Valve Vs Solid State - Can a Blindfolded Chappers Tell Which Amp is Which?

[@andertons]

PLEASE NOTE: This video was filmed back in August 2020 where we followed the social distancing guidelines for the time. All newly filmed videos will be following the UK's current set of guidelines. Stay safe. Team Andertons ❤️🤘

[@sundaynightdrunk]

All love to you guys in Guildford. Stay safe yourselves. And give Pete the same test!

[@adrianp.barbieri7514]

Still playing with the Boss Artist a great amp, the Tonemaster twin which I tried at the store before buying the artist , had nowhere near the resonance of my valve twin which I've played for yonks! Would canting it back on its legs improve the sound?

[@Gerardoooooooo]

Stay safe from politicians, please.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

Should have just allowed the people to assume you two were a cohort who lived in sin and thus didn't need to mask because you're already so exposed to one another.

[@squirelova1815]

I wear a full body condom AND a mil spec gas mask just to be sure although it is difficult to walk around with and go to the "Loo" in.

[@VodkaSelekta]

Next you should see if a blindfolded solid state amp can tell the difference between Rob Chapman and Lee Anderton.

[@florianju5638]

Depends on the drive pedal ;)

[@MehYam2112]

Wait, one of them is a robot?

[@Dug6666666]

Or paint the blindfold with nitrocellulose lacquer to see if it makes guitars sound better.

[@shawndouglass2939]

That would be good😜

[@jesuschristpose896]

How about blind test between a Chapman guitar and a turd

[@WallyBoots]

This just goes to show how us guitarist listen with our eyes

[@robbirose7032]

I am blind.

[@dimensionalencounter3689]

I run a orange crush 120 most of the time I have a magnetic sticker that says mud slayer over the cr120 part and when other bands are watching us they think it’s tube goes to show if your rig is set up right then it’s difficult to tell

[@fogboundturtle]

they listen with their ego

[@sSkullCollector]

It's clean sounds only and dirt from a pedal, if you drive the amps themselves you'll 100% hear the difference between a clipping valve vs a clipping transistor

[@WallyBoots]

@@sSkullCollector If you’re not looking at the actual amp I think you’d surprise yourself if put to the test. The digital modeling stuff has gotten really good.

[@scottdenmark3577]

It’s hard to believe how bad that Friedman pedal sounded with all of the amps.

[@robbirose7032]

That pedal does sound good in a mix. But it can be a little fizzy.

[@christopher-miles]

@@robbirose7032 yeah... i agree, scooped the mids more than expected

[@brandonlesko3126]

I think the best use of an OD pedal is to use it as a boost. Light gain. Get a good tone from the amp then use the pedal as a boost. A lot of gain is not necessary to get a good guitar tone.

[@ooferrell]

@@brandonlesko3126 I agree.

[@kcussrebutuemos4815]

I wonder if they turned down the internal trimpot? If not it’s extreme gain. Sorry that pedal doesn’t sound like that in person. It’s how they’re setting it ,micing it or using it with those particular amps.

[@neverenoughguitars8276]

That Friedman pedal made the amps sound like that little novelty Marshall stack

[@midnightmix2692]

that is what happens when you put them in front of an amp with a very clean speaker

[@bradleybrown1567]

😂😂😂

[@SynZ777]

Don't talk shit about that amp. Jack Black played it in School of Rock so if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for all of us.

[@misterknightowlandco]

The guitar industry... the only industry where 1950’s tech and 2021 tech is debated. Cheers.

[@JVMC_ZR1]

Technology just keeps getting better over time... I honestly feel some guitar amp manufacturers don't want their solid state lines to sound as good as their tube amps. Profit over consumers. At least Fender gives us the best solid state lines with their Tonemaster and Rumble series

[@tazmon122]

yea, screw the cars, guns, fine art, animation, film, furniture, and literally every other part of the general music industry (from turntables and mixing consoles to synthesizers and concert hall security) industries....it's ONLY the guitar industry that does that.

[@misterknightowlandco]

@@tazmon122 seriously? Are you dense? No one says old cars, guns, furniture and all that shit is better and your a fraud if you don’t own vintage stuff like the guitar industry does. No car company reissues 50’s cars because “your not a real car driver unless you can work a stick, use leaded gas and your engine still has a carburetor.” No animation or film company still puts out black and white silent movies because that’s REAL artwork and not those terrible “talkies”. Let me guess you still have a commodore64 that you’re logging into to watch this, huh? Your not an authentic computer user if you don’t do black with green letter bruh. Lol. Jackass.

[@zachinabox2951]

@@tazmon122 literally all of those things are without debate better now

[@tazmon122]

@@misterknightowlandco clearly you've never been to a vintage car showcase, or an animation1 class.

[@AlmostGrewMyHair]

Andertons should have an in-store blindfold service where people can blind test amps in their price range.!

[@patmurphy7266]

Ive done this with guitars and amps at my guitar store. its me and the sales guy nerding out, and I pick my favorite that month without ever even looking at it❤

[@BeckerFlag]

The Fender Tonemaster engineers..."We did our jobs".

