Help My Friend

[epifone lp user]

Hey um don't know if this belongs here but the other day i was trying to explain to my friend(who knows just bout everything bout pickups and stuff) the diference between tube and solid state amps i didn't explain very wel so any help if any one knows a chilli pepper song that is tube and one that is solid state could you tell me so he can hear difference

Thanx

[Andrew Sa]

that is an odd question.
I find the difference quite hard to hear on albums, but you can be sure that the vast majority of albums you hear are recorded on either tube amps, or direct through Pods and such...although almost exclusively tube amps...

There are a few exceptions to the rule tho...for instance, Dimebag Darrel played through Solid state Randall amps for most of Panteras life span...not sure if he used them in studio though...he later switched to Krank Krankenstein tube heads for Damage Plan, although again, I am not sure what he used in Studio.

As for Chilli Peppers, John Frusciante is famed for a large collection of vintage Fender and Gretsch guitars...I think he would probably record most of his clean stuff on vintage Fender amps (judging by the sounds) and his (not all of, obvioulsy he has some times when real high gain stuff is used) dirty sounds on not-so-high gain amps, maybe a marshall 1959slp or summin...dont know why I'm saying all this, because it is all guess work, but I'm enjoying the guessing...
how accurate do you guys think I am? what amps would you say Frusciante uses?

the difference between tube amps and solid state amps is that tube amps use vacuum tube technology, this is largely considered obsolete in most industries except amplifiers...it is old technology.
Solid state amps use much more practical and cheap "transistor" technology...

as for sounds...Tubes have a much warmer, natural sound...although to be perfectly honest most people (even most guitarists) could probably not tell the difference between a solid state and tube amp if they were blind-folded and played both amps.

[suicidalmoose]

tube amplifiers amplify the sound given to them with natural imperfections as the technology is slighlty older, however this gives the sound a more natural sound as the imperfections round out the sound (imagine the signal going into the amp from the guitar is a square, the tube gives it rounded edges, much nicer but less accurate) whereas a tranny amp will get the square and amplify it as a sqare (scuse the metaphor)

[strat-man]

Apparently John Frusciante uses Marshall amps, according to this months interview in total guitar magazine

[shadz]

by the time a guitar track is recorded through several mic/amp combinations, run through a variety of studio effects and then mixed and mastered, it would be nigh on impossible to tell the difference, particularly if the engineer/producer didn't want you to.

as andrew said, most punters couldn't tell the difference. however, i think the player can. a tube amp reacts differently to a solid state, and i know thats one of the reasons i use one. i feel it helps me play better, and that is something the punters can pick up on...

[rockonn91]

as andrew said, most punters couldn't tell the difference. however, i think the player can. a tube amp reacts differently to a solid state, and i know thats one of the reasons i use one. i feel it helps me play better, and that is something the punters can pick up on...
yeah, it definatly has a different feel. picking dynamics, the whole lot... its pretty much better in general.

[k0ldfuz10n]

Now that the difference between solid state and tube amps has been explained why not take your buddy to the local guitar shop and plug into a solid state and tube amp and hear the difference for yourself? I recently went looking for a new amp and took my axe into the local shop and plugged into a bunch of different amps ;)

[epifone lp user]

thanks muchly ill have to take him into a store

[Lordathestrings]

... why not take your buddy to the local guitar shop and plug into a solid state and tube amp and hear the difference for yourself? ...
Yes, exactly so! Trying out new gear should always be done with your eyes closed, and your mind and ears open. The name on the label means nothing! I have both kinds. I choose my gear based on what it sounds like.

BTW: if you used the search button you could dig up a lot of very useful threads on this very subject.