and have killer tone. Like everything else in the guitar world, it's a matter of what works for each individual. Even if, in the end, I choose to stick with my tube amp, I appreciate your thoughts on the subject.
A good friend of mine uses an old Peavey 212 solid state amp, and has the rawest, grungiest rock tone you'll ever hear. She was thinking of moving on to a tube amp, and all I could say is "why"? Her tone was already perfect, why change just because someone said tubes are better? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I recently found your videos and I really enjoy your reviews... You're a great player. Greetings from México
Thank you very much indeed. : )
Its 2024, I definitely prefer tube amps to solid state, but I prefer solid state to modelling/amp sims still.
Absolutely agree that solid state amps are more consistent, reliable, and sound every bit as good as valves, so glad I dumped the valve snobbery label and started listening!
While I wouldn’t go so far as to say solid states sound “every bit as good”, but when weighed against cost, reliability, practicality and maintenance I would agree.
I've owned ss amps and several tube amps. All of them sounded good on cleans. The ss amps started sounding hissy under moderate distortion and badly hissy with high distortion. I hear the same on every review of ss amps when I listen to them.On the other hand I never really liked my Marshall or h and k valve amps. It wasn't until I got a mesa boogie 5:50 that I understood what valve amps really could sound like. That smooth buttery rise and fall in dynamics and tone is out of this world.I fully understand the points you make Dave but I'd never swap the boogie for anything else. I'd rather break my back carrying it :)
Well then, you obviously haven't toured your state playing 3 -4 times a week...Weight is a big issue when you travel by yourself..
I think you like it because of the $$$ you spent on it..If you didn't like it, you would of had buyers remorse of the century!
The new modeling amps such as the boss katana sound so good clean and dirty ' they are very close now.
I feel like boogie players know something everyone else has yet to discover.
Nice to hear someone not get all romantic about valves. I do love my blues deluxe put most valve amps I've played are pretty ordinary
Hi, I happened to stumble upon your video here, and I just wanted to say that your assessment is spot on. At the end of the day its all about the individual player and knowing how to properly use your gear. A great player can make a $100.00 solid state amp sound great. Also while watching the video you keep talking about playing pub/club gigs, and that old peavey behind you is ideal for that and is a tride and true workhorse! : ). Great video and perspective, just subscribed, and will be watching for future videos.
Thank you very much and thanks so much for subscribing. :)
John Fogerty (Creedence clearwater Revival) used - favoured Solid State ( Kustom A4 ) too ;-)
A lot of the difference with solid state and tube is when you're in higher gain- tube just has a lot more natural sound than solid state on that front, but yeah I mostly agree. Unless you're in the studio or something, you're absolutely fine with a good solid state.
LOVE YOUR STYLE! I like both, but Love the tube sound and love the clean sound of SS. Good points!
Thank you very much indeed. :)
Agreed on all counts and I'm a CR120 convert as well. Thanks, Dave!
Thank you. :)
There is a huge difference in sound and the feeling of playing between solid state and tube amps.Some say tube amps are not reliable.Of course if you don't know how to use them properly ,why there is a master volume and standby switch, if don't know how to connect them properly with a cab and don't try them before you buy to see if it's a non-fuctioning properly model.. I had the Marshall Mg100hdfx, the same as David plays.I bought it because of his videos.I liked it very much, it had good sounds. But yet something didn't feel completely right to my ears.. Recently I bought the Marshall jvm205h.I was blown away and I immediately sold the Mg.I mean, come on guys. There is no way for someone who knows how to play to not feel the difference between the sound of solid states and tubes.Also It's a myth that tube amps have to be cranked to sound good enough. I use mine in master volume in 2 and it's killing.But I agree in one thing. If you suck at playing you will suck in both tubes and solid states.Take care guys. Sorry for the long comment but in the end it all comes to everyone's personal preference and choice.
'71 twin.. can't go wrong
Love the honesty. But definitely your playing skills made a difference. More power bro!
Love your videos! Good to hear from a real musician. I am in my fifties, and a i cannot put in words as well as you have, about the practicality and quality of sound of SS.
You were very polite about a tube amps ability to burn your face off.
Have a good one
Thank you very much. : )
I also prefered solidstate amps until i tried the 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amp i made, it just gave me the sound i heard in my head!
Thats all that matters. :)
It's must also be quite satisfying to make an amp that you then love! I'd love to see that and hear more about it!
That amp makes something not easily replicable by SS tech
I'm with you. If trained musicians can barely (if at all) tell the difference between solid state and tube, then how many casual listeners can tell the difference? At this point I'm considering just using something like bias on my mac and then plugging into any headphones/speakers/whatever that I need to.
You can absolutely hear the difference, especially if you are a trained musician and not just a guitar player!
+James Wellington yes there is sonic differences but not something like chinese vs english yet more of different accents english.. It sounds different but not necessarily one better over the other.
Unfortunately, I can hear a great and very obvious difference - all in the favor of tube amps. Otherwise, everything he said is true. They are expensive, heavy, hard to keep going, etc. - a general pain in the ass. I wish I couldn't hear the difference. Maybe I just haven't come upon the right solid state amp!
I feel the same way as you Bob. If I find a solid state or digital amp that is as musical as my Orange Rockerverb 100 then I'll be happy to leave the tube amp at home instead of dragging it everywhere. No success with that so far...
you're talking to untrained "trained musicians" if that's what you've been told. some of the high end modeling units are getting very good, but you can most definitely tell the difference between a tube and an SS amp. Anybody who's been playing a few years can pick out a tube breakup in a chord or 2.
My Roland Jazz chorus is solid state, and what I love about it is that the tone doesn't change as the volume increases. Every valve amp I've played has got more driven as it got louder.
Rob Broome tone and drive are two different things. To me it's fine to have the breakup with increased volume, its part of a player's dynamics. The valve is the heart of the amp, its alive!
I really dig your review,well said man
Thank you very much indeed. :)
I find it's easy to get good sounds out of almost any amp. I've gigged with a roland cube and a marshall mg in the past with no issues. I find that the issue with soild state is not sound per se, it is more how the amp reacts to the way the guitar is being played. I know how to induce feedback and sustain from my marshall dsl 50 by physically leaning into it. Pretty much the same for most valve amps i've found as long as you can turn it up enough!
Same here. Different "embouchure" for each, when overdriving. Clean, I use no difference.
A good guitarist will sound good through most decent amps SS, Digi or Tube. Yes, the feel is different but a proficient guitarist needs to adapt. Plus1 thumbs up for the good old Roland Cube amp, mines a keeper.
I think we've all heard great SS amps and great tube amps. We've all heard terrible ones from both sides as well. I think these newer modelers are pretty killer and I think they are the future.
I agree with you. :)
I really enjoyed this mate, your honesty was refreshing. I also love solid state amps for the reasons you say! I also like Valve amps but hate carting them about
Thank you very much indeed. : )
Dave I agree with you and love both my Marshall JCM 800 and my Peavey 112 Bandit both are awesome to me. Great view point Thanks .
Thank you very much. : )