Why do Guitar Players INSIST on being THIS DUMB?

[@scottreynolds6317]

Hey Glenn, I am a high school science teacher and this video is an excellent example of practical applications of the scientific method. Data and evidence is much better than uninformed opinions. Thank you for all the work you did for this video.

[@bartoskulasek8481]

Exactly my point of view as a physics teacher in Germany! 😂

[@zeropointpower]

Glenn is the electric guitar myth buster extraordinaire.

[@joathescientist]

It would be great if he can do triplicates! One single curve isn't scientific enough to prove/disprove anything. Since tiny variations such as vibrations displacing the microphone some millimeters can be the responsible for the changes observed in (11:48). The valleys and the peaks of sounds waves can be easily affected by tiny vibrations. More even if the mic used is a double mic (double input), or there are two source of sound waves (a 2x12 cab). These factors can lead to constructive interference (increase of the amplitude). Once you have triplicates from amp A (you can average them), and compare that against the average of amp B. In this way, Glen will be able to establish whether those changes (11:48) are or aren't statistically significant (not only attributable to other factors, such as constructive interference due to using two inputs (2 mics), or 2 sources of audio (2x12), or mic positioning, vibrations, etc). I am not an audio engineer, just a dumb scientist.

[@paulw.3967]

@@bartoskulasek8481 Are you familiar with Manfred Zollner's epic book Physics of the Electric Guitar? If not, check it out. It's available free on the internet.

[@dcsteve7869]

If most guitar players had been paying attention during their highschool science classes they wouldn't do dumbshit things like walk onto a stage with their amp, place it on the floor right next to them and proceed to point it at their KNEES while complaining "Hey soundman, I can't hear myself, can you put more in the monitors". 🤦‍♂

[@zachisebi]

That moment when you spent thousands on your bass amp and cabs, haul it all in the studio and the engineer then just DIs your signal straight into the interface.

[@zachisebi]

That being said, I love my Ampeg PF50-T.

[@gilbertspader7974]

Or they plug in a Dark Glass pedal and say go.

[@m00plank90]

It used to annoy the hell out of me. Got a bass butler and never looked back.

[@PinoliCanoli]

@@zachisebimy engineer was going to mic up a bass amp, I wanted to use my pf500 going into his SVT 8x10…and then it crapped out the moment I turned it on, so I had to go DI anyway. Got the head fixed under warranty and and reamped it at home through the same head and my SVT 4x10, so pretty much the same results

[@gymhayes4613]

Geddy Lee gave up amps decades ago. Like 30 years of shows with no amps. Just di into the main board.

[@SteveHooper8]

From the perspective of a Sound Engineer… THANK YOU for this! I’ve just been sending my guitar-playing friends to your channel rather than trying to convince, I’m letting you argue for me. Great job!

[@winstonsmith8240]

I love it when he gets angry and starts screaming. Depends on what mike he's screaming through though.

[@DanZhukovin]

I just learned this last night...Once I started customizing my cones it could make apple airpods sound like a triple rectifier with all knobs halfway.

[@roybuis7646]

I agree, in 2014 I bought a JCM800 2203x, the reissue model, I tried various 2x12 cabs with different speakers, but still couldn't get that 80's metal tone I had in my head. Until it dawned on me that to get that 80's metal tone, I needed to have a speaker they actually used in the 80's. Eventually by pure luck I stumbled upon an early 80's JCM800 2x12 cab with Celestion G12-65's in it. And that was it! There was that Judas Priest and early Metallica sound!

[@pittbrat7963]

I only use the 65's. And again you will notice a vast change in tone if you switch to the 4X12. Try to drive the 2203 with less preamp and more volume and see if you like it. The 65's partner really well if you drive some volume through them, they are made for that. When i found that sweet spot i threw all my pedals out, the tone was already there.

[@fross1203]

This is one of the most comprehensive videos I have ever seen. The amount of time and effort you put into this demonstration is priceless. Thank you.

[@concretebadger]

The Matamp factory has a "speaker tester" corner where you can plug your amp in and switch between several different speakers, and decide which works best for you. It was one of the most useful and educational things I've ever seen, and I wish that more places (eg. music stores) had something like that.

[@ScottsGuitar]

Chuck Levins in DC has that too

[@denverrandy7143]

What Google search would I put in to see if anyone has this in my area. Denver Colorado

[@ScottsGuitar]

@@denverrandy7143 call wildwood that’s probly your best bet not sure if you’ll find on google

[@michaellorenz7177]

We had an Ampeg amp and cabinet switcher in our bass room at GC many moons ago. All their cabinets in production at the time, all the current head on sale at the time, it was great; even if the room they were in sucked.

[@TheDistortionPrinciple]

Things like matamps and fuzz are the reason this video is wrong. Not all amps can take fuzz and doom the same, I guess that has more to do with response than sound though

[@howardmaryon]

Imagine the CEO of Celestion sitting at a desk, his hands making the “ triangle of doom”, muttering “goood...good....” like Mr Burns from Simpsons....?

[@xamislimelight8965]

Excellent!

[@solomonsanchez1897]

That only happens in Eminence, Kentucky.

[@imJMB]

Like most players, I've been guilty of falling for marketing and hype, but I've also spent much of my playing years feeling either confused at my inability to hear the massive differences that others heard, or shunned because I felt confident enough to speak out against them. Hearing my guitar heroes talk about how their pickups and their choice of woods influence so much of their tone, or listening to the "tone is in the fingers" argument from people that I admired as musicians...it always left me feeling deflated, wondering why I couldn't hear what they heard. Here we are now, years and years later, and Glenn is confirming most all of the things I've always felt and thought I knew. Turns out, I wasn't crazy or or totally lacking in Golden Ears after all. Thanks for all that you do, Glenn.

[@nikdrown]

Maybe. There are things that sounded different to me over time. I think a lot of it is our perception at a given time with contexts. Knowing any piece of gear and not deeming something “useless” but really getting to know it in as many contexts and configurations it can be applied to and actually taking mental notes helps with things. Not just buying blind because the demo of words raving . I’ve learned to really buy with as specific intentions as possible to avoid buying shit that won’t get utilized. It’s helped quite a bit.

[@RQDOOM]

There's a bit of true that part of the tone comes from the playing (from your fingers), of course not huge but it does impact the way you sound

[@mitsanut5869]

It's basically the same as when you play your CD through different sets of speakers. The original signal is the same. It's the speakers that will change that signal into the sound. I have had same speaker system with different amps, the results were insignificant to human ear. Changed the speakers, the sound changed significantly. I just go with Hill Billy assessment but it works every time. There's a role amps play in the sound but it's the power they can feed the speakers with. Underpowered means shitty sound, overpowered means shitty sound.

[@bobsurface908]

​​@@nikdrownWellll... A good amp is good, and a tranny head might have a slightly different sounding distortion than a valve head. But in a live micced up situation or in a studio in a mix, the rest is almost all speakers. And simulators in a mix are sometimes detectably different than a miked amplifier... But the last ten or fifteen years has revealed that you will almost never point at one or the other after the fact and say "That sucks - it's an amp sim." They're just too good, and in a mix, the differences just don't take "subtly different" and turn it into "bad". Devin Townsend has been running Sims almost exclusively for a good 15 years or more both live and in the studio.

[@reginolopez5455]

it’s usually the professional and advanced musicians that talk about tone woods. That’s because they do have golden ears. They spend their lives honing their craft and listening for discrepancies in their sound. Getting it dialed to their liking. However, 99% of people couldn’t tell the difference. So you really shouldn’t worry about it. They worry, because as players, we play better when we sound how WE want to sound. And that is fairly different for everyone.

[@caelenselke-minogue]

As obnoxious as this guy can be, I really appreciate the brutal honesty. He's just trying to help us out.

