Solid State vs Tube Amps | Guitar Tricks

[@philippinefandango2859]

Of course your ear is trained better than mine, but across the KZbin video here, I think the Solid State sounds clearer, and more full... It really doesn't matter, I am retired on a fixed budget, and since I probably won't be playing at Austin City Limits anytime soon, a tube amp is cost prohibitive for me.. I like the cost range of the 2 Boss Katana amps (50w - 100w).. Thanks for the video.. There are a lot of things to consider... Your Texan in the Philippines... Peace!!!

[@bkmeahan]

darrell braun guitar has a review of a low cost tube amp in the $200 range that looks promising. I'm like you in that I can't/don't want to dump a ton on a tube amp when I just play at home for fun and a SS modeling amp does everything I need and sounds great. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHeVYXiaZ7epjrs Tempting just to have the variety of a tube amp for a low cost.

[@philippinefandango2859]

Cool... Like the man said, "$200".. Can't beat it... Thanks for the referral... Rock on...@@bkmeahan

[@GuitarTricks]

The Boss Katanas are pretty sweet amps for the money for sure! Thanks for watching.

[@theblytonian3906]

@@philippinefandango2859 Not a fanboy over-hyped Katana advocate, but for the money it's definitely a competitor in the class.

[@theblytonian3906]

I'm with you Bruce. Tube amps today have their place, but other then in mythology for the sake of status, today it's not in the average player's home studio. Solid state amps have come such a long way in terms of versatility, convenience, tone, *feel* and output to a point today they can't be dismissed out of hand except by those blind to the truth who will not see. Digital, whether one chooses full modelling or simpler with a separate RF bypass for clean and channel for pedals, has so much to offer, and the absolute truth of the matter is the bulk of players playing for personal enjoyment or at home couldn't tell the difference in any blind test unless you told them. I've got and like both BTW amongst half a dozen, my bias hands on usage driven. Pricier than BOSS' Katanas, I was blown away -performance exceeded well beyond any expectation, by Blackstar's ID Series TVP amps, not to be confused with their lowerpricepoint ID:Core series which are closer to Katana equivalents in price point, performance, features and target demographic. Considerably less expensive and more versatile than near equivalent tube amps, there's a lot to love about the ID Series TVP amps. Unfortunately they've recently been superseded by a new line Blackstar label their Silverline Series which IMB are essentially so similar model for model to be updated replacements, but at a significantly increased price point for little more than an aesthetic makeover.

[@angelmarzoa5947]

Congrats. This is the most honest and sincere video on KZbin about this stuff. You are right 100% and I hope this will help all the people trying to find the good one. Thanks very much for your work.

[@garyheimbauer8810]

Thanks Angel!!

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

...As far as you know. But it may not be; you might not have found them all yet.

[@gnatiu]

The question is totally wrong; it is not "which one is tube / transistor?" but "which sound do you like better?"

[@Hagchtogow]

In my opinion the question is : which one would do the job in a band to get out the mix when you need it... and it's 80% time the tube one !

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

No it's not; if he wanted to ask which one we like better then he would've asked that. This question's point is for use to see if we can identify them well or to teach us how to.

[@danielhartman5086]

I like both. SS and tube amps.Peavey Bandit is just straight out a Badass SS Amp. The Boss Katana also is a kick ass amp. Tube wise I love my Fender Blues Jr. Great little amp.

[@MIKE-ej6ud]

thank you for the honest, deep dive into the whole, tube vs SS amplifiers thing.I was about to buy a Fender Deluxe Reverb about a week ago because like lots of players, you sit down in front of one, hook up a nice guitar and the volume is on 3, the headroom and 'space" is fabulous. however, I'm not going to be gigging ever again (most likely not) and my Fender Princeton Chorus has been a rock! it's like you said, maintenance free and dependable. So... I went home and put the Princeton Chorus up on a stand, off the floor. I made some adjustments and honestly, I can't tell the difference between it and the Deluxe Reverb. I had just never really tried to make it sound like that. you don't need to spend big to get a great amp for your home use or jam sessions. However, I do recommend getting a Fender guitar to go with your Fender amp!

