Boss Nextone vs Valve Amps & it’s your turn to wear the blindfold!

[@FelipeFigueroaG]

Regardless of which amp sounded better to anyone, you've got to admit that the Nextone gets pretty damn close to the all-tube amps, and it's 4 amps in one for USD 500. That's damn good value.

[@jmcsquared18]

It didn't even compare to the DSL though. I guess EL34s produce the most "authentic" valve sound (that wouldn't surprise me, they are the best imo).

[@rickwoods5313]

Lol, I also thought the hotrod was great sounding, those 2 together, I'd say watch out!

[@SeasickSailor76]

I fully agree. Having said that, to my understanding, the sound is just one part of the equation. How the amp 'reacts' to the playing ('feel') is another, but probably equally if not more important. I guess the only way to figure that out is by trying the Nextone in person. If they got that right, it's really impressive.

[@8sigreg]

@@SeasickSailor76 I ended up buying a Nextone Stage. The tube settings are a small part of the sound capability of the amp. Once you get into the editor and hear how the pre-amp, power-amp, and global EQ can be adjusted the Stage is suddenly very impressive. There's a Marshall patch that sounds like it'd be great at loud volume. There's also a nice Tweed, a Blackface, a lead version of the Tweed, a Mesa, and a bunch more that seem like good starting points.

[@worldwide_will]

@@8sigreg does the stage sound boxy compared to the artist? Or it’s just smaller in size? I’m a bit skeptical about “smaller” as it often sounds boxy

[@michaellimberger5097]

So are you keeping the Boss or are you waiting for the Next-one? Thank you I‘ll be here all week.

[@andreas-xd7pb]

man you're the Boss of puns

[@joerobinson6199]

Michael Limberger good one ☝️

[@morphine0000]

Ugh. Take your upvote and begone!

[@checkpointcovid8021]

Tip the waitress. Try the veal.

[@DavidCrites07]

Ba-dum tsk tsk...tough crowd, tough crowd

[@palethorn]

The older Pete gets, he looks more like Johnny Depp, and less like Leonardo DiCaprio.

[@the.Aruarian]

Let's just hope at least his life is more DiCaprio than Depp going forward.

[@joerobinson6199]

Jason Rayfield Pete is Pete. He looks like Pete. It’s a Honore thing.

[@Nj1498]

No, the older Pete gets, the more Johnny Depp looks like him and less Leo DiCaprio look like him.

[@gibbysg8143]

Confirmed. “Blow” remake starring Danish Pete acting as a drug lord in the works as we speak lol

[@mrnutterbutterdude]

haha savage

[@SeasickSailor76]

Having an AC15, I was confident I'd get the Vox right. After hearing the two sounds, I was even more confident. I even thought the Nextone wasn't too convincing. Well... you may be seeing where this is going. I got it wrong. :-/

[@Reveltt]

It was the eq that threw you off. It was sneaky but they gave you a glimpse at the start. I have an ac 15 too and knew it sounded like that with those settings.

[@runnningonempty]

I had it easy being a Hot Rod Deluxe owner.......6L6's RULE THE WORLD!

[@8sigreg]

I was playing with a Nextone Studio yesterday. The EL-84 setting was very good as was the 6V6 when running clean, based on having owned and currently owning amps with both tube types. I wasn’t able to turn the amp up to stage volume which might affect the sound negatively but I expect it’ll do a good job there too. Whether it can compete with my tube amps will have to be seen once I can crank it, but currently I think it’s close enough to be a great starting amp for someone, or a worthy beater amp when I don’t want to mistreat my tubes.

[@kbkman7742]

It sounds like the nextone does quite easily what real el84s need to be absolutely cranked to do. The compressed and clipping low mids and bottom end with a clean top end... IME voxes and oranges with el84s need the master wound right up to get that but it looks like pretty comfy volume levels there

[@Newnodrogbob]

kabukiman69 In fact they mentioned in the vid that some of the tube amps really wanted a little more volume, but they were trying to keep the volume levels moderate. So yeah; I think there’s something to that.

[@Scoots1994]

Got 3 out of 4 right, I could hear it more when they were driven. But I actually preferred the sound of the Boss overall in 2 of the comparisons, and when you consider it's flexibility that's a hell of an amp.

[@jefflevesque5316]

When Leo was developing his pickups at GnL; the staff (all players) would sneak into his work shop and tune the guitars Leo was working on to chords. The reason being, Leo was tone deaf and would plink away on new pickup designs all day and out of tune, driving his musician staff bonkers. Shit you not.

[@TheFairway8]

All guitar players spend half of their lives tuning up the other half playing out of tune

[@squirelova1815]

Ha Ha! Great, great story, Thanks. Sounds like Leo: Preternatural Genius Inventor of stupendously scrumptious Amplifiers but Deaf in one ear with a lost and Glass Eye plus "Tone Deaf" to boot. "Oh, the IRONEEE!" -Bugs Bunny And the Paradox of course.

