A question about amps?

ok.....i was always wondering about cabinets and heads......so heres my question....

-do you have to have a cabinet to play if you only have a head or do you need both?

- and what are tubes?

First and foremost, there are two styles of amps; Solid State and Tubes.

Solid state usually sounds thin, and not good to the ears.
Tube amps sound warm, beautiful, and easy on the ears.

If you have a solid state amp at 100 Watts, and a Tube amp at 25 Watts, the tube amp will sound louder than the solid state amp at the same volume (considering that the volume is over 2).

Basically, just get a tube amp, they sound wonderful. Try the Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb.

That's all you need to know...

Well, you can't really just play out of a head only. There's not enough driving power... You can do the Head w/ cabs, or you can just do an Amp.

Basically, the idea of heads and cabinets is that you can get the tone out of the head, the driving power out of the speakers.

o ok....thanx very much you cleared all of that up for me....my friends selling me his fender amp...its 125 watts but i dont know if its tubes or solid....how do i figure it out?

If it is 125 Watts, it is Solid State. The highest amount of Tube Watts that Fender mass-produces is 100 Watts (100 Tube watts).

It would definitely be solid state, but don't shy away from it just because it is solid state- Tube amps are much more expensive, and depending on how fat your wallet is, you might not be able to afford them.

For example, my Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Combo Re-issue is worth about $800. That's 22 Tube Watts for $800.

Give it a whirl, you'll probably like it.

yeah you should play out of it first befor you buy it.just to make sure thats the sound you want.fender makes alot of good solid state amps there the only solid state amps ill buy.

The thing about Solid State/ Tube amps is that Tube amps aren't really changing, they are keeping the wonderful tone, but Solid State amps are getting better and better, they are catching up with Tube Amps.

I still prefer my Deluxe Reverb over any amp, though. Hundreds of thousands of other guitar players would agree, too.

Originally posted by theeshredder
yeah you should play out of it first befor you buy it.just to make sure thats the sound you want.fender makes alot of good solid state amps there the only solid state amps ill buy.

What about Line 6, man?

The Vetta, Douverb, and Flextone models are VERY good, for solid state. Still not tubes, though...

I work it this way=

Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Combo Reiussue= Full tube tone
Line 6 POD XT Effects Processor w/ floorboard=Solid state style effects

Running with that, i have the Q- Tron + envelope filter, and a seperate Volume pedal.

All going to my Gibson LPDC.

Eventually, I plan to have all analog effects (they sound better than digital ones), but i have to get another job...

- and what are tubes?

hehe as soon as I saw that line, I knew there was gonna be someone who says "tubes are better, that's that." Lemme try to explain this scientifically:

-With tubes amps, the signal is jammed through these vacume tubes inside the amp (this was before actual diodes and transistors were invented that can carry current with no signel loss), and when you turn the distortion knob up, it overflows the current into the tubes, so that the electrons start running into eachother and creating interferance, or DISTORTION, the sound you're accostomed to hearing guitarists using.

-Solid state amps use diodes to convert AC/DC power, so the signal leaves the rectifier exactly how it got there. This means that the sound is more precise. When solid state amps do distortion, it runs it through a little computer in the amp that simulates the distortion tubes would create (cuz that's what we're accustomed to. The exact-duplicating property of diode rectifiers (as opposed to tube rectifiers) also means a much more bright clean sound.

People say that tube amps are better and generally sound "warmer," but that's actually only a matter of taste. Plus people make solid state amps that copy the EXACT sound of a particular tube amp (line 6 actually leads this field). A friend of mine who's been playing guitar for 16 years claims he can't tell the difference between the line6 vetta's model of a dual recofier and the real thing. But the bottom line is there's no such thing as a universally "good" sound, so try a variety of solid state amps and tube amps and find YOUR good sound.

Thank you, GregoryB, for re-affirming my belief that people generally come to the right conclusion, even when they get the reasoning totally ****ed-up! :rolleyes:

I have said many times that gear should be tried out before you lay down your hard-earned cash, and the trials should be made with your ears and mind open, and your eyes shut!

I have two vacuum tube amps - an Ampeg VT-22 and an Ampeg VT-40. They have different kinds of sound, but they are both wonderful. To my ears.

I also have a Gallien-Krueger Backline 100 and an Ampeg G-18. Both are transistor amps. Both sound wonderful. To my ears.

Bottom line? It's your money, and your ears. If you aren't happy with your sound, you can't expect anyone else to like it either. If you find a set-up that make your ears smile, that's all that really matters.

sO a sample.... is Washburn BDR25 a tube ???

well personly i think that line 6 amps just strait up sound like **** i know the sound good on records like meshuggah but when i seen them live i was like what the **** is going on with your guys amps to me it just sounded like feedback with distortion every one in the croud was plugging there ears it was really weird seeing that i wonder what the band was thinking

Originally posted by PonyOne
...I've got a Roland Jazz Chorus JC120 combo (120 meaning 120 watts of power). It's a solid state. But to be quite frank... it sounds nicer than many tube amps out there. The JC120 was designed to be the most "pure" amp ever; with all the settings at the middle and the distortion and reverb off, it is 100% clear. It's got excellent reverb, etc....

See for yourself click here