sanshouheil wrote:Some of you guys who have more playing experience, perhaps you can shead some light on a subject for me. I want more tone varience and effect from my strat to meet the need of the different types of music we play. I currently use boss pedals into my PA. How were effects achieved before all of this digital technology? Are there truly advantages in tube vs solid state amps. and what are the disadvantages? I need a metal or very heavy rock sound, a well differentiated blues tone as well as a clean soft tone to match or enhance the acoustic sound of our other guitarist.
Any Ideas ?
My first advice would be to get an amp.
As far as tube vs. Valvestate. There is one advantage to having a valvestate.And that is.. You don't have to replace tubes.
I have a Mesa Dual Rec head that has 11-tubes. I recently had to replace them.. The cost.. $200. I try to do it every couple of years. But on average, tube amps usually have anywhere from 4-8.
I just bought a Marshall Valvestate 100 (8100) for $200. But it's a hybrid, it has a 12ax7 tube in the preamp. The cost to replace it.. $15.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can get a 50-100 watt Valvestate for pretty cheap used. In my opinion, valvestates tend to be a little high strung. More treble and mid sounding. Tube amps tend to have a real beefed up bass tone that you just can't seem to get with a valvestate.
If you want to continue to go through pedals into a power amp, you'd have to buy at least 2 to acheive what you're asking for. First do yourself a favor and ditch your Boss distortion pedals. It's not doing you any favors. There are so many other pedals out there that are a ton better if you want to go that rout.
Tube distortion pedals are definitely going to suit you better in that setup. But you would have to buy 2 of them, one for heavy rock, and one for blues tone. And that can get just as pricey as buying a descent used amp.
You can go with modelling pedals or multi effects boards, but the same applies, and they can be a pain in the ass to program and utilize (hit the wrong 2 buttons at once on accident in the middle of a song and watch what happens, you'll be stomping around like someone was shootin' at your feet trying to get back to where you need to be).
To tell you the truth man.. I really shouldn't advise you to go this rout. You should go to pawn shops, and guitar stores and check out the kinds of amps they have and sounds you like. Then either shop on ebay or one of the pawn shops. They can have the best deals by far.
I don't know how much money you're willing to spend so it's kinda hard to give advice.
In the course of the last 2 weeks, I bought a Marshall Valvestate for $200, a tube eq for $150, and a 4x12 cabinet for $120 by shopping on ebay and in pawn shops.. And this setup will do everything you're asking for.
You could consider a 50 or 100 watt combo amp that has a descent blues sound and clean channel, and a Good distortion pedal. (or vise versa a good clean and Distortion amp, and a tube blues pedal) For example: You'd have the clean channel you want, the blues channel you want, and you can run the distortion pedal through the clean channel to get your heavy rock tone..
If you don't have the money for that, Get a good distortion pedal that's made for heavy metal, use your Boss for your blues tones, and just shut 'em both off for your clean tone.
And just so you know. I just happen to swear by tube distortion pedals when someone asks, but there are a lot of descent distortion pedals out there that don't have tubes. Boss pedals are just really low on the food chain in that department in my opinion.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
