What I Wish I Knew Before I Bought a Tube Amp
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 มิ.ย. 2024
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Tube amps are one of those things that don't really make sense. They're a bunch of unreliable 75 year old technology in a big wooden box, and we have countless "better" options on the market today, whether that's solid state amps or amp modelers. But tube amps will always have a place in my sound and I don't think I'll ever stop playing them. There's something different, more organic feeling about tube amps that you can't really get anywhere else. In today's video, we're going over some of the basics of tube amps, and what I wish I knew before buying my first amp over 10 years ago.
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0:00 Intro
0:40 PRS DGT 15
1:38 Let's hear the amp
2:19 How this video works
2:41 Tube Amp Basics
5:14 How Much Power Do You Need?
6:42 Gain Staging 101
9:42 How To Use Master Volume
10:50 Using Pre and Master Vol Together
12:20 How different guitars change the amp
14:47 How to dial in your amp
16:05 Use ALL of the control
16:54 Top cut and Presence
18:58 Finding the perfect amp
20:18 Outro - เพลง
"Use your ears, not your eyes" - that's actually great advice. I've been playing for 25+ years now, and I still make that mistake... Thanks a lot, Rhett!
You might play it 1h per day, but you're looking at it all day. So, maybe use both?
@@emulgatorx lol , guitars and equipment are so nice to look at.
this advice is keen to saving money when amp shopping
So nice to hear an Amp demo short and sweet by a player repeating the exact same phrase just a simple 2/3 chords s short riff and a quick couple of chops
And repeated perfectly each time to be as close as before
Instead of a random shred that has no Relevance to what was previously played as the Amps dynamic range and features are demonstrated
Great job sir 👍
🤙
What I wish I knew: the neighbors will hate me and my wife will eventually leave me.
So...win, win?
Sounds like you pushed beyond the edge up breakup
Yep, I just lost my 3rd wife that way but I can play as loud as I want now
Basis for a country anthem.
You know whats funny when he does it its a job but when we do it were just annoying are families
I wish I’d known that the Vox AC15 is the world’s perfect amp. Would have spared me years of blowing folks’ ears out chasing that creamy tone.
They respond so well to attack
I've had three separate ac15's over the years, killer amps - even more so when you figure out their quirks.
Me too after years of searching ended on the ac15 it does all
I like how my Egnater 15 has an AC15 setting
Love my AC15. So beautiful. If it had an effects loop I wouldn't need anything else! Why Vox Why! 😭
The “dialing in your amp” part is so true. I had a Marshall DSL40C for a while and I always thought it was a “bad” thing that I had to turn the treble all the way down and the mids all the way up. But it sounded fantastic when I played it that way, and it turns out a lot of Marshalls sound best when the EQ knobs are pushed to extremes. Those knobs twist for a reason!
I have one myself. Love it. Previously owned a pre CBS Bassman, and a Hiwatt combo in the 80's. Love that Marshall. It's got the infamous chunk when you hit it hard. I do miss the Bassman.
I have a Laney Lionheart 5W combo. Great amp and I feel is very underrated. I’ve got one of the earlier British made ones with a Greenback. They are built like a tank…probably around 45-50 pounds with a 12” speaker for a five watter. Very versatile. Takes pedals well and built in drive can easily get to a good rock tone. But the cleans are phenomenal and very articulate.
This really should be a must-watch for folks new to the Tube/Valve Amp scene. Kudos to you, Rhett! 🔥🙏🏻🔥
There was a spinal tap moment
." Did you hear that sustain"
'Well, you would'
@@Pikilloification ... if ... it were playing.
@@mbuchart2927you can go and have a bit and you still be hearing that one
"Don't even look at that one. No. Don't look at it."
My biggest problem with amps is i tend to want every one i can get my hands on. It’s starting to get as bad as my guitar buying addiction!
The Geetar Gorilla is Real!!!!
I know it's obvious, but something I learned early on is that how powerful an amp you need for stage volume mainly depends on how clean you need it to be. So you might want a 2x12 100W Fender Twin for squeeky clean stage volume cleans for a pedal steel or Rhodes mk.I. Or a Vox AC30, to a lesser extent. And most people don't need that, which I guess is why Twins can seem good value compared to Princeton's or Deluxe Reverbs. But, these days for dirty Marshall tone, the small light 20W studio heads make more sense than a big heavy 100W model. But then small Fender's like Tweed Champs and Princeton's are stun guns when fullly dirty. So yeah, no perfect amp, always the question is what's the main intended use.