[@Music_is_fun]

I’d like to try that thing someday in a music store

[@joshuatice4947]

Love ur fender mustang GT 200s i own one lol

[@progste]

still costs like a valve amp though...

[@jgab115]

@@progste valve amps are outdated. Solid state tonemaster are where it's at now. Plus they are very very very light as well and I guarantee you you will fail if you blindfold test these against a valve amp

[@progste]

@@jgab115 right... Keep your blindfold, I'll take the good amp.

[@luizdejesus6240]

Being an tube amp fanboy for 45 years, it is really hard not to like the tone master. Well done Fender...

[@luciantaylor9161]

I played a Tone Master at guitar center while trying out a Tumnus Deluxe the other day, and until this video I had no idea that the Tone Master was solid state. Wild.

[@wesmatron]

Having witnessed in previous videos how accurate Rob's ears are, it is surely a demonstration of how good solid state amps have become. It would be nice in videos like this if Rob told us what he was hearing and what he was testing for when listening.

[@williambartholomew5680]

He's done that is past videos and it drags out LONG, this 20 minute video would normally be 45 minutes of boredom and confusion. When the session is this compressed you can compare the amps yourself better, hard to effectively judge them side by side when someone's talking about what they THOUGHT they heard for 5 minutes between playing each.

[@wesmatron]

@@williambartholomew5680 I think there;s room for both. I totally agree that back0to0back examples are better, but I like to know his train of thought.

[@derrickderrick4397]

I disagree. When it comes to Robs voice, less is more

[@brandonlesko3126]

@@derrickderrick4397 +1. I think the videos are just better without him.

[@cocodacoco3065]

There’s probably parity, if not overlap with the top of the line guitars coming out of Fender Mexico and the most affordable Americans.

[@andrews2772]

I will never get tired of the blind folded challenge, keep it rolling fellas!

[@aidanharris5117]

That Friedman pedal sounded like shite in all of them.

[@wojciech2456]

mr. chapman has weird taste in everything that sounds awful. gear wise.

[@m.balauszko]

Which is super weird considering how amazing this pedal sounds. I have one on my board and it’s my fav distortion in the world.

[@skyviewdroneimagery5408]

Everything uploaded to KZbin sounds like shite. It’s just the depth of shite that varies.

[@ha-jd7wl]

Perhaps it isn't set to sound good, but to help him determine if an amp is valve or not.

[@stanislavmigra]

It does not help, when you cant adjust neither pedal, neither amp. Different person may set it up with best intent, that does not mean, it will work for someone else ;).

[@D.Miller]

700k subs, well deserved. Thanks for all of the infotainment over the years.

[@mr.deafeningguitar1547]

What I've learned from this video: Don't buy that Friedman pedal.

[@JVR10893]

That Friedman pedal is one of the best pedals on the market. I have no idea why it sounded so bad in this video.

[@JorisGriffioen]

Well... don't dial it in once and then play it on 4 different amps without touching the knobs...

[@rickeymitchell8303]

@@JVR10893 one setting on one amp with certain pods transistors pieces it's going to sound one way versus a different amp with certain pieces volume parts valves transistors whatever it may be it all makes a huge difference

[@apuadofrancisco]

idk, but my Friedman BE-OD and BE-OD Deluxe before doesnt sound like that. i think they dimed it all the way. tried using thru Les Paul and Strat

[@CroneRaven1810]

Seriously? Rob Chapman can play on EVH's VH1 gear or Andy Timmons gear and make it sound terrible. You want actual good guitarists that know what they are doing? Listen/ watch Pete Thorn, Michael Nielsen, Robert Baker, Ola englund, Rabbea did an awesome review of the BE100 deluxe & pedal. Sounds great to me

[@deanboca12]

I have been using the DRTM for a year now. I live and play in an active adult community. Every Sunday my amp rides into our village center over a cobble stone road on a golf cart to play oldies. I run an EHX B9 organ pedal and Mel9 Mellotron pedal into it as needed. Its light weight, attenuator, XLR out, and reliability makes the cost worthwhile. If I took the Tonemaster badge off, nobody would know it wasn't a tube amp. Unless they lifted it. I'm keeping the badge on because I am proud to own it.

[@D.Miller]

Really love seeing these chaps bouncing off each other. Clearly so much knowledge and love in the room

[@lavalizard1]

Great video. I have to admit - I own that Tonemaster model (FDR) and it’s just genius. I’ve gigged with it and am constantly blown away by how good it sounds. I also LOVE the attenuation and IR outputs. Now when I record I go through my pedals, through the amp and then DI/XLR right into my Apollo interface. It’s perfect.

[@mackie4397]

Rob asking the real questions at the end, "Do they do a Bassbreaker one?" I'm waiting for the Princeton version

[@piratewhoisquiet]

Meanwhile I'm waiting for a hand wired twin smh

[@budgetguitarist]

YES! Princeton version is a no-brainer - I'm surprised they haven't done it yet. Bassbreaker? I don't see it, just like I don't see a Blues Junior version. The Bassbreaker 15 and the Blues Junior are both in that $600-ish range. Maybe the Bassbreaker 30.