[@Mike6StringsIn]

I enjoy your fact reporting videos. I'm 60 and playing guitar is a hobby I love. With that I've never dropped tons of cash on anything and have always looked for the best thing I could get testing and comparing everything I have. I have played many expensive guitars and read everything about what they were made of. I looked for less expensive quality stuff that basically was made with the same materials. You do wonders with a less expensive acoustic guitar by simply replacing the plastic nut and saddle with Tusq version. I play everything from metal to country to blues and I just love it. Spending time with the knobs on any gear you have can really get you good results. You can save a ton of cash by just learning some simple care and setup adjustments. You do good work Glenn. Thank you.

[@thesandman775]

It's crazy. When my eyes are in the equation, i could hear a slight change in eq, more "meat" in the mesa mids and more fizz in the 5150 highs. Without the benefit of eyes, didn't even really notice the change mid clip. Awesome video as usual Glennjamin!

[@onuryuksekol]

I was thinking about that. I agree what Glenn says and we have the results as well. I wonder if distortion pattern makes that difference like the way signal gets distorted rather than the eq difference.

[@dm1456-h7y]

@@onuryuksekol Nah it's probably because of pre EQ. You can make a 5150 sound as flabby as a dual rec just by putting a low shelf on your DI before it hits the amp.

[@radred609]

I definitely heard the difference when it witched from the first clip to the second clip. At which point i thought the second clip sounded better. Then watching the example where it shows the change mid-clip i'd definitely say the first half (i.e. the 5150s) sounded better... which makes sense if i thought that the beginning of the second clip sounded better than the end of the first. all that said, i only ever noticed the difference when i was looking for it... i didn't even notice the change mid-clip until i was told it was there.

[@bassyey]

Guitar players don't know how to use EQ knobs lol. Jim Lill pretty much made Fender, Marshall, and Vox amp sound the same. Just turn the fukin knobs.

[@gutterg0d]

It's not as crazy as you think. If you have an idea of what sound the visuals represents, you know what to look for. And when you're told something changes, your brain will also do its best to accommodate too. Even to an extent where you hear crap that isn't real at all.

[@coreybrown3572]

Been an amp tech for 25 years. I’ve told every player looking for a “mod” to change the speaker first. Most high gain amps are either a Marshall/Soldano clone to a small varying degree. Sure you get fancy channel options and switching, but the gain structure is the same.

[@danieljansson2310]

The recofire is a clone of the soldano preamp. But with a weaker poweramp?👍

[@samaldini]

I don't get it and 10 minutes on this video I don't see anything valuable; when he seems to begin to explain something useful, he interrumpts to ramble on "dudes spending millions blabla", could you explain? I also gotta tell you I didn't spend thousands of dollars in amps. 23 years playing and I swear do you I didn't even spend 500 dollars. I hate extremely loud and powerful sounds and find amps with more than 20w useless so I only bought small cubes, probably 3 as far as I remember. I'd buy what Ralph Macchio used in Crossroads if I found one. Anyway, yea, different brand, different sound. I already played in more powerful amps, I set them up the way I wanted (and I always do the same) and they did sound different of each other. I found Peavey much better than Marshall. It was probably a 50w Peavey or so and it was the only amp over 20w that I ever liked the sound.

[@bobsurface908]

Unless it's a clone of a Fender clone. Haha

[@gutterg0d]

​@@samaldiniAmplification is a VERY straightforward operation. You take a signal, and you increase it. There's literally nothing more to it. If it does something else, it's not doing its job right. If you want coloration, there are much better places in a chain to get that.

[@samaldini]

@@gutterg0d Then why a brand sound different than another? Maybe the material used to incrase the signal?

[@millennialanimal]

I don’t even play metal, but I couldn’t agree more, it’s alllll about the speaker, once you figure this out it’s such a relief to know.

[@Vazaqin]

It's all about the mic placement

[@millennialanimal]

@@Vazaqin How do you place your mic?

[@darksu6947]

​@@millennialanimalUpside down and sideways, obviously 🙄

[@millennialanimal]

@@darksu6947 😁

[@Vazaqin]

@@darksu6947obviously

[@nine9whitepony526]

I've been playing since 92. I've always thought "Tone wood" was non sense. I've collected a number of guitars over the years, nope; I've found humbuckers sound one way, and single coils sound another way. You make wicked videos, and you've only solidified what I've already known in that regard. Just discovered you recently and subbed. Keep on trucking my friend, cheers from Northern Ontario.

[@nine9whitepony526]

I'm from North Bay Ontario if you're wondering where in Northern Ontario I'm from.

[@fr1g1db1tch]

Glenn : I took the SAME amp and used a few different speakers. I had an old 12 inch Scorpion, an older greenback, a v30, an older full range EV12... Amp settings were all the same, not a knob adjusted.. they ALL sounded different! Its amazing how the same amplifier without changing a thing can go from a bluesy tone to classic rock to early metal sounds! They were all placed in the same 1x12 cab.

[@thebathrobebassist58]

For anyone still doubting this, I can confirm AS A BASS PLAYER that the speaker is absolutely the most important part of your sound. I use 2 channels to get my bass tone, much like Billy Sheehan's setup. I have a lot of distortion on one channel, and the difference in sound goong through a cab vs going direct is night and day. Listen to this man! SN: Can you do a video on bass cab speakers? 4x10 vs 1x15, 2x15, etc? Plenty info on guitar speakers, but not much info dor bass. Thanks, from your neighbor in Detroit!

[@jaredcapps7788]

Yeah, big difference between GK speakers and peavy just to name one apples to oranges compare

[@lukasb2790]

That sounds interesting! Can you share a bit more details about your setup?

[@nerdyneedsalife8315]

I'm a guitar player but I use a bass amp combo. It's surprising how little there is with speaker comparisons. Guitar speaker comparisons flood KZbin but I usually find the same five bass speakers and even then not that many in the context of a comparison. Heck I've seen forums and such that claims that changing a speaker in a bass cab won't make as big a difference as changing a speaker in a guitar cab.

[@jaredcapps7788]

@@lukasb2790 I have used both peavy and GK. Both are very different. GK is in short super scooped twang and boom. Peavy is boom with articulate but less harsh treble

[@jaredcapps7788]

@@nerdyneedsalife8315 you would be very surprised to know that some amps that have a Peavey "blues" speaker in a guitar combo are peavy blue marvel's. A bass speaker. You can tell by the fat treble that you would have hell to make an ice pick out of

[@jmar482]

Your preaching of speaker performance and its effect on tone was really something that I hadn’t really considered through the years. Like you say, I would always be chasing the next “best” amp to get “the sound”. However you’ve really opened up my ears. While I have several amps and cabs, I’ve recently moved into the world of amp and cab sims and that’s where you really hear the difference. I love having almost any cab and Mike available to me for recording. Your in-depth testing with proof of the sound change is great stuff. Thanks dude🤘.

[@nikdrown]

Hella lot easier to swipe speakers and amps with the mods and profiles lol

[@mrcl_]

so basically, bringing this thinking to digital modelers like an axe fx, helix or quad cortex, we now learned, if you need to change your favourite tone to fit a mix, try changing the IR fiirst 👌 thank you glenn!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Exactly

[@JoeBaermann]

That and throwing an EQ after the preamp to finetune the frequencies that hit the IR and/or real speaker. I must say though, IR’s can be somewhat of a rabbithole when searching for something that matches not so common used speakers, a cabsim with a good EQ and a broad mic selection plus their placements can actually be easier and cheaper to get there faster. Quick example, Blackstar made a Dept 10 Dual Drive and Distortion, most demos and reviews don’t even bother to look at the tweakability that the cab sim has on those two, they are actually just ignoring it and then state “not as good as”. With some time spend on tweaking, especially the frequency response EQ for the speaker sim itself result is close to quite a few good IR’s. But it’s easier to go with the flow….

[@scalagitara]

Yep. Discovered this after using some of Resington bigfoot IRs after a Vadim Taranov Natas clone. Got blown away.