[@pupmusic2281]

Wow thanks bro. I’ve been and still in that rabbit hole. The obsession and never ending search for the right gear. I’m getting to be more of a collector than a good guitar player. Thanks for that general advise. Cheers!

[@RurouniTenShins]

A video on using a looper with a tutorial to what you playing would rock my world.

[@GuitarTricks]

Maybe we have something like that in the works ;)

[@RurouniTenShins]

✌️🤙🤙✌️

[@Jonathan-hq6qv]

Guitar Tricks Where can I find this?

[@imsothemanXD]

Heard it as soon as you started amp 2 it was tube. The break up on the blackface is unmistakable. For record I was listening without cans and heard the diff as I’m sure you can too. I agree for studio purposes it doesn’t matter if you’re doing EQ in post but idk

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

I can still hear a difference between these two right here in digital form. All these years and I've never heard them in quick succession that I knew of. But it would still be nice to get to hear the difference(s) in person.

[@GuitarTricks]

Hearing amps in-person is very important.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@GuitarTricks: (Maybe even without a random hyphen. 😉 ...) OK, cool.

[@costcolawschool]

i recently started running through a ab y box to a princeton 112 and a randall diablo at the same time and it sounds amazing. i think both is better, because they have different dynamics and breakup points that kick in at different times. changed my tone completely

[@user-cq9my5ju6k]

I do it since many years, best of both worlds

[@Super_NB1]

I've seen dozens of videos,about SS VS TUBE AMP。 and you are the best. Thank you for your work man！

[@stanleywilliamson9359]

I’ve used tube amps and solid state, my favorite amp of all time was the Fender Champion 100. Mostly because I play clean. I also really like the Vox Valvetronix Amps.

[@djcanilla]

Wow, really surprised with this comment. I own a Fender Champ 100, I love its clean sound and use it with multi effects unit preamps to get the sounds that I want and "replicate" my favourite artists. I love its cleans, the effects available also help and it is mighty loud. However I'd never think anyone would prefer it to a tube amp, given the hype that tube amps get. I've never owned a tube amp and probably never will cos i like to have as many different sounds as possible available to me, and for this the Fender Champion 100 is an excellent choice.

[@latestlatest4760]

This is a very honest opinion from a pro..thanks!

[@joshm.2216]

9:20 "I think Jeff Beck actually uses like a little Fender Camp [tube amp] ...to play for a whole stadium". Zakk Wylde; with an obscene amount of Marshall full stacks on stage.

[@dylanm1978]

I recently learned that the stacks are usually fake. Typically a guitar amp is just for tone and the stacks don't do so well to fill gigantic spaces like that. The amps are mic'd and a PA system does most of the work. That also allows the sound guys to have better control of the mix. Even in a small venue, if you can, you should point your amp straight at your face and Mic it to the PA for the audience - especially if they don't have monitors. Although I've had instances where no PA is available. In that case (if you're going SS), it's better to have a very high wattage solid state at half volume.. Don't want to go anywhere near your ceiling on a Solid State, the clipping is horrible.

[@chuckm9603]

I have a Helix Floor and the powercab+ which I love, but I have a Fender 65 DRRI and a Blackstar studio 10, people don’t understand the use of pedals, pedals are meant drive a overdriven amp not drive a tube amp into overdrive. I love just plugging straight into a tube amp, my guitars have volume and tone controls. Personal too each person.

[@conartist267]

My 30w Laney tube has the output of my Roland Cube 80w. Probably not a fair comparison but thanks.

[@williamjohnson6588]

Holy shit. I’ve always assumed the difference wasn’t noticeable, and largely snake oil except for the most picky listeners. Nope! Could definitely hear a difference at the beginning and knew which was which. That’s crazy. Thanks for the great video!

[@2bikemikesguitartopics145]

Nice demo and analogy

[@dylanporter8105]

I like both I love solid state for its clarity and reliability and tube for its warmth and breakup. The main reason people like tubes is they're just cool

[@DoroTheExplorer]

WOW!! the most honest review~~~

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

As far as you know, at least....