[@davidyates8880]

The only one I got right was the Princeton. I'm impressed. Not with myself but with Boss.

[@nathandelyster5473]

The bass/compression in the Nextone gives it away every time!

[@mrredritehand]

Sounds killer!

[@benlogan430]

I just got a Nextone and haven’t downloaded the editor. I have the bass almost off, because it’s got a tubby bass tone, and treble maxed out. I think the boss is gonna take a bit of getting used to but I think I can get the tones I like? Hopefully or back it goes.

[@Deliquescentinsight]

Boss have certainly done some good work with their guitar amps, I am impressed.

[@Lael128]

Man, the Next One vs the VOX was so much fuller. I would get the Next One just for that tone! But the Fender tones were definitely better on the authentic amps. The Marshall dirty tones were better, but the cleans were nicer on the Next One and so was the dirt box into the clean! Overall the Nextone is a fine piece of tech and super versatile.

[@Josbornevonosborne]

I just picked which one I preferred, I picked the Boss every time except for the Marshall comparison.

[@Nikoo033]

That Pedal Shmoe same here. Impressive amp that boss one.

[@Gjuby]

it's all down to what you really like. I personally hate the sound of Marshall, but pretty much like you i picked the Boss every time i heard it....

[@sid35gb]

Same here

[@spada60]

Sorry but the Nextone sounded better than the Marshal clean and drive with pedal

[@richjohn2497]

@@spada60 never apologise for having an opinion.

[@michaelcullen5955]

Surprisingly, I got them all right. What gave it away to me was the crunch and pedal-tones. With the tubes, the gain blended into the sound, but on the Next-Tone, you could kinda hear the clean tone with a layer of distortion on top of it

[@Karlgolden]

These amps sound killer man! Checked them out a few weeks ago at PMT in Birmingham \m/

[@Aelmal]

So apart from the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe my ears preferred the Nextone in all the rest!

[@Texfire]

Same here. I preferred the Nextone in almost every matchup.

[@Aelmal]

@@Texfire Sat there all smug thinking, well its a good try but the real amp sounds about 20% better clean and 50% better with the od enabled...then read the description at the end and proceeded to the kitchen to get some eggs and apply them liberally over my stupid face!

[@wallyg3]

@@Aelmal Me too. I really was hoping to see a closer 6L6, as I think that's the only tone lacking on my Katana. So close to perfect. A few more years of tweaking to go.

[@OrlandoOntiveros]

Felt the same way

[@mk_6]

Same here dude

[@jamesonsnuggs6151]

1. The hot rod deluxe was easy to guess, and I preferred it over the boss. 2. The distortion on the vox sounds bad to me. 3 & 4: Sound almost exactly the same. Could’ve gone for either! I’m on the verge of buying a hot rod deluxe and this video makes me even more sure that I should get the hot rod over a solid state amp.

[@JimmyWatfordGuitar]

Exactly what I thought. Fender just does better than those trying to do fender. I actually thought the nextone sounded better than the vox. I personally own an original 65 Super reverb and an Orange crush60. Recently after playing the nextone compared side by side with a first gen and 4th gen hot rod deluxe. The hod rods were way better. I really enjoyed the 1st gen hod rod speaker over the 4th gen speaker. The 4th gen hod rod is probably the better amp, but just my person taste, I really enjoyed the used 1st gen hot rod deluxes speaker over the 4ths. I hope you go for the fender, either way, I still stare hard at the nextone for the extra options.

[@JammyGit]

The French word for seal = phoque. Captain's T-shirt - 'Cool as Phoque' 😎👍

[@RGMDG]

Thanks for the interpretation

[@robbie12207]

I sold all my tube lovely amps (last one had to be fixed) and am the proud owner of a katana artist, nextone stage and a GAFC pedal. I have never enjoyed my amps so much, I have such maintenance free and cost free confidence also. I have a Carl Martin Quattro but don’t even feel the need to use it. Boss has just totally nailed it.

[@steveo44]

Swapped my vox ac10 for a blues cube. Its great! 😁

[@kohlscunty]

I was wrong every time. Incidentally liked the boss more when compared to everything but the Princeton (which was so close it was hard to hear any differences). Still scratching my head over it.

[@BensonMakesMusic]

Man, first the Katana, then the Nextone - Boss killed it with this amp! That's incredible tone from a solid state. I may have to pick one up for the studio - great job as always, Captain and Pete!

[@jimsimmons2674]

It is a modeling solid state amp,when someone says solid state vs tube most people forget to mention the difference between a modeling type solid state amp that tries to sound like a tube amp.a solid state amp from the 70's and 80's is not the same as today's solid state amps with modeling!

[@highdollaslimjim1509]

Jim Simmons It doesn’t matter on tape what amp it is if it sounds good. Don’t compare crap from the 70’s to modern tech.

[@8sigreg]

The Nextone isn’t modeling, it’s all analog. There’s a DSP used to allow the power-amp to interact with the speaker’s impedance, but it doesn’t do any modeling.