Very helpful… thanks for diving into fundamentals! So easy to get caught up in gear and pedals, but there is so much that can be done with just dialing in the amp! Great video, thanks!
Rhett, we appreciate the video's, very helpful !
Awesome presentation, you did a great job explaining the controls it's always good to have a refresher. Rock on brother!
Thanks for explaining that “no sound comes out of the amp head”. I’ve been wondering why all my amp heads weren’t working! Gotta try out this “speaker cabinet” thing!
We all know that tone in a PRS amp comes mostly from the wood of the amp chassis 💀
😅😂
The amps are 10 sides instead of 10 tops
Actually, this makes me want to try this out, speaker cab size and construction has a big impact on sound, so why wouldn’t the material it’s built from?
Jim Lil enters chat
Yes indeed sir there was a hifi company in the 80s that made concrete hifi speakers in the shape of Pyramid,they sounded ace and in the 90s there was a 4x12 cab made of 1” thick aluminium called ox?
Surely in this day n age there must be some modern carbon fibre or titanium boxes to A/ B
Ps I once acquired a pair of 15”speakers previously housed in wharfdale pro PA speakers formally owned by the Splinter Group…
I rebuilt them
Into a single 3/4”thick sided maple single cab as a 2x15
Unfortunately it did not give me that Peter Green magic tho ….
Just a permanent piece of furniture 😂
Great Video! I just “graduated “ to a tube amp and I’m happy I did. I went from a Line 6 Catalyst 60. To a Marshall DSL40cr. I’ll be staying with tube amps from now on.
Great choice in amp. There dependable, reasonably priced, and sound good! A good pedal platform!
Nice one Rhett. Best vid all year. Thank you.
Rhett, your content is always entertaining and informative. Thanks for sharing again!
Very well illustrated! Good job explaining this subject matter, Rhett!
Excellent and informative video! Thanks for covering the basics, which often go overlooked.
Great summary - I've never seen it explained so simply, yet spot on.
Great video; I wish something like this was around when I was a tube amp noob. "Listen with your ears, not your eyes" when tweaking the eq, and "you need fewer watts than you think. No, really" are two of the best bits of advice that I should have learned much earlier!
Excellent educational vlog!!!!!Thanks Rhett
Mahalo! I purchased my Divided by 13 AMW 39 because of your video a few years ago!
Very informative and useful video, especially how each of the tone and volume controls interact with each other.
The Stand By Switch is there to increase the life of your Tubes. It allows the heater plates in the Tubes to warm up everything before sending Hugh amounts of current through the tubes. If the tubes get slammed with High Current before it heats up, the chemical surface of the Plates slowly starts to degrade over time and there goes your tubes sooner than they should have. It's Electronics Physics 101...
Exactly! I always use it on my Twin Rectifier and JCM 800. And my valves(tubes) last years.
In addition to that, the standby also stops any loud pops or spikes reaching your speakers.
Switching to standby removes the High Voltage to the tubes so at switch on it allows the tubes to warm up off load, and when switching off stops any noises from occurring as the voltages drop off.
The standby switch is actually to protect the large capacitors from over-voltage because the tubes don't present a load on the power supply until they've warmed up. It was cheaper to put in a standby switch rather than higher-rated capacitors just for the sake of the warm-up period.
Nope!
@@CerealDust-nStuff You''re free to wear the tubes out faster.
Great video, I wish i would see that 10 years ago. I'm glad that you have pointed out the difference between a speaker and a guitar cable. It's very important as it may even cause a fire.
I feel Exactly The Same with my Fender Blues Junior IV. Thanks Rhett
Rhett…thanks for the U&C excellent vid/content. I’ve been a musician & guitarist for 43 years now and while you didn’t present anything new that I didn’t already know, you did give me a different way of thinking about a couple of things.
