to each his own... I'm happy with my tube amps. I got a Two-Rock for my cleans, a Dr Z EMS for my Marshally crunch tones, and I plan to add a Diezel VHX for my high-gain. Sure, it takes me way more time to save money to afford them, but I know they will work great and will be serviceable 50 years from now when I will be long gone... I don't hate SS, nor even Digital, it just depends what you're looking for. I only play in my (home) studio. If I would be playing on stage or touring, I would probably use a Diezel VHX and a Fractal FM9 for a fancy setup, or maybe just the fractal for a more simple setup. So yeah, I get it, I can understand why someone wouldn't want to deal with tube amps in 2024... lot of potentially good alternatives. I just prefer tube amps because I'm a traditionalist... but to each his own.
I own both! JC40, Katana 100 mk2, and Hot rod Deluxe, and Deluxe R. I'm a high headroom clean guitar player, some venues have horrible electrical supply and tube amps are very sensitive to that, on those cases y bring my solid state.
Reason 5 , lighter and safer to travel. And im a exf guy so having an amp that doesn’t break up when driven hard. Headroom headroom headroom! That all said there is something almost unexplainable in human language that tubes add that gives that special something maybe it the harmonics maybe it’s subtle clipping idk but tube amps are wonderful i just prefer solid state for personal taste reasons.
@@MrPoillekeI bought a vs100 combo for cheap at a flea market and cut it down into a head, it's easier to transport now, and it's a great pedal platform amp through a 2x12
@@PooNinja haha, i took it twice to rehearsal and back, knowing i livrd at a 3rd floor and no elevator and small stairs, ouch 😆 Moved him once since lol
@@jasondorsey7110 great!! Haven't thought about that 😁 anyway living in an appartement the vs 100 is way too loud 😜 But i miss that full sound compared to my 40w Blackstar v2...
Well Kris you are rapidly becoming one of my go to reviewers i've checked out quite a few pieces of gear with you now as you always have really great demos and this is no exception
Oh man, I really appreciate that! 🙌 I just try to cover subjects in a way that I'd enjoy watching myself. And I'm really picky with everything, which might be useful after all, haha! Cheers buddy! //Kris
35 years of playing, solidstates the first few years, tube amps exclusively for some 15 years. I currently own 8 amps, 2 tube amps, 2 hybrids, 2 full digital modelers and 2 90s solidstate amps. The past 3-4 years, my go to amp is a regular 93 solid state Fender stage 112SE. Sounds silly, not sure if it's because i've grown with it, but it's my favorite amp. Bullet proof, very loud, dependable, but most of all, it's my favorite tone, loud or low volume. People who prefer tube amps like the compression as you mentionned. A good compressor pedal with a solidstate is a good recipie. And the most important and overlooked factor in an amp is the speaker.
I am a big fan of sansamps which naturally makes me a big fan of high performance high headroom solid state amps with quality speaker cabinets. Honestly the tech has advanced to the point that tube amps are no longer valid. You just have to understand what is required to get where you are going and isn't always gonna be "cheap". My sansamp based pedalboard will outperform any equivalent tube amps at ANY VOLUME level into a good solid state amp with a good speaker cab and it aint even close. Speaker selection is probably the most critical rig choice these days after your preamp. Digital cab modellers require a high performance full range speaker setup to actually unlock them and alot of people don't understand this. This makes digital cab emulators very much valid. BUT... not so with even premium digital amp/preamp modelers. They can be made to spund good with work setting them up but you still will find response issues with them the more you use them that can't beat well designed analog preamp circuits. Its not that they are bad - they just aren't the best option.
I have a 03 single rectifier and a newer Marshall dsl20 head. Both sound good but not at low volume. I still use my old line 6 spider series 3, 75 watt combo. The insane channel is perfect for low volume.
