Can a guitar pedal REALLY sound like a TUBE AMP?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- 🔥 Interested in learning how to design or build guitar pedals?
My newest course, “Complete Beginners Guide: How to design your own guitar pedal circuits” will detail exactly how to do this, even if you have zero experience with electronics
I’ll personally teach you using easy to understand language, no math involved, and we’ll do it with a guitar in hand.
www.guitarpeda...
Use coupon code ➡️ youtube15 ⬅️ to get an automatic 15% discount!
All of my courses are ABSOLUTELY RISK FREE - 100% money back guarantee within 30 days of your purchase. If you don’t love the courses, I’ll refund you, no questions asked.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
In today's episode, I'm taking you on a unique journey - a challenge I set for myself to see if I can emulate the warm, rich tones of a tube amp using nothing but solid state circuitry just like we use in analog guitar pedals.
We start off with a nostalgic piece - the Crate V50, 5212, a budget tube amp that's been a trusty companion for many guitarists over the years. My mission? To replicate its sound using analog pedal circuitry, blending FET and NPN bipolar transistors. It's a fascinating process of breadboarding and tweaking to get as close as possible to that beloved tube amp sound.
Join me as I walk you through the design a little bit, sharing my thoughts and observations along the way, shall you? ;)
I also go into the technicalities of using a breadboard as a preamp, and how it changes the way you connect to your amp. Plus, I'll share my initial reactions to the higher gain settings, and how dialing back the gain reveals some interesting characteristics of the solid state circuit.
But this isn't just about the tech; it's about the journey. This video is a little peek into the experimental side of pedal and audio circuitry design, where trial and error lead to discovery and innovation. And, of course, I want to hear from you! Did this breadboard circuit capture the essence of the tube amp? Did it sound better, worse, or just different?
As always, we value your input - drop your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Did this experiment ignite your curiosity? Would you like to see more of these hands-on, experimental videos? Let me know!
*****************************************************
The fact that you got that close in such a short amount of time is crazy, all that experience paying off big time on saving time.
I can't believe how good that Crate sounded.
True enough... Never liked the Crates I've used, but this sounded good - both of them.
I've had a V50 for a few years now. It's just not like the other Crates.
I still have my Crate G40XL combo.
I have that same Crate amp. It’s a beast. Loud. Tricky to dial in. Heavy as a house. But man, when you find that sweet spot, it is awesome! And it takes pedals just great.
Can you share your settings?
Dude, your ear is intense. Great job dialing that in, thats so impressive.
That board sounded grrrreat all around. But the first high gain take of the amp sounded stellar. Meaty, open, clear. Pretty much the sound I have in my head as perfect. Hope to see some pedal hitting the market soon by you 👌
I appreciate this content and have found inspiration from way back from your first pedal showing your breadboard setup. Obviously there is a huge amount of talent and skill demonstrated in this video that deserves recognition, and one aspect I would point out is that to do this project, you are going between an engineering/design approach to a listening/playing approach in a very special way. The ability to see "how close you can get" to copy an existing amp is kind of burying the lead. Having the experience, skill, and drive to have a sound in your head or in your customers' heads and then capture it in a piece of gear is really what I find most inspiring and impressive here. Sure, a viewer can always watch your content and say to themselves, "I wanna be that good," about your playing, your design, your work ethic or business model, etc. Without overly gushing (too late), you should know there are many who are saying "I wanna be that good" regarding the ability to capture the sounds in our heads and make them a real thing. Thank you.
That’s very kind of you!
Sounds great to me. You're a genius creating overdrive/distortion pedals. Inspiring.
Those amps are total sleepers, wouldn’t expect them to sound that good. From what you’re saying they may be one trick ponies but that’s a nice trick for the price. The breadboard sounded awesome as expected. Maybe not a bad circuit design idea for a more budget oriented overdrive or something. I’m sure the two feel different but tonally over TH-cam they’re really close. If I did a blind A/B I probably couldn’t tell you which was which.
