Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

[atilla]

I practice through a Tech-21 Tri-AC pedal at home, and it seems like a can fly a lot faster with it than I can when I go to rehearsal and use any of the tube amps.

Have you guys experienced this, and is there something I can do to get better with the tube amps? I've been using a Marshall Jubilee and my old TubeWorks head while my newly acquired Laney is getting some TLC.

[etaeniura]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

your amp should have no effect on the actual speed with which you play. Some amps have a faster "attack" so it may seem like you are faster, whereas some amps have a softer attack. It's all in your head!

[atilla]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

Yes, softer attack is a good way to describe it. The only time I really get to play with a cranked tube amp is during gigs and rehearsals. Maybe I need to spend some time with it by myself to really get it better.

[etohk]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

tube amps force you to play cleaner, note definition is better I find, its kinda like putting a magnifying glass up to your playing, magnifies mistakes too...

[Twisteramps]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

It's a generalization. I've played through tube amps that were as quick responding to notes as a solid state amp (my VHT was the champ of this) and solid state amps that were 'hard' to play.

You're likely coming up against note compression - each time you pick a note, it swells volume-wise and doesn't sound as smooth/saturated as your tri-AC pedal. I bet if you used a more legato technique (less picking, more hammers/pulls) then the speed would 'level out'. Just practice more with picking on the tube amp or try running a boost pedal into the front of it.

Pete

[etaeniura]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

twister knows his amps. I would imagine hitting the input a little harder with the pedal, and cleaning up technique would help alot.

[jazzman]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

I've always had good luck using a compressor pedal (pretty much for leads & only in the studio) But, it does "tighten" the sound to allow a sharper pick attack which can help on the speed thing. It makes it more crunchy. I would at least try one. Go with musicians frind or music 123 or something. They have the 30 money back thing goin on. If you don't like it, take it back. I've used both the MXR Dynocomp and the Boss pedal. Both with pretty good results.

[thetroy]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

So I have an interesting question that's related to the topic. I was in a guitar store today hoping to try an SL1 or SL2H (naturally they didn't have any, I have never seen a USA Jackson in any store but that's another topic..) and ended up playing around with some amps. I started out using a Marshall DSL401 but at one point there was someone else using it so I started screwing with a Line6 SpiderII 112. I turned the knob to "Metal", played with the EQ a bit, and threw on a couple of effects(I think it was delay and something else) and...

I sounded WAY better than I actually am. A guy there even asked if I could turn toward him for a bit so he could watch what I was doing. While that was cool and all, I know that I am not that good. The question is:

If I buy a POD or something with effects that make me sound better than I am, will I end up hurting myself in the long run?

My current setup is Guitar -> Soldano Astroverb 1x12 with no effects (I don't even use the reverb on the amp). I would say it's tone will range from a 2 to a 10 depending on your playing, while the Line6 thing ranged more like 4 to 8.

Ick this turned out long and rather incoherent. It's 2AM, I'm going to sleep.

[Ace]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

Do you sit down when you practice at home and stand when you rehearse? That could be another factor to consider. Also when I play thin sounding amps I sometimes play faster to try and make up for the lack of tone.

As for effects "hurting you in the long run", it's good to learn to play with effects. It's also important to learn how to play without effects. Effects can hide your mistakes, which is what you think they did for you in the store. If you can't recognize your mistakes you can't fix them. However effects can also add texture to your music. What I do is use effects sparingly. Not to hide my playing, but to enhance it at certain parts in music.

[RacerX]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

[ QUOTE ]
a Line6 SpiderII 112. I turned the knob to "Metal", played with the EQ a bit, and threw on a couple of effects(I think it was delay and something else) and...

I sounded WAY better than I actually am. A guy there even asked if I could turn toward him for a bit so he could watch what I was doing.

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Contact Line 6. You could be the star of their next print ad! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[atilla]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Great stuff!

[thetroy]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
a Line6 SpiderII 112. I turned the knob to "Metal", played with the EQ a bit, and threw on a couple of effects(I think it was delay and something else) and...

I sounded WAY better than I actually am. A guy there even asked if I could turn toward him for a bit so he could watch what I was doing.

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Contact Line 6. You could be the star of their next print ad! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe I should do that!

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[Tooling]

Re: Why do I play slower through my tube amp?

As some have said...it's softer, in other words it's probably the sag of the amp..as in not as fast an attack. The modelers are soooo gained out I would guess. Gain and saturation can hide many a mistake. I can sound so much smoother playing my 5150 than I can a Bogner or worse yet..a VHT which is dry sounding with alot of gain...just not saturated. Practice with either a great quality amp, clean, low gain, or low output pickups...you won't feel as inspired but you will get better.