Gear setup

[Brett89]

therefore, you will have the problems of a solid state, like clipping at high volumes

What does it mean? solid state amps are not good at high volumes?

Well advantige in ss amps are: they are cheap, no need to change tubes, no "warmuptime"

and with tubes: better sound, higher gain

Thats all?

 

[thepunisher]

completly fucking wrong.

they clip, which means at higher volumes, they do not perform as well as a tube amp. But tube amps DO NOT usually perform well at low volume levels. And you can always run an amp through a P.A. I believe it is a bit of a trade off.

it is a common misconception tha tube amps sound better. in fact, it is an opinionated misconception. sure people always will point out the wonders of tones such as Page, Hendrix, and Beck, and assume that it is created entirely by tubes. wrong. All three of these greats used a SOLID STATE stompbox in front of their tube amps for distortion or fuzz. the main problem is that for years, solid state has been held back from greatness because it tries to emulate a tube amp, instead of branching off and doing what it can ruly do. there are many shitty solid state amps, but there are some really rocking ones too, some that sound even better than alot of the tube amps, at least to me. the same is true of tube amps.

Tube amps have good sounds, yes, but are extremly inconsistant due to the tubes. They do not necessarily have better high gain or even sound at all. that is another opinion that pretends to be a fact.

You need to play some of both to form an opinion about it.

 

[Brett89]

Thanks man, Now I'm smarter!

Well yes someone likes this, others that... better players told me that the tube is better.... os I thought they are right.

One more thing, just becouse I dont understand it... I saw a concert photo, and the guitarist used 2 guitar heads in the same time.... but why does he use two? To double the volume? So he use two 100W heads not a 200W ?

 

[Drew]

spring reverb was originally created using a spring(according to my highschool physics teacher, who was a nut) basically, it is reverb on board the amp, most likly emulating the original spring, which sounds crappy unless used in moderation.

Actually, most spring reverb tanks on amps DO use springs to reverberate the signal - there's no emulation involved.

As for the Tube vs. Solid State debate, while the majority of what you say is true, it's also just as opinionated a misconception as the one you're speaking out against.

First, to nit pick for a bit, I believe the first two Led Zep albums were cut largely with a Telecaster and a Fender Champ cranked WAY up. There's little definitive information as to what exactly Page was using in the studio at any given point, but Page used to say that just about anything could be made to sound like a LP into a Marshall in the studio, if mic'd correctly, and that at least for the first couple albums he was getting most of his distortion by driving tiny amps incredibly hard. No distortion pedals involved here.

Also, while tube preamp gain can be quite good, even most serious tube snobs will admit that for pure, unadulturated preamp gain there's not much out there that can touch diode distortion. If you want loads and loads of gain, this is where you're going to get it.

However, where they differ from you is that most tube snobs believe that the true strength of tube amps is not in their preamps but rather their poweramps, and the natural compression that comes with poweramp distortion. When people talk about the response and "feel" of a tube amp, this is what they're talking about, the kind of touch sensitivity you get when you have a tube amp running hard enough that you can change the entire character of the amp by varying your pick attack from light to heavy.

In fact, a bunch of tube afectionados think that the best distortion you're going to get is the mix of even and odd order harmonics you get when you take a solid state distortion (predominantly odd, IIRC), and run it into a poweramp being driven into (predominantly even-order harmonic) clipping. Really, pointing out a couple classic rock guys and saying "even they used solid state for their distortion sound" completely misses the point of tube amp overdrive.

Also, provided we're talking quality contemporary amplifiers, I think the "inconsistancy" of tube amps is greatly exaggerated by solid state fans. As I understand, that argument dates back to the early tube Fenders and Marshalls - great amps still revered for their tone, but made to fairly loose tolerances and now pushing upwards of 50 years old in many cases. Sure, if you compare a couple Bassmans from 1958 to a couple Randalls produced six months ago, you're going to find a LOT more variation in the tube amps. But that's hardly an apples-to-apples comparison, isn it? My Nomad sounds consistant from day to day - I've never plugged it in and thought, "Hmm, my tone isn't so good today." Sure, I do have some days where the tone is slightly better than others, but I'd personally be more inclined to attributing that to a combination of my mood and the difficulties present in trying to compare tone from one day to the next, and to the fact that the gain is so transparent that my touch as a player does effect the tone and slight changes will have a slight day-to-day change. The amplifier itself is, as far as I can tell, perfectly consistant.

I do agree that there's no "right" answer, and that for certain applications (uber-high gain, for one) solid state could arguably have an edge. I also agree that for every shitty sounding solid state amp there's probably a shitty sounding tube amp, and I'll even grant you the fact that part of the problem in finding really toneful solid state amps is that the "solid state sucks" thing means that usually cheaper, inexpensive amps will be solid state, while a company's flagship, top-of-the-line amps are often tube, which does solid state no favors. However, you're putting forward just as much misinformation about tube amps while ostentaciously trying to clear the air about misconceptions on solid state.

Bret - well, usually the second amp is a backup - if one goes down, there's another amp warmed up and ready to go right next to it, so you just have to switch from one input to the next and flip up a standby switch. However, it's also partly cosmetic - if you see a wall of 4x12 cabs, odds are a good chunk of them are dummy cabs not hooked up to anything, just there for visual appearance.

