I think We should have NGD Threads; So here We Go! | Forums

[CrazedRacer]

Yeah there's no denying thnat the tube amps are better sounding, but are they that much better sounding to a begginer (or novice) guitar player to justify to huge cost difference? Even the "cheap Bugera" that WickedBadz mentioned runs for double what a Fender or Line 6 modeling amp costs (not even considering any extra $$ for pedals and effects). I won't argue which is better, just which is a better value for the average non-gigging hobbyist. It's like comparing a Corvette to a Ferrari 458 Italia. The Ferrari is no doubt a better car, but most people wouldn't even notice the difference because they don't have the skill to drive them to the limit. Why pay 220,000 for the Ferrari when the Corvette is only 50,000?

COMPLETELY agree... I'll add to that the same kind of comparison... I drive a Mustang. I don't get mad when a Corvette drives by. I admire the car, but I love my Mustang. It was also in my price range, and I needed something that got decent mileage.

Guitars are the same to me. I love my American Strat... I bought it for $349 new from MF during a list sale. I paid the same for my Mexican Tele. I love that, too... I'd love to have a $3000 PRS, but I recently bought a PRS SE for $450 (that sold for $800 everywhere else). I'm as much about the bargain as the gear.

I'm never going to be a professional guitarist. I have a couple of friends that are professional artists, and I MAY, at some point, hop onstage and play a song if I can get over my fear of getting on stage. To that end, if I can have a Line 6 modeler or a Crate digital that I can play a bunch of sounds out of, then that's what I want to have. I know other gigging musicians that don't even play through Marshall stacks, so for me to think that I need that in my townhouse is a bit of overkill. To make a tube scream, it has to be loud. If I get that loud I bet the neighbors will be screaming louder than my amp.

[HadOne2Many]

@Fodder, don't get me wrong I understand the pros and cons of tube vs solid state and WickedBadz did raise quite a few valid points about tube amps, but he's still being a snob about it. Just look at his last post, he uses the words "garbage" and "waste of money" to make his point. He is completely overlooking the postive qualities of the gear in question. Just google "tube amp vs solid state" and you'll see pages upon pages of results people on both sides of the fence. What makes him the ultimate authority when so many others disagree? Also just FYI but Wicked has a pattern this behavoir. He routinely post ego inflated comments and attacks anyone who doesn't agree. He has been doing this for at least the 4 months I've been posting here. I stand by my elitist comment.

[Ryder35]

You've kind of (theoretically at least) sold me on this tube amp thing WB..
IF I had to choose between the following which would you recommend based on price/performance

looking at the thoman.de website:

Bugera V5 @ Euro 139
Bugera V22 @ Euro 268
Bugera 6260-12 @ Euro 298
Bugera V55 @ Euro 349

Or something else entirely??

It'll be be exclusively for home use unless I get "the call"

Blackheart HT 1. One watt tube amp made by ex marshall engineers. Volume is just right for home use and gets a surprising amount of varied tones for such a simple amp. Just be sure to get the reverb version. Sounds great even with a single 8 inch speaker

[slabossiere]

Blackheart HT 1. One watt tube amp made by ex marshall engineers. Volume is just right for home use and gets a surprising amount of varied tones for such a simple amp. Just be sure to get the reverb version. Sounds great even with a single 8 inch speaker

Did you mean Blackstar? I've got a Blackstar HT-1R, but I've never heard of Blackheart with a similar model #. Unless they market under a different name in other countries or regions.

I agree that it's a great little amp, and you can get some nice tones at lower volumes.

[Ryder35]

Oops yes blackstar

[WickedBadz]

You've kind of (theoretically at least) sold me on this tube amp thing WB..
IF I had to choose between the following which would you recommend based on price/performance

looking at the thoman.de website:

Bugera V5 @ Euro 139
Bugera V22 @ Euro 268
Bugera 6260-12 @ Euro 298
Bugera V55 @ Euro 349

Or something else entirely??

It'll be be exclusively for home use unless I get "the call"

I'd head to the local music store with my axe and plug into one and see which I like best, try out pre and post overdrive, it's important on a tube amp, also try out the clean tone, which usually is a much warmer tone than any solid state can produce.

I've played through the v22 and v55, I enjoyed the v55 sound much more, it was very marshall sounding when overdriven via post, and had a wild tone when pre overdriven which was pretty sweet, both had great clean tones and plenty of volume, small gig in a place with 150 people they'd handle it no problem, after that you could just mic it up...the 6l6 power tubes though in the v55 just made it shine above the el84's...but yeah if you can try them both out you'll hear the difference, definetly a good sounding amp for the price, the v22 more of a fender/evh tone with the v55 more on the line of mesaboogie.marshall tone but yet each distinct sounding from those valves.

There's one thing I've learned over the 35+ years of playing guitar and that is you can make a crappy guitar sound great in a top notch amp, but you can't make a good guitar sound good in a crappy amp and you toss a crappy guitar into that mix and it's just a disaster....amp makes or breaks you....nothing against Line 6 or any other solid state amp but they seriously have poor sound

[PRS_Rocker]

Gorgeous!

[jmk1999]

alright, guys... agree to disagree. there's valid points on both sides, but there's no reason to resort to name calling and insults. please refrain from doing so. also, keep things positive. if someone has an opinion on something, don't bash it... and the same goes for those who differ from your opinions. keep arguments valid and positive.

[steel_string]

Some modelers are better than others. The AxeFX II, for example, sounds fantastic (albeit at a price few beginners could afford). I think a lot of the frustration many guitarists have with seeing new players buy a Spider is that there are other modellers (like the Peavey Vypyr and Roland Cube) that are available in the same price range and sound much better.

I'm just glad any time someone buys something that doesn't do analog, solid-state clipping for its distortion. It genuinely hurts me to hear anything but cleans from a Marshall MG.

[steel_string]

Tube watts are different from solid state watts (no idea how or why) My Marshall 1 watt tube amp is louder than my Mustang 2 amp

The wattage is the maximum clean wattage. For a tube amp, you can get substantially more wattage by cranking it past the point that it starts clipping. For a modeller, the actual amp is always played clean and distortion is achieved by clipping the signal in the signal processor and then sending the result out through an amp at clean levels. So, in practice, a 100W tube amp has significantly more wattage than a 100W modeller.

(That's just the basic idea. I'm leaving out analog solid-state amps and hybrid amps.)