Members John Davis Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 I typically play out, guitar straight to amp...maybe a volume pedal.... Having opened up my guitar and amp, I know that my signal is going through pickups, tone and volume pots, guitar cable, a circuit board of capacitors and other goodies, before it even hits the tubes..... There is so much crap these days where a guy says....'yeah tone is all in the fingers'...and then you see his pedal board, rack, hand picked speakers and tubes in a boutique amp.... Besides...that last guy to truly get any real props for being a real tube guy was probably SRV...big strings, high action, guitar through a wah, tube screamer, into a big Fender....that's as close as your going to get...and while he had great tone...for what he did, I see 38 Special running around playing Pods, or Stevie Winwood playing through a Cyber Twin that have pretty close to grail tone on stage.... For me it's not a tube vs DSP thing, but rather a concerted effort on guys with huge pedal boards and racks to continuously BS themselves and others that they are tube purists..... I call BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 None of these answers have convinced.All of you thus far have failed me. You failed yourself by not having the grey matter to figure that one out on your own. BOOO!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StevenJM Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 i think you need to re-word your question to make whatever point you're trying to make. if you're playing through a tube amp, then you're playing through a tube amp. no ifs ands or buts. like someone else posted, even if you're going through a bunch of pedals, those pedals sound way better through a cranked tube amp than if you were going through a solid state amp. i think this guy is just full of himself and likes kissing his own ass for being so much smarter than the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scott Abene Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 If you're playing through a pedal, even if it's connected to a tube amp, aren't you essentially still playing through a solid state amp? Have millions of guitarists been fooled all these years? Since I do not use pedals... I have never thought about this question ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Personally, I think this thread is a clever bit of trolling and, for that, I tip my hat to the OP. On the off chance anyone takes this question seriously, there have always been ways to manipulate the signal going into the front of the amp. Pickup height is one, the volume and tone knobs are another. All that happens when you do this is you are changing the characteristics of the signal. The signal is still run through tubes. Whatever you do to the signal prior to it hitting the front end it does nothing to change the nature and attributes of the amp. The amp does not change what it is based on what signal goes into it. You could plug straight into the front or go through 100 pedals and the amp is still going to be what it is. To borrow from Descartes: A is A. Unless you fundamentally change he nature of A, it does not matter what you do to B or C, A remains as it is. Never mind anything else, we are borrowing from Descartes in a guitar forum. That's major win!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy Chitown Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 Never mind anything else, we are borrowing from Descartes in a guitar forum. That's major win!! You mean like, "I stink, therefore, it's my amp."? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 You mean like, "I stink, therefore, it's my amp."? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueSky1963 Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 You mean like, "I stink, therefore, it's my amp."? Muddy does not look pleased!!!! P.S. Sigged! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Altus Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 Guys guys, it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Northstar Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 If you're playing through a pedal, even if it's connected to a tube amp, aren't you essentially still playing through a solid state amp?Have millions of guitarists been fooled all these years? Guitars are solid-state. Thread over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Davis Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 The OP isn't trolling...it's a legit question....you put a pedal board down, run into a tube amp...how much 'tube' are we hearing? The only REAL tube amp you can play through is one of those hand wired jobs with no eq or reverb or effects, just a volume knob...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 You mean like, "I stink, therefore, it's my amp."? Cogito ergo pew? No, that would be, "I think therefore I stink." This has to be one of the most asinine threads ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bryvincent Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 i'm not an amp expert but AFAIK, Dist./OD pedals are basically additional preamps that you put on top of the tube amp's preamp. making your setup basically a Hybrid or semi-hybrid. also a lot of so-called tube amps also uses solid state components inside for boost, rectifier, distortion, reverb etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tech21man Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 I think the OP brings up a GOOD question! If your OD pedal is set for heavy distortion and you're playing your tube amp clean, while it might sound great, you're not getting overdriven tube tone. If you set up the pedal to overdrive the amps preamp (low distortion but high level on pedal), then you'd get some real tube overdrive. (preamp tube OD at least though still not overwriting the power amp section). If an amp maker set up the OD channel of their tube amp to be solid state like a pedal, people would balk (though I'm sure they do this in many cases). You just assume the drive channel in a tube amp is driving a preamp tube into distortion. In the end... Who cares as long as it sounds good. Correct. Clean amps, tubes or solid state reproducing high gain solid state or tube pedals have failed me at least for my taste. Sound always gets "fake" the louder I turn up. Re-eq but still nothing like a tube or good solid state amp that runs as a whole. More like a bad reproduction. I am not knocking guys that play clean fenders with pedals, but wait I guess I am... