Get tubes now

The whole Tube vs SS debate is older than ive been alive and it's not going to end anytime soon, if ever. But to be honest, i dont get it anyways.

What does it matter? I love what tube amps can do for their sheer volume, simplicity and when they are pushed naturally, nothing sounds like them. But at the same notion, SS amps can do so much without having to be pushed at higher volumes, are a whole lot cheaper in price, lighter weight and sound wonderful on their own.

Most of your favorite bands im sure have and still are using both in some capacity whether you realize it or want to admit it. At the end of the day there should be two things and only two things to remember: 1) You use what YOU enjoy and 2) you should be able to sound like yourself if you use either. If you cant do either of those, quit, sorry.
 
I had to airfreight my tube order out of Russia could not buy a case of 12AX7 at any price
same in the USA the days of EL84M / 7189 at $2.25 each case price is over
I did get 16 Telsa EL34 NOS date code 1962 and a quad of RCA black plate 6V6 1952 and Mullard Made in England EL84 6 each various dates
12 RCA grey plate 12AX7 from the 1970's nothing made in Russia did get a 50% discount off of retail price what dealers charge.
Keith that owns the local music store has been my sound man for 37 years now I do the repairs for Keith
the deal is he supply's the tubes this year the high moving tubes have been on back order and have cut into my personal supply.
To be honest I have enough tubes to run my amps the rest of my life.
I will buy a AX-EFX 2 turbo when in stock to clone my amp collection.
 
Dave Sloven said:
I've been thinking this recently. Prices are going up no matter what.

I just paid for a matched quad of Tung Sol 6L6GC-STR tubes as replacements for the quad in my JSX, the amp that has done the most work in the last couple of years. AU$160 + $12.50 express post, which is the pre-*censored* price
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At least a dollar is worth more in Oz :pound-hand: than it is here.
 
67plexi said:
I had to airfreight my tube order out of Russia could not buy a case of 12AX7 at any price
same in the USA the days of EL84M / 7189 at $2.25 each case price is over
I did get 16 Telsa EL34 NOS date code 1962 and a quad of RCA black plate 6V6 1952 and Mullard Made in England EL84 6 each various dates
12 RCA grey plate 12AX7 from the 1970's nothing made in Russia did get a 50% discount off of retail price what dealers charge.
Keith that owns the local music store has been my sound man for 37 years now I do the repairs for Keith
the deal is he supply's the tubes this year the high moving tubes have been on back order and have cut into my personal supply.
To be honest I have enough tubes to run my amps the rest of my life.
I will buy a AX-EFX 2 turbo when in stock to clone my amp collection.
Click to expand...

When I decided to buy my new Rivera amp, I nearly bought an Axe Fx.
 
Session 5 said:
One of the biggest recent breakthroughs toward capturing that tube magic is Hughes & Kettner’s Spirit Technology. According to head of product development Bernd Schneider, the company “started tracking and replicating every single process in a tube circuit. We replicated exactly what goes on in a tube amp.”
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I’ve believed for some time that this is possible. It’s interesting to see H&K make this comment.

It may sound controversial, but I do believe processing power is at such a point where, theoretically, every nuance that matters in a tube amp can be replicated, from sound, to feel, to dynamics, to response.

I don’t believe that is a far-fetched statement, at all.
 
Korg/Vox have had the "NUTUBE" a while -- Peavey has had "transtube" since the what...er 80's????
Marshall was also there with the Mosfet emulation amps -- I have a late 80's Marshall master lead 12..... it "does" that marshall "thing" -- it DOES "break up" -- it DOES "feel" -- it has no tube -- its in amazing shape -- and works very very well. 35 or so years on down the road ..........what tube amps do any of you have -- that are 35 years old that havent at least had all the tubes replaced...once.... twice? ... three times?

again-- I have both and I like both -- as I said earlier - if tubes vanished tomorrow id go .... "oh that sux" .... and move on with life --

now Im going to go "fire up" my AMpero processor and the studio monitors and let them get up to the perfect operating temperature... so I can get that EXACT tone Im chasing...........................................
BUWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH
 