[@shredenvain7]

Hey Glenn do this test between a mesa dual rectifier and Mesa Mark 5. Please

[@IsaacLausell]

The speaker/cab real or virtual combined with the mic/preamp and position whether it is virtual or real makes the biggest difference in terms of gear. Once you down the rabbit hole of parametric eq after the preamp in conjunction with different types of boosters you can get one amp to sound like many others thus reducing the unnecessary expenditure you often speak of. You could nudge an amp within its general category in almost any direction. We are taking of gain stages as well as frequency response which is why as you have numerous times described the speaker will make the largest impact in the timbre quality. I might be biased somewhat being a music teacher but even above the gear the one thing I see most guitarist don’t invest in would be their education. With the students in our orchestra and chamber music program we see them invest in master classes, private lessons with visiting artists or attend festivals where they would study under an intensive program. This is all in addition to their music education in college and what they did before that to be able to get to a level in which that is possible. By and large many of the “tone chasers” can’t accompany, play changes and are lacking in fundamentals such as articulation, pulse and rhythm. Perhaps before buying the next iteration of the 5150, how about downloading a metronome and getting some lessons? Maybe a fretboard harmony course ?

[@thewesterj]

I've got 61 Bassman that I've used for 20 years. The only thing I ever change is the cab . It makes huge difference on stage. I even use it for bass on soul gigs with a 8x10 Ampeg. Glorious ! Great video.

[@216trixie]

I've been sticking distortion pedals and EQs in front of solid state and tube amps since the mid '70s. You're 100% correct, the amp matters very little most of the time. Edit: I made this comment before you mentioned the EQ and distortion pedal before the amp. Seriously a lot of people don't know that you can use an EQ as a booster or distortion pedal all by itself. With more control over the shape of the sound than either of those.

[@kevinmckinzie]

An Ibanez GE-601 has been on my pedal board since the late 80's. It is literally the only original pedal I still run after all of these decades.

[@dunxy]

Yup, i have an MXR eq i throw in front of my deluxe clone for distortion and flexible eq when i actually use it, which is not very often because i mostly just use my Kemper because its just easier, lighter, more reliable etc etc. The tube amp is honestly pure nostalgia in todays current climate, so many modelers for bugger all coin that are absolutely more than good enough. Plenty will disagree, mostly because they just cant admit that 10's of thousands of $ worth of temperamental vintage tube amps are no longer relevant as anything other than collector pieces. In 20 years nobody will want real amps and they will be essentially worthless i bet.

[@nevermind4328]

@@dunxy A lot of players don't use tube amps anymore, whether they're using a Kemper style thing or a Line6 POD - even the Behringer V-Amp sounds awesome. I use a tube amp at my house because yeah, I like tube sound and at home I play merely for pleasure. If I ever go on a gig or have to go to rehearsals again, I'll get a relatively cheap POD like thing (I do not need a Kemper, more parameters than I want to use live) and go thru the console, it'll do the job perfectly. And they're still "real" amps, just different tech.

[@flatgroundtv7097]

I've learnt so much. Your social awareness programme on money saving with music recording really helps me so much. Really weird when there are those who still didn't understand your messages through your useful experience. Let them sink with their egos. Thank you Glenn for showing us the economical path and shortcuts to make our lives easier when recording. ✊🏽

[@DasOmen02]

I've been seeing more and more people talk about speakers in the last couple months. It's a slow process, but I think you are breaking through! Keep up the good work

[@MopsLife]

I remember the day 5 years ago when I upgraded my cheap pickups to my favourite guitar players signature model. I was so excited the first time I played, I told myself I heard a difference but I didn’t. I also remember a couple months ago when I upgraded my electronics in the same guitar and the EQ wasn’t reacting the way I wanted, instantly went to FB and asked “I’m not liking the bass response in these pickups, any new pickup recommendations?” I then started messing about with the cab section in NeuralDSP and that was the moment I found my issues, microphone choice and placement on the cab. I’ve now started window shopping cabs and speakers and not amps. Thank you Glenn

[@Gu1tarJohn]

You're spot-on about the speakers making a huge difference. Years ago, I replaced the stock speakers in an Ampeg 4x12 straight guitar cab with Eminence Texas Heats and that cab not only sounded better for what I play, but seemed to go noticeably louder before starting to distort. Keep preaching the truth man!

[@jaycswift4751]

Thank you Glenn! I have been applying a lot of what I learn here to my rig and recording set up and you have saved me tons of time and money. Your work is very appreciated.

[@barrry9]

"Why do guitarists insist on being this dumb?" I think you said it best in a previous video - they have to be No. 1 at everything :)

[@nikdrown]

I was talking about how dumb guitarist have gotten and wondered if it’s always been like that and the internet just made it more noticeable or if it’s just coming into bloom. I seriously hate talking to guitar players about shit and I one but some of them can get ridiculous. I get a lot of dudes amazed at the fact none of my guitars are really expensive or high end but they will ask how I get my sound lol. Well……it’s a number of things that you’re not going pay enough attention to nor really consider…….SO WHY FUCKING ASK!? Lol

[@darksu6947]

barrry9 is numbah 10

[@nevermind4328]

@@nikdrown By the time I started learning to play guitar in Argentina, 20 years ago - where things are harder and more expensive to get, back then most of them got here ten years later, nowadays you can get most of the stuff but it seriously hurts your wallet - we used to get good built, cheap guitars - Squier, Samick, Epiphone and that kind of thing - and mod them if needed. As guitars became more available and we had some more money friendly years - gone for now - people started expending money like idiots and yes, the internet - which also came here a bit later than it did to the first world - potentiated the phenomena. I'm a sound tech - not a studio oriented one, though I can jump in if needed - and I've always modded my guitars to sound like I want them to. Got a lot of Squier haters to say: okay, yours is amazing, the others still suck. Truth be told, any Squier with the work mine has on it would sound that good. I've sold the more expensive guitars I had because it hurts me more to mod them when they don't do what I want them to do, so I only get cheap guitars that look good to me and are well built and then mod the shit out of them if I don't like how they sound. As for the chats with fanboys, I don't have them anymore because the exact same thing that happens to you, happens to me when I do. Regards.

[@YTisGay]

Well with glenn being a guitarist, I can take his word for it.

[@FransJCMartins]

Facts. Not only the speaker, but also the mic makes a huge difference. Speaker placement, eg proximity effect, closer more bass, further away less bass, more toppy. On axis vs off axis, yet again different. Etc… Then also remember, a mic is basically a tiny speaker used in reverse! Same huge difference different speakers gives, so huge differences using different mics and placement. Finding that ultimate sound is spending time not only in speaker selection, but also to find the ultimate mic. The whole signal chain ultimately determines the end result though.

[@robyngalice4159]

I am so glad you mentioned microphone placement in this. As I’ve always thought that once you have a mic, changing the position is the easiest (and honestly a kinda interesting) way to change your recorded guitar sound, rather than buying new gear. Tbh always felt it’s a little under represented😅

[@erikfincher5011]

😮 maybe the second most important video on REAL TONE ISSUES I've ever seen. Right behind the guy who remove all tone wood and set up strings and a pickup between two workbenches proving the pickup is the biggest factor in the guitar. So now between these two videos I've seen that the pickup and the speaker are probably the biggest factors. And of course Mic choices and placement. Well done sir.

[@banenjis]

i have seen that as well, eye opening stuff. The same guy tracked down what makes the biggest change in tone in an amplifier and in a cabinet. If you haven't watched yet check them out

[@TheMotorcityfive]

your fingers, playing style, tuning, phrasing, how you hold the pick, etc... are way more important than the pickup!

[@yucatansuckaman5726]

0:47 glenns trickery knows no bounds! Well played mr fricker! 😁👍

[@gilbertspader7974]

Your starting to approach that Kyuss tone. One problem the consumer has is videos that promise an artist's tone on a budget and thier all based on gear. They more than imply the more expensive the gear the closer you can get.

[@Napalm6b]

I wouldn't be surprised if Josh Homme using some Peavey solid state amps on their albums lol 😂. He's the antithesis of a gear snob.

