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Tube Amps. Worth it?

#141
JimmyM said:
No you are not. Hey, some all-tube amps have solid state rectification but they're still all-tube amps to everyone except the very most nitpicky pedantics out there who mainly use it to try and win arguments on the internet. I give this argument a big "whatever."
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Unless you have an octave fuzz built into your amp, rectification is a power supply function, not a signal one.

"All tube is really important to this amp being good"

"That amp isn't all tube"

"All tube doesn't matter at all"
 
#143
Mr. Foxen said:
Unless you have an octave fuzz built into your amp, rectification is a power supply function, not a signal one.

"All tube is really important to this amp being good"

"That amp isn't all tube"

"All tube doesn't matter at all"
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Oh brother...now we're going to resort to making up stuff to win the argument? You have a great future in politics.
 
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#144
7295C629-D1C8-470B-A2D5-B152C38D8BBC.jpeg
May my lecherous fingers never again defile the virginal all-tube pathway of my Fender’s aural journey by my sweaty fumbling with impure slider settings.
 
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#145
JimmyM said:
That I can't argue with. But this whole "The audience doesn't know or care" thing is just a giant copout for not doing your best.
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Yeah, plus, it depends on the crowd too. SOME couldn't care less as long as it's played well, some come to see us as we have a particular sound..... THEY care.
Main thing is, I do, and I'm playing it, so I wanna enjoy it as much as possible
 
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#146
Mr. Foxen said:
Outside of cool distortion, SS can do preamp functions such as EQ better (hence the SS graphic on Mesa to overcome the limited knob eq), especially when having lots of options. There is a lot to be said for seriously limiting how much eq knobs do in the hands of players, and that is inherent to the standard FMV tone stack found on valve amps, but that is passive and could have the make up gain applied with SS anyway. Even valve pre variants with loads of EQ sweep (Baxandall etc.) are way less popular that the FMV, although Ampeg use them and the vastly greater range of eq means less need for adding a graphic (although some model do anyway, does anyone use the graphic on them?). Basic valve preamps are very well known at both ends, so kind of a wasted effort to emulate them with solid state stuff (outside of digital, which obv does it loads), stick with what's known and everyone is happy.

I use all valve preamps for my stuff, because I don't need much EQ (these have way more than the standard anyway) and distortion figures highly. I keep big tone shape shifts in solid state pedals.
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Thanks for sharing your thinking and experience. I found a couple points you made to be areas where I might have a different goal as a user. First, I'm not a big distortion/overdrive guy - I play mostly clean. I also rarely use pedals and like to rely on my bass, technique, and amp to get me where I want to be. I'm not much of a fan of the FMV tone stack for bass, although it does seem to work amazing well for some and is great on electric guitar. For bass I find the Baxandall style to be very useful and pretty musical at almost any settings.

The one thing I like about having a lot of EQ flexibility as a user is for handling acoustic problems in live venues. There are just times when you can easily dial out a problem with EQ that you can't play your way around.
 
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#148
Mr. Foxen said:
"tube head" = tube power section at least. "All tube" = no solid state in signal path. Then you get to subdividing sections like Mesa did in their blurb so "All tube [specific subsection that doesn't have the SS stuff in it].

Marketing does rely on people thinking things that are not true.

The real question is why people insist all tube is better, whilst citing hybrids as examples.

Edit: Basically, the 'all tube' thing kinda supports my earlier statement that the important stuff comes from the power section. Tube pres are basically a gimmick.
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There's a really fine line between marketing and semantics.
 
#149
seilerbird said:
At your next gig after a few sets go out into the audience and start asking patrons if they think your amp is a tube or a solid state. I bet no one knows or cares.
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I play what sounds best on stage to both me and my bandmates. They pretty much insist on the tube amps as much as I do... and yeah, Ive had TONS of people come up to me after a gig and rave both about the bass tone as well as the amp. People notice, maybe not everyone, but the ones who will really give a damn about your band and your music sure as hell do, and thats the fans I want!
 
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#152
JimmyM said:
That I can't argue with. But this whole "The audience doesn't know or care" thing is just a giant copout for not doing your best.
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Nah, it's just some people have no need of tube tone and translate that into nobody needs tube tone so nobody could possibly care about tube tone except those fools lugging tube amps and I am a gonna fix that one post at a time!
 
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#153
Mr. Foxen said:
Unless you have an octave fuzz built into your amp, rectification is a power supply function, not a signal one.

"All tube is really important to this amp being good"

"That amp isn't all tube"

"All tube doesn't matter at all"
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My view is if it's a tube preamp and tube power stage but there's a SS graphic helper in between it is more all tube than hybrid in the conventions of bass amps. The Buster still weighs in like a all tube amp. You're both right and both wrong, neener neener neener.
 
#156
Downunderwonder said:
Nah, it's just some people have no need of tube tone and translate that into nobody needs tube tone so nobody could possibly care about tube tone except those fools lugging tube amps and I am a gonna fix that one post at a time!
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I don't know which is more douchey :D Neither are the least bit constructive, though.
 
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#160
jmon said:
I went all tube about 6 months ago. SVT-CL 300 watts. OMG it sounds amazing. Is it a beast? Yes. But I transfer it out it’s road case to my 15 cab and it’s all wheels from there. Can’t say I’d wanna lug it up stairs but besides that it goes to every gig. Totally worth it. And the tone cannot be matched by any solid state I’ve ever owned IMHO. And that list is long. GK, Ampeg, SWR, Fender, TC Electronics, Carvin, Peavey......
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Man! youse got some very nice qwipment! Making me jealous!
 

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