[@xtheunknown6717]

The G&L ASAT Special is the superstar here.

[@ikealamp53]

Typing furiously! The Nextone sounds better than the tubes. This will be my next amp. Out with the Katana!

[@Manyxe]

Ahh, the famous Speckladen, famous for its rasher mines. The name translates literally to "bacon shop".

[@Manyxe]

@@davegmarti That's understandable; Google Translate knows most words, but not all grammar: in German, all nouns are capitalized, unless they're the latter part of a compound word; in this case, "Laden" is the German translation of shop, and "Speck" is that of bacon. But since Google isn't perfect, it thinks that "Laden" is the same as "einladen" ("to Invite") or einladen ("ein Laden" ("a Store"), which means "to invite") (German is a really great language where you can modify the meaning of a word based on a prefix.) PS: Andertons, if you want to hire me to help you with your international customer service, I speak Finnish, English, German and Swedish. I play guitar and banjo, plus a little violin (the smallest one in existence; if you know what I mean.)

[@DerEchteBold]

@@Manyxe You don't really need any prefix to use 'laden' in the sense of invite ...but if you pronounce those words like they do, it doesn't really say anything in German at all and it also doesn't sound like a place ; )

[@Manyxe]

@@DerEchteBold I'm going to have to disagre, purely for comedic reasons.

[@ProbablyTooLoud]

I think a "Bacon Shop" is a stupendous concept !

[@DerEchteBold]

We had that legendary tv show 'Musikladen' in the 70s and 80s ...maybe 'Speckladen' could be a revolutionary new concept for a pork only cooking show?!

[@bishopmolson1]

I just checked and I pick the Boss every time. Going to check one out in person. This was a great show. Thank You

[@Masterfighterx]

From the very first note on the lead with Fender HRD vs Boss, I knew exactly which one the red was, and I was right. And that carried out through the whole vid, it sounded so much better than the Vox (doesn't take much though) the Princeton won by a mile on the distortion and so did the Marshall.

[@LassePetersen97]

I'm a simple guy. I see Pete, I click like.

[@pd4165]

You shouldn't be watching those videos. you're probably not old enough. Whadayamean 68? Still too young.

[@anthonybrock9435]

Amen, Laddie.

[@Iskaral_Pust]

The Nextone is really impressive! I preferred it on all clean tones. When it gets to overdriven, you can sort of tell which is the tube and which isn't -- but honestly, I've come to prefer the overdriven tones of modelers. There's a trebly "roundness" (hard to describe) which I really like.

[@colbymerrill9363]

Damn. Got fooled three times by the Nextone! Fair play, Boss

[@dannyharrisjr.9188]

The nextone is great. But if you listen on a good sound system you can tell the nextone has a very strong bass response compared to the tube amps. But it still sounds great. Good job Boss.

[@ArvidNielsen]

What do you know. Turns out I preferred the Boss Nextone on all counts 😱

[@Gjuby]

me too ;-)

[@Anonymouslyme1]

Same

[@magicdaveable]

Me three. I have a Blues Cube Artist and just ordered a Nextone Artist. So I have two gigging electric guitars and two gigging amps. Lightweight, sound great, incredibly versatile, and in the winter I don't have to wait for the amps to completely cool down before packing up to go home.

[@steveo44]

Me too. Sounds great

[@Z-u-m-a]

Well-conceived test/vid, and that is one seriously impressive amp!

[@JDGreen916]

This video concept ("your turn to wear the blindfold) is genius! Please do more.

[@renzo260]

That Nextone is pretty good! Almost fooled me all the way through, but I still prefered the Tube amps (except the vox, that sound was ehm...different) I think if you tweaked the Nextone EQ even more I wouldn’t be able to tell which is which...

[@sciencemadeusrobots]

Really well designed test - thank you! I thought I’d prefer the tube amp each time, and I was wrong! Every time (except for the Marshall distortion) I preferred the Nextone! Now if someone can explain the footswitch setup, and Boss can make a head only version, I’m in!

[@Kingsnax12]

I was thinking about which one was my favorite rather than which one is a solid state or not. 1. Red 2. Green 3. Red 4. Red

[@Nikoo033]

Ken Dynamek Which concludes, in your case, that Boss sounded better 3 times out of 4... and I agree with you. The tube amps sounded either too thin or sometimes lacked definition 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@monstrok]

All sounds were very usable - some better for a mix with a band and others for a stand-alone practice session. I liked the format of not knowing which was which until clicking "down below" for the answers.

[@jamesmurff193]

Nextone sounds amazing! I've been a solid state fan for 25 years, but I've been looking to maybe get a tube amp. Not now. I'm going to check the Nextone out.

[@Chaps_Jr]

And with Fender releasing their Tone Master amps, you may never have to use fragile and temperamental vacuum tubes again!