[@JimBoom92]

He really did, its a fact.

[@Napalm6b]

​@@JimBoom92Nice, I thought so. Those guys were broke high desert punks so they were definitely making the most of what they could get. I'd say great metal tone can also be had with a Randall RG head with MXR EQ to act as a tonal shaping tool and buffer. More money doesn't always equal cooler sounds 😊.

[@TheMotorcityfive]

@@Napalm6b i agree. The Kyuss "tone" (if ever this exists!) is certainly not about expensive

[@Napalm6b]

@davidwang4364 Ah yes the fart to fabric ratio! The derivative of F delta fa! A very important test of tonal purity!

[@martyshwaartz971]

Creambacks sound so tight I love it

[@katoom-ju6vo]

It's so true. The speaker cab can often be overlooked in how important it is in the equation for achieving the tone that we are chasing. I know, because I've been there. This is not only a great reminder, but it's proof of how much difference speakers can make. Thank you.

[@gwugluud]

I thought most ppl into guitar even on an occasional hobbyist basis were aware that speakers vary quite a lot, even among the same dev. Changing from a V30 to a Jensen would be the difference between earth and The Horsehead Nebula.

[@goodfella9709]

Hey Glenn. One thing this video made me think of is "product families" I bet most guitarists who own a 5150, Soldano or D.Rectifiers want to own all three. Perhaps such people would benefit from getting a completely different style of amp, or not. Eitherway, a good video would one that classifies amps (and other products maybe) into families that sound too similar to each other to warrant the purchase of more than one. That way, people could save up, buy the one they could afford/find, rely on the rest of signal chain and on EQs when trying to reach the sound they want.

[@rainsticklandguitartalk9483]

That doesn't really address the fact that it's the speaker making the sound, not the amp.

[@goodfella9709]

@@rainsticklandguitartalk9483 If that's what you've taken from Glenn, maybe one of us is misunderstanding him. Almost everything in the chain affects the sound, to different degrees varying between massive (different speakers) to mostly inaudible (different humbuckers with distortion). The speaker is an eq placed near the end of the chain (along with the mic) so it has the most impact. But different amps do sound different, just check out his next video, he mentions that. Now yes, they sound different for different reasons than what most people think (see the Jim Lill video), but you can't attach anything to a greenback and then expect it to sound the same. Just think about this: tweaking the eq section of your amp, that on its own makes a massive difference. Same with where the distortion happens in the amp (amp design). Yes the speaker is making the audible sound, but it's making it based on something fed into it, otherwise all you'll hear is something similar to pink/white noise.

[@JamesDierken]

I wanna hear how both the greenback and creamback sound blended in a mix. I bet they would sound amazing.

[@gdawgs101]

It does! I have a GB x CB combo in a Marshall 2x12 that sounds killer. Very balanced and warm without being too loose. Well, maybe too loose for metalcore, but more than tight enough for the dad rock and thrash that I play 😂

[@finishin.my.coffee8780]

People still tend to go a little nuts when I even suggest changing speakers would make a bigger difference than changing their tubes. I once got a lecture on filament material, glass thickness, etc. The glass thickness thing cracked me up.

[@travisspaulding2222]

That's crazy. Even in the 90s, I knew that speakers made a bigger difference than tubes, lol. I learned that when I bought a Valvestate and paired it with a cheap cab. It sounded like ass, so when I put my JCM 900 cab on it, it sounded way better, so I paired the cheap cab with my Ampeg VH140C, and suddenly, it sounded like ass, lol. That was when I learned that the speakers were incredibly important to tone, lol. I've owned tube amps, too, and changing tubes never really changed the tone.

[@Fl4ppers]

I would just reply with "but how does it taste?"

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

Guitarists are more conservative then the Taliban, for Leo Fender and Les Paul got it right the first try, everything else since is just heresy. And more gullible then audiophiles with their chrome plated anti-matter coated cables and gold plated digital to analog converters.

[@sgholt]

Especially, since most of the tubes are made in the same factory ....the only change is the label they put on it, don't get me wrong some sound better than others....just like anything else.

[@davedecker1725]

​@@travisspaulding2222I used to run a pig VH 140C into a Carvin 4x12. It would completely devour the room

[@vhfgamer]

I find it amusing people keep complaining about these amps, when I'm over here thinking "Gee I'm happy to have a device that makes sound".

[@shawnok1]

Hi Glenn…I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years. I fell for the tonewood, upgraded pickups, expensive amps for many of those years. Truth is, I could never tell much of a difference in sound between different guitars, amps etc. the problem is, I thought there was something wrong with me. Like I had bad ears & I wasn’t hearing what other people were hearing, including my musical hero’s selling me this stuff. Thank you for confirming that there’s nothing wrong with my ears-I just fell for the mythology, and creative marketing strategies. Love the show, Glenn!

[@tbirdpunk]

Which speakers should I install in my VOX AC30 to get it to sound like a recto?

[@sparella]

Such a clever question! It highlights an unstated but important scope limitation: a similar number of saturation stages. Glenn alludes to this when he mentions solid state amps being a bit different, and that is due to differing saturation arrangement. The same applies to vastly different tube saturation strategies.

[@guitarflyer172]

None. It’ll sound like a Vox either way. I agree speakers effect sound but the amp still matters regardless. You can’t make a Marshall MG sound like an AC30

[@tbirdpunk]

@@guitarflyer172 Haha. Yep. It was a bit of a tongue in cheek question. I think you got the point though.

[@maiatun]

Holy shit Glenn, you really knocked it out of the ballpark with this one. That test was fucking textbook and it really shows how much effort you put into helping (stupid) musicians get the most out of their gear and/or save money. I still can't get around the fact that there are people calling you a fraud or dismissing your evidence, but I have gained massive respect for you just seeing the lengths you got to demonstrate your methodology and tools. And don't get me wrong, I've always been on your side and I agree with your points made, it's just that this was an outstanding video really. Keep it up, much love from Mexico.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Thanks man! Name calling doesn’t matter. Evidence does.

[@user-pk8uf3er7v]

I have a orange micro dark and I just added an EQ pedal in the loop and an overdrive in the front and i think that it really opened that little amp.

[@andremagnani]

EQ pedal is the trick to turning any amp into any amp 😂

[@SkilletTRO]

The micro dark is a total monster! I love the shock when people realize it's the lunchbox I'm running through and not the amp lol

[@michaelbarker6460]

I absolutely love tricks like your A/B comparison clips at the start. Not because it supports what I believe but the opposite. Its a smack in the face and wake up call that is like saying "Dude just use you're fuckin ears and listen dumbass." Which isn't necessarily fun to accept but then its just a huge relief that I can finally get a sense of knowing what I ACTUALLY need to do in order to get the result I'm looking for and not be constantly doubting every little decision and wondering if one more piece of gear will be the thing that gets me what I want.

[@teamskdm1]

to be fair , the reason for this is because the speaker is the last thing in the guitars signal chain and is nothing more than a permanent set EQ at the end of the chain. if youre in a DAW and set up an EQ with drastic frequency curves at the end of the signal chain, youd get a similar result, and thats that what you hear is dictated by that drastic frequency curve at the end of the chain. if its EQ'd in a bright way, then you will eternally have a bright sound. if it is EQ'd in a dark way, you will permanently have a dark sound. however there is much more to a guitars tone that just a speaker with a set EQ curve. yes all high gain amplifiers will sound the same through the same cabs, thats because theyre all more or less designed for the same genre of music and same style of guitar playing. compare amps that have totally different circuits like a single channel marshall and you have completely different textures and feel and response that can stillchange regardless of what the final EQ curve is on the speaker itself. you may try to use the audio of a DAW to draw scientific experiments , but the reality is that that audio does not capture or reflect 100 percent of the players experience. really comparing different types of metal amps and being surprised they all sound the same is like comparing a bunch of different running shoes and being surprised they all feel comfortable to run in. your issue glen , is that you talk in this subject in absolutes. that all amps absolutely sound the same if theyre all through the same cabinet and that is why you keep stirring this pot for debate because that is not true in an absolute way.