Regarding balanced tone on low volumes - not every tube amp has problem with this. I bought Marshall JVM 215C, and this 50W all tube combo has great tone, drive and sustain even on “almost bedroom” volumes. No power brake is needed. I never heard solid state amp with this sound quality on full range of volumes, from relatively quiet to full blast. I enjoy this little sweet british beauty!
... just a hint 4 us low volume JC clean addicts: there is a JC-22 and it is full stereo, has THE chorus and all the I/O you need and it does give us the change of having our beloved amp - in a shrunk version - @home ... me loves it
Reason 2 depends on cab and speakers too though. I run an Orange Pedal Baby 100 into two 2x12 16ohm cabs with Neo V-Types, to get the wanted low end responce (oomph) I have to set it to 10-11 o’clock, that is with a driven sound, clean might differ, but can’t really care about clean when with drive is the main sound.
Quilter seems to become one of the big contenders for excellent tone. There is another component i would mention to achieve a top notch clean tone: the speaker ... once tested a bunch of ProJuniors an BluesJuniors and the best sounding one was the one with a highly reactive high efficiency speaker. this one just "breathed" ... Maybe you could do a test replacing the speakers in your trusty HB cabinet with a EVM and a "swamp thang" or like ... and give it a go Anyway ... thanks a lot for sharing
Eh…I dunno, man. I was a touring musician in the late 90’s up to the early 2010’s, and heard plenty of ok sounding SS amps, but I wouldn’t use one live. When we’d do fly in gigs, I always asked for a jcm 800 or 900. SS amps just don’t react to a guitar the way tubes do or break up as naturally That said, as long as people are playing and enjoying playing, then it doesn’t matter their amp. My first one was a Gorilla amp, and it sounded awful, but I absolutely loved it.
The problem is gain/dirt. I definitely agree that solid states pretty much rule clean sounds. Gainy/dirty sounds.....I always go with Tube versions. There have been some really nice solid state amps where the gain sounds nice but they are few and far in between. There's just nothing like having a tube amp turned up and then boosted with a pedal up front. It's even more difficult if you are looking for a very niche sound that you can only get with a tube amp.
I can get some really great dirt sounds from a Sunn Beta Lead, the only problem comes from using the volume knob to clean it up as you back off like you can with a tube amp. It just growls softer instead of cleaning up real nice.
@@AvnerRosenstein-ULTRA-LXV It goes from distortion to quieter but same distortion to too quiet and overdrive. If it went from distorted to overdriven but maintained volume that would be great.
although a few 'all tube' amps out there have a chip or Mosfet in the pre amp to acheive gain at low volumes . the signal from the guitar goes into that first
Preamp distortion has always been far more easy to produce. Power amp distortion and compression less. Before digital it could become very complicated to completely simulate a tube amp with solid state so many did not even try. Yet some examples are really really good. The Quilters and the T dynamics Transtubes are non digital solid state amps designed to simulate "compress and sag" which they do quite nicely. On top of that 100% simulating a tube amp does not need to be the ultimate. Not everything on a tube amp is nice...
@@metalzonemt-2The ringz. I have seen many people with rings playing that guitar… They all smashed it, a lot of players back in the day, and currently(modern metal) use their rings and don’t hesitate to wear in the stages. It’s on your hand.
For the most part I agree. Solid state amps tend to sound harsh with drive pedals, especially with fuzzes. That's not always the case though, check out the other video we made on this subject (Why choosing a tube amp over solid state) and you'll be shocked at how good that Quilter sounded with both overdrive and fuzz. Also, a lot of tube amps sound meh with pedals too so it's a little tricky. Cheers //Kris
The SS amp in this video actually takes drives incredibly well. But you’re right, historically. Most SS amps from back in the day just weren’t very good in general.
Most of these commenters "tubes are the best and solid state sucks" said commenters then go ahead and run a solid state pedal through a clean tube channel 😂
The tubes will give the sound more compression. Especially if you crank the gain on the channel up. It will make that pedal sing. I actually have a solid state amp that I do that with though too that has both volume and gain knob on the clean channel. But if it is one of the Marshall DSL amps I will know it is easily repairable compared to a lot of other tube amps.