[@letsrace567]

Here's my first guess. I thought i was hearing a lot more low end from the Nextone, but who knows. I've only played through the DSL before, so I don't have a lot of experience with how the amps should sound. I'm just going on there being a common thread of extra bottom end from the Nextone, as it would tend to respond more in that area at a lower volume. Here goes nothin': 6L6: G - Nextone, R - HRD EL84: G - Nextone, R - AC30 6V6: G - Princeton, R - Nextone EL34: G - Nextone, R - DSL40C Fingers Crossed! Edit: Seems I need more experience! The only one I got was the really obvious AC30... Hats off to Boss on the work they've done with this thing!

[@lance134679]

Pretty well everything sounded good with The Dane pedal. Also, I like when Pete demos stuff - I feel I can get a really good idea what the gear would sound like if I used it. This shows that the Nextone is very flexible, even though it doesn't sound exactly like the other amps, especially the AC30, but they probably could have adjusted the EQ a bit to make it closer.

[@sjpachica3]

I think a lot of us (including myself) had a bias to pick the better sounding tone as the valve amp... and that's why we got so many wrong. The Boss to me actually sounded better on most of them 😯

[@jmcsquared18]

The DSL owned the Nextone on the gain channel.

[@yonikup2865]

ya that one was the easiest of them all to identify, for me at least

[@MP422ownz]

I got them all.... I want to like digital/hybrid amps but they always lack that definition and texture of a tube amp.

[@yonikup2865]

@@MP422ownz im considering buying the dsl40cr. how is it?

[@nesicus]

That was the most stark contrast by far, which is why I was a bit puzzled by Pete's remark about how similar they sounded.

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

IGG - Pete is employed/contracted by Roland. You're not going to hear these guys say the product is crap, but all-in-all these comparisons are darn helpful IMO, since few of us have the time or resources to set them up ourselves.

[@guitarnist]

I believe that if they had tried to match the tones between the real and Nextone, it would have been much harder to tell the difference. Good job Boss!!

[@1973larryrichardson]

Wow, great tone from the Boss. But thanks to all of the videos Iv'e watched on your fantastic channel, I was able to spot the valve amps. There is just that extra sparkly headroom on a valve amp that is impossible to emulate, but Boss have done a fantastic job. Thank you so much for this channel. I wish we had an Anderton's in the States. Well done gentlemen.

[@cbrot2001]

I’m looking to buy the Vox so I stayed away from the description until that demo was done and it’s honestly no comparison between the real tubes and the digital. I’ll take the original anyday

[@CentaurusRelax314]

Jeepers. Seems like i prefer the Nextone in the 4 areas i paid attention to.... Hmmmm. Wonder how much better the new Nextone Special is.

[@leightonwarren9280]

Live, the small differences between any of these, aint gonna matter! Brilliant!

[@yomuthabyotch]

to my ears the dirty tones of the tube amps were superior to the dirty tones of the nextone; however, the overdriven clean tones of the nextone were more pleasant than the overdriven clean tones of the tube amps. which leads me to believe boss definitely designed this to be a pedal platform.

[@AquaHulKMUSIC]

I was able to tell the Fender was the green 1 right away , because the reverb gave it away 😁

[@ramiroezequielmoreno1774]

Just did the closest thing to blindfold, put the video on my phone and into my headphones and just listened to it while taking a nap. Wow, Boss is stepping out - I happened to prefer the sounds I heard from the Nextone 😮😮❗

[@xJaGG3d]

(Spoiler Kinda) Maybe it's the speaker, but Boss sounded consistently scooped to me. I could always tell which one it was.

[@joebloggs1444]

The boss has it over the "valve" amps yet again...and with way more flexibility too...the valve is no longer needed to get great guitar tones...👍😎

[@Stefan-]

I tried to guess which was which rather than which one i prefered but only got one right and it was the Vox. I think i also prefered the Boss everytime. Its strange when Boss sound more Fender than Fender, but they have done a great Fender clean for a long time. Ive been a fan of Boss products for a long time, Its clear that Boss has done a great job on this one.

[@jorrikkerdijk3954]

I prefer the open sound and clarity of the boss.. It sounds so classic and raw

[@jorrikkerdijk3954]

Except for the vox. I prefered the vox AC30

[@pops71]

That was tough. I only got the Marshall correct. Great job BOSS. Great vid too

[@kevroyo]

I'm just patiently waiting for BOSS to toss this technology into an amp with the functionality of the Katana.

[@Slyness64209]

I only got it wrong with the 3rd one, but I'm impressed with how similar they all sounded

[@randy4903]

Somehow, I managed to guess them all correctly! The Boss always seemed to have a bit more high-range sizzle or scratchiness compared to the tube amps, especially when played with high gain.

[@ThePippin89]

The big give away was the dynamic response in the break up/distortion. The Boss amp just didn't react the way the valve amps were. BUT... Here is the kicker though. I thought it sounded better than the small valve amps. The EL84 and 6V6 amps didn't sound as good. But the 34 and 6L6 amps were unreplacable in my opinion.

