Tube vs. Non-tube - my assessment

[lhrocker]

I've been playing thru solid state and digital modelling amps for the past 10 years. My current gigging setup is a Vetta head thru a 2x12 cab and I think it's killer. A couple of weeks ago, I got a Randall RM50 with an XTC module and started playing with it. Immediately, I found the feeling of the amp to be much warmer than the Vetta. I usually noodle at low volumes and the difference is pretty incredible. I then setup the Vetta to be identical to the Randall, using the XTC model, in volume, tone and grit. At the same volume, the Randall always seems warmer, in a good way and not muddy. I couldn't get that with the Vetta. Turning up the bass or backing the treble down didn't really help. The Randall sounded really good.

That being said, the Vetta is still my main gigging amp, but the Randall is way cool, and warm on its own. I guess I now understand all this hoopla about tubes vs. ss. I still think they both have their place, but I now have a better understanding of why tube heads feel the way they do.

[markD]

it is amazing. there is just something more complex about the tone of a tube amp. i love modellers - i use them almost exclusively for recording, but live......

i know there are guys that LOVE their vettas and that is great, but for me, nothing beats a tube when playing live.

[khabibissell]

Yeah, you will love that Randall. The XTC and Blackface modules are great. As a matter of fact, the Blackface module sounds better than the Blackface mode on the Fender Supersonic.

I had an RM50 head and sold it, and I regret it almost everyday. They are great amps. I'd like to grab one of those RM4 preamps and team it with a good poweramp eventually.

[Spivonious]

I guess I now understand all this hoopla about tubes vs. ss. I still think they both have their place, but I now have a better understanding of why tube heads feel the way they do.

The tone quest begins....

[Shawn Lutz]

dunno but if I felt a tube amp was wamer (and I do) I'd use that to gig with instead of the Vetta

I was hot on my J-Station when I got and and only used that for almost a year...one day plugged into the 2203 and realized what modellers cannot deliver...warmth, responsivnes and dynamcs.

I dont want to open up the debate of tube vs modellers as each has their own place in the world of guitar amps

[fuel0707]

I would love to get away from heavy, expensive-to-maintain tube amps someday. But I haven't found a modeling amp that makes me feel like I can ditch my Riveras or Boogie. There's something about the feel and presence of a good tube amp that the SS amps haven't been able to match for me.

I think it's like the early days of personal computers. They were very limited in power, speed and usefulness in the early days compared to what they do these days. I hope that the modeling amps make a similar evolution.

Still, enjoy your Randall setup. I heard George Lynch at a clinic a few months ago and I really liked the tones he got from his Randall rig.

[zeegler]

I think that instead of trying to make a computer sound like a real amplifier, they need to work out how to make lighter power and output transformers. Imagine a 100w tube amp that weighed 10 pounds. That would be revolutionary.

[Axewielder]

I have a Pod Pro, and am a big fan. At the flip of a switch, you have a perfectly mic'ed, roaring Marshall sound at bedroom levels. But, that convenience comes at a price. I found that the Pod kind of strips away the individuality of my guitars. For example, when I record the same track multiple times using different guitars, I have a hard time telling them apart.

[ADR]

I always had all tube amps (pre/power) then I got back into it,picked up a Fender PJ for my Strat.The tube tone is warm and mellow with RW board, liked it for a bit. . but started getting rattles and noticable noise (thru the amp. . like popping,static etc.) What Ive noticed about the Boogie combos ive owned is. . .they seem to sound different on a daily bases. My friend calls it the "tube gremlins".
I then got a Line 6 Spider 2 and thought that sounded really good. It did sound kinda like a tube amp, but was missing the dynamics and the response and that waiting power.
So now I have a VOX AD30VT "XL" and this is the bomb,best of both worlds and sounds way more like a tube amp and smokes the Line 6 in this comparo.
My friend has a Vetta 2 and really likes it, but nothing really compares to his Fender Vibro-King (point to point) the tone,response is incredible to say the least.

They all have their pros/cons but for jamming in a room ill take the VOX, and it was like $289.99 too, cant beat it.

[DonP]

I have a Marshall 1/2 stack that I love, but I also have a Silver Jubilee Micro Stack that really has killer tone for a 15 watt transistor head and 2 10" cabs. It's got plenty of warmth. I have three micro stacks, but this one is different than the others (1 output in the front vs. 2 outputs on the other heads), is wired a little different, and sounds more "open" than the others.

I used this micro stack probably 90% of the time. It's just easy to flick the switch and go; no waiting for the tubes to warm up. But the 1/2 stack is tonally superior, and I use it when I'm feeling like something "more".

I also have a POD 2.3 that I use in my apartment in Cleveland, and it does a great job with high quality headphone for a practice amp.

[jgcable]

My Vetta smokes any amp I have ever heard or played through.
Live, rehearsal, studio, practice, recording... it gets rave reviews from every musician who has ever heard it.

[Twisteramps]

I go back and forth, and have several rigs. Right now the one I'm having the most fun with is a trainwreck liverpool clone - I'm also going to build a TW express clone. The liverpool does a lot of stuff that modelling amps *can't* do... this is the first amp I've owned that can go from one of the best clean tones I've ever heard to raging overdrive, just by playing with the volume knob on the guitar. It also gets amazing sustain even clean, and each guitar sounds radically different with it - even different cables are night and day. With my modelling amps (vetta, Flextone III, Pods, GT8) it tended to homogenize the guitar tone and made guitars sound a lot alike. But they are great tools, especially if you can't turn up very loud.

Pete

[jgcable]

I use 2 amps and 2 amps only. Behringer LX112 for home jamming and practicing and I use the Vetta for everything else.
I couldn't be happier.
The Vetta is truly amazing and when you turn it up its really incredible. Couple it with the Line 6 Longboard and its like having a multiple amp set up with a high end switching system at your feet. Tubes feel different.. but not necessarily better. Just different.

[skorb]

the other guy in our band now has an older Mesa Boogie head with a GT-6 in front of it, not sure which MB, white tolex, 80's model. sounds great.

but my Vetta hangs right in there with his tone - on some effects/settings he has better tone and on others I do.

he's a tube snob but even he's impressed with all the Vetta can do.

[jgcable]

the other guy in our band now has an older Mesa Boogie head with a GT-6 in front of it, not sure which MB, white tolex, 80's model. sounds great.

but my Vetta hangs right in there with his tone - on some effects/settings he has better tone and on others I do.

he's a tube snob but even he's impressed with all the Vetta can do.

Same thing with me. My bandmates and fellow musician friends are blown away by the Vetta.
I think that if we played at a large arena and my fellow bandmate was allowed to crank his tube amps up he would bury my Vetta but thats never gonna happen. He never gets over 4 on the master volume. I get to around 3.5 on my Vetta.