[@DeltaJazzUK]

Me too. A Princeton would be amazing.

[@davidburke2132]

@@budgetguitarist exactly. It’d probably cost them as much if not more to properly emulate a Bassbreaker as it costs them to make the valve version which would largely defeat the object.

[@RogerThat902]

@@budgetguitarist Yeah, and I'd argue they won't do a Princeton for a while. One of the main selling points is weight factor, and transporting to gigs. Those issues don't exist w/ Princetons or the others. And there are so many Blue Juniors running around for 300 bucks here nobody should ever buy a new one hah. I think they have to come out w/ Bassmans and Super Reverbs next. They would sell a million of those IMO.

[@sordel5866]

Me at the start: “Well, this is going to be stupidly easy for Rob.” Me at the end: “So, Bruce Willis was dead all along ..!?”

[@kikemarino6806]

The "yeah" part KILLED ME HAHAHAHAHAH

[@just_the_job]

Me 2🤣

[@madgebishop5409]

the editing on this is on point and a half!

[@JaredGunstonTV]

Lee!! You gotta do the same thing with heads and cabinets BUT have the head on top of the cabinet not plugged into the cabinet below it. To see if placibo of looking at a Mesa and cab yet its actually an orange head going into the cab, makes us hear valve/solid or a similar.

[@steveDC51]

It’s amazing what you can hear with your eyes isn’t it?

[@thekingston119]

All you need to know about all these "Valve vs. Solid State vs. Digital" disputes Blindfolded, people rarely can say the difference.

[@RAID5_Aesthetic]

At low volume. But if you crank them there is no comparison. Tube all the way.

[@MrDrTheJniac]

@@RAID5_Aesthetic There are loads of confounding variables that make these comparisons largely useless. The biggest one is that even a tiny volume difference can impact perceived sound quality. If one amp is 0.25dB louder than the other, then it will sound better even though you will not be able to tell that it is louder.

[@Robfnord]

I am yet to see “digital” amplification whatsoever tbh I am waiting on digital ears first

[@Kris_T_]

Never mind that, how about recording a full band, and playing it back on monitors or headphones to non-musicians. Then ask them "Is the guitarist using valves or solid state?" How many people 'on the street' would even understand the question?

[@RJ_HTx]

If you listen closely you can. Especially on how sterile it sounds and on the high end.

[@arumyn3070]

Man the video editor for these guys really puts that extra effort, good job man.

[@ashcosmo3854]

Valve snobs be like "This test was RIGGED"

[@iandecruz2544]

Ha Ha spot on dude! I,ve been looking to buy a new amp, this has put a spanner in the works, big time!

[@sseltrek1a2b]

i've heard the ToneMaster is ridiculous...

[@wraith1977]

To be fair to Rob, he's not a Fender amp guy. He's not really an American amp guy at all.

[@Newnodrogbob]

That’s true. But if deciding if an amp is valve or solid state comes down to identifying which amp it is, specifically, then I guess that pretty much settles the debate about valve vs solid state.

[@steviesteakbakes9643]

@@Newnodrogbob Spot on!

[@clip7995]

@C J B hes not a guitar guy but he has his own guitar company?

[@adamskold6395]

@C J B Because it's entertainment and not science. Relax.

[@fossilmatic]

To be fair... he clearly couldn’t identify a difference. No shame in that, he simply had his main criteria for judging removed (his preconceptions).

[@Reffitt2]

I love the Anderton's videos so much! You guys really should think about opening a store somewhere in the U.S. because we miss the friendliness that used to be like you still have every day!

[@capwillard9156]

I own a champion 100 and a blues junior and I'm not surprise at all, the clean on the champion is pretty amazing for a cheap solid state amp (I used it for a lot of time in gigs and with pedals too). Kudos to Fender!

[@ph0kused]

Finally. Blindfold challenge with cap and chap was the reason i subbed years ago. So good

[@CentaurusRelax314]

I thought it was just me. I tried a BE-OD Deluxe, twice. Once with a Katana head, and later with an Atomic modeler. It was horrendous with both. And yet so many people get good results with that pedal.

[@brucepiland]

Hats off to your video editor. Brilliant!

[@tombutler-weeks6975]

100% agree on the Tonemaster being the future. Love to see other manufacturers do the same. Other amps sound better, but with my blonde duluxe reverb, I have zero maintenance, reliability, portability issues and most of the tones of the valve original.

[@nightraven5760]

If marshall did a solid state silver jubilee, or JCM800, literally as Lee said, but as a 100W head, I would buy it immediately.

[@fortress66]

i used tubes amp forever and no maintenance whatsoever.

[@tombutler-weeks6975]

@@fortress66 It’s good to know there are people our there that have had good experiences using valve amps only. How often to you use it and transport it? If you are using your in the way I do, are you really telling me that changing and sourcing valves, biasing, the occasional wiring jobs and the strain on your back is really no maintenance whatsoever?

[@fatsuperfly]

Congrats on 700K!!!!! WOOO! Hope you guys hit 1 million soon!