Another pedal in the Triumph/Phenom line? A preamp-style pedal? I'd buy that.
You are always so humble and so focused! Love this! Thanks for doing what you do!
You are a wizard when it comes to circuit development!
Nice job for a such a quick breadboard! Yeah you could argue about the EQ but for me it was the same thing I’ve thought about SS vs Tube for years: the initial bloom and sag of the tubes is missing. Solid state is much more “anemic” or compressed. Again, the tone is there but the dynamics is the biggest factor. This is why I dug your Phenom, it focused on that aspect!✌️
Thanks Andy!
Tone is absolutely subjective…until freaking Andy weighs in…at which point you have the correct answer. Wowsers!!
I appreciate all the effort & time you put into making content like this. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.
Just signed up for your pedal course. I'm super stoked!
Awesome! As a teen in the 80s, I couldn't afford any of the BIG brand amps (Marshall, Boogie, Fender etc). Crate was my go to. I would love to see that circuit make it as a production pedal. Ah, the memories.
I love my Crate GX, I still use it as a preamp, just driving whatever is handy to use as a power section. If someone made that circuit in a stompbox I'd be like Fry: _Shut up and take my money!_
Less sustain but could be fixed with a compressor. I find most pedals can be made more tube amp like by adding a compressor and just rolling off a bit of treble. of course I don’t have magic ears, but to me you can achieve most tube amp sounds with this method.
Very cool, makes you wonder why amp companies aren’t using analog circuits instead of digital stuff for solid state amps… love to see more vids like these.
I thought the same. I can only this of Quilter that does this.
Its cool as hell that you can just bread board an amps preamp like that. Cool stuff Brian.
It's really nice to see a classico style "Breadboarding With Brian" video.
Great experiment. I had difficulty hearing the difference, as I do with most TH-cam comparison videos. Due to that, I normally listen for level of inspiration - both circuits seem to have been as motivational to you, and you didn't stop playing the solid-state circuit until you heard the difference in sustain, which seems very fixable (not easy, I imagine.)
i listen to it in the car. its easier to hear the difference. unless you have a shity stereo?😊
I would have been really excited if you were willing to discuss the actual circuit and what your thoughts and design ideas were, the methods you used to get what you ended up with. Ultimately was entertaining but I didn’t learn anything. Sounds decent to me, usable I’m sure but hard to say without my fingers on the fretboard. Thanks.
It should really be titled "Can a pedal sound like a tube PREAMP?" - I'd wager the tube power section of the amp plays a HUGE role in here, not to mention the speaker.
It's safe to say a good Plexi pedal used in a tube amp sounds very Plexi.
This is super interesting. You got me with the Crate in the thumbnail… I used a Crate V3112 from the same model series exclusively when I was touring in the Texas Music circuit. Worked great for me for the Red Dirt stuff and I was ALWAYS getting compliments on my tone. Many players didn’t know what it was and would come ask me… and the FOH guys would live it because the circuit sounds like a boutique cross between a JCM800 and an AC30, but the clean channel takes pedals really well and a tube screamer in front, but what won me over was that all the tube tone is there as soon as you crack the volume. I would play large stages and never needed to play louder than 2 or 3, and sound guys loved it because they could actually put me in the mix. Simple to swap tubes on it, because it is a tube muncher of an amp… I giggled it solid for 10 years and it never took a 💩 on me. I’ve got 2 combos I play in stereo sometimes and a head version too for the studio. Thanks for making this video!! More of these please
A Crate v50 212 was my first serious amp. It was a Christmas gift from my parents and I loved it. Gigged it all over town :)
Amazing result from an hour's work! You can hear the Crate preamp "breathe"; there's that "clank" of the tubes working, but I'd say in a live mix it wouldn't be as noticeable. Curious as to how hard you were driving the power amp. In my experience with Crate V-series and Blue Voodoo amps, the power section really made a huge difference in their tone. I could get crappy 90's digital rack gear to sound great through the power section if you cranked them a bit.
