Tube amps are apparently dead..... again

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
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Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I have never had anything go wrong with a tube amp, with exception of bogner blowing fuse. Fucking fuses on pcbs... But i only buy high quality newer amps. Only time they dont work is when my dumbass puts the effects loop backwards or i forget to turn on a buffer or some dumb shit. That is why it is best when i plug them straight in. I am barely able to do modelling shit on reaper. Seems like once a.month i make some critical error and have to ask @DanTravis62 or @dainbramage0 how to fix it
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Hey man, were all fumbling in the dark here, no shame in asking for advice

I need it all the time about car stuff, because it's not my bag and I've never learned
 
griff10672 said:
I used Amplitube a ton when I was living in a studio Apt after my Divorce ...... it saved my ass .

I actually liked it a lot .... but I did notice that when I did get to my real amp ... I almost struggled to play it ... something was off with the feel ..

I had to readjust to the push pull of tube amp .
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Thank god….cause that ass is fine….
 
In some circles amps are going away period. I still much prefer amps to the direct to pa options, but not using an amp anymore live.
 
blackba said:
In some circles amps are going away period.
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Fractal introduced the Standard in 2006.

z0nfiu75ktkbgfutea0t.jpg


Thing exploded like a Nuclear bomb as the first 100% pro-level modeling unit.
That was 17 freaking years ago! :oops:
Gonna be a whole generation soon who will have never owned a serious tube amp.
 
Small confession - I didn't watch the video or read any of the comments. In a word, should I panic sell everything I own?

Even though I love tube amps, use them most days both professionally and for pleasure, don't like digital alternatives, have a large tube stash, and have been traced comments about them 'almost being obsolete' back to the 60's.... I'm thinking yes, just to be safe.
 
The more people sell gear they don't want, the more buying options for the rest of us.

I've used modelers for many years, and have tube amps; in the last year I sold two modelers and purchased 4 tube amps: 2 50W Marshalls, 1 100W Marshall and 1 100W Engl.

Dig what you dig
 
angelspade said:
I am the first to admit that the modelers have gotten incredible in terms of tone, response. features and flexibility. I keep a Helix at home for these exact reasons. That said, they still cannot accurately replicate the FEEL of being in the room with a high quality tube amp. Technology may accomplish this at some point, but as far as I'm concerned, they haven't done so yet. Not selling my tube amps anytime soon.
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I was all about digital when I was younger and just didn't get the arguments for tube amps. After being in and out of studios for 15 years and playing live gigs etc, after trying out a nice tube amp, there isn't a comparison. Now is this saying it sounds "SO much better and the audience can definitely tell!" No. The differences are minute but there. The feel, the nuance, the detail and 3D sound are all parts of what makes a tube amp great. I am glad that age taught me to try new things or I'd still be in the digital world with a million patches instead of being able to plug into ONE channel on my tube amp and go from rolled back cleans to loud screams!!!
 
ZEN Amps said:
Small confession - I didn't watch the video or read any of the comments. In a word, should I panic sell everything I own?

Even though I love tube amps, use them most days both professionally and for pleasure, don't like digital alternatives, have a large tube stash, and have been traced comments about them 'almost being obsolete' back to the 60's.... I'm thinking yes, just to be safe.
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I didn’t watch the vid either, only a minute or so. Basically it sounded like he forgot that “boutique” gear was made to be luxury items. There are still affordable tube gear, it’s just not listed after as much by YouTubers
 
loved my Axe FXII through my Atomic CLR Neo, ran that rig for 10 years , then ran it through a Fryette 2/50/2 into real cabs.
totally kicked ass..................... or so I thought , until I plugged into my buddy's 1978 Master Lead MKII -> 4X12 greenback cab.
AxeFX has been gone for 7 years now LOL!
When I retire from gigging I will probably get the latest and greatest from Fractal again for home playing, for playing live , it just didn't come close,
and no one tried harder than I did to get it to work for me.
tube amps ain't going anywhere
 
kmanick said:
.....until I plugged into my buddy's 1978 Master Lead MKII -> 4X12 greenback cab.
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I've lost count of how many times a player has made a similar comment after spending some time with the wall.

A few players I know and respect place modellers in the same league, but the overwhelming majority still prefer tube amps. Honestly until I joined a few internet forums I thought this was the norm.

I'm a studio guy but same goes for the live scene, here in Australia anyway. I go to a lot of gigs, and see a modeller maybe 1 in 20 times. Old guys, young guys - almost all are using tube amps.

Again if you take forum talk (or worse, YouTube talk) as gospel, 'everyone' struggles to tame a 100W amp, plus they are too large/heavy to cart around. Poppycock I tells ya.
 
ZEN Amps said:
Again if you take forum talk (or worse, YouTube talk) as gospel, 'everyone' struggles to tame a 100W amp, plus they are too large/heavy to cart around.
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When I was a teen back in the 70s playing house party gigs all over my 50 watt Marshall half stack
got lugged around so much the thing should've had backpack straps on it! :D
 
ZEN Amps said:
I've lost count of how many times a player has made a similar comment after spending some time with the wall.

A few players I know and respect place modellers in the same league, but the overwhelming majority still prefer tube amps. Honestly until I joined a few internet forums I thought this was the norm.