[@williambeem]

This is probably blasphemy to some, but I'd love to have a Tweed Deluxe Tonemaster. I love my Twin Reverb Tonemaster.

[@gainbear8853]

They put a tweed cover on either of the tonemasters and I’m in the next day. I’m no longer carrying valve amps around. Too old.

[@LostMyMojo100]

Whatever works for you. That's the important thing...

[@williambartholomew5680]

@@gainbear8853 Not just the weight but the fact there's no tubes to deal with, one mild jarring is all it takes to kill a tube. But tubes don't last forever and they're awfully expensive now, with how nice the Tonemaster sounds and for being for being $500ish less than it's tube'd twin, and the fact that you'd CONTINUE to save that $500 every few years from the sets of tubes you DON'T have to replace anymore - becomes a no-brainer at that point!

[@jonr1122]

@@gainbear8853 they do a blonde version but tweed would be sweet. I have had a twin tonemaster for a year or so, not looked at another amp since.

[@phildiegidio4658]

The DLX does not surprise me at all. I was a Large Organ Tech back in the 80's. Allen Organ Co. recorded Pipe Organ sounds and reproduced them digitally. The result was pretty amazing. Roland went in that direction and I love making piano sounds (and others) by playing a guitar. 6 string synthesizer. But I regress. Cool as heck demo. Well done. Enjoyed it.

[@Chemist1076]

If he needs to be so attentive to the tone and makes mistakes, it pretty well ends the valve vs not issue.

[@DeadlyFredXXX]

It really does depend. He did catch the nuance of the greater compression with the solid state amp but was most fooled by a digital emulation of a valve amp. So I think the argument between solidstate vs valve will always be there but now you've got digital approximations which can pretty faithfully mimic both.

[@DeltaJazzUK]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@juliantallach8447]

Yeah...if there was genuine difference in qualify it would be immediately obvious.

[@OgamiItto70]

I sort of agree, but with this _caveat:_ He only got to hear them on "clean," and at a certain volume. This has been very interesting and somewhat useful, but we don't know, from this video, whether or not the "illusion" would be sustained at gigging volume levels. Heretofore, I've been a devotee of tube amps, but that was mainly because, until pretty recently, most transistor and digital amps were prone to sounding fake, especially when it came to overdrive/distortion. There have historically been a few exceptions, but transistor amps _had_ earned that reputation. Hopefully that is coming to an end. The solid state stuff is lighter, cheaper, doesn't need to be biased and is less likely to burst into flame.

[@dingalarm]

@@OgamiItto70 ...I would also add that, even though a failed output transistor or power amp IC cannot be unplugged and replaced like a valve, solid-state amps are more reliable, and any competent technician can easily and cheaply repair them. But solid-state guitar amps need to be designed to distort "properly", whereas valve amps naturally distort, partly as a result of the valves, but also due to the output transformers.

[@jbf16falcon]

Let me throw a wrench into the mix, if the Tone Master Deluxe goes out what’s it cost to replace the the whole board down the line as it’s all surface mount and multilayer board vs fixing the Deluxe Reverb tube amp? I’m betting at repair time I’ll be wishing I had the tube amp instead…..

[@I.M.Guitar-Nerd]

700,000 subs! Congratulations Andertons TV!

[@TP-xe2hi]

New blind fold challenge idea: Rob, Pete, Rabear, and Lee play the same riffs on the same equipment and the viewers need to decide who is playing!

[@SFGW]

Golly that Friedman pedal is one of the worst pedals I've ever heard.

[@kcussrebutuemos4815]

Yea it’s sad because it doesn’t sound like that in person.

[@iandecruz2544]

@@kcussrebutuemos4815 Uh ! yes it does I just listened to it through four different amps!

[@jackbubb1306]

@@iandecruz2544 mate learn to set it. It will cover so much ground as a pedal. Mine lives nearly all at 12 o’clock which is the sign of a good pedal as it leaves heaps of room for tweaking, your may have a less then ideal amp or too much gain, try backing the gain off. Honestly it’s one of the best on the market rn

[@spacebarbus]

I tried one out... Sent it back.. Total piece of overpriced crud...

[@Dominoesfall757]

BE-OD sounds awesome. Not really in this video though.

[@TheFeelButton]

I have missed Chappers and The Captain! Cheers Rob and Cap'n!!

[@l8sk8r86]

Cool video fellas! Ive got one of each, both strictly Analog with spring reverbs. The difference is only really noticeable when they are overdriven with sick amounts of gain and distortion, and when the sound breaks apart, the valve amp is “soft and loose,” whereas the solid state retains more “tightness.” Both sound great in their own way!

[@grahamreddel5682]

I agree. The whole thing with value amps is they sound great ehen turned up to 11. I built solid state amplifiers. They were great in the living room but were useless when operating at power supply saturation levels.

[@bermibrit]

a blind guitar player, I can confirm...finding a pedal with a foot without seeing it...takes practice!