It’s only a 9v circuit, it’s not being driven hard
I was just impressed with how much you nailed it in such a short amount of time.
Those old crate amps are awesome! Great video. I always learn from your videos Bryan.
Yea they are, got a v1512 and v58 myself, they run hot but they got a sound that's hard to beat for what they sell for
Never owned a crate . But played a couple used ones at guitar center years ago that I really liked . Then they all just sort of disappeared . Playing a mesa mv 25 which I'm really loving . Was going through gt 1000 before I got the Mesa . Still have the gt 1000 but not using it so much . Only pedal im using right now is Keely mod station . May need to pull out compressor and wah pedal and I think im good
@@riviecc a mesa Boogie! Brother you are set and ready for anything.... unfortunately Boogie's are big Bucks where I live😞 I'm still dreaming of owning one....after 30 years of playing🤣
@heavybrett-al4082 Was a little pricey , but just bought the head for 1300 . Going to sell my bass breaker 15 head and using cab for mesa . The head is super lighr and the 12 x1 cab is only 18lbs . Was lugging around a hot rod deluxe for years at 40 plus pounds . I have a back injury so this really helps and this amp does everything
@@riviecc 👍 nice, yea those fender amps get super heavy, I've just started diving into modelling and ir's (after years of being suspect about tone quality) , and just got the Boss ir-2....very impressive including official celestion captured cab's....but one day I'll save for a Boogie (but only to just have one and look over to it and smile) 🤣
I liked the 30 watt Marshall Artist amps of the mid 1980s, and they had a solid state preamp section, and I currently have a Quilter Power Block UK as a backup amp for gigs. That said, I prefer my 65 Amps, my Dr Z Amps, and my Shaw Amp to them.
Played guitar for 20 years. I never ever used pedals. I bought the Brent Mason Hot Wired V2 (used) Got a ego compressor on the way. Only pedal brand im using ever will be Wampler. Great pedals
That’s how is starts bro. I was the same way and now I have well over 50 and two boards. Be careful.
Wampler is great 👍. Boss is the shit too man. Great thing about those is the price. Now u need a board and power supply.
Wampler keeley and jhs
@bigtsshackfestival9563 May I ask what board and/or power supply you use? I've got a bunch of pedals but can never seem to have enough power for them all lol. Looking for something that can accommodate lots of pedals but is fairly straightforward for a guy who doesn't know a ton about different voltages, etc.
You’ve never even used the others…
Don't know about the V50 with the EFX built in, but the V32 Palomino I have is great- a cross between a Marshall and a Vox. The circuit was designed by Obeid Khan, who went on to Reason amps and the rebirth of Magnatone.
I thought many years ago I saw that Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top used this same Crate amp..now he is a MagnaTone guy.
The circuit was in the ball park but it was a bit dark. The amp was brighter which made it have it stand out from most of what is out there. Just a bit brighter and I would want you to do a pedal of it, LOL. I love these shows. I usually watch them over and over to actually learn something.
I wrote almost exactly the same post. Then I read yours and figured there was no point in posting it.
@@captainsparkySame here
Brian, those 5112, and 5212 vfx amps are a huge bang for the buck! I have had a couple. Great job mimicking it!
I learn so much from Brian.
Brian always has his own take on gear and it is appreciated. Thank you. Darrell
Wow ! when you first played the v50, sounded great. I have never heard or seen that series before.
Great video and that bread circuit is really good for a couple of hours work. Quite close, different but good.
This is the first video I've seen from this channel, and I could not be more impressed. That tone was amazing. I don't think you can ever make an amp-in-a-box sound identical to a tube amp, so there will always be people who can "tell the difference" or have preference for the tube amp. Really, this is like graduating from Cornell and spending the next forty years wishing you had gone to Columbia ...
That was really cool! I really liked how 'chime-y' that last round was. It had a 'glean' or a 'gliss' to it that sounded fat but had a sweet, compressed top end that didn't get out of hand.
