Why Guitar Players Choose Tube Amps Over Solid State Amps 

I’ll tell you why, guitarists tend to be prone to financial ruin.

The Boss Katana is my favorite low cost solid state amp. I’ve only been playing for around 2 years as I bought a cheap Stratocaster and amp combo during the covid lockdown. I fell in love with playing and a year ago I purchased a 2018 American standard HSS Strat because I really worked hard at teaching myself how to play with the help of all of you wonderful RU-vid teachers. So just yesterday I purchased my first amp (aside from that junk amp that comes with the squier Strat kit). I went with the Boss Katana 250 and I absolutely love it. My all time goal is to buy myself a tube amp because I really love that clean blues sound that they make. My next gift for myself will definitely be a tube powered amp tho. Thank you for sharing your experience and opinions with us. It was because of this video, I chose the boss katana. Thank you again 🙏 I’m sorry for my long post, I just wanted to paint a background of myself so you know that I’m just a beginner and your videos really help me with my new passion. I never had a desire to play a guitar until one day I woke up during the covid lockdown and I ordered a guitar to keep me occupied.

There was a time that all amps were tube amps, from the cheapest model from Montgomery Wards department store, all the way up scale. When Fender started selling the "NEW! IMPROVED! SOLID STATE!" amplifiers, Many started taking the tube amps to the pawn shop to raise money for the Solid State models. Some people stashed them in the basement and shed. I am a pretty clean Jazzy/blues player and stayed true to my tube roots. I do have to admit, digital modeling has come a long way.

Both your tones tube and solid-state sound really good. I have a 65 deluxe reverb w/ a Creamback that I really like. But one of my favorite solid-state amps for me was the Peavey red striped bandit. Super versatile. Great video.

I've played tube amps since I started playing back in 70s. I tried solid state now and again but they never "felt" right under the fingers. About 2 years ago I bought a Fender Deluxe Tone Master. Total game changer for me. It is just doing that one thing of sounding like a Fender Deluxe. It honestly "feels" and sounds like tubes in my opinion. Plus I can record direct without an additional device needed.

For most people, when practicing at home or playing with a band, Solid State amps are fine. Once you become a professional and are doing recordings, tubes are considered warmer with more "feel". The modern Chinese Supro amp made today has nothing in common with the old models except the name. JP dropped the Supro's as soon as he got a Marshall. Just play and have fun.

I'm glad you started with some "smaller questions." For me, that makes all the difference. A certified old person, I'm less and less enamored of particular pieces of gear. If the sound produced is pleasing and suits my purposes, I don't care who made it. It might help that I'm not a real musician, and my guitar-playing is exclusively at home, where cranking up the volume is basically counterproductive, and more than that, unnecessary with the amps I have. Those amps are: 1) a 100W solid state; 2) a 35W tube; and 3) a 15W digital modeling amp. I'm generally playing only for myself, and don't really enjoy ear-piercing volume or FX, so the master volume on all the amps rarely goes beyond 3 or 4. In that range, with or without pedals, the difference(s) between the digital and the tube are there if you're a true audiophile, but are mostly - my opinion only - unimportant or trivial. Not "totally," but "mostly" unimportant. My thinking for amps is much like my thinking for guitars - high-end equipment is generally a little bit better, but only a little bit. If you're a pro, playing sold-out stadiums and theater venues, the extra expense may be worth it to you. It's not worth it to me. Gear manufacturers, like businesses everywhere, are adept at adding a feature that costs them $4 and bumping the price of that particular piece of gear up $50. More importantly, in a decade, that feature will, more often than not, be out of style, or nearly impossible to find parts, tubes, switches, and other bits and pieces for, or its design will be outdated by whatever the latest and greatest thing happens to be. I buy low-end to mid-range equipment, modify it to suit my purposes if necessary, and keep it a long time.

When I was a kid I started with solid state because it was cheap. I got a Marshall Valvestate when they were first released. Kind-of like a hybrid. I liked it, but I played with a load of effects pedals, and later a rack mount effects unit. It got to the point where the amp was really irrelevant for my style, and so was the guitar. I could probably plug directly into the PA and have the same sound. 😁 As you point out, it really depends on what you play, how you play it and the size of the venues. If I were a kid now I would probably buy a good effects and modeller unit and plug into the PA and not worry about moving around heads and cabs. That was a nightmare... I'm sure many guitarists would hate that idea, but each to their own. BTW: Recently started playing again after 20+ years off. I'm terrible. 🤣

I have two tube heads, a solid state head, and I use plugins a lot at home. I think it’s all good. You can dial good or bad tones out of anything. I think people need to focus more on tuning their ear to what exactly makes a “good tone” and not bank on a certain thing like, tube or digital etc. doing it for them.