[@MrBrungers]

I like solid state Amps build by Fender, the old ones.. I have a Fender Champion 110 and I love this little brother dearly. I also have a Tube amp but tube amps tend to sound a bit muddy.. I like the solid state clarity from Fender without any effects or modelling..

[@KalobPierson-l9x]

Damn, that’s a kick ass song you can I could just hear that all day

[@GuitarTricks]

Thank you so much!

[@elkemm1]

Very helping me man! Thanks!

[@TryingYourLvck]

You're right about the rabbit hole .. lost myself looking at some amps... Still haven't picked one bit I think a fender tube amp will be okay and now that I know a small one is even great I might just save money now

[@bobtheblindbedroomguitaris8742]

hey just want to say thank you for your upload comes at a good time for me I'm actually waiting on the 15 watt tube amp right now I have a katana and a mustang I used the katana it's the old KTN 100 and when it you know when if I pick very very lightly it's gets very soft and very clean when I pick heavy it gets heavy so in that respect my katana does what your displaying on your tube amp I'll know better about the differences when I get mine in the house. but yeah you know my katana is pretty cool it it's dynamic in that sense it's a it's a cool lamp and I got an extremely good deal on it had to wait a long time this is like two years ago but yeah I never uploaded it I'm blind so anything that has a computer interface unless it has a special program like on my phone it's TalkBack I'm not able to use it so you know modeling amps and all that stuff so modeling amps and stuff like that you know that have a touch interface or even just a scrolling I can't use it so for me simpler the better I can't wait to get my amp and thinking about buying it for a long time it was dirt cheap so I pulled the trigger and now I'm just waiting although I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to change the speaker on it but I'm thinking of it as a cabinet output so I'm thinking of enough for another hundred and so dollars I can get a two by twelve vertical from Harley Benton and it would be less than half the price less than twice the price of buying a tube speaker specifically for the amp the amp has a very small footprint so I assume that if I put a good speaker in there it will be a difference but without having a real cabinet you know the size of a decent cabinet I figured just by the standalone 2x12 by Harley Benton and they're loaded with vintage 30 so you really can't go wrong well I've been babbling happy holidays to everybody stay safe excuse the typos and grammatical areas I'm using speech to text like I mentioned above it has its own take on the structure of the English language and the unique take on it's on the on the dictionary sincerely yours, Bob the blind bedroom guitars

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Nice how you just assumed that the house PA or temporary system "is not a tube system." Maybe most aren't, but you don't know about all of them. Perhaps some old places still have a main system with tubes in it.

[@GuitarTricks]

You are absolutely correct! But 99% of house PAs won't be tube systems.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@GuitarTricks... _these_ days. Or _around_ 99%, anyway. So FFR, I recommend "...which most likely is not a tube system (due to replacement of aged equipment or new builds)."

[@hikaricheng2506]

Very honest and helpful for me.Thanks a lot!

[@mmagoon67]

I just like gear. I really like most tube amps. Some are just horrendous. I use a H&K Triamp Mark 3 and it's the best amp I've ever owned. AND I've also owned their Edition Tube 25th Anniversary which I did NOT like at all. Something I've noticed is that players who use less distorted sounds are less picky about amps. In terms of what you "need" you don't always need the more expensive stuff. But in terms of what I "like" I like having a well built tube amp that is versatile and in a class all on its own. Tube technology in and of itself is not worth being a purist for. But, in the hands of people who know what they're building, tube amps are a more real "presentation" of your sound.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

What if you took line output from a tube amp (like if you added line output onto a tube model that didn't have it, which could be done -- or maybe at least some tube amps have it)? What might that sound like in comparison?

[@dingalarm]

There's an error @ 7:52 when you say "there's a 4th reason you may want a *tube* amp", where you really mean solid-state amp.

[@stromer24]

I learn an expensive lesson when it came to tube vs solid state. I had been playing a dean markley cd60 60watt during my teens in bands. I decided to “upgrade” to a 100 watt line six solid state amp with all the bells and whistles haha. Imagine my frustration when I showed up to band practice cranked that thing all the way up and couldn’t hear myself over the drummer when before I had no problems. I miss that dean markley soo much haha😂😩

[@michaelgarcia2050]

That's not a tube vs. solid state comparison, it's a good amp vs. a not so good amp comparison.

