Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
In a live band mix, I’m not sure most listeners can tell the difference. But for players, the feel and dynamics can definitely influence how you play.
Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
Valve amps usually feel more responsive when you dig into the strings, especially with overdrive tones. That said, solid-state amps have improved massively and are much easier to manage at home.
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Solarflares
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Re: Valve Amp vs Solid State – Can You Really Hear The Difference?
Yes. The difference is night and day.
I used Marshalls from ‘76-‘83.
Lab Series L5 comb ‘’83-88. Used 2 from ‘85 on.
Rack mounted the Lab Series pre-amps and used a Carvin FET900 power amp.
Added a Pro-Amplifiers VSQ valve pre-amp in 2000.
The same year added a Peavey Classic 50/50 valve power amp to the rack, and that was bridged into a Palmer PDI-04.
So I could choose either of two Lab Series pre-amps, or the valve pre-amp x 100W, then soaked back to line level.
Whole thing still through the Carvin FET900 into a stereo 4x12.
In 2003 I swapped the Carvin for a Pro-Amplifiers V65 combo, and converted it to adjustable bias. The main power amp was now the Peavey Classic 50/50 - so I was all valve, plus the Lab pre-amps when needed. The V65 was fitted with NOS Mullards.
2005 I had to sell the 4x12 and also the Peavey Classic. At this time mostly all my recording was done with the V65 and the Palmer ADIG-04. I’d built a cheap computer system and cobbled a monitor system together. Very lo-budget.
I guess I basically stopped using the Lab’s transistor pre-amps after this. The rack became two delays and a reverb.
Some very fine guitar-tones from 1995 with the Labs, with real nice throat to the sound. Unique in its way, but full-blooded.
The valve amp was more complex in the mids, and much more lively - but with a smooth top-end.
When the V65 (now a head) quit working in 2015, I was distraught.
I tried many options. Amplitube 3, Positive Grid Bias Rack, and others. Hated them. Too noisy.
I got a Budda SD45 which blew up on day 1. In desperation I grabbed a Victory Sheriff 44. This sat around for 2 years, ad I hardly played.
I moved house, and finally had some decent computer and monitor gear. So I gave the Sheriff a final chance with carefully-sourced 60’s Mullards. It proved to be exactly what I needed. A little help from a Koko Boost and away I went.
All 6 strings have separation, and clusters of notes all ring together well, even if tuning is slightly out. Flat but linear tone - all the guitar coming through. I add mids later, and it’s quite wonderful.
A transistor amp cannot do that. It just sounds dreadful unless you are in tune. Doesn’t like pick-slides very much either. Just not rock and roll.
So, I couldn’t consider a transistor amp, or any kind of modeller, ever again.
I did try a Helix FX on my practice combo, but that was incredibly dull and boring. Like a box full of £40 pedals.
So I use my old delay/reverb racks from the 80’s for practice, and software effects on the Mac when recording.
Recording setup is the Koko into the Sheriff. Then Palmer PDI-03 at 16ohms, into a Joe Meek VC6 Compressor/EQ.
Have recently bought a Seymour Duncan 100W Convertible head, with a new Palmer 03, and another Joe Meek.
So I can record with 2 valve amps.
If I had a 31-band graphic, I could do a gig now with a Lab Series L5 combo easily, and even mic it up for recording.
But it would not be by choice, after 20+ years on saturated Mullards.
There you go. Just a bit of the fun I had. 2003-5 was a real bad time, and making it through with two guitars, a small rack, and the V65, was hard work. But I did.
I’m comfortably in my zone now as regards amp-response, and my tone is in a good place with the Mullard shopping.
I’d just passed 60 years old when I was finally happy with the gear - over 40 years of professional playing.
Even at this age, after getting into DAC’s and expensive cables - I’ve had to train my ears to listen flat, in order to mix on my monitors.
So perhaps it never ends? This quest for sound. I’ve always liked gear, sometimes more than playing it!
But I’m no longer searching alternatives for sure.
I used Marshalls from ‘76-‘83.
Lab Series L5 comb ‘’83-88. Used 2 from ‘85 on.
Rack mounted the Lab Series pre-amps and used a Carvin FET900 power amp.
Added a Pro-Amplifiers VSQ valve pre-amp in 2000.
The same year added a Peavey Classic 50/50 valve power amp to the rack, and that was bridged into a Palmer PDI-04.
So I could choose either of two Lab Series pre-amps, or the valve pre-amp x 100W, then soaked back to line level.
Whole thing still through the Carvin FET900 into a stereo 4x12.
In 2003 I swapped the Carvin for a Pro-Amplifiers V65 combo, and converted it to adjustable bias. The main power amp was now the Peavey Classic 50/50 - so I was all valve, plus the Lab pre-amps when needed. The V65 was fitted with NOS Mullards.
2005 I had to sell the 4x12 and also the Peavey Classic. At this time mostly all my recording was done with the V65 and the Palmer ADIG-04. I’d built a cheap computer system and cobbled a monitor system together. Very lo-budget.
I guess I basically stopped using the Lab’s transistor pre-amps after this. The rack became two delays and a reverb.
Some very fine guitar-tones from 1995 with the Labs, with real nice throat to the sound. Unique in its way, but full-blooded.
The valve amp was more complex in the mids, and much more lively - but with a smooth top-end.
When the V65 (now a head) quit working in 2015, I was distraught.
I tried many options. Amplitube 3, Positive Grid Bias Rack, and others. Hated them. Too noisy.
I got a Budda SD45 which blew up on day 1. In desperation I grabbed a Victory Sheriff 44. This sat around for 2 years, ad I hardly played.
I moved house, and finally had some decent computer and monitor gear. So I gave the Sheriff a final chance with carefully-sourced 60’s Mullards. It proved to be exactly what I needed. A little help from a Koko Boost and away I went.
All 6 strings have separation, and clusters of notes all ring together well, even if tuning is slightly out. Flat but linear tone - all the guitar coming through. I add mids later, and it’s quite wonderful.
A transistor amp cannot do that. It just sounds dreadful unless you are in tune. Doesn’t like pick-slides very much either. Just not rock and roll.
So, I couldn’t consider a transistor amp, or any kind of modeller, ever again.
I did try a Helix FX on my practice combo, but that was incredibly dull and boring. Like a box full of £40 pedals.
So I use my old delay/reverb racks from the 80’s for practice, and software effects on the Mac when recording.
Recording setup is the Koko into the Sheriff. Then Palmer PDI-03 at 16ohms, into a Joe Meek VC6 Compressor/EQ.
Have recently bought a Seymour Duncan 100W Convertible head, with a new Palmer 03, and another Joe Meek.
So I can record with 2 valve amps.
If I had a 31-band graphic, I could do a gig now with a Lab Series L5 combo easily, and even mic it up for recording.
But it would not be by choice, after 20+ years on saturated Mullards.
There you go. Just a bit of the fun I had. 2003-5 was a real bad time, and making it through with two guitars, a small rack, and the V65, was hard work. But I did.
I’m comfortably in my zone now as regards amp-response, and my tone is in a good place with the Mullard shopping.
I’d just passed 60 years old when I was finally happy with the gear - over 40 years of professional playing.
Even at this age, after getting into DAC’s and expensive cables - I’ve had to train my ears to listen flat, in order to mix on my monitors.
So perhaps it never ends? This quest for sound. I’ve always liked gear, sometimes more than playing it!
But I’m no longer searching alternatives for sure.