Boss Katana Artist for me... Just dial the tone... 10 voicings No money on tubes ✌️

I have two Fender tube amps, they take a lot to keep them working. Had my Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb completely reworked after the tubes failed. Sounds great now. I bought a Boss Katana MKII Head, which I have on my Fender cabinet. It is a great amp, a switch will go between 50 Watts and 100 Watts. I flick another switch and you would swear it is a Marshal column from the 70's. So yea I really like the Boss Katana.

I have the mk2 kat head and I don’t think I will ever go back to tube amps. Just the absolute ease with recording as well as getting basically kind of sound I could ever want.

Excellent as always, Mike! One thing though, and independent variable is the thing you change (the head you use). Using a constant cab negates confounds (confounding variable). - Your scientist consultant

Great video Not having a lot of money to just splurge on gear “because i can” since im just play at home only (not gigging/not pro) i currently own a katana 100w mkii combo. Over the past 3yrs I’ve traded gear to try multiple things: blues jr, ac15, bassbreaker 15, bugera, DSL40c and a plethora of pedals. I have been satisfied for my playability and tone through my katana 100w and silver sky se. Mainly blues/rock and worship. If i had the money to just blow on gear i would love to collect vintage amps (like beato or r shull). However, only playing in front of friends and family they have no idea what i use. To them i sound “good”. I consider myself intermediate if that and in which case to sound good i humbly accept. The Supro sounded great

I only had a brief period early on in my guitar playing where I wanted tube amps. Eventually I realized almost none of the guitarists i actually liked or looked up to were regularly using tube amps. Most tube amp enthusiats seem to prefer the bluesy rock sound, with amp just past the edge of breakup. Light overdrive was never my thing though, I prefer to play either jazz and folk music with a perfectly clean sound, or death metal with heavy distortion saturation. So I've always found solid state worked better for me. I love never having to worry about buying replacement tubes. Solid state amps are also way lighter for traveling to gigs or recording sessions. Lastly, solid state amps are often more energy efficient to, depending on which class of amp you're using. Bass players were way ahead of us on that last point, resulting in the creation of class D amps that are extremely light, but also extremely powerful.

I am just a hobbyist, but always preferred tubes until recent years.. Several newer digital and/or solid state amps are very good. I really like Roland Blues Cubes and the Quilter amps as well.

Isn't it amazing how many players think tube amps are the business, yet how many famous recordings are done on solid state amps? Why do all major recording studios have a JC120 in them. Keith Richards, Rory Gallagher, Carlos Santana, John Fogerty, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Paul Simon, Andy Summers, Adrian Smith, Dimebag Darrell, George Lynch, Chuck Schuldiner, Jonny Greenwood, Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osbourne, Josh Homme and many, many more all use solid state amps... Play by ear, don't be a gear snob.

The Roland JC120 definitely changed my feelings towards solid state amps after going through so many and hybrids with tube preamps with solid state power. Paying a grand for it was a bit daunting never having experienced one first hand, but I knew the price factor was partly for being made in Japan, however I was amazed at the tone and warmth from it after being a tube snob for so long. Yes, the 2 designs are different beasts, but it'll probably never die or need any work done on it ever. I know a guy with a Kustom combo 100 watt 2x12 solid state that he's been driving hard for 40 years and it's still kickin' and cutting through the mix just fine with nary a problem, besides breaking his back humping it around. Carvin made decent ones too, but no match for tube stuff.

I only play at home. I use all types: digital, modelers, solid state and tubes. They are all good. I love my Helix. I think the Boss Katana is pretty great. The new mini Friedman and Soldano amps are great affordable options that sound good. However, tube amps still feel the best to me. They feel great under my fingers even at low volumes. I feel the difference and yes it is worth the extra money that tube amps cost. I don't care if other people can't hear the difference. I can. I won't give up my Helix but I also won't give up my tube amps.

Although I love new gear just as much as the next guy, once I realized that getting better at the guitar mattered far more as it pertained to tone and just how over all good I sounded, my journey as a musician became much more liberating. Tube/modeler.. gimme that shit, let me show you something 😎

One reason I choose to get a Tube Amp (Mesa Badlander 50 head and Mesa 2x12 cab) instead of getting another solid state amp is that the built in distortion is way better to me than on any Solid State amp I heard demos of on YT. I don't know what it is with Solid State amps and having not very good built in distortion sounds, but I am glad I have an amp that makes me want to practice more now. Lots of Tube Amps have very good clean channel tones for anything including Jazz. I prefer my Mesa Badlander's clean and distortion channels over the ones on the Roland Cube x30 I used to have. In terms of Amp/Effects sim stuff there is way better options today than there used to be and I use Bias FX 2 and my Boss ME 25 sometimes. Heck, I even prefer some of the very good clean settings on my Boss ME 25 when plugged directly into an interface over the clean channel on the Cube x30. With the Cube x30 I had to turn the middle as high as possible just to get a good Jazz tone for my ears.

