I use a SS Head (GK 1001RB II through a Ampeg 810E) and love it..... I can get warm tube sound out of it by hitting the switch on my VT Deluxe......
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solid state vs tube
- Thread starter jay43
- Start date
Well, that didn't take long. Took it home... initially played some through my Markbass F1 for comparison, then plugged in the Fusion. Liked the tone. Switched channels and turned up the Gain on Channel B. It can get Tubey enough. More than enough for me.
Then after 5 minutes the Fan kicked on and I could hear it over my amp, not through my amp. Fan in this unit is untollerably loud. I called GK and talked to an engineer (Noley?) and they said it's a known issue in order to cool the tubes in the amp via 2 fans.
Maybe it's just 'me' coming from a quiet SS amp like the F1, and not being a long time Tube Amp user, but WOW that fan would have been noticable off-stage in between songs.
It's going back to GC tomorrow.
(NOTE: This unit 'was' a discount unit off of Guitarcenter.com, so there may be an issue with this unit.) It reinforced however, that my F1 is fine for my needs and tonal tastes. Still may upgrade to an F500 for the additional tonal control.
Then after 5 minutes the Fan kicked on and I could hear it over my amp, not through my amp. Fan in this unit is untollerably loud. I called GK and talked to an engineer (Noley?) and they said it's a known issue in order to cool the tubes in the amp via 2 fans.
Maybe it's just 'me' coming from a quiet SS amp like the F1, and not being a long time Tube Amp user, but WOW that fan would have been noticable off-stage in between songs.
It's going back to GC tomorrow.
(NOTE: This unit 'was' a discount unit off of Guitarcenter.com, so there may be an issue with this unit.) It reinforced however, that my F1 is fine for my needs and tonal tastes. Still may upgrade to an F500 for the additional tonal control.
That's interesting, because I find the F1 to be quite noisy -- not the fan so much, but a constant low hiss. Can't hear it while playing, but I find it distracting on small acoustic gigs. The RH450/236 is absolutely dead silent (with treble maxed, all 16 piezos in the array switched on and ear up against the grille) until the strings are touched, and I've never heard the fan.
I've had an RH450 and loved it, but do not like it's baked in high end rolloff. I also have found I prefer the slimmer F1 form factor so it fits in the pocket of my gig bag.
That limits my amp choices quite a bit.
I've contemplated Streamliner, Tonehammer 500, and RH750, but those are thicker form factors than the F1/F500. I prefer to stay light and mobile and as few of trips as possible.
That limits my amp choices quite a bit.
I've contemplated Streamliner, Tonehammer 500, and RH750, but those are thicker form factors than the F1/F500. I prefer to stay light and mobile and as few of trips as possible.
I hear you -- I keep breaking out my F1 for that very reason, but can't get past the noise! Not that it's really that bad, only by comparison. Otherwise, it's a great amp.
I've had very little experience with all-tube amps, but I've owned a lot of SS and hybrids, including a few - Peavey, Eden, GK, Trace Elliot, Aguilar DB750, and the GB Streamliner. The Streamliner beats out all the others by a wide margin for my purposes.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether it sounds "like a real tube amp", but it sounds great, and gives a heft and presence to each note that is really wonderful. I never crank the gain, but the clean sound is what I personally think of as a tubey vibe. Great round but pronounced attack, and a low end that is huge but not cloudy and transparent like my Eden. Cuts through a mix without having to crank the high end at all, which is a real revelation for me.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether it sounds "like a real tube amp", but it sounds great, and gives a heft and presence to each note that is really wonderful. I never crank the gain, but the clean sound is what I personally think of as a tubey vibe. Great round but pronounced attack, and a low end that is huge but not cloudy and transparent like my Eden. Cuts through a mix without having to crank the high end at all, which is a real revelation for me.
Started with a Fender Showman back in the mid-sixties, went through quite a few SS rigs including high powered separates. Back to all-tube and happy.
Gale
Gale
Both (G-K Fusion 550). Played all tube for decades and SS almost as long. Now six stage tube preamp and 500 watts SS power.
Are the pre tubes user serviceable on those amps, i.e. can you swap them out yourself like tube amps with tube sockets or do you have to send it out to to a service rep to get a new or different set of tubes hardwired?
I totally believe this.
But "warm" is one of those buzz words that doesn't have a definite meaning. It just should be said that great tone can be had with many rigs no matter what's inside the box.
Let me put it like this,, I own 2 separate 200 watt amps. A solid state acoustic b200 combo amp and an orange all tube ad200 mk3 with an obc115 cab. When I play with my band, (we play progressive rock) if I use the ss b200 I cannot hear myself until I turn it up too loud to where it's way above everything else and doesn't fit well, with the all tube orange, it sits perfectly in the mix with flawless tone and the presence of it is just outstandibg
That is more a case of "cheap vs quality", than it is a case of "SS vs Tubes"...
- georgestrings
+1
You can't play every amp in the world, and you can't say the behavior of one amp can be generalized to all amps because they happen to use similar named output devices. There's many devices in the "transistor" family, many amp topologies, many pre-amps, many design engineers, and many marketeers that can clarify or cloud what an amp can do in real life.
