Do you agree with this guy?

[oldguy]

BUT and it's a BIG but.

my wife hates when I say that...............

 

[ZMAN]

The person who is quoted is obviously an older person. I am one of those that can remember When everything was tubes including Televsion, radio, and stereo. Phones were hard wired, and things like skype and Web cams were science fiction only seen in 2001 a Space Oddessey, and cell phones were sci fi on Star Trek.
Everything went to transistors, and most of us shelved our tube amps. For some reason though us "older people" accept most of the new technology as being state of the art, but stick with tube amps.
Most of the guitar stores I see lately have very few tube amps and way more ss amps. The kid seem to love them and I don't blame them when it comes to weight and reliability. Not to mention the modellers. I recently bought a Vox Pathfinder to travel with and it is one of the most "tubey" sounding amps I have heard in a long time.
I am sure with the technological advances in the future and the reliance of most of the younger generation on new tech, it will make no sense to carry around an amp. Of course you will get the hold outs, and there will still be tube amp purists but I think the change is inevitable.

 

[NWBasser]

My experience with various modelers is that they do a pretty good job of capturing a tube amp sound, but come up short on things like dynamics and phrasing and they seem to mask the inherent tone of the guitar being used to some extent.

I've used different guitars through modeling programs and the distinct tone differences between the guitars seems a bit lost compared to running through a tube amp.

Then again, I'm primarily a bass player and find my Cube 30 modeling amph to work well enough for my occasional guitar playing. The guitarist in my band has a Mesa Tremoverb and a Carvin Legacy and I really get a kick out playing through those!

 

[helliott]

Sorry I missed this thread until now. I've had a foot in both camps for a long while. Had one of the first Line 6 amps, still sounds great. Had a Boss ME-90, thought it was fine. Had a POD for a bit, didn't like it. Have a Tone Lab, and like it a lot.
I'm not religious about it, but having tried lots of the Tone Lab in gigs, and comparing to my Mesa Lone Star with a Screamer, Blues Driver and a Crybaby, I have opted to stay tubes for the current project. I also found the modelers didn't project enough. Our band is very loud, thanks to a monster drummer and keyboardist with a full organ and analog keys rig. I just find tubes cut through that wall more effectively than modelers.
The landscape is changing, but an awful lot of younger players still swear by tubes, not just us old farts.