All-tube amp advantages?

[Mr. Foxen]

My Ripper, played by me through my B-15N is a very different instrument than that same Ripper played by me going through my SWR SM-400 and Goliath II cab. It responds differently and sounds similar but still discernibly different.

Both rigs at once for the win.

 

[AztecViking]

Also, by simple default guys who use tube amps get all the chicks, right?

 

[JimmyM]

At least for live performances, I don't think 99 & 94/100% of the audience can tell the difference.

We should all play First Act starter kits, then

 

[Mr. Foxen]

I asked my audience and all three said they like valve amps.

 

[JMacBass65]

At least for live performances, I don't think 99 & 94/100% of the audience can tell the difference.

Well screw them, I can tell the difference.

 

[JMacBass65]

Also, guys who use tube amps get all the chicks, right?

Not been my experience.

 

[monsterthompson]

Needs to be plugged in to do it, the pickup doesn't do that stuff when open circuit. Bass is passive. Unless it's active, which kind of makes it a preamp. Bass amps do a bunch less osund shaping than electric guitar amps though, the bass is a more complete instrument in itself than the electric guitar, in terms on reliance on the amp for sound. Bass is much more a case of amp for volume, that guitar where it is timbre and volume.

It needs to be plugged in to amplify it to an audible level, but the amp isn't powering the bass, so isn't it reasonable to state an electric signal (generated by the passive bass) exists even if unplugged and inaudible?

Again, not trying to be combative.

 

[SactoBass]

OP: you asked about all-tube amp advantages. Well, during the past 45 years of playing bass, I have owned the following amp rigs:

Fender Bassman 10 tube amp combo
Sunn Concert Bass solid state amp with two Sunn 215B cabs
SWR 750 solid state amp and Big Bertha 2x15 cab
Aguilar DB680 tube preamp and DB728 tube power amp
Mesa Buster Bass 200 tube amp
Ampeg SVT-CL tube amp and Ampeg 8x10 cab
Marshall VBA400 tube amp and two Mesa 4x10 Powerhouse cabs
Ampeg SVP-Pro tube preamp into Carvin 1500 solid state power amp
Eden 4x10XLT cab and Eden 1x18 cab
BBE BMax-T tube preamp into QSC PLX-3402 solid state power amp
Bergantino HT115 cabs (pair)
Reeves Custom 225 tube amp
Reeves 1x15 cabs (pair)
Fargen hand-wired all-tube 120 watt bass amp
Bergantino NV215 cab
Accugroove El Whappo cab
Aguilar DB750 tube preamp w/solid state power section
Fender TBP-1 tube preamp
Fender MB1200 solid state power amp
Eden D210XST's (pair)
Kern IP-777 tube preamp
Demeter VTHF-300M tube power amp
Fender Bassman 300 Pro tube amp
QSC PLX 3602 solid state power amp
LDS nEarful 15/6's (pair)
USA Ampeg SVT-VR tube amp *********WINNER WINNER WINNER**********
Markbass Jeff Berlin solid state combo amp w/NY151 ext cab
JuleAmps Monique Tube Preamp
Crest CA9 solid state power amp
Genz Benz Uber 212 cabs (pair)
Mesa Walkabout Scout 12 solid state combo amp
Trace Elliot V4 tube amp
'73 Ampeg B25B tube amp
LDS custom 4x10 cab for the B25B
'91 Ampeg SVT-II non-pro tube amp into a Berg NV610
'73 Ampeg V4B tube amp into a Fliptops 4x10 sealed cab
Alembic F-1X tube preamp into a Fender MB1200 solid state power amp into a Berg HD410

IMO, by far, and I mean BY FARRRRRRRRR, the amp with the best tone and feel (tactile response), was the USA-made Ampeg SVT-VR tube amp. Hands down, no contest. To this day, I regret selling it.

The other tube amps I have owned sounded good, especially the '91 Ampeg SVT-II nonpro tube amp.

The solid state amps I have owned sounded okay tonewise, but no "feel", just sound.

Again, this is all IMO and based on the amps I have owned.

So, to answer your question directly, IMO, the advantages of all-tube amps are:

• TONE
• FEEL

I hope that info helps you in deciding which amp to select for yourself.

 

[JimmyM]

Also, by simple default guys who use tube amps get all the chicks, right?

Not been my experience.