[@daveylee4677]

@@michaelgarcia2050 Some say ‘Line Six’ I say ‘line sux’

[@1stlast328]

What song were you playing?

[@blueaiueo7291]

Id go rather blind

[@sid35gb]

Some of the points made in this video shows that the presenter isn’t aware of the Roland blues Cube range of amps or the Orange 🍊 crush pro 60 and 120 amps which react dynamically to pick attack and volume changes. In other words there’s solid state amps out there that behave like tube amps. They are different but in a doing it’s own thing but in a good way.

[@icarus7073]

Love guitar ??? Get both.!! Beginners? Get solid state first then get valve amp when can afford 👍🤘

[@richardsonaliya9746]

thanks for explaining

[@mikebelasco1795]

Loved this review

[@sitizenkanemusic]

For bass I perfer solid state. Better to cut through the all the other instruments and mixes. I love solid state sound on my bass. My GK 1001RB sounds better than my SVT.

[@rjb7260]

Well said dude.. totally agree equipment tube or solid state wont make you the better player practicing will. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@SloppyLarry]

I was curious about pinch harmonica? Can you get them on a solid state (what I am using) ?

[@djcanilla]

Pinch harmonics have nothing to do with solid state or tube amps, it's all to do with technique. High gain helps though, but you can get plenty of that with pedals anyway

[@SloppyLarry]

@@djcanilla TY usually play / practice clean. Was a bit curious about them though.

[@djcanilla]

@@SloppyLarry you can still pull them out when playing clean as the technique is the same, but the gain gives them the squeal that you usually hear in rock and metal music. Honestly i learned to do them from youtube videos, and there's plenty of those thankfully

[@mickavoidant4780]

Try kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmm3gXqtqL19m6M for pinching harmonics

[@nashmanjek]

Thank you, great explaination.

[@scottstubbs9913]

Great Advice.

[@Rubble1]

The second one is the tube amp. I’d bet $100 bucks on it. I’m wrong 90% of the time though with everything I bet on. And the 3rd

[@hruaisanga4441]

Thank you so much

[@bobdeluxeandtheideals1356]

Great page 💪💪

[@cantthinkofnameyeah7249]

Please help me audiophiles 1000$ HDV800 SS amp vs 400$ xDuoo TA-20 tube amp. For seinhesser Hd800 headsets. Will the 400 dollar amp possible sound better?!

[@fabinhopeixada]

I recommend you to look into reddit r/headphones and head-fi.org. also, people say the HD800 really IMPROVES with a tube amp

[@dkelban]

Thanks for a neutral and informative video

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

"Put it into an MP3 form or digitize it"? Uh, oops! MP3ing it IS digitizing it.

[@someguyfromanotherplanet5284]

I thought 1 was solid state fuck. I must get that shit later

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

You went from 3rd reason we might want an SS amp back to why we might want a tuber. Wait, what?

[@hazelstreet1654]

B is so obviously tube. Come on!!

[@christopher4443]

tube amp is essentially something you want to spend if your bank is flooded with money

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

But to me your SS amp sounds bassier than the tuber did.

[@GuitarTricks]

All based on preference!

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@GuitarTricks: This isn't a preference; just an observation. But thanks. 🙂 Although... come to think of it, I do prefer that sound.

[@Kombi-1]

Kelly

[@altermann1ify]

I thought the ss a sounded better.

[@carlannerstedt6796]

Thanks for this, people dont realy understand tube amplifikation, a tube amp sounds like an ocean, a transistor sounds like a bucket of water, in preamps I have used nuvistors fixed in heavy rubberblocks to avoid microphonic ringing, in ( i`m from Sweden, difficult to wright english

[@w8ting2feel29]

sure ...i have a line 6. they dont make you sound better? hhahaa thats a lie my dud

[@gnatiu]

You impicate digital is bad. Listen to Greg Koch/Fender Collection. Have a nice day.