I have been eyeballing a cambridge on craigslist.
had one of the VX50BA bass amps good amp-- just couldnt beat my hartke.....but that isnt a suprise nothing has yet not:
orange
ashdown
peavey
marshall
fender
vox
Kustom
ampeg
or frankly any other bass amp Ive tried ever .... if anyone HAS a bass amp they think can beat the die hard.... please send if for a shoot out .....Ill send it back.....really........ eventually......

for the record the Fender RUMBLE series came closest to toppling the Hartke
 
eSGEe said:
I have been eyeballing a cambridge on craigslist.
had one of the VX50BA bass amps good amp-- just couldnt beat my hartke.....but that isnt a suprise nothing has yet not:
orange
ashdown
peavey
marshall
fender
vox
Kustom
ampeg
or frankly any other bass amp Ive tried ever .... if anyone HAS a bass amp they think can beat the die hard.... please send if for a shoot out .....Ill send it back.....really........ eventually......

for the record the Fender RUMBLE series came closest to toppling the Hartke
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Have you ever tried any Trace Elliots? Old bassist we had, had a AH300 ( mightve been even a 400) and dear god that thing was destructive lol we had dual 50w Marshall half stacks and he could knock us out with just an 18" cab
 
Session 5 said:
One of the biggest recent breakthroughs toward capturing that tube magic is Hughes & Kettner’s Spirit Technology. According to head of product development Bernd Schneider, the company “started tracking and replicating every single process in a tube circuit. We replicated exactly what goes on in a tube amp.”


It’s not just technology that’s changed, as player requirements have evolved along with it. Schneider says of the new breed of solid-state amps: “Sonic versatility is much more important today than it was decades ago. Players want an amp that can do it all - one-stop solutions on which you can play any kind of music at any volume level.”


Solid-state amps provide a lot of benefits for the gigging musician. They can push out a lot of sound in a fairly small format that can cut right through the mix and don’t have to be at ear-splitting volumes to get great tones.
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I wanna hear one. I want the floor model HnK Spirit 200. I hafta go look after the holiday.
md_3f53c14d6adb14adea81ba9242c18456.jpg



I use whatever. Normally one of my tube amps but I still have the Katana for practices and the little Taurus floor pedal amp too. Whatever works. I have abreasonable supply of tubes dor as often as we get to play plus the number of amps to rotate.
 
smitty_p said:
I’ve believed for some time that this is possible. It’s interesting to see H&K make this comment.

It may sound controversial, but I do believe processing power is at such a point where, theoretically, every nuance that matters in a tube amp can be replicated, from sound, to feel, to dynamics, to response.

I don’t believe that is a far-fetched statement, at all.
Click to expand...
I don't believe that a processor can imitate every aspect of a tube amp.
Rather a tube amp has characteristics that can't be imitated.
The unique behavior of sustain in a tube amp ---I really don't expect that to be replicated.

Nope, I honestly don't hear what sounds like a tube amp.
And when I switch between several "profiles," I don't hear a lot of variation but rather the same basic sound.

I think the Cybertwin did a better job, probably because it had tubes in it. But whatever it has a much wider capability according to my hearing.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
I don't believe that a processor can imitate every aspect of a tube amp.
Rather a tube amp has characteristics that can't be imitated.
The unique behavior of sustain in a tube amp ---I really don't expect that to be replicated.
Click to expand...

There was a day when I would have agreed with this statement. But, there are really two considerations: potential and execution. I believe that it is definitely possible with today’s processing power to completely emulate a tube amplifier in every respect that is audible to a player, to include dynamics and “feel”. That is a consideration of potential, i.e., can it be done.

However, whether or not such power has, in fact, been sufficiently leveraged to realize that potential is a consideration of execution, i.e., has it been done.

Whether sufficient motivation exists (in other words, will it sell and will there be a return on investment) to devote the R&D is a different matter.
 