[@BAMozzy69]

So I preferred all the Valve amps... 1: The boss breaks up more than the fender 2: The Vox has more depth and warmth 3: The fender has a warmer, thicker tone - boss sounded thin 4: The marshall had more clarity and punch Overall it was close and to get all 4 amps in one is Cool as Phoque btw

[@trordle1436]

same, I wanted to like the boss. not today i guess

[@BAMozzy69]

@@trordle1436 I liked the Boss - for what it is. It came very close to the valve amps - perhaps closer in person than it does over youtube but you cannot buy all 4 amps for the price of the boss, cannot play those amps as well at lower volumes either as valves need to be driven. For anyone looking for a variety of valve (sounding) amps that can also be used in the 'bedroom', the Boss is great. It may not be quite as good as all four of these separate valve amps but cheaper and more versatile. In some ways its like buying a PRS SE instead of buying a core PRS - its 95% of the way there but some compromises are made. Obviously, if you can afford to buy the real things, then you do but this Boss does a good job for what it is...

[@MP422ownz]

I bet its less close in person...... I try to like SS amps but they just don't have that mojo.@@BAMozzy69

[@BAMozzy69]

@@MP422ownz I prefer Valve amps myself and don't own an SS amp for a reason. Like I said though, you cannot buy these 4 amps for the price of the Nextone, Its also good if you don't know what sound you want and can experiment before committing. Valve amps need driving too so not so good for the bedroom or home practice and also be good enough to gig with. It could be a decent home/practice amp that sounds like your gigging valve amp that you can't use at home because you can't drive it hard enough. I do think it has a place - whether it fits your criteria or not is going to come down to your needs and budget but it does have a place in the market.

[@josephbeamon8132]

The Hot Rod Deluxe and the DSL40 were the most noticeable. (I got both those right) and preferred the real thing. I preferred the Nextone to the AC30, but I suspect that is because you didn't turn up the Vox very loud. (9 got this one right only because of the drive sounds) The Princeton was spot on identical. I got it wrong, and couldn't state a preference. The Nextone is pretty special.

[@scottbrady4472]

Totally agree.

[@artomaatta4118]

I personally preferred the tone of Nextone on three occasions. Only the Princeton Reverb sounded better but I got that wrong as I thought that Boss would have more bass. Vox was the most obvious as it didn't handle the drive as well as Boss and it was a bit too sparkly and bright. Overall I was a bit surprised. Marshall was the most difficult but I guessed it right. I mean there was a slight difference in mids, but very, very close. 3/4 isn't that bad.

[@ZRJZZZZZ]

I don’t know how to find it description to know which is red in which his screen. Is there a button or something I push on the screen? Sorry for being so daft. This was a fabulous video presentation. They did a public service.

[@JazzzRockFuzion]

Here's my tally, ears only: 1) 6L6 - G: Hot Rod Deluxe; R: Nextone (HRD sounds better) 2) EL84 - G: Nextone; R: AC30 (Nextone sounds better) 3) 6V6 - G: Princeton; R: Nextone (Wash) 4) EL34 - G: DSL; R: Nextone (Wash) Post-answer edit: I was correct on 3/4! Only the Princeton tripped me up, and I didn't have a preference between those two anyway. Assuming that the 40W (Stage) version sounds slightly boxier/mid-forward with its smaller cabinet, and cuts the max volume by only ~3dB vs. the 80W (Artist) version, saving $200 and getting the Stage is a no-brainer. Gotta say, I'm hella impressed by the Nextone...crazy value!

[@landonbailey]

the Vox got me. picked green on that one. wow

[@Nj1498]

I liked the Hot Rod better, but not the Marshall. Time to get rid of my Marshall? 😨

[@chrisreckless4915]

The only 1 I got wrong was the 3rd, they sounded so similar to me. I must have watched too many (which isn't possible) Andertons videos as I've never heard any of them in person, so thanks for keeping me thoroughly entertained guys.

[@RichardCollier434]

should do a blind shoot out , boss nextone vs, blackstar id tvp vs. yamaha thr 100.

[@danlopez2012]

Bless you guys; may you forever have this much fun & more!

[@kingstumble]

Being able to choose different valve emulations is not new. Doesn't the Blackstar ID TVP have even more valve types you can select?

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

See Matt Knight's response to Zachary Drake. The Nextone is all analog, not digital.

[@GabrielNacu]

I dont think its all analogue mate - the fact you can edit it with a laptop points out the pre-amp side is digital ;) not that its a bad thing...

[@8sigreg]

It is an all analog signal path with no modeling. There is a DSP used to adjust parameters of how the power-amp “talks” to the speaker. The editor allows tweaking of the power-amp and EQ and stuff but that doesn’t mean it’s a digital signal path or that it’s modeled, only that they’ve allowed digital to adjust some parameters.