While kinda off topic, but not entirely, you’d mentioned the scenario where you park your PRS 15 watt head next to you and then park your cab in another room…
I play gigs at a few venues where the stage volume is restricted or there’s a Silent Stage rule. I used to have my amp head on stage w/me and I either had my cab in a back room or I used an internally mic’d iso-cab backstage.
About a 18 months, ago I started experiencing the progression of a health issue that necessitated a reduction/simplification in load in/out considerations. Fast forward to a year ago and after researching potential solutions, I purchased a Quilter Aviator Cub UK 1x12” 50 watt combo. It emulates, as I recall a 1963 Vox AC30, a 1964 Vox AC30 Top Boost and a 1977-ish, give or take a couple of years, Marshall JMP 2204 50 watt head.
It is solid state as opposed to tube, but it’s also a 50 watt 1x12” combo that weighs in at only 22 pounds (10 kilograms). That’s the icing on the cake. It sounds outstanding. Pat Quilter did a remarkable job nailing the tone and feel of the emulated amps. The preamp is FET/MOSFET based and the output section is Class D.
I plug in, turn on and set my tone. I then set the master volume to the venue limits or roll it back to zero for silent stage (I’m plugged into the amp’s volume-controllable, speaker emulated out that goes to FOH for venue mixing purposes no matter the scenario) and I’m ready for sound check. The amp takes pedals very well too.
I don’t have to fiddle with the knobs once I set my master volume as the Class D output doesn’t change the tone or gain/dirt set in the preamp. It just makes the sound quieter or louder without affecting the signal’s salient preamp configured qualities.
Rhett, I’ve always been a tube guy. I never saw myself plating a solid state amp little alone playing one and enjoying it. While the deterioration of an aspect of my health was the mule I was given to ride for my trip through QuilterLand,
While my fat, infirmed ass limited what that mule could carry, I had other choices, tube driven choices besides Quilter that I’d discovered.
Still, nothing had the tone, versatility, feel and feature-set that Quilter offered me. It was not the least expensive by far, but it was just the best balance of all things considered.
Talk with Pat. Perhaps he’ll sponsor a video by lending you this or the American-flavored model for you to go through. Hint, hint…topic for a future video.
I was wise enough to know that I did NOT need a 100 w Marshall for my 1st amp. I bought a 40 w Fender Blues Deluxe Tweed combo amp and I NEVER turned the volume above 2.5. That thing was LOUD! In fact, it was too loud to be practical as a home practice amp. My next amp will be a 1-watt Blackstar head. I plan on buying a separate cabinet or building my own from a kit at Stewart MacDonald. 😊
Try the blackstar before you buy, they are good but the 1w has pretty much no clean and a specific character of sound, I have the 5w combo and I think it's good, it's a one trick pony
When clearly everyone knows that the perfect amp is a 100W HiWatt with at least one matching 4x12 cab. What people don't realize about these things is that they work really well when played quiet. More control and more detail than some little box combo. You may have to live with the hernias if you need to move it around though.
@@edhornby4885 Thank you for the tip! 🤗
I've never heard one, nor even touched one. I was sold by all of the positive reviews that I have read. You'd think that I'd have learned my lesson after getting burned on my 1st amp purchase. I guess that I'm a bit thick-headed! 🐐
I have a Laney Mini Lionheart (3W) and is great. I only play it with headphones. Even with just 3W it is loud to play at home.
If you want some headroom for your bedroom, go with a push pull design. I’ve tried to like single ended amps and they can be fun for a few minutes but yeah, that one trick pony thing. Also by push pull, I mean two tubes in the power section with a phase inverter.
I recently purchased a 20 year old Matamp R28 28 watt combo, with twin 12” speakers and spring reverb. It sounds glorious and is monstrously loud.
Great video, very educational. I use this theory on my modeler. Been playing for 2 years on a QuadCortex. Been very happy with its versatility. Maybe one day I’ll buy a tube amp.
I use a modeler live as well, although still rocking my Line 6 Helix. I got a second hand Carvin TS-100 and use it to power a 2x12 Mesa Cab… it’s an amazing combo for my situation. If you like your QuadCortex and also want a tube amp, just get a Tube Poweramp and use it to push a cab. I’m sure you’ll like it! Just make sure to turn off the IR blocks in your modeler.