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 The long and short of it is (or the tube and SS of it) it doesn't really matter that much. If you like what you hear, then it's good. If you don't like what you hear, then adjust something until it does. I think this tube/SS thing is way overblown and perhaps has lead to overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted October 17, 2010 Members Share Posted October 17, 2010 I typically play out, guitar straight to amp...maybe a volume pedal....Having opened up my guitar and amp, I know that my signal is going through pickups, tone and volume pots, guitar cable, a circuit board of capacitors and other goodies, before it even hits the tubes.....There is so much crap these days where a guy says....'yeah tone is all in the fingers'...and then you see his pedal board, rack, hand picked speakers and tubes in a boutique amp....Besides...that last guy to truly get any real props for being a real tube guy was probably SRV...big strings, high action, guitar through a wah, tube screamer, into a big Fender....that's as close as your going to get...and while he had great tone...for what he did, I see 38 Special running around playing Pods, or Stevie Winwood playing through a Cyber Twin that have pretty close to grail tone on stage....For me it's not a tube vs DSP thing, but rather a concerted effort on guys with huge pedal boards and racks to continuously BS themselves and others that they are tube purists.....I call BS. Just so I have this straight, you're allowed to be a tube snob because you and Stevie Ray play(ed) without a bunch of pedals, but you're not a tube snob because 38 Special use Pods (Have you seen 38 Special lately? They sound like a bad 38 Special tribute band.). However, I'm not allowed to prefer tube amps or to believe that tone comes mainly from one's fingers because I use multiple pedals. Gotcha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy Chitown Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 On the one end, ya got yer strings vibratin', see? Then on tha other ya got yer speaker cone pushin air moleclues, see? However, in betwixt is the maplification, which is the massaging of electrons through a variety of various recipes of electro-mechanical and chemical devices, be they vacuous or relatively solid. The attributes of these components, positive and negative, with regard to music-making, is highly controversial to some. However, both amps and pedals--tube and SS alike--share 99% of these components. So I see it as basically a Coke vs. Pepsi argument as to what's between the input jack and the output jack. What's vital is what happens outside of the 2 jacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 17 Tubes Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 Originally Posted by Bro Blue Whatever you do to the signal prior to it hitting the front end it does nothing to change the nature and attributes of the amp. Never mind anything else, we are borrowing from Descartes in a guitar forum. That's major win!! If you two think a pedal does nothing to change the nature and attributes of the amp...you are either total IDIOTS, or have some secret magical pedal. Put your Heavy Metal pedal in front of your Fireball.....there's a good chance you'll {censored} it up pretty good. In ALL things....adeptness is the key. Being able to use the tool at hand is in the fingers and brain of the bolder, not the tool. A palette or oil colors DOES change the nature of the canvas.....sometimes for good..sometimes for the county landfill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 17 Tubes Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 Just so I have this straight, you're allowed to be a tube snob because you and Stevie Ray play(ed) without a bunch of pedals, but you're not a tube snob because 38 Special use Pods (Have you seen 38 Special lately? They sound like a bad 38 Special tribute band.). However, I'm not allowed to prefer tube amps or to believe that tone comes mainly from one's fingers because I use multiple pedals. Gotcha. LOL...but wait...he JUST uses a "tube amp" and maybe a volume pedal! It only has teh tubes in it. Just tubes...nothing else. No wires, not caps, no tranny...just "all tube" nothing else. In fact...his guitar is strung with tubes... 10's...the volume pot is a tube. The cable to the amp is a tube...plugged into a tube....the speaker? It's a freaking TUBE man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 A tube amp is a tube amp by definition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 17 Tubes Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 A tube amp is a tube amp by definition. Hmmm...that is some deep {censored}! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 Hmmm...that is some deep {censored}! I used to say things like that back when I smoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 Does it really matter? Tubes are an endangered species anyway.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Davis Posted October 18, 2010 Members Share Posted October 18, 2010 I would be curious to know how many people have actually turned up a 100 watt tube amp, with no gain channel, to get real tube breakup.....where 'distortion' first came from...before pedals and pre amps... That's a rhetorical question by the way, because to wind up an amp to tube break up is so stupid loud most have never done it...and by the way...real tube break up isn't as wondrous as people think it is.... So much for tube tone...but if you don't believe me, go down to Guitar center, dime that Fender Reverb and see how it sounds to you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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