Amps
- Thread starter nana
- Start date
vernplum
New member
Guys, don't be discouraging lah. Some people are newbies and you'll put them off joining in on the forum.
Nana, I'm no expert and there is tonnes of info in the threads, but put basically:
Tube Amp: Uses thermionic valves (tubes - like little glass lightbulbs with metal stuff inside) in the circuits to perform the amplification. Tend to (but not always) produce a warmer sound
Solid State: Uses solid state transistors to amplify. Produces sound that some people say is (but again not always) not so warm and a little harsher.
Each of these types of amps has their own sounds that they are very good for.
Another type of amp nowadays is the modelling amp, such as Line 6 range, Vox Valvetronix, etc. where the sound comes from emulation software in an embedded chip. These can have tube or solid state amplification elsewhere.
Power amps make the sound louder.
Another term you'll hear is 'preamp' which is a device that affects 'gain' (roughly equates to the amount of distortion you'll get). The preamp sits before the poweramp and colours the sound. In fact, as I recently learned any device that sits between the guitar and poweramp is a preamp, including pedals etc.
Nana, I'm no expert and there is tonnes of info in the threads, but put basically:
Tube Amp: Uses thermionic valves (tubes - like little glass lightbulbs with metal stuff inside) in the circuits to perform the amplification. Tend to (but not always) produce a warmer sound
Solid State: Uses solid state transistors to amplify. Produces sound that some people say is (but again not always) not so warm and a little harsher.
Each of these types of amps has their own sounds that they are very good for.
Another type of amp nowadays is the modelling amp, such as Line 6 range, Vox Valvetronix, etc. where the sound comes from emulation software in an embedded chip. These can have tube or solid state amplification elsewhere.
Power amps make the sound louder.
Another term you'll hear is 'preamp' which is a device that affects 'gain' (roughly equates to the amount of distortion you'll get). The preamp sits before the poweramp and colours the sound. In fact, as I recently learned any device that sits between the guitar and poweramp is a preamp, including pedals etc.
Ok la. Sorry if i was discouraging.
Tube Amp: Warmer sounding. Some ppl think it's harder to maintain a tube amp, but it's not too hard. Some stock tubes aren't too good. So ppl like to change their tubes to get a better sound like i did. Main thing is, get a good dealer who knows his stuff. Raymond was quite helpful when my Mesa "blew". Got it reparied in a week.
When tubes are pushed, it forms some sort of compression, saturates on higher gain and overdrive occurs.
Solid state. Slightly tougher and more rugged. Will never get the sound of a tube amp despite "claims" of tube emulation.
I personally prefer a Hybrid power amp. Cos it uses tubes as a pre-amp, than combines with a solid stae output. For bass, since it's D.Ied, so I'm ok without a cabinet.
Which brings me to a cabinet. It's a speaker enclosed in an enclosure, meant to project the sound at a certain angle. Speakers comes in various sizes 8',10',12,15, and lately, 18'...inches.
You can buy as multiple speakers. eg 2X12' 4X10' for maximum damage....loudness i mean. hehe. Of course it's useless if you got nothing to power it up. Unless you use it for a Music video as a prop.(like MTV does to promote a certain brand)
Sizes may be the same, but soundwise varies from Malnufacturer. "Tone" so they say.
Tube Amp: Warmer sounding. Some ppl think it's harder to maintain a tube amp, but it's not too hard. Some stock tubes aren't too good. So ppl like to change their tubes to get a better sound like i did. Main thing is, get a good dealer who knows his stuff. Raymond was quite helpful when my Mesa "blew". Got it reparied in a week.
When tubes are pushed, it forms some sort of compression, saturates on higher gain and overdrive occurs.
Solid state. Slightly tougher and more rugged. Will never get the sound of a tube amp despite "claims" of tube emulation.
I personally prefer a Hybrid power amp. Cos it uses tubes as a pre-amp, than combines with a solid stae output. For bass, since it's D.Ied, so I'm ok without a cabinet.
Which brings me to a cabinet. It's a speaker enclosed in an enclosure, meant to project the sound at a certain angle. Speakers comes in various sizes 8',10',12,15, and lately, 18'...inches.