[@groper6793]

Finally someone who knows something. Thank you. This guy is hanging his hat on the speaker alone as if it’s news. We all knew the speaker makes a difference when we got our first car at the age of 16 and put Jet Sounds in there. Glen figured this out when he turned 60 and can’t shut up about it.

[@Smung]

it is very funny to me that the speakers make such a huge difference that I can clearly hear it ON A PHONE SPEAKER

[@jamesdaigle8690]

While I agree with you that speakers make a huge difference, I’d be interested to hear the difference between amps that aren’t ripoffs of each other, for example, a Marshall DSL vs a Dual Rec, 5150 or SLO, or even a Mesa Mark Series vs a Marshall or SLO-type amp. Also, thank you for pointing out Mesa & Peavey ripped off Mike Soldano, I think more people should know this. I’ve been aware of this since the early 2000’s, I heard the rumor and did an A/B comparison of a Dual Rec and Hot Rod 50, I could easily dial them to sound the same. Anyway, keep up the great content, and as always, Fuck You Glenn!

[@sylvaindubois136]

I wanted to make a very similar comment. Please could you do your tests with very different amps? I know some of them are not meant for metal but I'd be still interested in the result.

[@MrMockigton]

ola did such a test years ago, and they still sounded all "pretty much the same". he tested like 15 amps of various circuits

[@jamesdaigle8690]

No kiddin’? I’ll have to find that video, thanks for the heads up man. 👍🤘🏻

[@MrMockigton]

@@jamesdaigle8690i think it is called "1 riff, 14 amps" or something. there are SOME differences, and 2 or 3 amps sound a lot different, because they are much fuzzier in their distortion or just are built completely different, but for the most part.... it is all the same.

[@ImFuckinHype]

@@MrMockigton @SonicDriveStudio has some great amp comparison, and yes you can hear some differences but also it's tricky because I guess if you want to really compare there are so many parameters to take into account (and to match) between EQ, Gain, Presence ...

[@johnstahlman9767]

Honestly can't wait for the video of you making the crate amp sound good with a better speaker. Although personally I think Crates sound fine, but I'm also a fan of Jensen speakers which many crates came with.

[@Durkhead]

He tried it with a crate combo it didn't work crate sounded bad

[@dindinbre]

Crate sounds fine imo, it might needs adjustments or one of those "peamp" pedals and skipping the Crate's drive stage.

[@Fl4ppers]

I used to have a dirt cheap Watson 10w bass amp yyyears ago. Sounded shite in the room, so much sothat I barely used it. Then I read of producers like Massy and Robinson and how they suggested that mic placement could change everything. I found ways to make that amp work just through mic placement after that. I guess this is how good producers and engineers help bands achieve despite the shitty equipment.

[@gwugluud]

I wouldn't mind having that dynamic/condenser pair housed in one capsule. Pretty wild idea. Definitely works.

[@Dylan-lx1hb]

So glad someone else experiments like this. I've been playing for 20 years and I'm still learning new things.

[@SwashBuccaneer]

Sir, your rational thought process and evidence has no business on the internet.

[@reecemilliner1578]

So I actually decided to test this out using Neural DSP's amp sims. I used Archetype Nolly's 5150 on one channel and a Mesa Boogie on the other channel (the black amp head). I made sure to turn off everything except the amp heads on both and set all of the dials of each amp head at "high noon". I then had both channels go through a 3rd Neural DSP plugin with only the cabinet activated (I believe it was the Archetype Nolly "American" Cabinet). Even with amp simulators, both sounded virtually identical outside of some ever-so-slight gain variations. I guess it's time for me to learn my cabinets and mics better. At least in the amp sim world each offering doesn't cost a lot in the grand scheme of things and you often do get different cabinets and mics.

[@Billy-sm3uu]

Great production on the video! This is so cool Glenn, thanks to you and the team as always. I always felt it when I played with my Headrush mx5, the difference in the amp really gets overshadowed by the cab/ir

[@Kaz999998]

Thanks for reminding me it's not the amp that sucks, it's me! Seriously badass video, thanks for the insight; I'm not super into tone chasing, but it was cool to see how just recording the same amp in a different way can get you all sorts of different of sounds 👍🏽

[@scottleonard6651]

I'm lazy. I don't like looking over the back of my amp in the dark upside-down to swap cables, much less moving heads around. To your point, I will repeat the best advice I ever received. When I walked into Centaur Guitars in Portland, OR, looking for a pedal I saw on KZbin, the owner asked me what I was trying to achieve. I was trying to make a cheap practice amp sound like a Dumble by using a pedal. I was young and inexperienced. With an exasperated patient sigh, refused to sell me the pedal. He said to get a Peavey Classic 30 and spend my money on swapping tubes, speakers and pickups. Find out what I SOUND LIKE. This is the the day I was told that uncomfortable truth about how much tone comes from the player and the fingers. This meant that it would be impossible to buy my abilities. I was going to have to learn, practice and develop my ear. I have settled on a 1967 Bassman with a "Marshalized" bass channel through a pro Marshall 4x12 with vintage 30s. I have a few basic pedals for reverb, delay and OD. ...I still get the itch to buy something that sounds better for someone else, because I'm lazy. I like the idea that there's a magic wand that will make me sound the way I want without effort. I'm lazy.

[@sseltrek1a2b]

really great video- really shows the reality...one of my major "a-ha" moments in the past 2 years was the realization that everything we set-up sound-wise as guitarists for live/recording get affected by the speaker, but always a microphone...

[@bdg77]

50 years as an electronics tech. You are spot on. Also notice no manufacturer lists distortion specs for a speaker.

[@brip2348]

As a player for 25 years who constantly chased tone I ended up with 3 Amps. TH30, RD45H and a crush pro 120. These amps have a much different sound from each other. I Custom built my own cabs loading them with v30s, cream and greenbacks. (In separate cabs) Switching between these amps and cabs has been the only solid way to actually change the tone that makes a difference. Most other amps and speakers fall within these triangles. Keep up the fight Glen.

[@random-guitar]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Glenn’s videos have helped me build patches in my Helix. Not only is component selection important, but you also need to make adjustments in the patch for mic selection and placement. Yes, it makes a difference there, too.

[@malectric]

I could not agree more, and this comes from someone who builds amplifiers and speakers. And one thing all the tests I've done show two things are important; the speaker/s and the _cabinet_ it/they are in. Good branded speakers can fulfill the wishes of the owner IF they are in a cabinet which is "suitable". The stereo speakers which I built and live in my living room only produced the goods with one out of 4 sets of speakers I that tried. The time an amplifier really shows a difference is when it the preamp is overdriven or especially when the output stage is driven into clipping.

[@jamesdeliamusic]

As a guitarist (first)/engineer/producer of over 40yrs, I can attest this guy is f'kn spot on. I can match any amplifier with the right pedal combination. The speakers are the secret sauce for the right harmonics, and shaping. Sure you can tweak EQs for a moment and "change the sound", but the right speaker will actually give you the proper response. Hence the IR revolution. But nothing beats actually pushing air. p.s. Without the right mic(s), even with the right speaker, you're still doing good, but with the right mic it could be great. Great video!!!

[@fivefingerfullprice3403]

I put a 2x12 cab together with a V30 and creamback and I love it. This is really eye opening video about the differences in the amps I had no idea they were so close together.

[@markince656]

This is exactly what all audio file guys already know. My dad rebuilds speakers and vintage amps. He has always played his record player loud and is to this day in constant pursuit of quality sound; growing up he was real rocker, which is prob why I play guitar in band to this day. But awhile back he rebuilt for me some rare earth magnet 1963 pioneer speakers with massive metal cones to put in my cab. And O shit these things blew the doors off my house and completely changed my tone 500% you are absolutely right on here!!! speakers is where you need to put your money although a Badass amp doesn’t hurt either 😊

[@hearpalhere]

Awesome video, really enjoyed it. My personal experience told me the same thing. I used to own an old Silvertone 1484 with the original 2x12 cabinet. I tested and recorded it with three different cab setups and I couldn't believe how different it sounded with each one - almost like it was three completely different amps. Rock on Glen!

