Tubes and inspiration..

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blacksun

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This may very well have been beaten to death a long time ago;

When I write music and need to "feel" very note and to be inspired I always tend to be amazed how much I gravitate to tube amps in those situations.

In a band situation and when recording I have been happy with using an Axe Fx 2 and later 3, and currently a Kemper. But even with the Kemper I still feel more inspired by real tubes.

For you guys who use your guitar when writing music, have you experienced this tube effect as well?
 
Note; this is not a "and may tubes rule the world"-thread, I'm basically thinking that although one, for instance on a record, can't discern a modeller from a mic:ed cab, I suspect that there are subtle differences in a truly analog pathway (including a real cab) that we pick up but cannot consciously discern.
 
I am a tube amp guy, but i have almost always wrote songs/riffs on modelling software. More fun to play them on the tube amp though. But i try not to noodle at 110 dbs and i dont play tube amps quiet
 
Can’t say I have, I’d guess 90% of my riffs have been written through a SS amp or not even plugged in.
 
I like axe efx for my lead tones and solos. But I’ve never like anything but tubes for my heavy riffs . The feel and the sound on non tubes on riffs feels so odd to me
 
I am pretty ignorant of what good lead tone is. I hate a lot of lead work. Most doesnt fit the song imo and seems masturbatory. When lead work matches the song though, very nice. But i dont know if the tone of it matters that much to me. Rhythm tone is where ot is at. I just put a delay or something on for leads
 
i use tube preamps and self made IR with tube power amps, works perfect and feels better than 100% digital
 
I've gotten my Axe-FX III dialed in to where I move seamlessly between that and my tube rig. It took a while to get there, basically having to learn a new platform after spending decades using tube amps.

For me, it's important to use the Axe with a real guitar cab in the room. No amount of tweaking will get the same feel with FRFR. They're different animals.
 
I've gotten my Axe-FX III dialed in to where I move seamlessly between that and my tube rig. It took a while to get there, basically having to learn a new platform after spending decades using tube amps.

For me, it's important to use the Axe with a real guitar cab in the room. No amount of tweaking will get the same feel with FRFR. They're different animals.
Do you then run the signal from the Axe via tube power amp to the cab?
 
This might be a conundrum somewhat related to that of a 70s vinyl record (say Black Sabbath) vs a digitalized version (CD, Wav, flac, etc). If you compare them side by side and don't notice any difference - would it necessarily mean that listening to the record offers the same experience?
 
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