[@niclastname]

I have no idea what is what and couldn't even guess. I'm also not actually invested in either side winning, so here's just my thoughts: So for the first one, I preferred the clean sound on Green, but the crunch sound on Red. The cleans on green were a more crisp and clean to me, but for crunch the green was too mid-focused for my taste, where red had a more clear and even sound. For the second round, I preferred Green for cleans. This one may be "fixable" with just EQ settings though, since the main difference for me was that Red was just thinner sounding with less bottom end than Green. So if you just turn the bass up a bit on Red here, I wouldn't really like either of them less. For crunch, I'm kind of split. I like the warmer sound of Red, but at the same time I like the more clear sound of Green. I'd say this one's a tie on crunch and just depends on what I'm playing. With the overdrive, they reverse it seems like, or I'm getting confused by the switching. With the pedal, the Red sounds too thin compared to green. For the third round it's a tie on cleans for me, they both sound fantastic! I might give a slight edge to green because it's a bit more clear and chime-y. For the Dane tone, I'm split again. I like the clarity of the green, but it needs a bit more bottom end. The red has that bottom end, but is a little muddier in the highs/high-mids. Round 3 is almost a tie, but a slight lean toward green in both tones(I can turn up the lows with gain, while it's harder to EQ in clarity the same way.). Round four is just a tie all around to me. They sound pretty much the same. At least close enough to where I wouldn't notice any difference without A/B-ing like this.

[@WarrenPostma]

I got all these wrong. Every single one, I got backwards. I was especially fooled by the Vox's distortion which sounded AWFUL so I thought it must be a bad modelling amp gain sound. Nope. It was a shit Vox distortion tone. These are NOT models in this boss, these are analog solid state power amp circuits which sound, to my ears, incredibly detailed and tube-like. To be more realistic they should add a few bricks to the bottom of the cabinet, and have something inside blow up that costs $50 every six months. The clipping in the real tube amps is harsher and less consistently musical, that's the odd thing. Clearly these solid state power amps in the boss are not even clipping, but have some kind of actual circuit to do a very pleasant soft clipping sound. Whenever I disliked an amp the most it was the harshness of the clipping in these smaller tube amps.

[@guitfiddleblue]

All sounds are great. Maybe a little different but still great. Boss/Roland is making some great stuff!

[@vin-cc9nk]

all of them sounded nice, and I'm broke so I can't afford any of them, so there's that

[@formulajoe2]

I actually got all of these right and I’m usually horrible at these blind tests. In every case, I picked the amp that I thought sounded the fullest with the better bottom end to be the tube amp with the exception of the Marshall possibly. The Marshall comparison did sound like a DSL vs a JTM45-ish tone. Easy one to pick out for me. The boss definitely has some good tones to offer!

[@damiennolan2903]

I preferred the boss on 3 of the 4 🤨

[@nicholasreeves6472]

I litterally only got the marshall correct. I also listed which one i liked better and the boss won the first 2, like both equally on the 3rd and obviously preffered the marshall. Either way great job boss and great playing Pete!

[@etforde]

I preferred the Nexttone on all of them 😮

[@krazy8820]

My guess was that the tube amps on first 2 comparisons were the first. I c-by keep watching cause I’m supposed to be sleeping ill have to finish it tomorrow. So sick guys thanks for the content. You guys are so refreshing to watch. Thanks again and marry Christmas From SoCal!

[@krazy8820]

I can’t keep

[@TheRosswise]

I'd say it is a more expensive Blackstar ID TVP with less features.

[@metalloid3417]

TheRosswise that's the first thing I thought when I saw these.

[@superstarr34]

coming from a french canadian's perspective, Lee's t-shirt is AWESOME! I want one lol

[@themaninthesuitcase]

I didn't try play spot the valve but I got Fender, Boss, Either, Boss but just barely. But it if was my money I'd go for the Boss, simply because I could turn it right down at home and I get all 4 amps at once.

[@tdunster2011]

It's a myth - I play a 28w 1 x 12 Tube amp at home and with a boost, compressor, and drive pedal attached you can get really good drive sounds at very low volumes even for late night playing. I also have a Blues Cube Artist - and it's nowhere near as good as the tube amp be it at whisper quiet volumes or anywhere else on the volume spectrum. The only issue is that the tube amp was five times the price of the Blues Cube Artist.

[@andremoura6589]

@@tdunster2011 So to get a valve amp to sound good at low volume, you need to place three different solid state circuits in front of it. Not trying to be a smartass here, but that's kind of the point Christopher was making. With this amp, you don't need to add anything to get it to sound great at low volumes. You simply turn the Master down. Also, we're not talking about the Blues Cube here. I agree the Blues Cube was not quite there. The Nextone is a different best altogether.