I'm a studio guy but same goes for the live scene, here in Australia anyway. I go to a lot of gigs, and see a modeller maybe 1 in 20 times. Old guys, young guys - almost all are using tube amps.

Again if you take forum talk (or worse, YouTube talk) as gospel, 'everyone' struggles to tame a 100W amp, plus they are too large/heavy to cart around. Poppycock I tells ya.
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I gig at least once a month and I rarely see modelers, now granted the circuit I play on is mostly Tribute bands and the players are all on average over 35. I've never gigged with a "Djent" metal band so maybe on that circuit the Fractal stuff is all the rage, but think over the last 3 years I can remember seeing one guy use modeling and it didn't sound great. I also do run my rig into a Captor X to FOH using an IR that I created so "that part of it" I do agree is easier than mic'ing, my rig always sounds the same FOH
 
RaceU4her said:
im sure theres a few, but i think thats just more a projected fantasy of us old tube guys when in reality most these days, especially younger people would probably say your old car is cool... but my turbo 4cly is faster than your big block, is more reliable, handles and rides 10x better, usues a 1/3 the gas, has A/C so my ass is sweating like yours when a tube blows and takes out a SGR with it mid set at the big gig, has a GPS navigation system to take me to all the chicks houses that want to go for a ride.. much like a modeler dudes are starting to not want to give up their endless bank of amps and cabs, top notch effects, ease of recording and everything else that goes along with axe's and helix's for the extra 2% in tone.
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I'd take your cool Jap turbo rice burner and raise you with a 2014 Corvette. Better in every way including mileage...30+ hwy. Most modern retro looking big block muscle cars will outperform those rice burners you mention, and look way better doing it(Imo).

Now, if you're talking a 67 427 Vette then yes, they pale in some ways to a newer modern turbo 4. But, you'd be hard pressed to find ANYONE other than you that would take a Subaru WRX for example over said 67 Vette.

On a pure tone and fun factor level, tube amps cannot be replicated at the moment with modelers. So any kid who is raised on modelers, I can almost guarantee you that their first experience with a DSL at volume will open their eyes and blow their hair back. Let alone a vintage Marshall, Mesa, 5150 etc.
I'd bet my corvette payment that they will soon search out a good tube amp to add.
 
Racerxrated said:
I'd take your cool Jap turbo rice burner and raise you with a 2014 Corvette. Better in every way including mileage...30+ hwy. Most modern retro looking big block muscle cars will outperform those rice burners you mention, and look way better doing it(Imo).

Now, if you're talking a 67 427 Vette then yes, they pale in some ways to a newer modern turbo 4. But, you'd be hard pressed to find ANYONE other than you that would take a Subaru WRX for example over said 67 Vette.

On a pure tone and fun factor level, tube amps cannot be replicated at the moment with modelers. So any kid who is raised on modelers, I can almost guarantee you that their first experience with a DSL at volume will open their eyes and blow their hair back. Let alone a vintage Marshall, Mesa, 5150 etc.
I'd bet my corvette payment that they will soon search out a good tube amp to add.
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i dont own a jap car and i never said id take a WRX over anything, i do know guys though that have sold their vintage muscle cars for new import super cars because of all the reasons i listed in my last post and they wont be going back anytime soon, the performance is too good and the luxuries are too nice and they dont want to go back to all the problems and worries of owning a vintage car, much like more and more guys would rather go modeling than they would risking taking out or blowing up their vintage amp, and i can understand :dunno: ive taken dudes with new burners for rides in my old 427 thinking ill show them and their response is dude this thing is slow and bumpy, get me out of here im sweating, much like id expect the modeler dude into periphery and recording youtube vids to be like dude wheres the plugin menu on this 5150 and whys it so loud?
 
Should be a bunch of nice vintage Mesa rectifiers up for sale soon. 🤣🤣🤣
 
RaceU4her said:
i dont own a jap car and i never said id take a WRX over anything, i do know guys though that have sold their vintage muscle cars for new import super cars because of all the reasons i listed in my last post and they wont be going back anytime soon, the performance is too good and the luxuries are too nice and they dont want to go back to all the problems and worries of owning a vintage car, much like more and more guys would rather go modeling than they would risking taking out or blowing up their vintage amp, and i can understand :dunno: ive taken dudes with new burners for rides in my old 427 thinking ill show them and their response is dude this thing is slow and bumpy, get me out of here im sweating, much like id expect the modeler dude into periphery and recording youtube vids to be like dude wheres the plugin menu on this 5150 and whys it so loud?
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Does selling a 1969 SS 396 (468)Chevelle to buy a 2001 Viper GTS qualify as "selling out"? I went from a Laney AOR 100 to the Boogie Mark series back in the late 1980's. I do believe it was a "Step Up". I would still take the Laney over anything digital, but that is just me.
 
Joey B. said:
Does selling a 1969 SS 396 (468)Chevelle to buy a 2001 Viper GTS qualify as "selling out"? I went from a Laney AOR 100 to the Boogie Mark series back in the late 1980's. I do believe it was a "Step Up". I would still take the Laney over anything digital, but that is just me.
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Vipers are ok, one of these Neons with a big wing on the back would be digital
 
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