[@Sashaplaysmusic87]

So true! I sold my sweet tube amp due to financial reasons and pulled out my old cheap Line 6 practice amp. But my American strat highway 1 and boss metal zone STILL produced beautiful tones!!!! Most people couldn’t tell from my recordings that I switched my amps…

[@TheSoulflytriber]

There is an another thing what is important with different amps. It's gain character (or structure). For my ears it's one of the most important thing in high gain sound. Every of these amps has own inbuilt eq what it goes to distortion section what you can't change (except mesa marks etc.) but we can modulate it with stomp boxes placed before the amp. Even if you use matched eq on the final sound and the curve will be exactly same for our eye you can (easily) hear the difference of the gain character.

[@thomaswagner6495]

I chase a high headroom western swing to nearly as dirty as vintage grateful dead. Everything you said and demonstrated in this video is absolutely critical chasing clean tones as well. Excellent presentation. Liked and subscribed. Plus you are entertaining as hell - and the editing on this is exemplary.

[@jackpardun2898]

Western swing and grateful dead? Fantastic tastes

[@gimmickmusic8827]

“Did you even notice?” I did actually, but I also agree with your point. I think speaker and mic placement matter the most for a drastic difference in sound. Amp, cab construction, pickups, etc all do matter, but they don’t matter nearly as much as people want to believe.

[@eliteextremophile8895]

"People can pack several truckloads of ignorance in paragraph". At first I was like, you must be exaggerating, but the more he went on, the more I agreed. Holy crap.

[@jjrotogeek]

Ive been playing for 35 years and always knew this, to a point. WOW what an eye opener!!!!!!!!! thanks for investing time to do this.. fantastic!!!!!!!!! Love ya channel

[@DonJohnson-TheBassPlayer]

That was fantastic! As a bass player, I read all kinds of opinions. Usually none backed up by an actual recording. Show an A/B test with the opinion. Very simple. I've had the same amp for years. It works best with my finger tone. Yes, there is such a thing, as most bass players should know. Find the speaker cab you like the best, and stick with it. Same with the amp. Find something that slams, then fine tune the tone with pedals.

[@anthonyschreck]

I tend to not watch your videos due to the screams and clickbait thumbnails. But I gave this one a try and it was worth the watch. Very useful information. Thank you for putting it together.

[@malegria9641]

Yeah that’s what 90% of these videos are, off putting at first but extremely useful

[@PeterMoore350]

11:35 i love that you provide graphical proof for stuff like this. Whilst subtle to our human hearing ? The graphs don’t lie

[@bbwolf26]

I find this very interesting, because in the late 90's I was touring with a half stack, that everyone said sounded really unique and I would get a lot of compliments... I had a 5150 half stack, and I wasn't happy with it because it didn't really meet my channel needs, and I really wanted a mesa boogie. So I ended up buying the 50 watt single rectifier head, but I couldn't afford the "matching" cabinet. So I had to keep my 5150 cabinet ( i pulled off all the emblems so that no one would know. lol). BUT the ohms didn't match, so our bass player; who happened to be an instrumentation tech, re-wired the cabinet so that the ohms would match one of the outputs of the Single rectifier head. So in my case, the unique speaker cabinet absolutely gave me a unique tone.

[@scrollkeeper6636]

Glenn you make a really good point there. I have a Marshall VS8100 that came with the original 4x12 budget Marshall cab that it was selling with at the time. I was kinda happy with the sound, but could use improvement. I swapped the original speaker for (gasp) Crate 4x12 which actually sounded better but was lacing low end so I swapped all the speakers to two Eminence and two GT12M-70 and padded the back - packed big time with acoustic foam and almost got there. Then I went to a friend's practice studio and plugged into his old ratty early 1970s Marshall cab that came with his Plexi...and it was an absolute "wow" moment. It was essentially the recorded Chuck Schuldiner sound. He wouldn't part with that cab for anything :) We also swapped our bass player's guitar amp Crate combo speaker for a second hand Celestion that he got for cheap and that took the amp to a totally different level.

[@jjerg]

Another fine vid Glenn. In the mid 90s an engineer taught me to change speakers and pickups before changing guitar and amp. Her advice has saved me so much cash. 🤘🏼

[@rodprod8522]

can REALLY hear the difference in speakers - really nicely recorded - Glenn what a legend!

[@kostasz11]

This was probably one of your best episodes ever. Amps do make a difference but cabs and mics can utterly and totally alter the sound

[@DarthCiliatus]

What you said at 2:22 is absolutely true. If I recall from my Psychology class last semester people on average only can remember a sound accurately for 3-5 seconds. I can get up to 15ish seconds if I really focus on remembering it which still isn't long enough to do easy A/B comparisons. This is why at least an A/B box should be used for comparing amps or speaker cabs.

[@TheMetalFoundry]

At first I thought "oh no, he's at it again", but that was before I watched the video. As I started watching and actually listen to the demos, your explanation makes total sense. There is indeed a small difference between the two amps, with a bit more of a sizzle in the 5150 when I listen through my monitors. Changing and/or blending speakers and mics is a great way of EQ'ing your sound before you hit the record button. I work for a microphone manufacturer and as part of a product training I combined a couple of different mics (7) in front of the same amp and the results were very interesting. By changing the different channel volumes while playing back, it was like playing with an EQ. Thanks for the video and f*** you Glenn!

[@TheMetalFoundry]

Oh, and about that mic, I've seen Metallica using an Audio-Technica AE2500 on their guitar cabs a couple of years ago. That is basically a dual element kickdrum mic as well :D

[@TheMotorcityfive]

yes, and different mike types have different "sweet spots" at different volumes for any speaker type. You can really fuck up a killer sounding amp , in the studio, (or live) with poor mike placement!

[@nobrakes3765]

Way back, I had a good relationship with a local, non-chain music store. I took a Mesa Recto, 5150ii, TripleX to my band rehearsal and let the other two guys decide my main gig amp I would upgrade to since we were getting busy and needed a fuller sound. I went into the same cab. They all agreed on the 5150 but just by a hair. Literally today, I needed to decide on my main amp for the spring/summer gig times we have so I plugged into my fav cabinet and plugged in my fav heads. I was shocked by how (now that I am using way less gain) the characteristics of my fav heads were similar, including that same 5150! They all rock. It might be the cab?! :)

[@MrPeterdemattei]

Hey Glenn, I'm so glad I discovered your channel. And I'm so sorry to hear about your wife, I'll keep watching not just because of your wife, but also because I'm learning a lot. I am a solo / duo looper act that plays a lot of latin and classic rock at my giggs. I have an ableton set up I control with Keith Mcmillin midi foot controller. I record all my own backing tracks and boy do I struggle with getting good recordings. I play a Godin Multiac Grand Concert Guitar recorded with a RME Babyface pro fs, I may have spent too much money on it, not because I'm stupid but because I hadn't discovered your channel until recently. Anyway I like to record some of my backing tracks on my acoustic custom built steel string GT. What mic would suggest I record my acoustic guitar with? I know you're a metal guy, but you also seem to have a lot of general knowledge that applies to all genres. Would that Lewitt 640 mic work? Great Channel. And I'm hoping for the best for your wife. No worries if you don't hear from you we all know you must be going through a lot right now.

[@billyj.causeyvideoguy7361]

Reminds me of how lenses make the biggest difference in cameras. Sure, each camera has its own dynamic range and color space etc. But the biggest impact on the image is lighting and lens choice. Everything else is more subtle.

[@MintStiles]

I remember the first time getting a custom amp from a VERY famous boutique maker. I was asking all about tubes and this and that. He told me to sit down before showing me the difference between some tubes. I was so surprised that not even types made much of difference let alone brands. Then he started plugging into various cabinets with different speakers. Given a specific amp design, the speakers made far more difference than anything else seem to have done.

