View Poll Results: Is your main jazz guitar amp a solid state or a tube amp?
- Voters
- 373. You may not vote on this poll
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Tube
162 43.43% -
Solid State
211 56.57%
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If someone gave me a tube Twin Reverb that worked, I'd probably take it, especially since my basement isn't heated.
I've had crappy tube amps, and solid state ones, too. I prefer solid-state, and I really prefer not having to carry ANY amp.
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09-28-2020 04:28 PM
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This thread reminds me of the ongoing debate over "digital" vs "Vinyl". But a lot more civilized.
When I'm in my play room, it's a Blackstar ID:Core 40 modeler. When I go outside(literally to play for the horses and cows) it's a Crate GX130C. When I'm just listening to music I plug my laptop into my Blackstar.
When I want "ambience".............I go to a club and listen to some live jazz while sipping on some good bourbon.............
I've been called a lot of things, but "sane" have never been one of them.........
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This poll is definitely in the recount territory.
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No Kidding!
Originally Posted by Tal_175
Maybe the OP should have added another category e.g. tube SS combinations. Kind of like the Libertarian or Green Party.
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of necessity , I recently did a gig with Originally Posted by JGinNJ;[URL="[URL
Drums Bass Keys me and a horn
with just my pre-amp (Harley Benton American Sound type) direct into a PA system ....
I didn’t expect that much TBH , but it was absolutely fine and in fact It also had the advantage of broader spread coverage
ie. my sound was coming out of two speakers on either side of the stage ....
this was outside ....
not tried it indoors yet
Obviously I still need to own a couple of
amps , but for my needs ATM I think I’m further explore the no amp DI thing
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PS i wonder if Fender are thinking about doing their Tonemaster Twin or
TM Delux modelling circuits
in a pre-amp pedal format ?
as they’re SO well liked here , that
would be very interesting to me
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My wonderdawg pulled up lame again. and while it's guts are on the way to NV for some TLC, I jumped on a DV Mark Little Jazz to save me from the all acoustic life. I'm impressed with it. Quite a lovely tone with a minimum of fiddling. Is it as good as my wd? No. But an awesome backup that might be first choice when playing out becomes a thing again...
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I have recently discovered the joys of the amps in GarageBand, which include combinations of reverb, echo and tremelo that are perfect for late-night low-volume playing.
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Play in STEREO and use BOTH!!!
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I like both, but my main amps are tube. Ceriatone OTS Dumble clone and a cutdown '64 Super Reverb
Since getting back into hollow body with the Greco, I've been playing the Yamaha G100-B212 that's under my desk. It's good!
Maybe it's the extra richness of the 175 that makes it a good match with the SS Yamaha
My other fave SS is the old Pignose 30/60. Warm sound, and loud enough for rehearsals
I also have a 300W Woogie hybrid bass head which is a good spare for bass or clean pedal platform
I've had lots of amps over 50 years, but the ones I miss are:
brown Super 2x10
BF Princeton Reverb
BF Deluxe Reverb
Marshall plexi 50W reverb head
Goldentone 40W combo
Last edited by sasquatch; 11-13-2020 at 06:47 AM.
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For me it really depends on the gig but I'd say 95% of the time I've used a solid state amp. I'm young at 27, but I don't want to have back problems later down the line. When I'm in the US, I keep my 42 lbs Vintage Sound 35sc tube amp mainly as a practice and recording amp. Don't get me wrong, it's by far the best sounding amp I've ever played through, but it's very heavy and the tubes made nowadays are fragile and microphonic. I'm using a Quilter Microblock 45 going into a Toob Metro 6.5 GP+ cabinet which in total weighs roughly 4 lbs and I couldn't be happier with my sound on gigs.
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Tube amps mostly, but I do have some solid state amps that sound better than most tube amps. One that's especially great is a 1965 Standel Custom XV. That and my '65 Vibrolux were my main amps for a long time til I got a 50's Standel 50L15 which took the place of the Custom XV. One is all tube, the other 100% solid state, but they are very similar in sound.
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Originally Posted by brettlanier
Standels are a benchmark. You are most fortunate!
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Home : fender BF vibrolux clone or fender tweed champ clone.
Live: Henriksen blue ten . Ligth, loud, and so good to play clean and warm.