[@jeffcole4783]

I am definitely a tube amp guy. I have tried to bond with some solid state amps but never really could. I did have a old Peavey small combo SS back in the day that I thought sounded pretty good. The new Fender Mastertone series seems to have did a good job of capturing tubeness.

[@proteus2103]

I thought the deluxe reverb was a tube amp, and I thought the blackstar was solid state. I wasn't sure about the rest, that tonemaster is amazing

[@lucaszembrzuski]

I have a Boss Nextone Stage, set to 6v6 and i love it, no stress and hassle with valves, no heating up etc.. Great pedal platform, although i have to say i don't have any high gain pedals (but built in distortion pedal/boost in this amp sounds really good) Im not looking back, and i had a few valve amps before (Fender Super champ X2, H&K Tubemeister 18, Fender BJ4, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV).

[@littlewing2357]

Love to see the Fender Tonemaster vs. the Roland Blues Cube Artist

[@DeltaJazzUK]

Great video. And Rob is a good sport to put himself up for such a test.

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

The reason why the Friedman pedal was so fizzy, is because they were plugging into the Vibrato inputs on the two Fenders. Those always have the bright switch on when the amp isn't on 10 because the lower you turn it down. The more it adds the bright cap.

[@drillbit673]

Bonus round: for each guitar play a song that's famously played on another eg. Sweet child o mine on a tele.

[@pjsalty]

I have some, really nice, old school valve amps at my disposal. I would never have entertained buying a modelling amp. EVA! Now I own a Fender Mustang GTX 50. It's so much fun to use. The iPad interface is FANTASTIC on the Fender Tone App. When you just want to kick back and have a bit of fun, it's much easier to drop a 5kg GTX on the floor then plug and go than it is to wrestle with my AC30 or Fender Machete and a full pedal board. It certainly is the future...but....

[@justarthur1788]

Not far off a year ago now, I went into a guitar store thinking about the handwired 64 deluxe reverb. I had one of the brownie factory special run deluxe reverbs and wanted to compare so I took my amp in, phoned ahead and went in at a quiet time. The store kindly put me in one of their proofed rooms to try out the amps. I saw the tone master and asked to try it as well. I had all the time I wanted with all three amps. I bought the tone master and later sold my brownie fsr one too. I genuinely felt it was that good. All three sounded slightly different but were very very good. Genuinely couldn't decide which I liked best, so I said right if they're so close I'm struggling to decide I'm taking the tone master - lighter, no more valve changes or services. Now a year later no regrets, finance was not a factor in my decision either. As a rough gauge, I've been playing for about ten years and have been lucky enough to own/try some incredible gear. Of course, taste is completely subjective, I only state this so people know I didn't start playing yesterday and have played original versions of this amp as well as reissues. I'd love to try the new tan one and the tan twin (I didn't like the tone master twin as much as the deluxe reverb) that have the creamback speakers. Anyone try one of those yet?

[@ErwinvanAsperen]

I have tried it and bought it. I love it. It sounds just fantastic and is a little milder when it comes to handling overdrive and distortion. The original black one has the more Fender esque Jensen thing going (so really crystal clear), but the blonde one is just a little warmer. I bought it because Im a small artist that likes to gig easy. I used to use a Laney Lionheart L5t-112 which is somewhere in between Vox/Marshall driven and Vox clean, but its very heavy to take with you all the time and a little bit more fragile ofcourse because of the valves. It has a celestion speaker in it, which is why I went for the blonde tonemaster in the end, so they would sound at least ballpark similar, if that makes sense. Also: people forget it has a very well thought through xlr direct output with two different microphone simulations which I have used in the studio and it sounds incredible. It wont replace micing completely, but if it works for a certain song or part, it saves so much bloody time and trouble. The Tonemaster is the best product from Fender of 2020, I think.

[@nicko7238]

what a treat for 700k ! it's so good to see the old duo back! cheers guys

[@OEMPlus]

and what have we learned? soiid state amps have gotten REALLY good over the years.

[@pd4165]

With the Fenders - not gigging one of their D class amps is more about ego than sound. (though I'd want to run a valve pedal in front, just for pride)

[@williamolsen20]

@@pd4165 LOL we are hypocrites.

[@thekolt533]

Better but still not there imo!!

[@SynZ777]

@@thekolt533 Confirmation bias. If someone tells you it's a solid state amp, you're going to nitpick it and think it sounds digital. In a blind test, the difference is seriously marginal. Anyone could tell there was sonically a difference 10+ years ago, but the dynamics and basically everything are there now.

[@nightraven5760]

@@SynZ777 You say that, I just picked up a Marshall AVT50 half stack. Its got one 12AX7 in the pre amp but the rest is digital, and to my ears isn't any different to a tube amp. Either way, its really freaking nice, and nearly 2 decades old

[@MelodicPicking]

OH YES ! A good old blindfold video ! In my opinion, these are the best videos of the channel 😁

[@johnschober4008]

Sounds like the Blackstar was in 2 watt mode or something?

