[skotrat]

AX84 is a great site

[brewboy]

I personally don't get the infatuation with tube amps. I had one, but later built a 80W transistor amp. I'd take solid state any day.

[nicneufeld]

I personally don't get the infatuation with tube amps. I had one, but later built a 80W transistor amp. I'd take solid state any day.

You'll certainly save money, weight and hassle with solid state.  There are a lot of bland and bad sounding tube amps out there, and some great transistor amps, but I've not heard a solid state amp that can really do what tube amps do so well...hovering on the edge of power amp clipping.  Drive a solidstate amp into poweramp overdrive and the result is rarely musical.  I suppose for people who are more into preamp gain distortion its not a big deal, there are plenty of preamp level distortion devices (tube, solidstate, digital) that do a decent job.  And if you like pristine clean, a lot of jazz players avoid tubes for that reason.

[brewboy]

Without Googleing it, I'd have to bet that tubes are getting hard to find or very expensive if you do find them.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Without Googleing it, I'd have to bet that tubes are getting hard to find or very expensive if you do find them.

Well, New Old Stock (NOS) tubes (the actually ones made the 60's and 70's) are becoming more rare and are certainly getting more expensive.  But new tubes (which probably comprise the majority of the tube market these days) are usually carried by just about any local music store.  They're incredibly easy to find online.  In fact, I buy all my tubes from an online source (http://www.kcanostubes.com/content/).  I haven't found them to be too expensive, but I suppose that's all relative.  

And I agree with what nic said re: tube amps; transistor amps just can't really do what tube amps can.  It's just a player preference thing in the end, but if you're into rock -- especially classic rock -- or blues, I don't know how you'd survive without a tube amp.

[nicneufeld]

Seems like just in the past 10 years, tube amps have become a lot more widely available and cheaper.  Flipping through a Musicians Friend for the first time in years I was surprised by how many budget tube amps there are!  Solid state are approaching the minority, which wasn't the case a while back as I recall.

But for specialty NOS tubes yeah they will get hard to find...if you're using "the basics" such as 12AX7, EL34, EL84, or 6L6 or 6V6, those ones are still in pretty broad construction so I don't think they'll be drying up any time soon.

[skotrat]

I personally don't get the infatuation with tube amps. I had one, but later built a 80W transistor amp. I'd take solid state any day.

I have played/owned both tube and solid state amps for 40 years... Wow... I am getting really f'ing old.

I played on a Marshall Plexi with a variac for years when I was a kid. During the 80's up until about 1991 I played a GK250RL solid state 100 watt stereo head exclusively.

In 1993 after 14 months of trying to find the sounds in my head available in a commercially available amp I landed an endorsement deal with RIVERA Amps and have played my all tube 100 watt Rivera Knucklehead since then.

About two years ago I picked up a smaller Fender single 12" all tube Hot Rod Deluxe Limited Edition because I wanted something with a little less power.

Tube amps are pure... They follow the harmonic scale in proper progression as they are overdriven.

Solid State Amps do not follow the harmonic scale in proper progression and you end up with some serious oddities and problems as you crank them. In my opinion that is why they always offer more wattage with SS Amps.

I also find that with a Solid State amp you only have a couple options.

• 1. Clean
• 2. Overdrive

So you have to bounce back and forth from channel to channel or have a bunch of noisy pedals in front of you.

With a tube amp you can have the amp cranked and simply back off on the volume knob on the guitar to achieve your Clean and/or overdrive and/or distortion. I rarely see a guy with a Solid State Amp ever touch the controls on the instrument...

For me that works better in the long run.

As far as reliability goes... I see no difference. I can destroy a Tube Amp on the road just as fast as a Solid State Amp

There are my proverbial 2 cents

[brewboy]

Lets not forget all of the down sides to tubes, such as heat, weight, buzz and warm up time. Each to their own, but I'm living in the 21st century and I'll stick with SS.  

[skotrat]

Lets not forget all of the down sides to tubes, such as heat, weight, buzz and warm up time. Each to their own, but I'm living in the 21st century and I'll stick with SS.  

heat, weight, buzz

All of those things can also be associated with SS Amps or Tube Amps... Tube amps are usually a little heavier but let's be honest...

It is also very easy to fry a Solid State Amp if it has been sitting in the car in the winter and you plug it in without letting it come  up to room temp... been there... done that

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Lets not forget all of the down sides to tubes, such as heat, weight, buzz and warm up time. Each to their own, but I'm living in the 21st century and I'll stick with SS.  

Do the major manufacturers even make SS amps anymore?  Most boutique amp builders certainly don't.  The only ones I can think of are modeling amps (e.g., Line 6) that are, incidentally, designed to emulate the sound of tube circuitry.  I think you'd be hard pressed to find many players in the 21st Century (especially pro players) using SS amps anymore.  What's old is new again!  

[brewboy]

From what I've read, the new SS amps do a great job of emulating tube amps, so now you can have your "characteristic" sound and have the reliability of SS.

Are you guys still listening to LP's, because they sound better?

[skotrat]

From what I've read, the new SS amps do a great job of emulating tube amps, so now you can have your "characteristic" sound and have the reliability of SS.

Are you guys still listening to LP's, because they sound better?

Miller/Coors/Bud are emulating beer in their mass produced malt beverages

Are you guys still brewing your own beers because they taste better?

[brewboy]

I have a feeling that this is one of those discussions where we'll to agree to disagree. 

[skotrat]

I have a feeling that this is one of those discussions where we'll to agree to disagree. 

So... tell me why a Solid State Amp will not buzz

[Pawtucket Patriot]

From what I've read, the new SS amps do a great job of emulating tube amps, so now you can have your "characteristic" sound and have the reliability of SS.

Are you guys still listening to LP's, because they sound better?

A buddy of mine has a Line 6 Pod XT.  We were playing about a 500 seat venue not too long ago and decided to pit the Pod's AC-30 patch against my Bad Cat Cub IIR (essentially, a hot-rodded AC-30).  His Pod was obviously going direct through the house and my amp was in a sound-proof enclosure underneath the stage.  My signal was patched through the house via a Shure SM-57 mic.  He went first with the Pod.  I have to say, I was really impressed.  It sounded pretty great -- natural and harmonic without much digital iciness, if any.  Then it was my turn.  It was night and day -- no contest.  The tube amp blew the modeling amp away as far as harmonic/dynamic richness.  My buddy agreed (to be fair, he doesn't play the Pod as his main "amp" -- he's also got a Bad Cat).  This has been my experience with comparing modeling amps to tube amps...YMMV.