I never could tame the brightness of the katana 100 watt combo. My helix sounds incredibly great though. But the natural compression you get with tube amps i think is what makes them so great.

You’re videos have helped ALOT but…. It only brings more questions as a beginner/intermediate guitarist. Do I live in an apartment? Yes. Do I have a tube amp? Yes. Blues Jr. Do I have a few pedals? Yes, Ts9 & MXR Super comp. Question. What is the most affordable/effective way to practice/play and be able to explore good tone? I ordered a Irig2 HD but was disappointed when I realized that the software was limited and Apple wants you to buy more for extra features. This lead me to discover online amp sims AmpliTube 5, Tonex, etc. Ideally I’d like to invest into something I can grow into and be able to play small gigs with other musicians. With only a desktop I am considering iPad/laptop rig setups but it’s a big investment either way and I would hate to get to a point of no return with gear that doesn’t achieve my goals. Any help?

My problem with solid state is that when I play the higher end, it sounds so piercing, whiny and annoying, and I can't seem to figure out a way around that. I like to crank the treble on the amp so the lower end sounds nice, crispy, and bitey, but the high end suffers for it. Where as my tube amp, while it doesn't get as close to the low end sound I'm wanting, the high end sounds SO much better.

Grown up playing on solid state amps. I'm getting my first tube amp in a month. I'm glad it's about the journey to them tones rather than needing a lot of money for a specific tube amp, for them tones. Tonex and Katanas will get me there, but it's time for a tube amp experience for me.

Tube is King because sound waves are Reactive and Oscillate in a certain Unpredictable way....when you hit the same chord it will sound a MILLION different ways because of this in combination with Head Room......The problem with Solid State is the "Ceiling".....and will break up at aggressive volumes or chord strikes......it's predictable and Capped..... No doubt, Solid State can sound absolutely amazing "sound quality" wise, and there's Lots of good pro level Amps out there.....Solid State is preferred for certain Jazz styles I believe, etc....But Modellers have the same problems as Solid States.....predictable tone, Caps, Lag, and Dull experience.....Tone is not everything, especially live there's SO much more to it. I know Billy Corgan was raving about modellers and guess what, he's back to Tubes, Lol.

Just bought my first tube amp, having never owned anything beyond Line 6 Spiders. 100% I know what I've been missing all of these years. Thank God Peavey Classic VT's are so well built & relatively cheap! Best decision I made was buying vintage USA product over whatever hot plastic is being peddled today for twice its worth. Incidentally the Classic VT is a hybrid with solid state preamp but we all know that sound coming out them tubes! For me it's clear one type is constantly attempting to be the OG. Get that OG people! Yardy know! 😜

I really liked your Katana sound. Maybe you could do a video on how you achieved that vintage tube like sound on the Katana Artist? I'm sure lots of people would appreciate this. Cheers

I have multiple amps, my main band rig is a Marshall jcm2000 100w into a 4x12 (with another dsl100 and Orange Dual Terror backup amps) and the jamming amp for parties, song writing, youtube videos etc....and so on is my Fender 65r 1x12 combo. Difference? Other than speaker and circuit EQ, the JCM2000 is a vastly different experience. I can get the solid state to "sound like" my regular band tone (which is gain staged on multiple levels) but sounding LIKE a tube amp is not the same as playing through one. Ive been playing and teaching for over 30+ years and all this chasing tone, where does the tone come from, tone comes from the speaker etc. etc.. DOES NOT MATTER in the end. The only thing that matters is what does it sound like to YOU and ONLY YOU. You're the only one you need to please. If you can do that using solid state or digital or tube then so be it. Where does tone really come from? Tone is 90% psycological and 10% the rest.

Started with a solid state. Then another, then got a lunchbox EVH tube amp, and that started my thirst for tubes. Now i have a Marshall, a Friedman and a Mesa Boogie. They each sound so good in their own way. I have a setup at home where I have a lot of space and can play loud, but If it was strictly “bedroom volumes” I actually prefer solid state. No one is wrong- to each their own

I play at home so for me the Boss Katana MkII 50 was the best bet. I had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which was simply unusable at home. Way too loud and not practical for my needs. Boss Katanas are awesome sounding, low Maintanece and very versatile. Those who claim they can tell the difference in a blind test are only fooling themselves.