Clockworkmike said:
Have you ever tried any Trace Elliots? Old bassist we had, had a AH300 ( mightve been even a 400) and dear god that thing was destructive lol we had dual 50w Marshall half stacks and he could knock us out with just an 18" cab
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are you implying I am an OLD BASSIST???? (thank you -- ive earned it lol)

I have not tried one but I do here damn good things ---- perhaps a smaller one --- 400 is just not useable here--- I had a 100 watt KUSTOM tuck n roll 70's cab with a 15 ----- the walls SHOOK when I just turned it on.......
the trace elliot ELF has certainly PEAKED my interest !!! ;):dood:and the warwick GNOME have both been on my radar -- just aint found a used one cheap yet ......(also the hartke cost me a whopping 60.00 ........ NEW!
1639826965087.png
1639827035813.png


TBTH the only one that has "stuck around" was the HOTONE Thunderbass....................... it has lovely old school Ampeg tone (it breaks up like an old tube bass head....... yep really it does)
1639827124237.png

It also (I believe ) is a "one off" of the ampeg model in the hotone ampero --- as I believe all the NANO amp line from hotone are also just powered versions of the models in their multipedals.....(I have no proof but they sound that way)
sounds good at low HOME use volumes --

even has an effects loop -- the headphone out can go straight to DAW.... for desktop recording .... .and can be used with any speaker load 4-8-16
1639827533599.png

lets see sounds good stupid cheap -- no tubes........ naw cant be BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!!!!!
 
smitty_p said:
There was a day when I would have agreed with this statement. But, there are really two considerations: potential and execution. I believe that it is definitely possible with today’s processing power to completely emulate a tube amplifier in every respect that is audible to a player, to include dynamics and “feel”. That is a consideration of potential, i.e., can it be done.

However, whether or not such power has, in fact, been sufficiently leveraged to realize that potential is a consideration of execution, i.e., has it been done.

Whether sufficient motivation exists (in other words, will it sell and will there be a return on investment) to devote the R&D is a different matter.
Click to expand...

Having said all of the above, I want to point out again that I am not anti-tube. After all, I just spent $1500.00 on a new tube amp, and I love it! I did consider something like an AxeFX, but I decided to go the opposite route and get a full-tube amp. So, yes...I loves me some tubes!

But, the whole topic raises another question: is emulating tubes truly necessary? I know we like to talk about the fact that transistors produce odd-order harmonics and tubes produce even-order harmonics (which isn’t completely correct) but that whole conversation is pretty passé in today’s world. Processing a waveform to attenuate objectionable harmonics is a rudimentary task in today’s world.

But, getting myself back to my own question…is it really necessary to emulate a tube? From a marketing perspective, it probably is, for now. But, there is nothing inherently “bad” about solid-state amplification. It’s just how you execute it…as would be true for a tube-based circuit, too. If you don‘t get yourself wrapped around a presupposition that something has to sound just like a tube to sound good, but let yourself consider the possibility that a tube is not the only standard of good sound, then you can allow yourself to enjoy a good sound for what it is, and not what produced it.
 
smitty_p said:
Having said all of the above, I want to point out again that I am not anti-tube. After all, I just spent $1500.00 on a new tube amp, and I love it! I did consider something like an AxeFX, but I decided to go the opposite route and get a full-tube amp. So, yes...I loves me some tubes!

But, the whole topic raises another question: is emulating tubes truly necessary? I know we like to talk about the fact that transistors produce odd-order harmonics and tubes produce even-order harmonics, but that whole conversation is pretty passé in today’s world. MOSFETs produce a harmonic response more similar to tubes, so the odd/even question really applies more to a different category of semiconductor. Processing a waveform to attenuate objectionable harmonics is a rudimentary task in today’s world.

But, getting myself back to my own question…is it really necessary to emulate a tube? From a marketing perspective, it probably is, for now. But, there is nothing inherently “bad” about solid-state amplification. It’s just how you execute it…as would be true for a tube-based circuit, too. If you don‘t get yourself wrapped around a presupposition that something has to sound just like a tube to sound good, but let yourself consider the possibility that a tube is not the only standard of good sound, then you can allow yourself to enjoy a good sound for what it is, and not what produced it.
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I know why they do it, but I think the biggest mistake of amp manufacturers is to market their amps as sounding like <insert any tube amp here>. Let the amps be the best they can be and don't try to emulate other amps.

When discussing tubes vs SS I usually recommend people to read pages 18-30 of the linked paper. I don't think anyone ever did though... Perhaps because people just like being stuck in their preconceptions.

I'm technology agnostic. A good sounding amp is a good sounding amp, regardless of what's on the inside.

 
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