Clear and informative as always!
Thanks Rhett. This information is so valuable and as always, you deliver it in a no nonsense, straight to the point, practical manner. 👍👍
Always great info here on your channel ! Thank you so much for you most valuable insights Rhett. PS, Love Dipped in Tone as well!
This is an incredibly helpful video. Thank you Rhett. You earned a sub!
Thanks!
My first tube amp (after a few solid state amps) was a used Blackstar HT-5R. It was very affordable, so I wasn't too concerned about money down the drain if it didn't work out. Turns out it's great for my practicing at home. I've learned how to replace the tubes without sticking my fingers where they shouldn't go. And I like the range of tones I can get by twiddling the knobs.
I really think most people should start on something simple and versatile like a princeton.
I'm a beginner ..I bought a Princeton 650 ..sounds great to me ..I also have a legacy valve edition 5 plus ..I just like amps ...
@@leighsayers2628 I bought a used Princeton Reverb for $30 in 1969 from a friend in high school. His brother left it and hardly ever played it. I used it in bands all throughout college and am finally getting ready to replace the tubes with NOS (that costs 4x what I paid for the amp). I'll definitely keep the original tubes and will do an A/B after the replacements. My main amps now are Mustang modeling amps but the old Princeton sounds better than they do but I treat it with kid gloves. I will keep the original tubes and even the burned out light bulb just in case my wife wants to sell it after I pass away.
Great video, Rhett ❤
Thanks for this, loved the video. Went from a really frustrating Line 6 Spider, to a Marshall Valvestate and now to a JCM800. Such an incredible difference!
Great video! Thank you, Rhett 👍🏼
Well Done Rhett !!
Great job Rhett. My 1st tube amp was a '70 or '71 Twin Reverb. That is still my favorite sound. My buddy put a simple mod where I could bypass the preamp and run my ADA MP1 directly into the power amp, that thing screamed. I still can't believe I had that thing on 7 most gigs, oh man was that loud.
I found that I prefer as simple of an amp as possible. Basically, the fewer knobs, the better. I've been using the "normal" input on a mid-60s Fender Band-Master for years. 4 controls: volume, treble, bass dials and a switch labeled "bright". Sounds great. Your pedals will do anything else you want.
Love the flexibility of my Blues Jr, the inbuilt speaker is on a 1/4 jack so I just unplug it and use it as a head if I fancy something different. Great video 🤘🏻
This was really really really helpful thanks!
Great video Rhett thank you !
Thx Rhett , so true , too many choices. Appreciate it
That amp sounded great! Nice job!!
this is super great. thanks so much!
I've owned 3 combo tub amps (2 Fenders and a Marshall) for the past 15 years and didn't know all these things Rhett. Great video.
Love it! Sounds great!
They make great amps. Tried a few in the shop the other day and they sounded better than my EVH
I’ve watched a couple of your videos now and they are good, so I subscribed for you. :) Nice video. I bought my first amp about 9 months ago and I’m still learning how to get the best sound out of it. (It’s solid state). Tubes are on the list…
Going to a boss katana mk1 100w to a Marshall dsl40cr was a game changer, although it's a budget tube amp man.... There is nothing like a loud tube amp where the power tubes are getting juiced!
I agree, I love my Origin 50 (same price point as your DSL) and it’s crazy to think the Katana 2x12 is the same cost!
best thing about a valve combo is that you can plug it into a separate cab, 1,2 or 4x12 of your choice for gigging or a bigger venue and keep the combo for home use or practice.
Regardless of amp, that is great info for those who don’t know. I went through all of that myself, it was at least fun. Even many basic tube amps take some time to figure out, you can get tones you never expect. I’m glad I had audio efficient folks around me pretty much my whole life; it made amps like my Mesa much more understandable and enjoyable. Good stuff Rhett, thanks for sharing!
Great video concept. Also great that, unlike so many other videos by others, you are not demoing with high gain and heavy rock riffing. We actually get to hear the nuances.
This amp sounds wonderful in all the demos I've seen thus far. Hopefully it will be available in black at some point.
Helpful, thanks. Was unsure about the presence control; now I know.