That V50, always wanted one but never got ahold of one. Understand I own a ton of amps and nothing stops me from grabbing one except forgetting or something. But that circuit course looks interesting. I could 'build my own'. Thing about that: I just bought that new TC Electronic pedal, the Jims 800, that is a JCM 800/JMP 50 in a pedal. I watched a video where it was ear tested and computer tested, and it MATCHED the actual heads it was going up against. I couldn't tell the difference. I've owned a 1978 JMP 50 MK II head before so I'll know if it's for real or not. But if I can build these things instead of buy them, and enjoy the process while doing so, that might be just the ticket.
Even in it's current iteration, I would still purchase this if it was marketed as a pedal - quite lovely!!
Yeah , I noticed the sustain wasn't very tube like in a FET Blues Driver clone altho the basic tone was.. I think the ratio of the signal size to the Current to Voltage curve is whats responsible. SS of course goes from linear to nonlinear much quicker so the signal can't sit in an area where its slightly compressed on one side and a little more on the other, then as it shrinks that remains the case to a certain extent as well. W SS , it falls to linearity as the signal gets smaller so the sustain disappears.
AMT uses a combo of JFET and NPN transistors in their pedals... and the results are magnificent. I own two generations of these things and used to have a third. However, they are made in Russia...so there won't be any more for the foreseeable future. I hope Wampler can pick up the torch. I sure like how this circuit sounds!
Very cool experiment and it sounded killer! Would love to see more of the nerdy details! I might have to get that course haha
The Crate Vintage series were beasts and took pedals well. I was going to get one, but ended up with the Blue Voodoo instead.
I thought the same as you the Breadboard with gain midway sounded great. Clear and crunchy. Like a JTM opened wide. My favorite tones were some of the early Fender high powered twins and JTMs when they were similar.
There are times I actually prefer the sound of a pedal to the amp. What the amp gives me, though, is a bit of feedback or 'feel'. I have been able to replicate a great deal of the tube amp feel to the point where a decent (and inexpensive) SS amp or even a modeler comes close to the amp - but it's not quite there. FWIW, many tube amps don't give me that feedback I'm referring to (a new Fender Deluxe, for example, feels almost like the SS amp). That feel thing is subtle, but it's really nice.
Any idea what the rectifier is ? I bought a Princeton where they switched it to SS back before SS rectifiers were off the self. Yeah, the distortion was wrong. After putting a tube rectifier back in it was much better.
I have a V50 and love it. I dropped the gain by swapping a 12au7 in, and CRUSH the input with a $20 Klon with the output and gain dimed.
😂me to ! I run a clone into it and it's sounds unreal ! I put the original Russian tubes back into it because it didn't sound good for me with any lower gain 12a tubes.
This is one of the reasons 70s peavey amps and Vampower amps and HH, and even the roland jc120 sound so good. The solid state circuits of those amps get that tube type vibe from the way the sag and peak cutoff occurs in the overdriven circuits. MOSFET and FET style circuits can be almost as good as valve amplification.
That tone was rock and roll as hell. I personally think you got real close. Ive migrated away from tube amps myself and really got into clean solid state power with a good preamp pedal. Quilter amps are amazing for this.😊
Back when I was younger I'd take apart record players for the preamps , tubes , or transistor types . and try them , . Some were Harry sounding and others had a great sound . Fiddling around is always fun .🎸✌
How similar are amp in a box style pedals to the design of solid state amps? With so many great amp style pedals these days, I’ve wondered why there haven’t seemed to be better solid state amp options too. Would you also have to be able to model the power section of a tube amp?
Looks like a great product to put in front of a Marshall plexi or old fender twin reverb to tame down a non master volume amp..
Sounds excellent.. good vibe...
gutsy ambition sir!
Great job! Did an awesome simulation. Sounded close enough, but a little high rattle could be noticed when things were boosted. Great job man!
Differences were pretty subtle. Almost down to comparing amps with varying component tolerances or even comparing stock tubes vs JJ, vintage RCA etc.
me
man I bet that amp is heavy...oh, but it's got casters!
brian
carries it anyway.