They are different tools for different things. I had a valvetronix and a Peavy Bandit back in the day. Both decent and fine for live playing, but very little personality and not very responsive. When I finally saved up for my AC15 (C1) I was disapointed at first because it took more tinkering to get the most out of it. I love the thing now. One habit to get out of with tube amps is that the drive shouldn't just come from pedals like how I used the Bandit. Finally, I got a Quilter Aviator Cub and adore the thing. It's not a tube Fender, but it is fantastic in its own right. It doesn't have the sag of a tube amp, but it's responsive like a tube amp and you could base the sound of a band around it. So in my opinion, the question is whether an amp has character rather than if it's tube or not. Shoutout to the Orange Crush line and the SuperCrush, I don't own one, but have played them a lot at guitar stores and really like what they do. If I want more tones I will probably play around with amp in a box pedals going into the power input on the Quiter and suspect it would work well as its own thing. I also have a Pod Go that is pretty good to be honest. With a lot of tinkering I will record with it, but only for things like a Princeton that I can't afford and don't want to do the maintenance on. It's really good for church and places where you can't have stage volume. I would be hesitant to use it as my only "amp" for recording though.

You made a good point with the little question what do you actually need. I've got a Roland Cube 20GX, 20W loud, good selection of tones and a bunch of FX. Yes, you can hear that it's not a tube amp. But you can also hear I'm not a particular good player. So the amp delivers what I can handle.

I bought the Katana Mk2 combo in September because I wanted an amp that was easier to take everywhere, and I really enjoyed being able to plug from the back of the amp strait into my Focusrite to record. And wow, the Katanas sound amazing. Especially when you connect them to the computer, they come even more to life. I got the Katana 100w head for Christmas, and it's even better with 8 channels to edit. Boss Tone Studio is awesome, and after tweaking the EQs and tone, it sounds like an $1,000 amp. I use my Katanas more than my Fender Blues Deluxe and Orange dual Terror head.

When come to analog solid state they usually stuck design wise in 1970s. I think solid state amps should jfet clean channel because it soft clips and reduces some treble. I think alot amp makers want solid state to suck so end up paying more for a tube amp. SO amp have modern design but boy they have complex circuits to get op amps to do what gets do.

Nothing beats or even matches the real thing if you've ever played through a very high quality Soldano, Engl, a modded Marshall etc.Tube amps just sound and respond better. That being said, digital has its place for the convenience factor. Plus, the average player cannot afford boutique amps and fx. They've come a very long way with the digital stuff, but nothing ever beats the real deal when it comes to anything... including amplifiers.

That band Zed Leppelin Yeah, that was the name. Glad you got it correct when you said it first. Most ppl struggle to ge the name correct.

It is good that you tried to eliminate the speaker/cabinet variable in your comparison. However, how do we account for the transformer coupling of the output of a tube amp? I suspect that if we could figure out a way to transformer couple a solid state amps output, we might discover a major component of the 'magic' of tube amps.

Dude, that Supro sounds great!

Solid state modeling amps like the Katana are sounding nice. I agree. The are affordable and convenient. The difference can’t be heard from this video as much as the feeling of standing in front of the amp. The difference is more noticeable at high volumes. I think my 60 watt Peavey all tube amp sounds louder and hits you in the face more than my old solid state Randall rg 100 watt half stack. It all depends on the sound that you are chasing like you said.

There's lots of solid states that are objectively great. But then you plug into your favorite 6v6 and its like a warm and dirty sonic hug that makes a modeling amp feel like a toy. Its just how I feel. I always tell newbies to hold onto the $300 they were gonna spend on a katana, save up a few more dollars and find even a 5w tube amp used. even one of the versatile non descript ones is gonna be much better for maybe $200 more. get a blackstar HT 5 watt, in your bedroom you are gonna absolutely love it compared to a solid state combo.

I've been back and forth from tube and solid state since the 1960s. Now I have two amps a Fender Mustang GT100 that I made into a head and cabinet model, it sounds good plenty of effects. I have a Peavey Classic 30 for my go to amp with all analog effects. The Peavey with the effects just sounds more like real music coming out of my guitars the way they should be even as the volume goes down to nothing on a sustaining note it is there, however the digital amps break up with static when sustaining a note too long. Yes tube amps are my favorite amps.

I have an old Peavey Supreme 160 full stack that I purchased in the early 90’s. I love it. Also have a orange crush solid state. I love it. Now I play through a Paul Reed Smith Archon 50. What a difference. Solid state always reacted for me. However, I get when someone talks about earth tones.

For recording and performing I actually put together a pedal board using an IR pedal, and a few “amp in a box” pedals. It feels more natural and immediate than sims to me. For personal playing, I have an old Marshall combo from the 80’s in my room. It’s actually solid state, but a pleasure to play through. No, really. I also have an Orange combo that is tube. It’s good. it’s a different sound and feel. Not everything though. Guitar players need to learn to accept that if it sounds right, it is right.