You always post the right videos at the right time, Rhett. Been playing for 8 years now, always been a bedroom guitarist and now I'm looking to find some bandmates, but I only have desktop plugins!
something 25-50 watts, loud enough that you can hear yourself with an energetic drummer, but not so loud as to be deafening. If a venue is a place that *needs* more than 50 watts, that venue would have a PA.
@@kirklenigan8570 I see alot of videos of 15-20 watt amps being "gig-able". Is this only true if you're cranking them? i.e. no clean headroom?
Thanks for the suggestion!
Needed this video BADLY
But when you’re playin’ that Out Door Kegger, there is no substitute for that 100 watt Stack! 🔊🔊🔊🔊🎸🎵🎶 🤠
Well done video, thanks.
Good video, Rhett! I agree with another poster here. The next video in this series could be on small wattage, nmv combos, like the Deluxe Reverb or even smaller. I play a 1979 DR and I love the beast, but you do need to know how to get the best outta these amps!
great video, yes the 15w blues jr will take your head off!
Many years ago in the very early 90's, I bought a Fender solid state amp - a Princeton Chorus. I went to a jam night with my shiny new 50 watt amp, and couldn't hear myself even when standing right in front of it. Turns out it was 2 x 25 watt amp in stereo, not actually 50 watts. It was a jam night, so nothing was mic'd. Best advice I ever got at another jam night later that same night when lamenting my not-loud-enough amp - "You don't want that solid state shit, you need something old with tubes and 12's" And the next day I returned the Fender and went home with a used Marshall JCM800 50 Watt Lead 2x12 combo. I still have it, it sounds amazing, and I've never needed anything else.
I have one too. Years ago I visited the Marshall factory in Milton Keynes where they serviced it for me…they book in order, not by how famous you are. I even like the clean tones!
Might want to check replacement tube availability, especially for used amps.
So I’m only half way thru video, you are really doing a good job at making me know about my amp. Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. I really like the amp for my Strat and my Tele, but was having problems realizing anything on my amp. I have a turn down pedal on the pre out and in. So my neighbors that share a wall with me don’t get mad at night.
Thanks for this information.
Sometimes I wish I could unplug the speaker from my Dr Z combo and plug it into a different cabinet. The only time I don't feel this way is when I unplug my Dr Z combo and plug it into a different cabinet. ;)
The human ear percieves tone differently at different volumes (the Fletcher-Munson Curve). It is why some stereos come with a "loudness" button: at softer volumes the curve flattens out and bass and trebel needs to get boosted. It is also why you dial in the perfect tone in your living room and then get to the gig, turn it up to gig level and it sounds like an ice pick - suddenly there's too much bass and treble and not enough mid.
I always have a BBE Sonic Stomp Sonic Maximizer in my chain; I can dial in my sound on the amp and then customise it at the gig for the room and the volume I'm playing at. That pedal is the secret sauce for my tone.
But rule of thumb: as the overall volume goes up, the treble and base need to come down (or the mid needs to go up).
Brought up as a kid hanging around an electronics repair shop. My 1963 AC30 Top Boost had a silicon rectifier mod. Gotta lot of stick from the techs as this, according to them, shortened valve (tube) life, stripping the Cathodes when cold. Most of my good amps have a standby, my latest a Fuchs ODS II 25/50 also has one, and Andy Fuchs would not have put one in had it been unnecessary or detrimental.
Excellent Video! I wish I knew a tenth of this stuff when I was starting out.
Brilliant video!
This is a great video for tube amp beginners. Can you show what a tube amp does when you "dime" it and rely on your guitar to provide tone and volume control, as opposed to "diming" the guitar and turning the amp down?
You may have done it before but would love to see you do a demo of the PRS tremonti, even though you don't typically do that heavy style of music. I like the way you explain everything.
Very informative. Thanks.
STBY which is now often called standby stands for Startup Tension Bypass. Warms up the tubes nice and softly.
Just a thought. My first tube amp was a Bassbreaker 007 and it was amazing for recording, practice, and I even played it in small venues.
I have been quite impressed with the Bassbreaker line.
