Marshall tube vs. solid state

Used both over the years, right now got AVT 100. Sound is very good, can get any sound you want, really, but breaks up if you crank it up. It's great for home use and recording, but not really got power for gigs, though lineout through PA works alright.

 

tube always! better gain, cuts through better, nice volume for shows

 

All you need to know.

Marshall JCM800 100w reverb.
Marshall 1960B cabinet.

Tube is way more reliable, granted you know how to treat them and get them serviced once a year, they end up being more money in the long run, but will not drop dead like a shitty solid state.

Now, granted I have a solid state AMPEG SVT-350T 2x12 combo, with a SVTHLF 4x10 cab that is my main show playing rig, due to the sheer ammount of violence and power it unleashes when I play my SG through it, But I recently scored a Marshall solid state head for 20$ from this dude I know, and it doesnt sound half bad for fucking around in my apartment. Its the older HDFX100 before they started making them with the fauly fans and mis-soldered joints.

Personally though, search your local craigs list for a Killer 100W tube head and a cab.

Youll thank yourself later, the lows are tighter, more headroom for distortion, youll actually be able to hear yourself over the drums and bassist(always an awsome feeling when they tell you to turn down! haha)

Good reliable tube heads I have used
80s Marshall JCM800 2203/2204
Marshall JCM900(very, very gainy sounding, but lacks the boot in the face of an 800)
JCM2000
TSL2000

Peavey 5150

late 60s fender bandmaster Reverbs

Ampeg v4


Mesa dual/tripple rectifier(sound great with vintage gibsons)

The real cream of the crop though, and what I reccomend to anyone who wants a reliable amp....

Matamp legacy 120

or, anything from www.electricamp.com
be prepared to spend, but the sound...youll masturbate as soon as you turn the thing on.

 

I always thought tube amps had a more rounded off sound.

 

Very easy to push the tube amp to distortion by amplifying in non-linear phase of tube. Whether clean, crunch or heavily distorted the sound always sounds mellower than the solid state devices. Solid state devices are better if you do a lot of travelling with the amps, less easy to damage and lighter, but having said that, if you look after tube devices, they will be ok. Always have replacement tubes available. Nothing worse than turning up to a gig and the tube fails (although having said that tubes generally need to be re-biased, especially the finals tubes, when being replaced or you need to have a matched pair or quad of devices dependent on the configuration of the amp) and no two tubes will ever sound the same. Cost may be an issue, tubes nearly always somewhere between two to five times more expensive than equivalent solid state device.

 

Btw ever thought of making your own amp?

Goto http://www.ax84.com/

These are basic 10-20W amps but all the theory holds true for amps with greater power output. I am currently collecting the parts for my own four tube push pull amplifier with about 12W out. Its for a practice amp. It uses 2 x 12AX7 in the preamp and 2 x 12AQ5 in the power amp.

I am also collecting the parts for two other amps. One will be a 4 x 6BM8 in the final output stage. The triode section of each tube will be used for 2 input channels (2 triodes per channel). This will give a mini practice amp of about 3W per channel, plenty loud enough and compact enough for my bedroom

 

Never really considered it, I guess convinced they can make something better quality than I can. AVT is valve pre amp, solid state power amp, cheaper compromise that works fine as long as you don't push latter too much. Very reliable though, six years, hauled it around a lot, gigged it, knocked drink on it, dropped it few times, and no problems.

 

Yeah tube preamp and solid state amp can be a good compromise. You get the sound of the tube in the preamp and the ruggedness of the solid state in the finals and lets face it, the finals are the expensive tubes. 12AX7 or 12AU7 that are normally used in the preamps are a dime a dozen so to speak. I can get brand new ones for less than AUD$10. I built a preamp that runs from a 40V power supply. I built the power supply too. You don't need the massive transformers to deliver to the tubes. I can't remember what the principle it works on is called (why you only need 40V and not 200V that is). It's sounds really mellow and supplies about 0.5W to my solid state 10W amp.