Gen-X'er here. I've never really concerned myself with exactly nailing the tones I hear in recordings. It perhaps helps that I never grew up with the expectation that it could be possible. I just like to get the most pleasing sounds from the gear I've got while close enough is good enough. It's perhaps telling, to me, that I prefer learning from or playing along to demos, out-takes or covers of popular songs where we might be more familiar with the hit record. When one takes this approach the gear used becomes irrelevant. We play whatever brings us the most joy.

My Kat 2 100 has been a game changer. Now I can play without gas.

digital is better in 2023 than it has ever been.

amazing video as always keep up the good work Mike

love your play style. Thank you for clearing this up, for me

The Supro has a very pleasing high end. It's much warmer than other amps I've used. I've gotten wonderful cleans even with Fishman Moderm pickups after playing around for a minute. That dirt on a Supro is incredibly pleasing. I enjoy the Boss quite a bit for noodling and in a mix it sounds fine. In isolation, my main issue with solid state is the 'feel' and harmonic richness. As good as digital is, something is missing. It doesn't matter if it's an amp or a plugin. Solid state tends to be harsher on the ears as well. The Katana really becomes something much better after you edit the tones in the Boss Tone Studio. Both amplifier variations have their place and are equally worthy to be in a studio or stage. My opinions aren't just based off the demo here, but in experience from recording/producing for a few years and playing guitar for 20+ years. I prefer to use digital in the studio and tube amps live and practice.

Digital vs analogue is very difficult to evaluate in this day and age. If you are live, there may be clear differences but since EVERYTHING that passes through a computer (which means every piece of music not performed live, and every video heard and watched) the evaluation becomes completely blurred. Your "clean tube amp" sound has had to go through various codecs before it arrives at the computer of the watcher/listener, whereupon it goes through another set of codecs (essentially the same but in reverse...) to reconstitute as much of the real sound as possible, all in an effort to conserve bandwidth and maintain transmission speed. Very little music heard today is analogue - and even RAW music is digitalized...

I have eight tube amps, and two Katanas. One is a MkII 100 and the other is a MkII Artist combo. If you download the Sneaky Amps and the Dumble Amps you’ll be surprised how good the Katana sounds. I love my tube amps but I play the Artist quite a bit. I’ve owned it for over a year now and finally pushed the Solo button. Holy moly! The Artist is worth the price of admission. If you have enough money for a MKII 100 combo give some thought to saving up a little while longer for an Artist. It will be worth it. Snag one on the used market if you can. There’s room for tube amps, SS amps, and modelers. You’d be hard pressed to say which is which in the context of a song. Just use whichever amp makes you smile when you play through it and stop caring about what others think.

I had a Mesa Lonestar Special for years - and I loved it! But I'm retired now, rarely gig, and the LS was just too loud for playing at home. It just didn't sing if it wasn't cranked a little. Now I have a Boss Nextone (40W) which sounds great in my music room and weighs HALF as much as the LS did. I think the Nextones sound a little better than the Katanas.

I could be wrong but from my experience the "magic" of the tube sound comes from the power section not the preamp so the best sounding combination would be a digital preamp with a tube power section

I've owned a bunch of different tube and solid state amps over the years. Peavey, Mesa Boogie, Traynor etc. Tube is almost always better. But before I talk about that, you can't really compare modeling and tube amps then say you are talking about tube vs solid-state. The tone creation of a modeling amp is of course solid-state. But the amplification doesn't have to be. There are tube amps made to work with modelers as the front end. They are basically just combos with no controls and a little place to park your modeler. When comparing tube vs solid-state amps one of the things I notice first is the EQ. On a transistorized amp you have dozens of opamps. Each little chip usually houses 2 or 4. Its very easy to build up a complicated EQ with a dozen opamps. Got one on the in and out of the eq to buffer it. Then a couple for each band of eq, depending on what topology you use. Tube amps by contrast have a hard time with EQ. Those little dual triode 12AX7 tubs are roughly the equivalent of a TL072. Two gain elements. But more restricted in terms of bandwidth, gain and headroom. So Tube amps have very simple EQ topology. Usually passive LC EQs with makeup gain such as the much copied Fender tone stack. This affects a lot more than which frequencies are boosted or cut. On some amps you get a bit of overdrive just from the EQ. On Fender type tone stacks, usually that's anything above 7 on the dial. The other big big difference is that thing people call feel or vibe. I'm going to explain that and piss everybody off. Solid State amps are clean even when you are playing distorted. They do all their grind and overdrive in the preamp, then the amplifier mosfets simply increase the volume of that. Tube amps get a bit of overdrive at multiple points. The input tube, the tubes, the output tubes, the output transformer etc. So overall the distortion in a tube amp will have several dimensions to it. Playing harder will saturate or 4 places in circuit. On a solid state amp, rarely more than one. But also, the feel has to do with the player! In my experience, tube amps are more muffled and indistinct sounding. So you play harder, you are more explicitly on the beat, you muffled your strings more. Anything to wring some clarity out of the amp. The solidstate amp will already be cleaner, and it's not really changing it's voicing much based on how hard you play so you aren't rewarded for that. But honestly you could build a solid-state amp that sounds just likes tubes. First use an output transformer between the MOSFETs and the speakers. Give it a passive inductor based EQ. Use discrete transistors and API style op amps for the preamp, with not a lot of linearizing negative feedback. Put clipping diodes in a few places to angry it up. Strangely I've only heard of one company doing anything like this. And nobody wanted to buy a heavy solid-state amp back then.