 

[thepunisher]

Thank you Drew. I always hold your insights in high regards.

By the way, who ever said i was a solid state fan? maybe i'm just poor, and it's really all i can afford. hell, i'd love a mesa, but i've got other bills to pay right now.

By pointing out a few famous examples of the use of solid state, I was trying illustrate that solid state has been widly used in rock, and not just tube amps can cut it.

Good point about the poweramp. i forgot to mention that.

Discalimer: the only tube amp I have owned for longer than a month was an old peavey, and it never sounded the same, or good for that matter. i have borrowed marshalls fenders and mesas for extended periods of time(from friends who were leaving the country, band members, that sort of people), and have had problems with all of the marshalls(4, but they were modern), half of the fenders(5), and none of the mesas(7). I have owned about twenty solid state amps, and only the carvin has been any good to me. the rage is ok. the rest are crappy crappy crap.

I believe strongly in keeping all options open, and having him decide for himself. Only then will he truly obtain what he wants.

 

[Drew]

i have borrowed marshalls fenders and mesas for extended periods of time(from friends who were leaving the country, band members, that sort of people), and have had problems with all of the marshalls(4, but they were modern), half of the fenders(5), and none of the mesas(7).

I'd say that's about par for the course for Marshalls, at least.

Yeah, I agree though - the more information at your fingertips, the better off you are. For what it's worth, I do consider myself a tube snob, but I'm seriously lusting after a Tech-21 Trademark 30 as a practice amp. Tech-21, whatever you may feel about solid state, makes some damned good sounding amps.

 

[thepunisher]

tech 21 is a great company.
Have you ever used the pritchard amp? for the price it is outrageous, but man, does it have some nice sounds.
polytone thas a great clean as well.

 

[jer]

Brett.

Are you playing in a band?

 

[Brett89]

Brett.

Are you playing in a band?

No I'm not.

I dont want to buy such big gears, I'm just wanted some info.

 

[jer]

Do you have plans to?

What is your music budget for the next year?

 

[Brett89]

Do you have plans to?

What is your music budget for the next year?

Well... I'm only 17... so I dont how much money...

I would like to buy a new guitar (maybe an RG7321... but its 550$ and the stock PU's are bad so + 280$ for new pickups) becouse my only guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica 112 and its not the best and its to bad and cheap to buy anything now on it. My main problem is that in Hungary theres no other 7string than the RG7321 for this pricerange... I'm happy if I get 550$.
So I would like to buy a new guitar in the followinh 1 or 2 years.

After that I would like to buy some effect pedals. My Peavey Rage 158 is good for practiceing in my little room.

If I would be a millioner I would buy a bassguitar too... I love that too.

 

[jer]

Is there a decent used market there?

I got a ESP LTD H-207 for $279 here in the states.

Used is the way to go.

Something like this is very useful too. You can play via headphones or out to your amp. Many sounds built in. Small, portable. Very useful for a long time.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...X4D-Personal-MultiEffect-Processor?sku=152176

 

[Brett89]

Is there a decent used market there?

I got a ESP LTD H-207 for $279 here in the states.

Used is the way to go.

Something like this is very useful too. You can play via headphones or out to your amp. Many sounds built in. Small, portable. Very useful for a long time.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...X4D-Personal-MultiEffect-Processor?sku=152176

Well yes, I was searching for a used 7string but I didn't found any... only a used Ibanez with trem (I dont like trems) FOR 900-1200$!!!

There's no LTD, Washburn, or any other cheap, simple, but usefull 7string in Hungary... only that RG7321

And my parents don't like the idea to buy a guitar on the internet from a nother country... well yeah, I don't like it too much to but its cheaper... but not safer.

Thank you for being soo helpful! Sorry if my english is not the best.

 

[jer]

Can you go the eBay route?

http://cgi.ebay.com/LTD-by-ESP-h-20...ryZ33038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Brett89]

Can you go the eBay route?

http://cgi.ebay.com/LTD-by-ESP-h-20...ryZ33038QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Well I speaked with them about Ebay... but they dont like the idea... they say that the shipping is expensive and they will sand a bad, broken guitar...

What do you think, is it safe? Is it hard to make a deal? They won't trick me?

 

[jer]

Who is "they"?

 

[Brett89]

Who is "they"?

My mam and dad... yeah its silly but If they say its a bad idea then it must be... + they wouldn't help me out some money if a buy things on the net I think...

 

[jer]

ok gotcha.

I can understand that. There are good sellers on there and of course bad ones. If you dont have much eBay experience I wouldnt get started with something like a guitar.

Do you know anyone in the states who may be able to find one for you over here?

 

[Brett89]

ok gotcha.

I can understand that. There are good sellers on there and of course bad ones. If you dont have much eBay experience I wouldnt get started with something like a guitar.

Do you know anyone in the states who may be able to find one for you over here?

No... I haven't got friends out there

Maybe I sould build a guitar

 

[jer]

Build one?

Hey if you have guitar building skills you go right ahead. I'd leave that to the luthiers though.

Do you intend on starting a band? Will you be playing with anyone else or just alone?