40 years ago, the SS amps I practiced with were shit. I would have given anything for a Katana. It's a whole new ball game for the lucky kids these days.
In an ideal world I have muliple tube amps with attenuators. Why multiple? Because I play many different music styles. I don't have a house that is big enough for that, so in an ideal world (for me), I have a bigger house with a (or multiple) music room(s). Unfortunately I don't have the money for all that (starts with the house). Thus, I use a solid state amp with (almost) no sound from its own and I add pedals to create my sound.
And that's exactly how real life compares to an ideal world, haha. I feel you. I'm doing something similar at home with the one difference. I use a tube amp with a load box. That way I have zero volume issues, I can crank the tube amp and use whichever pedal (pedals) I want to. So the only proper low volume alternative to a nice solid state amp is a nice tube amp with a nice attenuator. Which is just instantly much much more expensive. 🤷♂️ //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Just tested my 3 new pedals that came in this week (from Thomann). TC Magus Pro and TC Honey Pot to create sounds that I was not able to create first (I did not have a Rat and/or a Muff). The Honey Pot is a 1 trick pony, but I love the trick. The Magus Pro, wow, I have already found 4 different sounds in that pedal (3-way switch + cranking the Classis setting gives fuzz). And the TC Spark, I see that as a utility pedal, works fine.
Can I come up with 5+1 reasons before hearing Kris? 1. cheaper to buy 2. cheaper to operate 3. less fragile 4. can be used without speaker cab 5. smaller 6. lighter
Blackstar silverline deluxe🫶 beyond impressed with it. With a bit of patience and tweeking- you can get close enough to most of the silver face and other grail amps.
Reason 6# Deaf or Insane. If your deaf you can't tell the difference. If you're insane you can dilude yourself into thinking SS is just as good. A real test is 2 guitar players with a SS and a tube amp next to each other with a band. You'll never hear the SS amp.
i guess i just feel solid state is 2 dimensional, immediate, and no natural compression/sustain you get from valves. valves often 3 dimensional, like the rev against the quilter. however, valves belong on stages, solid great for home and ok on stage. i personally prefer modelling for home and small gig, break out the valve for bigger more important gigs.
I have the Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes. With my guitar (no-brand Tele) with the gain around 10 - 11, I get nice compression. I use it as a Fender early 1960's brown-face amp emulator (with a lot of reverb before and a soft tremolo after the Hot Tubes (surf music)). The pedal is cheap (I paid around 70 Euro new).
I recommend you give high end analog preamp circuits a fair shot. A good place to start is the various current generation Sansamps. I actually think they can respond better than traditional tube amps. I used to be a "tube snob" then someone I respected showed me the Sansamps and I now live in 2024. It was the best thing to happen to me in my 35+ years of guitar player (much of it struggling to get good "tube" tone). With a good preamp (and perhaps even speaker emulation) suddenly you find yourself wanting a good clean super high headroom SOLID STATE power amp.
@@toddashley407 we all have different ears, which is great we're not identical clones of each other. It's interesting you couldn't find the tone you desired in tubes, but i have and many others. Then there's plenty of people who love solid state, and it sounds great in their hands. I really like the sansamp stuff, never owned one, but have been impressed with youtube examples. I don't see it as being a 2024 thing to go digital and discard valves, i see it as another option but not replacing the beauty of valves. tesla vs V8 muscle car, V8's just have that feel you don't get from a Tesla.
@@PaulCooksStuff the feedback comes from the whole system, not just the pick ups ..the speaker/amp system is part of the feedback loop and the feedback's "character."
@@shipsahoy1793 nope. The amplifier amplifies the signal. Unless it's so badly designed that it would be practically useless as an amplifier, it doesn't create any howling swirling feedback all on its own. The cabinet moves air, it doesn't create any howling feedback all on its own. The Hendrix style feedback comes from some kind of microphonic resonances in the pickup itself. Any amplifier whether it's solid state or tube, with enough volume and a guitar put in just the right position, will create feedback in the pickups.