I like both types of amps. Tube and solid state. I prefer the sound of tubes. However sometimes the convenience and flexibility of my Katana is a perfect choice. Depends on the gig, which amp I may prefer. I do enjoy your videos.

Playing live I think Digital makes a lot of sense these days for reliability and transport. But there is a unbeatable joy of recording with a tube amp wit 2 mics.

I have a Katana and Fender Bass Breaker? I play neo soul, jazz and worship. They are very close. Indeed at times the Katana sounds better. However many don’t consider a Fender BassBreaker a good tune amp. It was what I could afford and BB 30 works well for me. I play worship music in a large venue and it cuts thru the mix. But I have limited reference point… datapoints

That is an interesting, valid, and well thought out comparison. You nailed the tone matching! The main difference, like you said, is versatility; solid state being more so. But how often do you want to change your sound? IDEA: NOW compare the two amp head - current tone-matched settings - with different pickups! The goal being to determine if the myth is true: do solid state amps make all guitars (pickups) sound the same? (Compared to tube amps passing along the "real" pickup sound.)

I started off on a Fender 212R and a Line 6 Spyder iii. They were both great amps and I gigged extensively in college with the Spyder. It's hard to knock the sounds you get out of some solid state amps, especially for the price. Having grown up I have a Vox AC30, a Marshall Origin, and an EVH 5150 now. They definitely have their own clarity and uniqueness, but I find myself playing on my Positive Grid Spark 90% of the time because it sounds great, fits on my desk, and feels like less of a commitment to set up and use.

I love my Roland Blues Cube 60, sounds tubey and even the digital reverb is sweet.

This is a question for people looking for the perfect tone or tones and it only matters if you are recording solo guitar. I'm a former tube snob and with a good SS amp and pedals, no one, including myself, could tell the difference in a live situation. As long as you have a tone that is pleasant to you, the subtle pleasantries of a tube amp are lost. And to get those tones, especially with EL34 valves, you have to crank them. I have a 40 watt fender (6L6) that was too loud playing outdoor gigs at volume 2. I've also gigged with a 4 watt VOX that was cranked and mic'd and had a great sound. The other thing about valve amps is they are inconsistent with the environment. Some of them have very small sweet spots when it comes to volume, clarity, dynamics and compression. And, to get that perfect tone, you're going to have to EQ when changing guitars with different pickups. So unless you have one tone, and your playing with the same style of guitar, it doesn't make sense to spend 4K on a head. Now for practice, I like having that buttery tube sound and response. Having those tones encourages me to play. But, I do find myself reaching for gear to get a little different tone rather than changing my playing, pick attack, etc. So it's kind of a double edge sword. I used to think having the perfect tone was important, but as long as you don't have a singular, specific tone in mind, get a good modelling amp or pedal platform, either SS or valve, and tweak from there. Right now I'm playing an Egnater Tweaker 15 watt head through a 1x12 with an Eminence Swamp Thang. Many voices with tons of great tones. And a s#!t ton of pedals.

OK so here’s what’s up as far as my ear is concerned. First off my first tube amp was given to me when I was 21 years old by a girlfriend it was an original 1963 deluxe reverb black face. Now I was too young to really appreciate it but I kept that amp for years until I traded it at a guitar show For a mesa boogie, Mach three head, which meant more sense to me because of the music I was playing. I tried so many different kind of amps throughout the years, mostly tube amps . I went from boutique amps such as matchless until recently I went with the Roland blues cube artist, a solid-state amp that blew my mind. I thought I was set, because I am getting older and it’s not heavy to carry around. Until I met , the tone king imperial Mark two. This is the greatest amp I’ve ever owned. It has an attenuator on it, which I can never play another amp without one now. I have not tried a Supro yet. But all I can say is that I am so content with my tone right now that I have no desire to search any longer. Though I’m sure this endless pursuit of tone will continue when my Muse calls on it. Thanks for the great contact.