Probably cheaply made inside but they have the right formula for tones I enjoy. A Fender Vox 😆
I wish amp reviewers would show us the inside of the chassis. Especially with how tight money is today, I want to know what I’m buying. lots of “landfill” amps out there today.
it blew my mind once i discovered the youtube channels by actual amp techs who usually roast modern circuits by virtually all name brands just for how inacessible to repair and bad at heat managment they are (to not say: how they are built to fail, so with planned obsolescence).
I agree but it isn't always as easy as removing the rear panel and peeking inside. It may require removing the chassis & some guitar reviewers are not going to be up to it. You need to know what you are doing because a wrong move can electrocute you. Fortunately, there are channels such as Psionic Audio that get into the guts of both vintage and current amp models. Viewing Psionic and doing a TH-cam search will turn up other amp channels.
When it comes to current in-production tube amps, the Supro and new Gibson amps (the latter made by Mesa Boogie) are riding on the reputations of their original ancestors. (Psionic Audio has some revealing Supro videos.) They are not the same when it comes to component quality and craftsmanship & they are overpriced. For the same or somewhat higher cost there are much better options available.
Just take a screwdriver w/you to guitar center
This is sort of a vox from what I understand. David Grissom likes it for having a great mix between a JTM45 Marshall and a vox. Curcuit-wise its more vox though. Even though it has a "master volume", as Rhett shows here, it is not an amp that does preamp gain really. Its meant to be cranked in the power section. For lower db-levels a pedal is probably the way to go
@@gregmize01 That'll go over well...
I see players who set the knobs on their amps once, and never change the settings again, and I see players who are constantly tweaking the settings. Although I play mostly acoustic, I am definitely in the "constant tweaking" camp. I recently added an electro'coustic Alvarez to my collection, and am learning a whole new range of knob tweaking and amp seeking to my hobby. Thanks Rhett, rock on!😁
This is an excellent tutorial on how to learn your amp. I have a 40 watt amp that sounds great at home at low volume. However, when I, take it to the studio and crank it up it sounds awful. After watching this the problem was I hadn't taken the proper time to dial it in. I was indeed setting the amp with my eyes and not my ears. 😏😏😅😅
Great video. Wish you had mentioned the speakers used in the cab and how they can make a big difference in the tone. That looks like a versatile amp for sure.
Well done bro
Great vid! I’ve been playing for 40 plus years. I have a helix bit also a vintage pro reverb… amongst other amps over the years… solid states included. And I still don’t know what is a “good sound” is . Tone chasing is a rabbit hole. But your vid shows how to get the best of what you have at that moment. Great vid!
A good sound is whatever inspires you.
I have a couple Marshall Mono Bloc's. I really like them as i mess around with lots of pre-amp's and pedals. Its not a very portable set-up, but its lots of fun in the studio. I only have one amp head at this time. BlackStar HT-5. It sounds killer at full volume into a 4x12. 5 watts is loud but not quite loud enough to be heard over a drummer thats a hard hitter. Great video!
With all due respect, I think that many hobby guitar players will be well-served with an amp rated at between 5-20 watts. Tube amp power output is much louder than similarly rated solid state amps & that trips up a lot of people making the switch to tubes.
The beauty of the 5-10w amps is that they are often able to give you the tone you are looking for at a lower volume level which is more suited to playing at home. The lower-wattage Swart heads & combos come to mind. Some amps have multiple power settings such as the Revv D20/G20 which have 4w and 20w options. Master volume controls on amps vary in design & implementation, so it pays to learn about & listen to as many amps as possible.
If you need less volume, there are attenuators but they often change the tone of the amp. One option that doesn't seem to affect tone much is the Fryette Power Station. A bonus feature: both the 50 watt & 100 watt models have tube power sections that can boost the output of low-volume amps up to the max rating. That makes a 5w amp capable of handling band practice or gigging when a decent PA isn't available. (Keep in mind that guitarists such as Neil Young and Mike Campbell regularly rely on vintage low-watt amps combined with a PA to obtain those tomes we know & love so well.)
Thank you for sharing.
Great summary. The cranked pre-amp sound with master volume bypassed sounded like pure rock-n-roll 🥰👍Is the uncertain ongoing supply of replacement tubes an issue when buying a new tube based amp?
JJ in Slovakia is backordered, but immune to the E. Europe war. Western Electric (now in Georgia) is ramping up audio tubes, as is Mullards near London. Buy your tubes, there's a market that will be filled!