Once you dropped the gain it sounded awesome. Badass dude
Fun experiment. Sounds like you're getting pretty close already.
Thought they sounded pretty close, really liked how the bread board sounded
I know how you felt walking out that door, those things are crazy heavy, I found mine to be dark but sounded good, I had an older model vintage club 50
Well , 55 seconds in and I am 10000000% loving the idea of this video, what a thoroughly amazing idea for a video
It sounded very close. I would love a pedal with this sound. Its a strong distortion but you can still hear the natural timber of the guitar.
Timbre pronounced tamber. Thanks for making me look it up. : )
Sounds pretty good already. Pedals can sound good in the effects loop if u use an eq boost pedal. Make it!
Holy crap! The Sam Ash in Castleton. I'm in there like every week!
This is awesome! My main amp for years and current is a 5212. I crank my amp and gain and clean up with my guit vol. Everything from zz top to satriani. Love the rev and delay 2. Then theres the clean channel, can be sweet or big. Love it with a seymour dunc pickup booster.
Would love to see the course once it’s ready. Keep us posted🎉 enjoyed the vid interesting as I thought both sounded very similar
I think this is just amazing for a couple hours of breadbarding. Overall, Brian makes a very valid point.
Mostly play modelers these days, Headrush Prime/ Quad Cortez, but plug in my Crate V30 at least once a week and end up getting lost in it. Sounds so sweet.
I thought exactly what you thought. It was doing some interesting stuff with the gain dialed down.
Thanks! Fun lunch hour for me. I think I'd need a week personally going back and forth between the two pre-amps to get a feel for the difference, and as I am a guy who plays alone in his room, it's moot - I have a 5 watt tube amp and a solid state Peavey, and I just use the 5-watter because tubes are cool, or so I have heard/read online.
What would make the most difference in my sound, other than someone better than me playing my guitar, would be a LARGE ROOM WHERE I COULD CRANK IT UP. I wish there were rooms like that around where I live.
Brian you're an absolute wizard dude haha well done
I used to own 2 Crates one was A wired 1-12 which was my go to. I really enjoyed them. I'll say your emulation is somewhat smoother but still ballsy... I'm enjoying your British mini drive at the moment.. I'll buy the pedal when you're done!
I got all excited when I thought there would be an attempt at a mosfet style power section as well but hopes dashed at the 3:15 mark.
Just the preamp is still an awesome comparison.
I totally agreed with your views on it, I feel there's a stage on the real amp thats getting saturated / compressed leading to the increased sustain
Ok, I want the bread board overdrive 😅 nice 👍🏻
Wow! I thought it was just me. When you turned that gain down it sounded so dang good I thought you plugged back into the tube amp and had to come back to my computer to check (listening with wireless headphones while dong some housework 😁) I was shocked it was the solid state circuit. Sounded amazing!!!
Great sounds! I remember having a pretty good time and a killer sound with a borrowed crate some years ago...
excellent stuff and demonstrates perfectly how sometimes we're paying for a 'named' amp that actually isn't much different to something much cheaper that could sound just as good!
For me, the first question was : I need an amp that sounds really great for clean sounds (really clean) and really great crancked or pushed with OD at any volume (small/medium gigs/bedroom and rehearsal). And my conclusion was that I need a reel clean amp that work fine at any volume with pedals. A good amp that breakup and go to OD need volume and you not can achieve good tones for all situations, so you need several amps… Maybe today I’m wrong
Pretty interesting. I think the breadboard sounded just a bit darker, but otherwise pretty close. I didn't notice the sustain though.
Nice! The sound was great, pretty close to the amp. Closer than many other amp in a box pedals ive heard before. A bit of tweaking and it could be a winner.
I just enjoyed watching a master at work. That Brent Tele sure is nice!
Amazing video, thanks for sharing this. I really think the solid state sounded excellent.