I didn’t know at the time but earlier I was trying a POG in the shop (second-hand, owned by one of the clerks, 115, bought it), and playing it through a Katana. No complaints, it’s got a great sound. Only tube amp i’ve is an old Vox with some fried wiring and dodgy treble knobs, my solid-state Fender Champion is no comparison with the Katana.

Really enjoy listening to your playing and thoughts. I too use my 50w Katana most of the time. I didn’t know the Page connection to your new tube amp before this video. It did sound better than but honestly I might have a built in bias when Page, Hendrix, King or Vaughn is dropped in the conversation

BB King used a Gibson LabSeries amp which was solid state and numerous examples of people using Roland JC-120 and a pedalboard. Darrell Abbott famously used Randall solid state amps. And, when I was coming up, the Polybrute was a mainstay of all the local gigging jazz guys, so the whole only tubes for professionals that some put forth is bunk.

I actually like the tone of the solid state better in the comparison. Tube amp sounds muffled, darker. I have the Katana Air headphones and if they broke I’d hock something to get another pair!

I had a solid state line6 30 watt then I upgraded to a Dumble with 4X12 cabinet……no comparison.

The response of tubes... the sag, the natural compression... just makes you want to express yourself better...

Enjoying your channel, Mike! Would love to see you take a look at 'Maggot Brain' sometime. As an amateur guitarist, I have become obsessed with this music for reasons similar to what makes 'Little Wing' such an earworm. Repetitive without getting boring somehow.

I chose solid state for ease of use. But I didn’t know much when I started. Digital can be interesting for sure, I’ve played a Fender Tone Master amp and really enjoyed it. I do like tube amps, they do feel different to play and somehow seem warmer. Never been a Katana fan, but putting it through a better cab will make a huge difference.

The tube amp shines on distortion, the metal and rock community keeping tube amps alive, that crisp high gain E power chord on a great tube amp is just, ugghh

I like a mix of tube, solid state and plugins for guitar depending on the application. My main tube amp is a super versatile 1989 Fender “The Twin” a crazy modified take on the twin reverb. But my main practice amp is a solid state vox pathfinder 15R and it gets the job done and is a great pedal platform. When I don’t feel like doing an intricate recording setup, plugins get the job done just fine. 😅

Awesome video. I prefer the tone of the katana. Most of the music i play is r&b. Everything has to be super clean. Usually I think tube amps sound better for crunch or overdrive but the katana wins. With that said. I use to own a katana artist. I use Fender tone master amps for gigs. Very loud very clean

it's not more about how they sound against each other but more of how they feel for the player. the response is just different on tube amps and solid state. it's a comfort pick for the player

Hey man! You should do an episode on shoe-gaze bands and how they shaped music/equipment/pedals today

I did try the Blackstar Silverline and it sounded pretty good at low volume but when I started cranking it up that solid state feel became more present

For me its a big difference in a band setting or even just being in the room with it cranked. Tubes cut through the mix and get felt. An Ac15 can be heard in a 5 piece vand easily imo

There's not really a point to buying a tube amp for most people. As a hobbyist myself, my boss katana 100mkii and pedal board does everything I need live and at home I use plugins for everything. I can't personally justify forking out a ton of cash for a tube amp that I wont even be able to utilize to its full potential

Katana is a solid state amp. The only modeling is with the effects. It was also positively educational on solid state amps.

An independant variable is the variable you change. A control variable is the one that you keep the same.

There are excellent sounding and affordable solid state amps, pedals and multieffects units that provide versatility for the hobbyists and performers alike, without the weight, cost, and maintenance of tube amps. Both types sound better in different areas of the tonal spectrum. So it comes down to your type of sound and what you can afford.

Bro your are a great player and you sound great

The answer to your question of tube vs solid state vs modeling.....the answer for me is.....cue the Pink Floyd.....$Money$. I am a learning, couch playing, hobiest. For me, it is not about chasing tone. It is about bang for the buck. That leaves a modeling combo amp....which will go out of date. It also leaves an option such as an analog solid state combo and a multi effects pedal. Keep the amp for decades and upgrade the pedal as it becomes obsolete.

That Supro, man… wow. Sounds incredible. But is that because it’s tube, or is it just voiced differently than the Katana? Hard to say. And the Katana tones you got sounded great. Just different. I’ve had a Kat Artist mkii combo for a little over a year now, and it’s been the only thing I’ve gigged with since I got it… the tube amps have stayed home. I’m not saying it’s better than those tube amps, but it holds its own tonally, and I certainly worry less about it blowing up, or having bad power and sounding cruddy as a result. It just works, and has so many options and so much flexibility. And holy smokes, can it be loud. Full disclosure: to this point, I’ve mostly been using the Katana as a pedal platform, though I’ve recently been incorporating some on-board tones for certain tunes/sections. But I’ve got a gig coming up where, due to space constraints, I can’t bring the full board..: so I’m going full Katana! A bit scary, but I’m kinda looking forward to it!