When I met my wife, I was using an SVT and 810.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Frequently very modest depreciation on classic tube amps.

 

[40Hz]

Not been my experience.

When I started going with the woman I've been with my entire life I was playing an Ampeg B-15N.

The first time she heard me play it, she said: "That amp has a really beautiful sound." (She's a guitarist btw.)

 

[Mr. Foxen]

It needs to be plugged in to amplify it to an audible level, but the amp isn't powering the bass, so isn't it reasonable to state an electric signal (generated by the passive bass) exists even if unplugged and inaudible?

Its open circuit if unplugged, it doesn't do anything.

 

[Bill Bohlen]

At least for live performances, I don't think 99 & 94/100% of the audience can tell the difference.

Where the difference comes in, is the warmth, resonance, and responsiveness of the amp makes you play differently. I can feel it change the way I hit the strings to coax a certain sound and the amp responds.

 

[NoiseNinja]

I know the guitarist from Tool usually blends the sound of like three different amps, but that's the exception, not the rule.

In my experience, most people who use tube amps find one whose sounds (since almost all amps are capable of many different sounds) they like, and then just use that.

Also know Lou Barlow, the bass player from Dinosaur Jr. uses 3 live.

An Ampeg SVT which he drives a BB preamp in front of for the low end, a Marshal 800 for the drive and then an old solid state Peavey for a higher midrangy tone, all mixed together.

 

[MobileHolmes]

Also, by simple default guys who use tube amps get all the chicks, right?

I don't think bass players ever get the chicks. Or maybe I'm just ugly

 

[Gaolee]

At least for live performances, I don't think 99 & 94/100% of the audience can tell the difference.

Yep. But so what. I'm another anomaly who prefers solid state for bass and tubes for guitar. But it depends on the solid state. All is not the same.

 

[Dee-man]

Didn't read the whole thread, so perhaps it's been said, so I'll be brief: punch, clarity, crystal clear highs, warmth, bloom, 3D quality to notes, heft and girth. Most if not all of that is from the power tubes.

 

[fdeck]

Not to pick a fight or put too a fine point on it, but isn't electricity induced buy the movement of the metal string over the magnetic pickup? That electric signal is then fed into an electric "amplifier" which amplifies it (by drawing electricity from a socket or battery), but the initial signal must still be electric in order for the amplifier to amplify it, right? I know this is not my wheelhouse, so I'd like to better understand what I might be misunderstanding.

This is correct. The pickup produces a voltage at its output terminals. This is present even if negligible current is flowing, e.g., when measured by a voltmeter with extremely high impedance. It's correct to call it an electric signal.

 

[fdeck]

For historical interest:
Is There A Future For Tube Amps?
Summary of terms describing tube sound, collected from TB threads, with some editorial license taken:

Organic
Dimensional
Delay
Dynamics
Interactive
Juicy
Round
Fat
Deep
Full
Tubey
Touch sensitivity
Grit
Growl
Vocal
Breathing
Warmth
Richness
Harmonic complexity
Presence
Character
Attack
Tactile
Slow
Added 4/27/16: Fast
Added 4/27/16: Heft
Added 3/9/17: Feel, punch, clarity, bloom, girth

Summary of car analogies

Tubes are like cars in this way, but solid state is like cars in that way
One thing is like torque, and another thing is like horsepower

Summary of guilt trips

You are a wimp for not humping an 85 pound amp
You might not be able to fix your amp if it breaks

Summary of slogans

Just get a tube amp, tubes rule, hahaha
The audience can hear the difference
The audience can’t hear the difference, but can feel the difference
Big amps just look better on stage
Don’t listen with your eyes

Summary of technical explanations

It's the distortion
It's not the distortion
It's the output transformer
It's the preamp
It's the power amp
It's the power supply
It’s those two diodes

Summary of reliability

Tube amps are more reliable if you keep them maintained
Tube amps are more repairable
Tube replacement is a myth propagated by haters
Tube replacement is a myth propagated by repairmen
You should try changing your tubes
You should not try changing your tubes

Summary of solid state players

Haters
Wimps
Uninformed
Digital
Modern
Lazy

Summary of summaries

Are we having this thread again?

 

[JimmyM]

LOL Francis! And yet, I'm very happy to jump into the fray every time. I'll be damned if people are going to jeopardize my ability to get SVT's on fly gigs by causing sales to drop with their anti-tube propaganda!