GUITAR AMPLIFERS

Music Central owner, Trevor Bernhardt, "tells it like it is":

Let's get straight to the point: Tubes or Valves versus Transistors. When you think that 90% of full time pro players use tube amps and 90% of home player use transistor amps, the obvious question is why?

The first usual consideration is Money!
A 100 watt “tranny” amp with built-in FX is usually around half the price of a standard 100 watt tube amp. The tube amp will need tubes replaced throughout its life time and will not be quite as robust as its “tranny” siblings.

The Sounds the thing!
Ask any guitarist about the sound difference between tubes and transistors and you will get a million different opinions. From my point of view, when I play an all tube amp, I seem to be able to “feel” the sound through my fingers. It's as if the tubes are partly bouncing back the notes.

There also seems to be some natural compression going on as the fire inside these wonderful glass bottles explodes, as notes and heavier passages are squeezed through them. Tubes also have more tones and tolerance as more gain is applied. Instead of a transistor being overloaded and clipping (harsh distortion), a tube's tone breaks up with a more rounded sound (smooth distortion).

Another anomaly seems to be the sheer volume. Even when quoted in RMS watts, a tube amp seems twice as loud as it equal transistor counterpart. For most smaller gigs, a 30 to 50 watt tube amp will normally be okay (unless it's death metal). While a minimum 100/120 watt tranny amp will be needed to cope with a drummer and bass player.

So the decision of which way to go falls to:
A. How much money do you have?
B. Do you really need the “Tube Tone” at this stage of your playing?
C. Does the style you're trying to create demand a tube amp?

Of course some of the sound models being produced by today's modern “tranny” amps are amazing and the values are ridiculous. And the style and sound you're after will also dictate the type of amp you need.

Thanks, Trevor. Talk about "sound advice"!

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