[@MikeTaffet]

Yeah, didn’t seem to have any headroom at all

[@johnschober4008]

@@MikeTaffet Did Pete set these tones up? :D

[@adamwinski6444]

I have HT20 and it sounds much better than presented here

[@josephfowler6867]

I have one myself, 40 watt tho. Can confirm, can get every tone in the world but you have to learn to work them

[@olavjorvik94]

@@adamwinski6444 Rob LOVES that amp himself, and he make it sound better than this, usually. ALL the amps here sucks... Poor Rob, not put in an easy situation here... He should have an hour and set up 5 amps, and then get blindfolded, and have to guess which is which

[@MAQJohnston]

The mix between the room mic and the amp mic at 14:14 sounds epic when Rob does the string bend!

[@josephely58]

Lol rob said "it's the cabinet size" and lee sneaks in "well they're all about the same size so.."

[@terryfonz4603]

Just bought that HT series for my son he’s playing next to a tonemaster. Thing sounds amazing heard it for the first time last week!

[@mikanunx]

Yey, blindfold challenge! Neat

[@Anthony-qb2gr]

It's really neato, gee wizz 😁

[@bldallas]

The other huge advantage to the Tone Master is the power attenuation. I’m a life long Fender amp fan and my only complaint is they are so damn loud. Now, with the built in attenuation, that’s no longer an issue. Really cool stuff.

[@mitchinatr7093]

That Tone Master sounds incredible! No way a digital amp sounds that good!

[@razztastic]

Because surely it's impossible for any solid state rig can sound as good as my 6,000 dollar Marshall stack!

[@cgripp256]

That Pedal Show did an A/B with the Fender Tonemaster and Valve version. VERY close but still distinguishable side by side.

[@budgetguitarist]

Old School Andertons-Style! Great video as usual. The Fender Tone Master amp did sound really good. It should be noted, as Lee sort of did, that the Boss amp sounds great when you use its built-in dirty sounds - much better than with the pedal.

[@stanislavmigra]

It seems lot of companies want to sell by having so many functionalities. Instead going for couple top notch ones. Fender with Tone Master (or Strymon with Iridium) find the empty spot on market.

[@MrNeilfatmonkey]

I’ve got the blonde twin Tonemaster and absolutely love it. I really do think it’s the future of the past.

[@Sermondt]

It's NOT a fail for Chappers, but it's a compliment for Fenders engeneers!

[@TheDilligan]

I had my ToneMaster Deluxe for a week when I found this video. And I used to have a Katana Artist. Very happy with the result here.

[@SynZ777]

I think of my Katana as a jack of all trades, master of none. If I can get it to sound at least 90% like a cranked Marshall, I don't need to spend beaucoup bucks on the real thing.

[@TheDilligan]

@@SynZ777 the artist was great. But I think I prefer having less to think about on the amp. I did use a Boss ME-80 and recently upgraded to the GT1000. For me, those are necessary because I'll go to open mics and be able to plug those directly to the PA with no amp. But when I have those, I don't need the effects in my katana. So I like having the fender as a simpler amp. Plus I can also go places with the amp and no pedals and have a great tone from it. Katana was equally as good on cleans. But I think the fenders crunchy distortion is much more real and natural than the katanas.

[@shymi]

Love to see you guys together! Cheers and keep having fun

[@cuanstretch6726]

By far my favorite video format from Andertons! Love these guys😎

[@arroganceofficial2089]

do this, but with plug ins, id love to see how plug ins stack against valve amps

[@richardmathews6236]

Is that a butt plug?

[@ithemba]

I bet the problem would be to get it sound like a speaker in the room. Maybe with flat response speakers or something but still, it's really hard to get plugins feel like a amp in the room.

[@florianju5638]

@@ithemba Indeed, that would be the problem here. They would have to use an IR loader and go with silenced real amps. Otherwise you imediatly hear the difference, no matter, what you do or set them up like.

[@26Manueli]

@@richardmathews6236 yes but for guitar and bass

[@mkU1tra762]

Those Tone Master's trick everyone. That will be my next purchase. And I agree with Lee, Marshall, Vox and even Fender, give us more of this. I would like a tweed Fender version.

[@seanhershey3390]

I've been thinking about getting the Twin Tone Master.... it has all the Wattage settings of their best amps ..85/40/22/12

[@nahumfootnick]

I have the twin tm and love it! Perfect everyday. Plus xlr in the back has simplified recording. If they make super tm like my old super reverb I’d buy another one for sure.

[@ErwinvanAsperen]

@@nahumfootnick that direct out is fantastic indeed, use it all the time for silent practice and recording, it just sounds so bloody good and I can still use all my pedals :)

[@bradleybrown1567]

Thanks for this one guys! Funny and a great watch!

[@alanpettibone]

This speaks volumes about the ToneMaster, doesn’t it?

[@James-se4rg]

I started with a fender Princeton ss amp, and after all these years of trying things it's still my go to.

[@risher890]

“Action Lee-play” 😂. Promote that man!

[@doctorskull8197]

I have two Tonemaster Deluxe Reverbs. They are INCREDIBLE! Just waiting for Marshall to match it.