[@tdunster2011]

@@andremoura6589 The Nextone does not sound great at any volume is the point I'm making. The 28w 1 x 12 Tube amp I discussed sounds better than the Nextone at all volumes regardless of whether or not you connect pedals to it. Connecting pedals to it takes it to another level again which the Nextone can't approach regardless of what pedals you connect to it. The reason is these practice type SS amps have rather weak power supplies and essentially no dynamics. It's hard to hear it in a KZbin video due to the compression - but get a Nextone in a room with a quality Tube amp and the difference in sound and playability is huge. I'm not targeting the Nextone amps or people buying them - just pointing out that it's ridiculous to think they are anywhere near close to providing what a good quality tube amp does. It's night and day. With respect to the Blues Cube Artist have you actually played one using all four tone capsules ? I'm not a fan but still think they are well head of the Katana and Nextone. The reason I kept my BCA is I can take it to gigs or jams and not have to worry about it getting damaged. The Nextone or Katana would be good for these reasons as well.

[@andremoura6589]

@@tdunster2011 Ok, so you own a Nextone then? Sorry, I missed that. If you own one and played one through the same cab as your valve amp, and still prefer the valve amp, then I respect that. I was stating my opinion as someone who used to play a Fender Twin reverb extensively, currently owns a Bassbreaker head, and have spent the weekend playing a Nextone through the same cab I use with the Bassbreaker. And my experience is that the Nextone sounds identical to the Bassbreaker at its sweet spot, but at all volumes. And like you, I've also found that to take the most out of the Bassbreaker I need to add at least 3 pedals to it. Yes, I've played a Blues cube but don't own one. The reason is because it didn't really win me over (thought the JC40 sounded better, particularly on the clean sounds), and the Nextone is in fact better in terms of compression and harmonic structure. But you obviously think different, and that's fine. That's why there are several different amp makers.

[@tdunster2011]

@@andremoura6589 That makes sense. The BCA is horrible without the UBTC as far as crisp cleans go because the Tweed Sound breaks up around 3.5 to 4 on the volume with single coils and even sooner with Humbuckers. With the UBTC it stays relatively clean until you get to around 7 depending on your pickups. Given you like the Bassbreaker [many do] I'm thinking maybe Fender amps aren't your thing - because they are more Marshall than Fender. Have you tried a 1962X or 1974x through a 1 x 12 maybe ? The BCA doesn't do the Marshall thing at all - so I cn see where you are coming from. the Nextone sort of gets there in a way - the EL34 thing is gimmicky though given the tube type completely determining the sound is a marketing gimmick - A 6v6 can quite easily sound like a Plexi - the Marshall Studio 15 is proof of that. Did you like the Fender Twins but just got jack of the ten tubes you had to maintain and the weight of lugging them ?

[@andreborges2881]

Blows Katana out of the water, really. You'll get ANY sound using the software (I've a Dumble Od Special, Dual Showman, JTM45 and a Boogie in one amp), but you do need good references and good ears.

[@1990Ch1y0]

This was a lot of fun :D I pretty much blew it though, but still fun!! I got all but the Vox wrong, and apparently I preferred the sound of the Nextone on all but the Marshall XD

[@Gjuby]

They had me fooled in 50% of the cases! Chapeaux bas Boss Nextone + Danish Pete! and i listened to it again and again... and realised that whatever my guess was... i always preferred the sound of the Nextone...

[@mikestibor1]

Cool as phoque!

[@dirkhennig2192]

Only the Marshall was clear to me, because one sounded DSL and one JTM. Got two right, two wrong - so I could not really tell the difference with the other amps. Looks like the Nextone does a good job.

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Hm. That was surprisingly easy to guess. Idk if my speakers are weird or something, but the Nextone just sounded sort of like a DI straight to the board to my ears. Much preferred the "real" amps.

[@keithjeras9107]

Agreed. The boss was too easy to spot. Usually I struggle like The Captain on these

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Same here, I usually struggle a lot more on these.

[@clintonmaher6930]

Gotta agree with that... In every video I've seen the Nextone just sounds too fizzy, bright and fake. And yep a touch DI with no cab Sim sounding. Actually much prefer the Katana sound.

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Yeah, this seems like a backwards step from the Katana to me. Kinda weird.

[@droliver]

What a great piece of gear! Pete makes everything sound pleasing, but that’s a neat amp. Another nail in the coffin for the future of mid range tube combo amps I think.

[@billyray4491]

I hate this blindfold stuff. Fell down a flight of stairs thanks to the blind fold. Now I have a permanent limp. Thanks Andertons..

[@lordsong7]

Curiously, or not, I preferred the Nextone in almost all cases. Cool and very realistic tube tone - or better (sacrilege!)

[@timbeaton5045]

Finally. you are making US the subject of the blindfold test, BUT.... i still think it would be better to put the answers in a second video. I still suspect that there will be some who look at the answers, and then comment accordingly. Would be more instructive to read the comments Before the reveal. i.e. the way you usually do it with yourselves.

[@futurerockstaryoohoo]

Fender clean tones were my favorites, for everything else nextone is a great contender

[@zacharydrake7557]

Didn't blackstar do this like ... 5 years ago?

[@Knightsie]

If it helps, Nextone Valve Power Select is all Analog. The Blackstar is digital - Blackstar TVP is digitally replicating the sound, where the Nextone has physically got four class A/B Power amp Circuits so each circuit is actually changing the amps feel, response and sound. It's a similar idea but the Nextone is doing it in an analog world.