@@PaulCooksStuff sorry but you have a distorted view of how it works .. I don't know where you get your information from but you're wrong. you describe it in the way that suggests that the pickup is the only thing that matters, and that's definitely misinformation. .
There are a lot of SS amps to like. Marshalls early Valvestates 8xxx (Preamp Tubes), LabSeries L5 L7 L9, Yamaha G50 and G100 (2nd series), Peavey Bandit Red Stripe... I like them.
To use at home you don't even need 1W, half a watt is enough. I built an amp with a TDA7052 chip (barely 1W not heatsinked) and is incredibly loud. And incredibly similar to my tube Blackstar HT1: it has that kick when starts to compress.
I prefer solid state because I live in a country where buying gear and tubes isn't as easy as other countries. I use a Crazy Tube Circuits Crossfire as my main preamp. I can go ampless or into a poweramp. It's great.
I went through a LOT of solid state amps....and to me...they just didn't sound as good as my tube amps...on a lark I bought a Peavey Bandit 112...that's right....a damn Bandit 112...and I was shocked. Swapped out the speaker for a Eminence Texas Heat....and it sounds freaking great.....who knew???
Personally, I don't see a good reason to buy a SS amp nowadays when digital modellers sound almost as good as tube amps. That being said, the reasons cited in this video are all valid ones. I guess the problem is how much tone you're willing to sacrifice for all those points. Because art is subjective, I can't define what "objectively good" guitar tone is. However, I can say how well a specific setup can replicate a certain sound and explain the reason. SS amps can recreate pretty good heavy distorted riffs, or certain (i.e. without harmonic overtones & compression) clean tones you hear from popular albums. But it's just terrible for those fall in between, because effects created by overdriven tubes are too complex to emulate with a simple clipping circuit that SS amps or analogue pedals use. (By the way, "solid state" in this context means non-digital circuits, i.e. without a digital modeller.) While it's true that tube amps don't sound good at bed room volume, it's easily mitigated by getting a attenuator like HotPlate. And nowadays, you can even run a 100% free software based setup with things like NAM to create a tone that can closely match that of real tube amps, which pure SS amps cannot hope to achieve.
My first amp was a little Crate 15 watt solid state amp, my second amp was a Marshall 60 watt hybrid (tubes in the pre-amp, solid state the rest of the way). I honestly like both, though the “lottery win” dream is to get a pair of all tube combos from the golden age of amps (hopefully still working well, or at least restored).
I’ve always preferred solid state. Have had many good tube amps over the years but always go back to solid state. It’s just personal preference and they work for me. To me they just sound tighter
As much as I try to make my katana 100 head to sound like my engl fireball 100, it just doesn't happen. SS wins at bedroom levels, but rehersing and live (even when miced) the fireball anihilates anything SS. You just feel its brutality. Best regards
1 reason to hate solid state amps…………….. unless you’re deaf they sound fake tonally dead. How’s that for an answer. Plastic can look like wood but it’s a million miles away from it in texture, feel and smell. Synthetic.
you're right solid state amps don't do it tone wise and only having a tube preamp doesn't cut it; and if you do have an all tube amp, it really needs to have a tube rectifier as well also, because the solid state rectifier makes it sound more harsh on initial attack.
This is pretty short sighted. There are quality solid state amps and crappy tube amps. It's a spectrum and you need to just play them all to know. I personally love certain solid state amps and I've hated some tube amps that I've owned.
@@scamp7887 Some of us that have owned both know this; just because you have your preferences, it's not shortsighted if somebody else's preferences are just different than yours.
Dealing with weather and temperature changes is another huge bonus of solid state. If I were playing clubs every weekend I'd probably want a tube amp, but for playing a party in someone's yard, a solid state amp is going to be my first choice.