[@johnheath970]

I don’t think the amps were loud enough for the valves to show their characteristics

[@WillieD7]

That’s kind of my thinking as well. You can’t tell what their volume settings are but if you watch other videos where they get the 68 DRRI really singing, you can sometimes see they are running the volume around 5 which is LOUD on those amps. Also, the 68 has a Bassman channel as well which is a very distinctive tube distortion when pushed but again, needs to be cranked. This test does show however that at reasonable volumes, solid state can sound great.

[@Sven-ola]

YEY !!! Watched 9sec and is allready a happy person ! LOVE this stuff !

[@skyviewdroneimagery5408]

Good to see Laurel and Hardy back together again!

[@sygis21]

I love these blindfold videos. Super cool, guys. I enjoy it so much. Ive just bought a Katana Artist MK2 and this thing is better imo than any other valve amp i played...and i played a few.

[@vin9976]

Hey just seeing this. I'm looking at an Artist MK2 used (but new). Are you still digging it? I could get a used Marshall DSL40 for similar price but obviously that's not as versatile. Obviously the Artist in this video was weak...but I think they just come fairly weak unless you dial them in with Tone Studio right? I'm fairly techy but DANG the Boss Tonestudio and Librarian does have a lot going on that is a bit confusing looking to me.

[@sygis21]

@@vin9976 I think I’ve changed my mind about the Artist MKII. I am really into valves again. Just feels and sounds better. So if you asked me: go for the DSL 💪🏻

[@yuhaosu6899]

I realized that an expensive pedal isn't as good as its price.

[@xxhalomegabloksxx]

this OD sounds great in as a preamp if you're looking for a friedman tone in my experience

[@Homanjer]

Well the most popular (best sounding) sounds have been captured in so many pedals. All those ts clones and shit like that none of these are horribly expensive and they just sound good. Or look at all the boss pedals you can get them anywhere and they just sound good

[@SynZ777]

I bought a Behringer TS808 clone at a flea market for $10 and it sounds somewhat better than the TS808 for a fraction of the price. So I definitely agree with your statement.

[@planzed463]

Yea that 4th amp sounded great, totally got me - I thought 2 & 4 were valve for sure... well done Fender innit! 👏🏽👏🏽

[@toms5951]

With the Captain's facial reactions he'd make a great Aardman character

[@slesnick3]

Just a suggestion: Have you all tried a similar experiment with Quilter Amps? Not knocking the two SS amps you chose (to note: I would love to try that Fender) but ... both of those amps are Digital Emulation into a SS power section. Quilters on the other hand are SS through and through using analog circuits for the tone sculpting (no digital emulation here) and yet, it has been duly noted that one can dial in great tube-esque TONE, FEEL, & RESPONSE (to include American and British flavors). Happy New Year!

[@SuffyANX]

Yeah, that was my thought. Some analog solid state amps like the Orange CR-120H are really, really nice. That amp has sounded *shockingly* similar to a Rockerverb in most demos I've heard, to the point where I can't tell the difference in a lot of cases despite the Rockerverb costing nearly 5x as much.

[@The_Fat_Turtle]

The pessimist in me is saying this is a Fender Tonemaster commercial in sheeps clothing, but I've heard nothing but good things about those amps from people who have actually played them. So I'm inclined to think the Tonemasters are legit good sounding amps.

[@eastbaystreet1242]

It is surprising, and cool. But in a way it makes sense when you look at what Boss did with the Katanas, then consider Fender's capabilities several years later. It is a very smart amp.

[@mflee6590]

This is an infomercial. Just a great one that’s feels legit. Hard for me to believe this just happen to work out so perfectly. But who knows for sure. But from my ears perspective that tonemaster is awesome, so maybe it’s just done it’s job that well?

[@didamnesia3575]

They sound great in the store, to the point of having an emotional "no I'm not buying that, my ears are lying, tubes forever" for no good reason. But... tube amps do sound better. I want to sound better.

[@SticksAandstonesBozo]

I’ve watched this twice it’s so good.

[@Hanssone]

Feedback: I noticed lately in every video that has multiple amps that you have to mike up, it always sounding kinda inconsistent/bad for some reason and doesnt do the amps justice. maybe its because you are in a hurry and amps setting and microphone placement is 2nd thought, i dont know. just my 2 cents.

[@pd4165]

Yeah - note for Anderton's - run all amps through the same cab. You're measuring amps, not speakers or mics.

[@jktolford8272]

@@pd4165 Only for testing heads. Not if they're testing combos. If I'm in the market for combos, & perhaps have even decided speaker or cabinet size, I don't care what they sound like with cabs I have no interest in purchasing. If a solid state or digital modeling amp is coupled with a speaker/cab that sounds like or as good as a tube amp with its speaker/cab, I don't care that another tube amp circuit could sound better with a separate cab. Same holds even if combo sounds "good enough."

[@timothy6966]

Damn! This was a great vid. So many surprises.

