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Old School vs. New School Amplification

How much power are we talking here?

Again, how powerful is this Class A amp you heard that got inside your head?

This applies to you, too. ;) What brand, model of Class A amp are you referring to? And, where can any of us go audition it, thanks? :cool:
I thought this whole discussion started because the OP was looking for a bass amp? :eyebrow:

Who is this builder of amps that is clearly unlike any other amp you've heard? We'd all love to hear it, too. :)

Particular models have absolutely nothing to do with the difference between topologies. You could build a dog poopie Class A, and a really good Class D. That has nothing to do with it whatsoever, so stop trying to bring particular models into the discussion.

Class A/B is what you'll find in bass amps, because a Class A would get too hot, but it is much, much closer to A/B than D is, so I'm using it as an extreme example to highlight the differences. The output in class A/B will come directly from the input signal, just like class A. These are the "old school" amps.

OP asked: "I wonder if there are any sonic sacrifices for the sake of portability with this approach. Can the class D amps like Pumas, and Tone Hammers achieve the punch and feel of the lead sleds?" The answer is yes there are, and no they can't. I've explain why several times now.
 
once a note is fretted you can't fret it harder and get more of anything. touch sens is a misused word. touch sensitivity is when you can feel the strings vibrating about to feed back as you're pressing but the strings have not yet touched the frets yet. so amps themselves don't have touch sensitivity.
 
Well, you can't quantify a fart, but try to deny it exists.

Sure you can, when comparing it to a different one. One could be louder, lower, longer, have a more robust "flap" to it. You could go in to the differences of smell. Hell if the fart is intense enough you could describe the taste at the back of your pallet.

My point is, this doesnt boil down to "This class has these exclusive tonal traits, and this class has a different set of traits."

For those pointing to how the the signal is "chopped in to square waves" in other classes, I suggest they look up mathematical integration, and riemann sums as the limits of summation approach infinity.

As we consider the limits of human hearing, the speakers used, and all the other plethora of things that can effect the tonal signal, I do not believe one can expressly hear a difference between different classes of amplification, based solely on the topology. Once you match gain, distortion levels, eq curve, and volume those signals do in fact become un-differentiable to one another.
 
I don't know where those 2 clips came from but I don't really hear the touch sensitivity of the amp, but then that may be due to the not so great playing skills of the guy who was playing the guitar in them.

Well Jeff since I'm a bass player trying to hack my way around the guitar working on bits and pieces of originals.
I'm not out to impress speed freaks with my manual dexterity.

Maybe if you can't tell that all I'm doing is altering the attack, to change the tones, a Class D won't help you as much as going to an audiologist.
 
I just wanted to say that I am still enjoying this thread, especially since it hasn't got to any nasty level - everyone still just voicing opinions. I truly believe the biggest conflict going on is the simple fact that everyone hears things differently - there is no best anything in music, ever.
:thumbsup:

Duty Calls On The Internet!.png
 
The response tends to be far more sensitive in cathode biased class A.
Then it's a matter of how much gain you're working around and how you use the guitar as the controller.
You can definitely work the dynamics in class A/B as well with amp gain set to that ideal clean-to crunch zone.

Bass is generally all about clean headroom and clarity, but there is a thing as too clean.
 
The response tends to be far more sensitive in cathode biased class A.
Then it's a matter of how much gain you're working around and how you use the guitar as the controller.
You can definitely work the dynamics in class A/B as well with amp gain set to that ideal clean-to crunch zone.

Bass is generally all about clean headroom and clarity, but there is a thing as too clean.

You can work those dynamics in a class D amp. It wont be the power section, but riding the line between clean and crunch can be done there too.
 
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This forum is about all things related to BASS guitar no? Just checking. I am a little confused with all these examples of great sounding, old school guitar amps. Could we focus on reproducing bass frequencies with old and new school bass amps?
 

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