[@johnzwengel4302]

Thanks for a great video Glen! I've been saying for a long time that the most important things are the speakers and the mics. I've got a pair of 35W Mark V's, a combo with a 90 watt Celestion, and a head driving a closed back 1x12 with a V30. The sounds are so different! I picked up on your trick of eq'ing through blending. I use the Solo controls to boost one amp louder than the other if I want a tighter brighter sound for rhythms or a warmer sound for leads. Works great. Thanks for the confirmation on my experimentation. It was an illumination.

[@myname7021]

Great video! But I think this is more a communication problem than anything because we're talking about two different things. There is the sound of the guitar (i.e the combination of player, guitar, amp, speaker + mic) and then there is the sound of the distortion, which can be very unique and is mostly determined by the amp. I agree that the sound in its totallity is most influenced by the speaker and mic but the tone of the distortion is not affected by either of those. The tone of distortion between a recitifer vs 6505 vs VH4 can be big, depending on what and how you play. I know since I have those amps and am able to switch between them through the same cab and it can make a huge difference. But of course if all you play is some palm muted high-gain power-chords, then yes there is not much of a difference. But if you play something more nuanced the difference becomes more pronounced as well. IMO most guitar players are more interested in the tone of the distortion, since that is what actually impacts how the guitars "feels" and hence how you play. The sound itself is, at least to me, not as important. Sure a cab with V30s sounds much different than Greenbacks, but it doesn't affect how I play all that much. However I play much differently through a 6505 than through a Rectifier since the amps distortion is different, the amps react differently hence you play differently. The speaker does not change how the guitar feels or behaves, it just changes the voicing while the amp actually changes how you play. At least for me. Maybe I'm weird but talking to other guitarists it does not seem that I am alone with this.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

So how does one measure “feel?” Seems like an awful lot of copium in this comment. Give us evidence, not excuses.

[@myname7021]

​@@SpectreSoundStudios Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZWkapmto75jq7s A comparison of 5 typical metal amps where you can clearly hear the difference of the sound of distortion. If someone can't hear the rectifier from a mile away then that person must be either deaf or not into metal, because it is clearly unique in how it sounds. And no I don't mean the mid-scoop which they perhaps could've adjusted a bit better for the sake of the comparison. And I can replicate that comparison at home with my own Recti & 6505. Switching between them is a night/day difference, while the difference between the 6505 and VH4 is more subtle (to me at least). And that is over the exact same setup (Closed vert. 212 /w V30, SM57/LCT 140 + M160) and just switching between them (or even an Axe-FX). What I'm saying is, while I agree that for recording purposes the cab/speaker/mic have a huge impact, the amp has an impact as well + and an additional impact on the player and sound of distortion, not necessartily sound of the guitar as a whole. But again, it depends on what is being played. Playing simple palmuted high-gain riffs, it probably doesn't matter as much, but playing something more versatile the differences become more obvious and more important to the guitar player.

[@indarican1575]

I totally understand the b.s. being spewed. Playing with the mic placement has made a far greater impact on our recording sound and what I've been looking for recording than some insanely priced hopped up on ignorance amp and cabs. Pops has shown me all kinds of recording tips and tricks he learned over his 45yrs recording to get any sound I want and even how to mimic others with a far cheaper product. LoudLove

[@keithrowe7617]

Totally! I have a Fender Frontman that I paid $50 for. I built a Baltic birch cabinet and put in a Peavey Sheffield speaker from the 90's - the holy grail of speakers, IMO. I run a set of P90's, through my old Bad Monkey, into the clean channel. A guy in my home town who builds high end, hand wired tube amps, said, "That thing sounds f***ing amazing!"

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Hmm. Imagine if you used a GOOD speaker. There’s a reason it’s called the “Shitfield”

[@davedavis775]

I totally get it . I've gone back and forth on all sorts of stuff . String gauge / material , pickups in and out of guitars , etc . Even different amplifiers. Placement of different effects in the chain and the eq settings which do change things . I have considered changing the speakers in my cabinets but didn't.

[@frankzed3991]

Glen! Love the show! When you’re using the Lewit mic and angling the mic to show the importance of microphone placement, you have to be careful! When you angle the mic, you may be creating phasing issues if the capsules inside the mic are horizontally adjacent. You should make sure that they are vertically adjacent. If they are not place in the correct t position, the capsules are getting a significant distance difference from the speaker, and might (will) cause phasing issues. Love your videos and efforts to help us make better choices! Cheers!

[@djabthrash]

1) the difference is not huge (especially compared to tweaking cabs/speakers/mics/mic positions), but there is definitely a difference, and EQ spectrum is not the entire thing to look at / listen to. There is also the envelope of the sound (how loose or tight the amp is when palm muting), etc. This affects of the amp feels when playing it and how you play it. 2) tone is not all about listening to final mixes... What about when you play alone in your room, or at band practice or during a live show on cabs when people hear mostly the direct sound from the cabs instead of the miked tones in a FOH mix ? You will hear the differences between amps more in these contexts than when listening to recorded tones in a final mix. 3) you can get amp A to sound closer to amp B, but if you want the characteristics of amp B, then it's better to use amp B than trying to get amp A to sound like amp B. If i want a recto sound (because such a thing exists), I'd better use a Recto than try getting a JCM800 or a 5150 sound like a Recto

[@vTiagoPT]

Learning a lot from your content, I'm so glad I found this channel. Proving and explaining the technical reasoning behind tone is definitely the best part of what you share here!

[@delongpredannon]

I love you Glenn. While a lot of others make a video that makes the price of a 60 dollar pedal explode, you are going to take down the overpriced tube amp world a bit. We should all salute you🖖

[@paulitofm6420]

G'day Glenn!!!! This is possibly a really stupid question (when I get to it). I've been on massive tone quest for years and have accuired a huge amount of different speakers and cabs, and have pretty much settled on closed back 2x12's (my favourite is a Marshall slant 2x12 2061x I got second hand) with a mix of Creamback M, H and Neo's. I mainly use a Marshall SV20H or a Mesa Mini Rec (Both sound pretty ballpark through the same cab to be honest - and I have recorded both with a looper pedal and a Captor X to test). The question: What are the mics you have used that give the closest sound to what you're actually hearing in the room (taking into account mic placement etc)? I absolutely love the guitar sound I have and struggle to have it sounding the same when recorded. Sennheiser e906 or the Lewitt you're currently using maybe? HELPPPPPPP!!!!!! Thanks mate, love the content and f-you from Australia! Cheers.

[@ConsanguinitySlam]

Also a fascinating note. Typically, a speaker behaves omni-directionally at frequencies below the one calculated by taking the speed of sound and dividing it by the driver circumference of the driver. For example, a “12 inch” speaker has a driver radius of approximately 12 cm, yielding a circumference of around 0.75m. Take the speed of sound and divide by that distance and you get something around 500 Hz. What does that mean? Well, below 500 Hz, the speaker behaves according to predictable parameters based on the mass of the driver, compliance of the soft parts, etc. Above 500 Hz, the speaker behaves directionally, where different areas of the speaker radiate and beam these high frequencies out at different angles, some caught by a mic and some not. This is why hi-fi systems typically use two or three different speaker sizes for different frequency bands. The beaming is also affected by cone/dust cap material and shape. I’m confident that if you look at the response curve of a 12 in driver taken with different mic positions, you’d see most of the difference occur after 500 Hz.

[@Civic.]