Much better. Tube stuff is the way to go. Get it in overdrive Mike!!

Most of you fail to explain the true difference. I spent thousands of dollars buying tube amp and with in a month return. One of the worst amp I got was the supro 3 hours went back. Fender clean Marshall Victory Friedman roar it's the tone you chasing but this is the problem no one seem to point out. For home tube amp are not good even if it got an attenuator. Tube needs to get hot and volume up to get great tone if most notice when lowering tube amp don't sounds as good sounds thin and your inspiration not at its best. Now for gigging large place tube shine nothing beats it. Had orange 15 terror head nice amp with a mesa boogie cab black shadow nice tone but home lower the volume lost all the juice. Finally got a Boss katana mkII 100 that amp change my world any volume tone is insane and I use it with my ME90 boss multi also recommend it, Katana on clean me 90 do the rest. This save me from buying tube amp no more chasing. Fender tone master also fantastic but katana give you the best of both world british american tone without blowing the house down.

Considering everything on YT is recorded/processed and I'm listening on my solid state TV, I don't think I can judge any fine sound matters, especially tube amps.

Both were good. The tube amp on your first clips seemed a little muffled, needed to brighten up a bit. Later it sounded better.

I Play a lot of digital , tonemaster deluxe reverb, I often think it sounds better then my old vintage fender twin , even or especially with pedals everything seems more controlled But The touch dynamic , is always better on a tube amp

Standing directly in front of a Katana Mk2 artist and also directly in front of a PRS 20 watt tube amp is basically night and day although the katana did sound good and probably could be sweetened with the tone studio. The problem is also that the weight of the Tube amp and only having 3 good sounds.. ect ect ect. Basically , I am 99% buying a katana soon.

Both are viable and sound great. Tubes will always be the standard and just plain cool af. I love both

I have found that digital has come from leaps and bounds through the past few years. On both a solid state and a 2 bam. I like my 2 bam better. It sounds better to me and it has more features. But my solid state has more perimeters that I could change was distortion reverb. And so on I think it's just a matter of what you can a forward and what and how much versatility you want

I play acoustics mostly, I don't really have the ear for amps and the insane number of knobs on some of them give me anxiety. I can tell you one thing that I noticed from SS to Tube was that the Solid State was artificially clean? There was this jaggedness that I heard that I wasn't quite fond of. The tube amp, however, was almost muted and muffled upon first listen. I heard a lot of lows/low-mids in the tube where the Solid State was just...clean all over the board. I felt like the Solid State was more "in your face" with all of its EQ and that the tube amp had more of a personality, so to speak. That's all I can really say about it. I'm trying to get into the electric world so I should probably spend more time thinking about this sort of thing.

Tube amps feel a bit different in how they play and how they breakup. I had the crush60, a rocktron 15 and 50, fender Mustang 100, Marshall mg100, peavey studio pro delta red stripe, and a few others. I like the lightweight nature of ss, the plug in and get on with it, who cares if I blow it up because it wasuch cheaper than a tube so I can try some weird stuff with it. All that being said, my Traynor ygm3 from 1970 sounds completely different than any of those, even the modeller. It also sounds different than many of my tube amps. Clean vintage vibe with beautiful breakup. Too bad you can't find many quality performances with this little combo. Even at 20 watts it's super loud. Honestly a bar can't have a 100 watt amp played and you mic up your amp if you are playing larger venues.

My amp classification must different than yours...The BOSS is modeling amp using DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Tube amp is an analog circuit that using vacuum tubes in the pre and power amp section. A Solid State Amp is also an analog circuit but uses transitors in place of the tubes in the pre and power stages. I am currently trying to determine if I use analog pedals into a clean solid state amp do I get the same tone as using the same pedals into a clean tube amp...

Two things… you played different licks on the two different amps… The best and most honest way to do it is to play the piece on a looper and then put them through the amps…and there was too much time between demos to actually make a comparison.. But thanks for the talk…👍🏼❤️

Yo, I'm a science teacher and that is not what an independent variable is. The independent variable in an exp is the factor you are changing. The amp head in this case.

the katana is not "digital" per se....it is a standard "Class A/B" amplifier, just like your standard solid state amps(aka analog), versus the new "class D" style actual digital amplifiers.

The Tube Amp is warmer & a more fuller tone and it's also less high frequency then that solid state Amp