[@ajaytuk7416]

Its sound- you chose to taste, who cares on the tech- BUT if you are a gigging musician- light and reliable tips the scales massively in favour of one over the other IMO

[@BounceBoomBounce]

That Pedal Show did a side by side comparison between a Deluxe Reverb and the Tone Master. The Tone Master seemed to sound great with a little dirt, but didn't hold up at all with the clean tones. Neither of them seemed to like it much, and the sound difference was fairly noticeable. The technology is great, but I would only consider it if I never played clean. Great video as usual.

[@MagoEge]

The TM sounds fantastic clean. I've seen the PS comparison and it is clear that with their settings, the midrange of the valve and a clearer reverb take the price. But ... try a tone master clean and play around with the settings. I think it sounds grrrreat.

[@vicpnut1]

Fender did do good with tonemaster but pricing almost or at least 2/3’s the price of a valve amp ( not meaning the valve version of it necessarily but similar) is a bit pricey

[@MrYatesj1]

Still buying the name.

[@seanbrooks2583]

yea thats the part they lost me on. if they cant make the solid state amp at a cheaper price point.. i dont see it doing very well.

[@NightProductionsDK]

@@seanbrooks2583 if it were half the price or even 1/4, they wouldn't sell any of the actual valve amps. Why spend 1400 quid on an amp (65 deluxe reverb) if you could get at near identical sound for half or less. I don't think tonemaster is designed to be "an affordable alternative" but rather be "a practical choice" in terms of weight and valves dying on you. I personally bought the 65 deluxe reverb

[@briansmith8507]

The price isn’t the main selling point. Obviously not touched on in this video, but the attenuator and line out/cab sim are the two stand out features for me. I love my TM Twin, because I can crank a twin a bit and still not have neighbors go insane. And if I really need to be quiet, the XLR out to a headphone amp and I have my entire amp into a nice pair of headphones. Those features are far and above the weight and price for me.

[@NightProductionsDK]

​@@briansmith8507 good points had forgot about those features

[@teddydavis3504]

Finally. Chapman’s ear is remarkable. It’s good to see they finally were able to get him. A head cold maybe?

[@tomfonner1886]

I agree with a previous comment. Rob knows the manufacturers that he uses very well. I think if one of the tube amps was a Victory, he would have known.

[@Robfnord]

Solid state != digital, digital is converting a signal from its analogue waveform to a digitised one so you can do some DSP and convert it back again, generally, a solid state amplifier used transistors to amplify an analog signal, you can build a basic transistor preamp pedal with very few components, a DAC and an ADC will not be involved !! 😂

[@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed]

Yep, that's why the Katanas sound so good. It's solid state but not digital. Well, the effects are but the preamp and power amp are solid state. It feels right.

[@Bobby-wn5yr]

I think this stands up. I’ve tried a bunch of combos and this it pretty much inline with what I’ve found. The tone master is damned close, the boss katanas are … not… like at all, and that’s true of most other modelling amps that try to do more than one thing, and blackstar amps are blackstar amps. Hats off to the tone master team, but same problem as always - it feels like a technical exercise instead of a sensible purchased it’s not that much cheaper than a valve deluxe reverb, it doesn’t compare across the board - some tones it nails, others it’s a bit thin, etc. So it really becomes why buy it over the deluxe reverb when the deluxe reverb exists, does that exact job better and for not much more money you know? Sure it has more “power” but it’s class D power, which as every bassist knows doesn’t necessarily mean louder. It has more headroom, but it needs it because when solid state class D runs out of headroom in the power section it sounds horrendous, so it needs all that headroom to model the original break up. I think if the tone master could model other famous fender combo amps - the Princeton, the blues junior, the hot rod deluxe, etc in one box it’d be a shoe-in, but it doesn’t… and it doesn’t for the reason that they want you to buy a tone master pro or each other tone master versions, etc. And that’s the problem for me. Give me an amp that can get that close to any of 5-10 of fender’s all time combos and I’m sold. But it can’t it can just get 90% of the way to an amp that already exists with most of the same features… what’s the point? They didn’t even give you the easy wins of digital - it could effortlessly have a headphone and even aux in but it doesn’t. Bloody impressive… but just… unnecessary. Still on the plus side they’ll make some amazing dirt cheap amps for new players in a few years when they flood reverb.

[@Hello_there_obi]

Blackstar clean tone was terrible. That or the setup.

[@MirroBlac]

Something went wrong with the settings. HT Series sound fantastic, and this is a Mk II which got even better clean channel.

[@Hello_there_obi]

@@MirroBlac definiely sounds like it. They managed to make a strat not sound like a strat hahaha

[@ryevick]

I know they're discontinued but I really would've liked to have seen a Fender CyberTwin SE in this blindfold challenge lineup. Still have mine and it's fantastic.

[@jochen970]

id like to sit down and talk for like 10 mins with chappers or lee

[@JoshuaC923]

It'll feel like 10 minutes but it'll be an hour

[@martinemesguitar]

Are you looking to sell them insurance?

[@valebliz]

@@martinemesguitar LOL

[@jochen970]

@@martinemesguitar hahahaha nice :D

[@supportsquid]

The thing with the Katana is that you have to tweak the eq a bit for the guitar you're playing, but it can sound extremely tubey when dialed in.