I wrote about how speakers are the most influential factor in tone well over ten years ago. Not just speaker but cab design can be a massive factor. But some of the other things said in this video are not accurate, amps can be a factor and a significant factor, I think it's pretty obvious if you compare something like a AC30 with a Dual Rectifier. First in this video the 5150 and Dual Rec were dialled in in a way where it was possible to get them both to sound the same but it's possible to get tones out of a dual rec that the 5150 won't get so close in replicating. And this brings me to the way this video provides evidence and performs the test, it is specifically representing a studio scenario and one where things are manipulated to get the desired result. What isn't apparent in this video is the difference in how the amps change in characteristic throughout the EQ at different volume levels with an emphasis on how they are different instead of focussing on how they can be the same. And how they feel. That feeling is typically a latency response combined with the way the amp squishes and distorts frequencies. A major component of that latency is the power supply in the amp. Latency referring to the time between when you play a note and hear the result. So some points on amplifiers. They don't all hold up as well the same in the low end and how they handle the low end typically has a lot to do with the power supply transformer in a traditional tube amp circuit. A lot of amps including a lot of Mesa amps have an issue where if you turn up the gain and bass at the same time it turns into a mess so it's one or the other if you want it tight and how this happens will vary in different amps. Some amps are closer, others not so much. The power supply can be the thing that makes a tube amp more like a solid state amp. Or another way of saying it, in the guitar amps people like the amp is intentionally designed shit so the power supply fails to deliver constant power to the amp in a way that guitarist like. Sometimes the problem with solid state amps that guitarists don't like is they are actually better amps, that is they are better at "make things louder". The big thing to understand about amps is, their job is to make things louder, that's what they do and in audio reproduction an amp should make things louder but only louder and not different. Now the amps that guitarists like are the ones that suck at doing their job but in a way that sounds great. And the thing guitarists love is the type of clipping and compression tube amps provide. So here's the thing, up to a point the amp is mostly just making things louder, but guitarists typically like what they describe as "edge of breakup" or "distortion". And the thing about that clipping and compression is not all the frequencies are necessarily clipping in the circuit (also worth pointing out there may be multiple clipping stages in a circuit). So here's the secret sauce in amp design. EQ before the clipping stages will alter the personality of the amp as well as the sound, this will dictate what frequencies are being clipped and squashed. And EQ after the clipping stages just changes the volumes of different frequencies, except when it doesn't because you can also get clipping and compression from the power amp stage. So that's another thing to consider. Power amp distortion can sound different to preamp distortion and typically does. The way a lot of people use a tube screamer is as a EQ pedal with a specific EQ curve and it's clear how this not only changes tone but the structure of the gain. So where does this leave us? Many amps are similar designs and can get similar results but may also get unique results that the other amp might not be able to replicate. There are a few typical preamp flavours. There are also a few typical poweramp flavours. What this means is if you put an EQ both in front of the preamp stages and between the preamp and poweramp, you can make that chain sound and feel exactly like lots of other amps. Enter the Blackstar TVP/Silverline series, a digital amp with no tubes that can sound and feel exactly like most tube amps on the market by having a design that lets you switch preamp voices and poweramp designs and mix and match and with an EQ called ISF that sweeps from a bass heavy scooped EQ through to a equal scooped EQ in the middle through to a mid boosted EQ and this EQ is driving the gain stages so it effects the character of the amp. The rest of the EQ changes tone but effects the power amp if you push it far enough to enter power amp distortion. And this is how all guitar amp design works in a nutshell. Now before everyone races out and buys a Silverline or an older TVP because they just realised you can get all your favourite amps in one for a stupid cheap price. Just be aware that there are flaws in the TVP/Silverline design and what this means in practical use is even though the amps kind of have a loop as a feature, the loop is basically useless, so forget using your favourite modulation pedals in a loop and you are stuck with the built in noise reduction or noise gate depending on your selection. Before we move on from these Blackstar amps. If you want to get one, the one to get is the 100W TVP. The 100W Silverline is actually closer to the 60W TVP. The reason to get the 100W head is it has the best power supply which means it has the best and most stable bass response and so can have a better bottom end but more importantly has more range and can sound like more amps. FWIW many years ago I did the same thing with the Digitech GSP1101. I found that using an EQ block before the GSP2101 preamp model and another EQ block after it, I was able to make that patch sound and feel exactly like my Engl E530. I'm the person who created that patch BTW and everyone sharing it later (or selling it) is sharing my patch which I also detailed in online posts with a bunch of experiments I did to that patch. But that discovery led me to understand how tone is structured in an amp. Some other things worth noting. When someone says powertubes don't matter and it's just the poweramp circuit that matters and they give you sound clips that prove it, they are either being dishonest or they are putting their ignorance on display (cough Bl*ckst*r, I don't think they were ignorant when they did this FWIW). Yeah if the poweramp is just "make louder" then tubes will have no effect or almost no effect. It's when the poweramp is pushed into distortion/saturation that the different tube characteristics become more apparent. This becomes more obvious in tube amp designs that let you switch to different power tube types and the thing is lots of people who have just one cab have done this and recorded this and even put the results on youtube. Not as drastic as a speaker swap and but noticeably and different to a speaker swap. And that's the thing to keep in mind here. I don't know if Glenn is being deceptive or ignorant in this video but it's one type of test that is skewed to a result. There are many similar tests on KZbin that get different results to this video. There are tests where people have used exactly the same cab with different heads and displayed the difference. And there are comprehensive comparisons where they also go through turning each knob so you can hear the range of the amps and the behaviour of the amps and how they vary. Like seriously a JTM doesn't sound the same as a Dual Rec. And there are tones you can get out of a Mark IV that you can't replicate from a Dual Rec or a 5150 and Mesa make both the Dual Rec and the Mark IV. But no one is dumb enough to think that a Plexi and Twin Reverb sound exactly the same or that a speaker swap will give you a bigger tonal difference than swapping from a Twin Reverb to a Dual Rec. And another thing. The first Marshal was copied from a Fender and the only significant changes were to allow the Marshall to use different power tubes that were available in the UK. These two amps sound similar and can sound the same but they don't always sound the same and can sound different in a way that can't be replicated on the other. Then that Marshall design evolved and changed. A JTM and Silver Jubilee and Plexi and JCM 800 and JCM 900 don't all sound the same and some of those sound drastically different. The Soldano is a modified Marshall, the 5150 is a modified Soldano. Then many other metal amps are modified 5150's. And some are more modified than others. But considering you can change how an amp sounds and feels just by changing the transformer and these amps are using different transformers well... and then the other significant differences are that EQ>Pre>EQ>Poweramp design difference already discussed. If you have read this all and don't understand why some of what Glen said in this video is very wrong then all I can say is "Why do Guitar Players INSIST on being THIS DUMB?". You have most likely already seen a mountain of evidence on KZbin and in person that disproves some of the claims made in this video. Before I close I do want to mention, listening to guitarists negative comments about solid state amps and modelling over the years has been hilarious. Then that whole era where everyone hated Blackstar because they could "hear" how it sounded like a processed studio sound instead of an amp because one KZbinr said so (and now that KZbinr has come out and claimed that he didn't really say all those mean things now that he is working with Blackstar) and also watching other big KZbinrs parrot the things he said back then. Yeah people are hilarious.

[@appoocha]

Thank you, Glenn. This was a very good practical example at demonstrating the factors that determine guitar tone. I have a Line 6 Floor Pod Plus which is basically an analogue amp modeller with speaker cab simulation. Switching between amp models does make a difference in tone although not as much as is brought about by switching between the type of cabinets. The frequency response curves provide the proof we need. 😊👍🏼

[@riffmania]

I just bought a revv G 50 and a matching cab in Western teal not because of the amazing tones and all that stuff just because I like the fact that I can customize the cabs looks and the heads looks and ultimately, I’m a bedroom guitarist/playing in a band and I realize through my 20 years of playing I sound like me no matter what piece of gear I use. I just enjoy spending the money on something flashy.

[@leirex_1]

I actually heard a difference in the 5150 and Dual Rectifier but only noticed it on the "Amp B" clip. I went "wait why does it sound bassier midway through?", but the difference is really small and I missed it in the "Amp A" clip. Keep up those trick questions though! Edit: I just got to 11:23 and I am shocked how similar the graphs are.

[@ryanevans371]

I love the highly specific and descriptive verbiage: "a bit more going on in the mids/high mids"