You can buy as multiple speakers. eg 2X12' 4X10' for maximum damage....loudness i mean. hehe. Of course it's useless if you got nothing to power it up. Unless you use it for a Music video as a prop.(like MTV does to promote a certain brand)
Sizes may be the same, but soundwise varies from Malnufacturer. "Tone" so they say.
serialninja
New member
oh, and then within the tube amp category there's class A, class B (but class B isn't very common at all for guitar amps; i've yet to come across one personally), class AB, etc. basically efficiency categories.
transistor amps
the good: cheap, fairly long-lasting.
the bad: sound awful at high volumes. not responsive to nuances in playing and changes in dynamics (e.g. picking hard and picking soft will result in the same volume out of the amp.)
tube amps
the good: responsive to nuances in playing and changes in dynamics. warm, without clipping at high volumes due to even harmonic frequencies as opposed to the odd-harmonic frequency distortion created by transistor amps, if i'm not mistaken.
the bad: tubes need biasing and changing, and might blow on you during a gig. tube amps are generally fairly expensive. tube amps are heavy.
digital modelling amps
the good: they're exceedingly versatile - they can sound like tons of different amps. they can go direct to mixers so you don't need to get an amp cab or speakers.
the bad: like transistor amps, they generally lack responsiveness to playing nuances and changes in dynamics. they are, however, more expensive than transistor amps (if you buy a digital modelling amp with speakers). they may be cheaper if you just get the modelling unit and go direct to the mixer. they model lots of stuff but like all imitations, aren't as convincing as the real thing. they are sensitive to spikes in voltage and it's strongly recommended that you use a surge protector with your modelling amp so that you don't lose your settings in the event of a spike. tube amps in this regard are much much more forgiving to spikes.
hybrid tube/transistor amps
the good: they're like transistor amps with better gain at lower volume.
the bad: they're like transistor amps with better gain at lower volume and lousy gain at high volume. tube amps sound great at high volumes because the overdrive/distortion comes from having saturated tubes in the power amp section. hybrids use transistors in the power amp section, so while their preamp tubes may give a decent gain at low volumes, at high volumes your amp reacts like a transistor amp and the preamp tubes don't help that much. i personally think hybrid amps are a gimmick. i say if you want tube, get tube. hybrid won't get you there, but it'll make you pay part of the journey.
cheers.
transistor amps
the good: cheap, fairly long-lasting.
the bad: sound awful at high volumes. not responsive to nuances in playing and changes in dynamics (e.g. picking hard and picking soft will result in the same volume out of the amp.)
tube amps
the good: responsive to nuances in playing and changes in dynamics. warm, without clipping at high volumes due to even harmonic frequencies as opposed to the odd-harmonic frequency distortion created by transistor amps, if i'm not mistaken.
the bad: tubes need biasing and changing, and might blow on you during a gig. tube amps are generally fairly expensive. tube amps are heavy.
digital modelling amps
the good: they're exceedingly versatile - they can sound like tons of different amps. they can go direct to mixers so you don't need to get an amp cab or speakers.
the bad: like transistor amps, they generally lack responsiveness to playing nuances and changes in dynamics. they are, however, more expensive than transistor amps (if you buy a digital modelling amp with speakers). they may be cheaper if you just get the modelling unit and go direct to the mixer. they model lots of stuff but like all imitations, aren't as convincing as the real thing. they are sensitive to spikes in voltage and it's strongly recommended that you use a surge protector with your modelling amp so that you don't lose your settings in the event of a spike. tube amps in this regard are much much more forgiving to spikes.
hybrid tube/transistor amps
the good: they're like transistor amps with better gain at lower volume.
the bad: they're like transistor amps with better gain at lower volume and lousy gain at high volume. tube amps sound great at high volumes because the overdrive/distortion comes from having saturated tubes in the power amp section. hybrids use transistors in the power amp section, so while their preamp tubes may give a decent gain at low volumes, at high volumes your amp reacts like a transistor amp and the preamp tubes don't help that much. i personally think hybrid amps are a gimmick. i say if you want tube, get tube. hybrid won't get you there, but it'll make you pay part of the journey.
cheers.
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