Home i like to play jazz but also funk, blues, rock or metal and tube amps are requiered. For my outside jazz gigs, nothing can beat thé Blue ( i used to havé thé DV mark LJ... thé gap is huge!!).
JuHo
Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
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My amps use valves. We proved "scientifically" like 15 years ago that these sound better by recording a track with a polytone and a humble fender blues junior. Everybody agreed the Fender's tone was better. So I've been using the Blues jr. and later a Vibrolux.
That said lately I didn't use an amp but a tech 21 fly rig preamp – solid state emulating a tube amp and speaker – direct to PA and I have been happy with the tone I hear in my in-ears. So maybe I'm tone deaf anyway ... OTOH engineers and band have been happy with what they get from my channel too.
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I’m using all three types.
I have a Fender Princeton Reverb II combo amp that sounds great for jazz guitar.
I have a Crate BX100 bass combo amp that sounds great for jazz guitar.
And I have a Hartke solid state bass amp, with tube preamp, that sounds great both for bass and for jazz guitar.
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just did a band rehearsal with a
current ish SS Marshall 1 x 12” combo
it was absolutely fine ....
(i even had the reverb on a bit)
sooo nice to to play with people again
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These came pretty d*** close. They had a huge heavy toroidal transformer. Too bad it was too expensive and ahead of its time in the 80's. Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
NO solid state amp that I am aware of has the equivalent of tube amp sag. If there is one out there that can replicate the effect of a rectifier tube, please tell me about it. That might not be the first quality sought after in a jazz amp, but it is definitely something I want, since I don't always play jazz. That tiny bit of amp squishy-ness or on the edge of distortion tone has existed since tube amps were created, and some of our favorite jazz guitar recordings have it.
Solid state amps have many benefits over tube amps, such as reliability, lighter weight, and smaller size. But sag? I say, bring it!
Last edited by Woody Sound; 12-11-2020 at 11:29 AM.
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NO solid state amp that I am aware of has the equivalent of tube amp sag.
True, sag is introduced by the ‘breathing’ of a tube rectifier power supply responding to changes in current demand in the amp. Solid state rectifiers work completely differently and are designed to eliminate that varying response to current demand.
However, let’s talk about the time dynamics in the response of an amp as I think it figures more prominently than sag in playing feel. That means the:
The Walter Woods amp.
Walter (from a conversation with him) looked at the turn on rate of older transistor designs till he found a design with a slow slew rate similar (not equal but close) to a vacuum tube. He sourced these IIRC from Japan.
It results in an amp with a response similar to a tube amp, very dynamic to play unlike most other solid state amps using ‘modern ‘ transistors. Power transistors (or Heaven forbid, integrated circuit amps) have fast slew rates and can not present the player with a tube like experience.
The Woods amps use a toroidal power transformer, which is small and light for a given specification with discreet diodes for rectifiers. This is much better than using a chip rectifier there’s at least some sag. But The power supply will not ‘breath’ or ‘sag’ like an amp with a tube rectifier.
FWIW the Woods amps were used by Tal, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Charlie Bird, John Pattitucci, Ray Brown, Lionel Hampton, me)
No one we’ve heard of.
d
(interesting that a hifi company did exactly the same thing...Adcom... which had one of the KLH founders as its designer. They were located in a town I lived in and I had the chance to talk to them. Exactly the same story...use old design transistors to emulate tube slew rates. Neat!)
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Yes! Check out my original Adcoms in the center of the picture. Originally Posted by jazzkritter
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WooHoo!!!
Thats the preamp/tuner with the remote control, yes? I have that one, still in service along with the smaller 35wt amp into Klipsch KG4s. Vintage 1986 and still sounds great. Input a Clark Technik bluetooth receiver with them to modernize)
They were in. East Brunswick NJ when the started out.
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It's just the 555 preamp withe the big 200w amp. There are two tuners on top of it, a Proton, and a Magnum Dynalab. Originally Posted by jazzkritter
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Very nice. My number one is a Dynaco PAS-3x (Jensen mods )and a ST 70.
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For some reason, I like this picture. Originally Posted by sasquatch
...
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Originally Posted by jazzkritter
that's what I've been running the last 25 yrs though I eventually swapped out the PAS for an old Lafayette KT-600 like this one...
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Been running an Adcom 24/7 for the last 25 years without a hiccup. Tremendous amplification.
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