Thanks Brian! To me it sounded pretty close especially for such a quick board. Very impressive and interesting!
Dude that was awesome! I’d love to see you try this with a clean/high headroom type pedal platform type preamp. Like a two rock traditional clean or something that won’t break up. Then Use this preamp as the second half of the pedal… 😉 nice work brian! Your content is awesome!
Makes me want to get the “Marshall in a box” for my Fender 2/12 Frontman.
My absolute favorite "amp" to play for years now has been a pedal that I built. 4 gain stages of Opamps and diodes running at 24v. I actually prefer it over all of my tube amps.
I've heard some stunning results from high voltage mosfets too
I really liked the lower gain sound!
Sounds fantastic!
My buddy Jeff (Slaughter) has been using 50w Crate Stealth heads for years…
They sound great! Total sleepers
That Tele sounds really good!!!
This reminds me of the Jim Lill video 'Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Guitar Amplifier?'. He made replica preamps using various guitar pedals chained in different orders.
Understanding how successful think is sometimes better than having them tell you how to do what they do. I've found that many of the ones I've met approach things from "what if." What if I try this? I wonder what this will do? I was an acquaintance of Larry DiMarzio years ago. Great guy and fun to hang out with. I literally sat in a room with him one day as he went through a box of samples of hardware, screws, springs, cable samples, strap material samples, etc considering if any of these new items compared to what he was currently using and if anything could improve that line. A constant search and curiosity for what is better and makes people excited to play. And I worked for a guitar company whose interest in new things was only how to extract more shekels from 'consumers.' So I've seen the difference first hand. I appreciate you sharing your passion and curiosity. I don't think the tube amp is the final evolution of guitar tone. There are enough examples of good sounding amps out there to disprove that. I don't think fx and IRs are even an given answer going forward. Peavey and Music Man made good sounding amps with ss preamps and tube power amps. Later tube preamps with ss power amps became a thing. Well, where is the magic actually happening? Tradition is hard to overcome and people hear with their eyes. But something will come.... maybe... as long as people keep wondering "what if" and pull out a soldering iron. Yes, I do appreciate your videos, Mr Wampler. Hope you like my blog post, though you didn't ask for it.
I also had the 2x12 version of that USA Crate V50. Absolutely fantastic sleeper amp IMO.
Great demo of why some pedal designers attract strong followings… a mix of listening, taste and know-how.
I'm inclined to agree. The electronics in most pedals aren't complex. The hard part is tweaking things to sound good enough to compete with the others on the market. This man clearly has some great ears and really good knowledge to put thos together so fast. I couldn't have told the difference between the breadboard and the real amp.
sounded very similar to my ears Brian, really quite surprised how good it was for a couple of hours on a breadboard
Sounded awesome. I would love that class.
I have The Sovreign Distortion...which Pairs great with my 79 JMP Combo... great job!
I had that exact same amp around 2010... but it was in a cream color. Wonderful amp and very, very loud. OMG was that thing HEAVY! Thank God for those wheels on the bottom.
These amp in a box pedals fascinate me, I love the pinnacle. I also have a bogner blue which is very amp like on the 18v setting.
It could be attributed to TH-cam’s digital audio compression, or just listening through my phone’s speaker, but either way, I’m not hearing anything that distinctively resembles a tube amp. Don’t get me wrong, the overdrive sounds good, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with solid state amps, as far as I’m concerned. Frankly, I think tubes are only audibly discernible on the pre-amp stage, anyway, but the most efficient way to sound like tube amplification, is just to use a tube or two, somewhere, almost anywhere, before the main amp stage. ❤
Sounds great, you did a great job nailing that tone. It is awesome to see someone tell what really goes on with the guitar signal, instead of all the voodoo and magic and feel that people talk about.
That amp sounds way cool. i do love valve power amp section that i feel it gives it warmth.
I had a VC3112 and loved it. I still have the little 5 watt VC in the closet somewhere.
Really liked the sound with the gain at noon, the tone seemed to open up