tube amp

[snufeldin]

I was wondering if somebody knows of a good website that explains tube amps and how they work.

Thankyou

[szulc]

http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/index.html

This may not do you a lot of good without some basic electronics background.
What you really care about is how do amps sound and why does a tube amp sound different. I think you will find a general consensus among people who play and have a good tone, that they prefer to play through tube amplifiers. The distortion has a warmer character, and power amp distortion is very touch sensitive. Yes, tube amps cost more to buy and maintain, they generally are heavier (weigh more) and are more tempermental. But just like having a guitar with a wang bar is a pain in the A$$, because they demand attention, I wouldn't own a strat without one, and I would not consider playing without tubes. I have compomised a few times, I used a pandora's box for most of my guitar parts on my CD, mostly because I was in another state living in an apartment and couldn't use my rig (or would have gotten thrown out if I did). The pandora is pretty good for a tiny little thing, but it is no match for my mesa or my ada rig.

[EricV]

James,
I definitely agree. I watched the development on the solid state market... these days, there are some solid state and digital amps which sound pretty good, but man, when I think back to the late 80´s and early 90´s... I i.e. tried some of those Marshall "MOSFET" amps... they looked like JCMs but were all solid state, and to me, they sounded horrible.
My first REAL amp ( after using a small solid state 10 W amp for like a year and a half, and later plugging that into an old tube radio ) was a Marshall tube amp, and I always used tube amps.

You´re right, they´re kinda... I dunno, temperamental, and you have to do some maintenance, but it´s worth the effort, since I really like the way a good tube amp interacts with your playing...
It´s not as "steady" as some digital amp or anything, and that is part of what I and many other players do like about it.

The way it reacts to ýour playing, the effects of turning it way up on stage ( poweramp saturation, certain compression... ) etc.
I love that, and I got so used to it it feels weird to play through a solid state or digital amp.

Units like the Pandora, the POD etc. are great tools for home-recording or practise through, but when it comes to playing live or recording at the studio, I prefer tube amps.
Eric

[Danster]

Hey snufeldin,

Here's another website for ya: http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/ampsmain.htm . Its got quite a bit of good amp info.

Cheers,
Dan

[snufeldin]

Thankyou for the links,

Very interesting stuff, complicated, but interesting.