Nice review/information . I wish Sweetwater would lend you a Fender Pro Jr. IV Tweed amp so we could see how you dial in a simple tube amp with just a volume/tone .
That’s a great idea!
love this idea would love to see how a pro like Rhett gets the best tones out of a simple amp!
Maybe the ubiquitous Deluxe Reverb.
Really appreciate the information because I have absolutely no clue when it comes to TH-cam apps.
The only suggestion is - you need a third hand to adjust the amp while you’re playing so we can hear the changes as they are happening as opposed to trying to remember2 1/2 seconds ago… Which gets a lot harder when you are older
Perfect amp … In the mid90s, I had a PV classic 30… Always got compliments… So versatile. Everything else seems limited. I miss it very much!😥
These are some great advices. The thing I wish I knew much sooner was how the speaker/cab can be much more important than the amp itself. I'd say in a guitar--amp-cab triangle it's not an even 33%-33%-33%, I'd still attribute more to the cab than either the guitar or the amp. And then we haven't even considered miking, which can change the entire soundscape again regardless of what your tone is like in the room. And even moreso when we're talking about IRs I'd say it's easily above 50%, maybe even 75% - probaly because it's a cab and mic tone with an IR.
This was one of your best videos in a while. Very practical for intermediate guitarists. I have a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, but always wanted to know about that presence knob and preamp vs. power amp stages on the amp sims I have on a Bias FX app. Thank you.
One thing that took awhile for me to figure out is amp wattage is not a direct example of how loud an amp can be. I watched a video from Mike Soldano and he explained it well. Which makes sense because my SLO-30 is ungodly loud for a 30 watt amp.
I would love to see a video that relates the physical tube tech to pedals that provide distortions first found in a tube amp and modelers that fake the entire chain. Just bought my first electric and a katana-go. It almost does too much and not being able to relate what it virtualizes makes the learning curve steeper. In fact, this video already helped.
I highly recommend the Monoprice tube 15w combo If you want a cheap awesome tube amp to play Around with..
You can even cut the output to 1 watt for bedroom playing. You can find used ones for around two hundred bucks
Agreed
Agreed! I have one of these and when the tube started to whistle and go microphonic, I put new tubes in that are all mesa boogie. It cost under $200 to do the retubing and it sounds incredible. It also has the one watt switch, and an effects loop that I haven’t used. And it also has built-in reverb that sounds good. It sounds great at a bedroom level and can go so loud. I can’t even stand near it. Great amp for the price, great in general. I just bought a graphic EQ to go in front of the amp which makes a huge difference: a small boost really brings out the sparkle.
@@chris407x where do you put the EQ in the chain?
On the importance of always having a speaker cable and cab connected to the amplifier...This is because of the output transformer. It matches the high impedance/high voltage of the power valves to the lower impedance/lower voltage of a speaker cabinet. If you do not have a speaker cab connected, that's an infinite resistance open circuit. The transformer is going to then try and match to that resistance which will cause high voltage arcing and spikes in the transformer and power valves causing very expensive damage.
Some amplifier companies employ what are called "flyback diodes" that are meant to stop/limit this phenomenon from happening. They clamp down on those potential spikes back to ground and would sacrifice themselves before the more expensive stuff inside the amplifier. It's not a foolproof way but it's better than no protection at all.
Nerdy, but the more you know!
Great video Rhett! Wish I had known all this years ago!
You talk about finding the "perfect" amp (or not finding it) -- it has been my experience that a lot of the "holy grail" amps are very limited -- example, if you want that "VOX" sound there is nothing like an AC30, but that's ALL it does. You want to sound like Brian May? VoxAC30. Wanna sound like Eddie? 5150. However, if you're like me and play a wide range of stuff, some of the most legendary amps out there are just not good enough. For my money I have found a lot of versatility in Hughes & Kettner amps. I currently own a Tubemeister 36 and absolutely LOVE the tones I get out of it. with that amp and a handful of pedals, I can play SRV or Slayer, really doesn't matter. I think most guitarists need something like that.
This video has pushed me over the top. I am joining Patreon. Nothing fancy. Absolutely great video.