[@zacharydrake7557]

Okay that makes sense. I mean I think these sound better than TVP, but I was just wondering how the technology was different. Thanks!

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

Thanks Matt. You saved me a bunch of research time.

[@nobrega79]

@@Knightsie DSP.

[@revistinha1]

It got a bit easier to guess because of the amp changes Some characteristics of the boss are consistent even when you change the modes

[@jake2355]

Come on guys... the amp isn’t THAT good!! The only one that fooled me was the Vox and that’s only because I detest the sound of a driven Vox amp.

[@riffsnreviews]

My opinion exactly, well didn't get fooled, I just said that sounds like shit, must be the vox 😁. Also the nextone was really easy to pick out it always sounded the same. I am wondering if they were using the same model mics on both amps though, I mean I'm guessing yes otherwise that would be dumb, but every tubes amp had a massive mid cut (even without having the nextone for comparaison), even though every amp was different and had different speakers, they all had a lack of mids, which makes me thinks that's recording related otherwise doesn't make much sense. Bit funny

[@lorenzocattoi2452]

Agree 100%

[@dualsportwannabe3708]

@@riffsnreviews The mid scoop is what I noticed too. You might be onto something.

[@MrSongwriter2]

@@dualsportwannabe3708 yeah the change in mid and bass on some was more noticeable

[@jake2355]

RiffsNReviews Well, I say ‘fooled’... I just chose the ones that sounded best and in all honesty, I think the boss sounded better than the Vox but that’s just my opinion because I don’t like Vox.

[@squirelova1815]

The Fender Princeton still has that extra bit of "Three Dimensional" depth to it but, you can wear your 3D glasses with the Nextone for that.

[@Badonkadonker]

You made it elementary as the sound levels were not (at least to my ears) balanced out, so thee Nextone was always a tad louder than the other amp.

[@mvsr990]

That was my impression too - the Nextone sounded more full each time (not necessarily better) because of the relative loudness.

[@Badonkadonker]

@@mvsr990 With the Vox, for example I perceived the Boss as louder, but man that classic break-up - they totally failed on it, so there were other tell-signs. However, the 'blindfold' ended at 3:1 for valve, so if one likes the BOSS, then BOSS it is, if not, then it is cool too, because no one cares - get the tones, win the crowd, get women undressed, be the thunder god of guitar ==> live the great life of enjoyment ==> the end. :D :D :D

[@JELIFISH19]

@@mvsr990 One of the goals of Roland and Boss's recent amps is to sound and feel like a cranked amp at more reasonable volumes. The Boss feeling like it's louder even though it's the same volume in the room is doing what it's supposed to.

[@ArttuAce]

I guessed all but the Vox wrong. Damn! That is a fine-sounding amp!

[@JoePearsonGuitarist]

It’s sounds like a mixed/produced version of the real thing. I just can’t get on with these types of amps. They don’t seem to give the the massive adrenaline dump you get from a cranked valve amp.

[@JoePearsonGuitarist]

Just wanted to add - not knocking them though, I’m sure for some people amps like this are the perfect solution!

[@josephbeamon8132]

I feel the same way, but if you grab one with 300 plus watts, the adrenaline dump is there

[@joerobinson6199]

Joe Pearson the only modeler that I truly think sounds and feels right is the Yamaha 100hd but the price pushed people away.

[@JoePearsonGuitarist]

Joe Robins I have heard good things about that one!

[@JoePearsonGuitarist]

Lol at the fact that this thread is populated entirely by people named Joe! Let’s start a gang.

[@michaeldstern]

For recording, this is perfect. You can’t hear the difference. I have a feeling though, in person, you can “sense” the tube amp. I always “hear” the tubes, sonically, in person.

[@danielwuertz5773]

Nextone makes the pickups sound even more single coil. Not a fan, way too twangy on every setting

[@8sigreg]

The Nextone, like every other amp out there, needs a bit of tweaking to get the sound the player likes. The volume of the Nextone also makes a difference. The clean and lead channels get much more gutsy if the master is on 10 and the individual channels are above halfway. My Strat is pretty bright normally and I had to tweak a bit to get a Nextone Stage sounding how I like at the 0.5 watt setting but at 20 watts with the master on 10 it started singing nicely especially on the lead channel. Also the sag and compression and tube emulations were more apparent.

[@8sigreg]

Also, “every setting”? Which “every setting” are you talking about? The four tube-type settings? The sounds you get tweaking tone knobs? The custom sounds you can get using the editor and a laptop or desktop computer, or maybe the presets in the editor that make the amp sound like a Marshall, a Vox, a Mesa, a Fender blackface, a Twin, or a Tweed? I liked what I heard from my Strat and the Stage enough to buy one and digging into the editor yesterday showed it’s a chameleon. It’s not tubes, and so far lacks the finesse of my ToneKing or Mesa combos but it is versatile; I look forward to turning it up on stage to see what it can really do.