I didn't realize what I'd been missing ...

[jpfeifer]

I've had my Egnater Rebel 30 amp for a few weeks and I'm finding myself playing it all the time now. I didn't realize what a difference it was to play through an all-tube signal path for quite some time since I had been using my other amps for a few years.

The big thing that I'm noticing are all those dynamics that I have now that I didn't seem to have with my other amp. The notes seem to have more depth to them with tubes (maybe it's the natural compression or coloring that tubes seem to do). I'm having a blast playing the clean sounds especially. It's kind of 3-dimensional sounding. You pick harder or softer and the tone is different, the amp responds differently to the way you play, like an extension of the guitar.

But I know the hassles of using tube amps too, which is why I quit using them several years ago. I got tired of having to replace tubes now and then, and always having a backup amp to use just in case a tube failed in the middle of a gig or something.
However, I'm now realizing that I was giving up a lot of tone when I stopped using them. Anyway, time will tell if it's all worth it, but so far I think that it is. It's making me play guitar more, and my guitars never sounded so good.

--Jim

 

[deeaa]

Indeed! And also the less pedals you use up front, the more the tube sound shines thru.

Now, the hard - and frustrating - part is that even though _you_ as a player fell and hear that when playing, it's damned hard to capture those nuances on recordings. That's what really bugs me. I always look for ways to record my Ceriatone...but in the end, using Amplitube and D/I gives equal if not better sounds ten times easier.

Nevertheless, when I play the Ceria live and feel the interaction, the way the drive downright grows from your finger movements, or lets you surf the feedback, and the whole thing sounds so huge and big like there's the best reverb in the world there, and you feel the air moved by the 4x12"...it's just never gonna be the same with any SS modeler live.

 

[Eric]

Indeed! And also the less pedals you use up front, the more the tube sound shines thru.

Now, the hard - and frustrating - part is that even though _you_ as a player fell and hear that when playing, it's damned hard to capture those nuances on recordings. That's what really bugs me. I always look for ways to record my Ceriatone...but in the end, using Amplitube and D/I gives equal if not better sounds ten times easier.

Nevertheless, when I play the Ceria live and feel the interaction, the way the drive downright grows from your finger movements, or lets you surf the feedback, and the whole thing sounds so huge and big like there's the best reverb in the world there, and you feel the air moved by the 4x12"...it's just never gonna be the same with any SS modeler live.

I agree that when I got my cheap Crate back from a friend, I was pretty surprised by the difference between that and the TM60 I use. And the TM60 is what I'd consider a very good SS amp.

That being said, I think all of the popularity of the Axe FX these days is due to the feel of the modeler, not necessarily the sound. I do believe that modeling has at least approached the feel of a tube amp, and I think it will definitely get there some day.

But that's beside the point. I'm glad you're happy with your new amp, Jim!

 

[kiteman]

When I got my first tube amp, the Valve Jr, I was hooked. I learned then about swapping tubes and got new tones. Before long I got a box of tubes.

What fun.

 

[jpfeifer]

Yes, I agree about the "feel" part of a tube amp being the thing that is most noticable. I think that modelers have become better and better at replicating this feel to a certain point. The listener can't really hear the difference so much as the player. With my Vox Valvetronix, it's actually a really good modeling amp, sounding extrememly close to some of the amps it imitates. But it doesn't have the same dynamic feel for the various sounds. For recording I still like the flexibility of modeling since it helps you explore a bunch of different sounds really fast, and focus on the playing. But for playing live I really like the tube-amp feel. It interacts with your playing in a completely different way. If they can replicate this part of a tube amp behavior (and eventually, I'm sure they will) then it will be hard to beat.

--Jim

 

[sumitomo]

Welcome Home!!! Sumi

 

[NWBasser]

I recently acquired my very first tube amp.

Yeah, what a big difference! Like you said, it responds to picking dynamics in a very nice way.

Now I know what it's all about!:happy

 

[Ch0jin]

Its funny, I found myself just nodding along as I read through this thinking "yup, yup, yup"

I was spoiled though, I started on a little gorilla amp (like 15W solid state with an 8" or maybe even 6" I cant recall) but it was sooo horrible that within a month or so I took out a loan to buy my tooblicious Peavey Ultra. That was probably more than 15 years ago and I still use that amp almost every day.

Once you have tasted the holy grail, it's hard to eat 2 minute noodles.


NWBasser, did you get a tube guitar amp or bass amp?

I guess most bass players go for solid state for the massive power handling and tight bottom end, but I have messed around with some tube bass amps and they are delicious!

 

[NWBasser]

Its funny, I found myself just nodding along as I read through this thinking "yup, yup, yup"

I was spoiled though, I started on a little gorilla amp (like 15W solid state with an 8" or maybe even 6" I cant recall) but it was sooo horrible that within a month or so I took out a loan to buy my tooblicious Peavey Ultra. That was probably more than 15 years ago and I still use that amp almost every day.

Once you have tasted the holy grail, it's hard to eat 2 minute noodles.


NWBasser, did you get a tube guitar amp or bass amp?

I guess most bass players go for solid state for the massive power handling and tight bottom end, but I have messed around with some tube bass amps and they are delicious!

My tube amp is a Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube guitar amp. My bass amp is a Genz Benz hybrid that sounds a bit tubey, but more solid-state punch.

I started with an Ampeg bass tube amp (V4B) and thought it was very muddy which left a bad impression. A couple years ago though I played through an old B15 Portaflex and it sounded incredible. Not much for volume, but the tone sure was nice.