Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

This should really be a new topic, but...

I like tube and solid state for different things, but overall prefer solid state due to the lighter weight and seemingly "punchier" tone. Tubes give a warmer, slightly smoother tone that you have to have for some types of music. However, a solid state preamp with MOSFET emulates tubes. Though its not just like tubes (because what gives the same tone as tubes, right?!?!), its close enough.

For me, I like solid state for the same reasons that CK likes solid state. Tubes are a pain, but if you don't mind a tube blowing in the middle of a gig and leaving you without any tone (which has happened, and it's not fun), the tone of tubes are great! I rarely use an amp when recording though, because I don't want the coloration of the amp/cabinet when recording in MOST cases. When I do want that live "sound" when doing a studio session, I either use the studio's ProTools plugins for that "works well enough" tone, or I'll bring in a small combo and run out of the DI on the pre and mic the amp cab.

For about 30 bucks, you can get a tube pre-amp. Most have XLR and 1/4 inch ins and outs. Run your bass into it and use the 1/4 out to your solid state amp and get the warmth of tubes and the punch of solid state. Also you can run from the XLR out to the board at the same time. ART makes some good ones. Also works great in the studio instead of just a DI box.

For about 30 bucks, you can get a tube pre-amp. Most have XLR and 1/4 inch ins and outs. Run your bass into it and use the 1/4 out to your solid state amp and get the warmth of tubes and the punch of solid state. Also you can run from the XLR out to the board at the same time. ART makes some good ones. Also works great in the studio instead of just a DI box.

Hey Rat,
I was wonderin' how that $30 tube gizmo might work with the 'ol blues harp. Any opinions?
HJ

I was wonderin' how that $30 tube gizmo might work with the 'ol blues harp. Any opinions?
HJ

I had bought several of them off of musicians friend's stupid deal of the day. A friend of mine has a nice little studio and I loaned him one and he fell in love with it. It warms up vocals, bass, keyboards anything. And he had a harp player doing some recording and it worked great. You can't go wrong with it. Cheap as a DI box, XLR and 1/4" in and out, reverse phase switch, VU meter, phantom power and a 12AX7 tube all for $30.

That's useful, I'll look into that more. Thanks!

IMHO you really want a tube poweramp...
there have been all kinds of hybrids over the years (music man put out solid state pre with tube power, fender rock pro is solid state power with tube pre)
and none of these really compares to a good tube setup...

of course a tube pre thru a solid state post is going to work and will sound fine.

The ultimate (IMO) is a solid state pre for clean tones... and tube pre for overdriven sounds.

I personally like tube amps. I have 5 of them now, but it doesnt matter as long as whatever you are using gets the sound you want.

I recently did some recording for a friend on one of his songs. He wasnt there when I layed down the guitar tracks. Instead of lugging my amp I took my POD PRO Preamp and just plugging right inot the board. I did a total of 3 tracks on the deal and left. He calls me the next day and says, Thanks I knew your Mesa amps would just light up the tracks! I didnt tell him any different, but when I listened back to the tracks, In all honesty I cant tell the difference between those tracks and the ones I have done with my amps.

Once again as long as you get the tone you want what difference does it make.

I will add that if you are in a volume conscious situation solid state devices tend to work better, most tube amps large or small need to be pushed to do what they are supposed to do.

Like everyone else, I like em both. Never quite understood the "tube snobs" out there, it's like flavors.. we all have our favorites, but who wants to eat the same thing every day?

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of a tube amp on bass. It's just that I don't think it's worth all the trouble when I can get a good bass tone out of a solid state without the headaches. My friend's played guitar for 30 years, and he won't shut up about tube amps! He says it's not that much hassle, but I don't know...

I agree with CK. It may simply be a thing of preference for tubes/SS by guitarists/bassists. I'm willing to sacrifice the "tubey" tone to get a really good tone from a solid state, and not have to worry about the unreliability and maintenence that goes along with having a tube amp/pre. Besides, for what I do in the studio, the engineer can run me through a ProTools plugin that simulates an old Ampeg SVT amp, and I'll get an SVT tone for the recording that is "realistic enough" when I need a tube tone for a recording.

Live gig....Live tubes..... Marshall Peavey Mesa Fender.... Tubes won't let you down if you keep them fresh.... Heavy use and 5 year old tubes won't cut it.
Old tubes also " let you know before they.....blow" Cost may be a consideration. I use my amp alot,even for practice. I end up replacing tubes every 12 months,cost, $150.

However ,it's amazing how much better fresh tubes sound,[LIKE A BRAND NEW AMP]

Depends on the application. Depends on what you hear. Everybody is different. I'm not an expert on the subject. I play bass through a solid state amp. If I had found a tube amp that sounded better to me I would have bought it. Most of the guitar players I've ever played with prefer tube amps. Harmonica players the same, tube amp. Use what sounds the best to YOU.

Tube Snob here...

I mean, I agree with jw123 - you gotta play what you sounds good to you.

But that is precisely why I'm a tube snob.

My first amp was a solid state. I didn't know any better. I bought what I could afford and it sounded loud. After a year or so of playing on it I found myself in a huge store, like a Guitar Center, and I was able to try out a Marshall...

Different world.

I started paying attention to the sounds of the bands and guitar players I liked most and I started keeping track of them. Then I started researching their amps and figuring out what they played with. What I learned is that almost universally, my favorite tones were the product of Mesa Boogie amplification systems. So I set out to get those amps.

I hear a lot of people say they can't tell the difference between certain amps (Like jw123's story about the Pod and the Mesa). I think that's only because they haven't trained their ears to hear it. And there's nothing wrong with that, but once you've trained your ear, you can't go back.


You can train just about any part of your body to detect the subtle differences in things. Wine tasters, for instance, have great palates; they can detect the subtle nuances in every wine and tell you what the difference is between them. To the untrained, a red wine is a red wine.

To my ears, the difference in tone between certain amps is very great. A Marshall sounds totally different to me than a Mesa Boogie. And the difference between a solid state amp and a tube amp is even more pronounced to my ears.

I find solid state amps sound thin and 'grating'. Tubes, to me, sound full, thick and vibrant.

didn't kno ppul were talking bout bass...
not crazy about tube for bass. love the workin mans combos and I believe they are all solid state. I guess, if you want that farty sound like the bass on beatles revolution... an old tube amp is great... other than that I don't believe I've ever heard one (on bass) that I liked.

afa tubes and maintenance... my peavey 5050 has had the sm 12 tubes I bought it with over 10 years ago. I don't play out every weekend but I do play 4x a week for 2-4hrs. Not saying the amp wouldn't sound better with replacements, but I think folks exaggerate the 'maint' involved in owning one.

I am also a "tube snob" and agree with what he is saying. Once you learn to hear the difference , you can never go back to ss amps. I have over a dozen amps of all makes , but my favorites are my home built ones. I was able to tailor these to my needs. I am also talking about playing guitar not bass thru the tube amps. While bass also sounds great ,as commented, there are some advantages to the ss amp for bass . A proper tube bass rig needs to be huge to deliver the head room needed for bass. As far as the "farty sound" comment made about the Beatles recording, yes it was a 100 watt bassman cranked and they do go "farty" when the limitations are passed. If you ever heard an old Ampeg rig , you would fall in love with it. You also need a truck to haul it! The ss amp will allow the bass user to have a small rig with big sound. However most guitar players only need anywhere from 15 to 40 watts of tube power and these are very portable and big enough for most gigs. The ss amps are too thin and harsh to my ears. Happiness is a warm tube amp!