So the trick is to run a SS amp in stereo with a tube amp and have the valve trem pedal connected to the solid state amp and the non-valve trem pedal connected to the tube amp. This is called Universal Harmony.
Nah, the trick is to run 5-10 tremolos in series, each set to such a perfect rhythm that the sine wave is imperceptible to the user. That is the kind of tone you just cannot buy.
Nor hear, lol. It's only tangible in it's absence.
If you can't hear the notes I'm not playing, then I cannot help you.
Do your homework! I'm not just going to tell you! It also involves DMT and Ego Death.
Does DMT stand for "Dirty Mega Tremolo"?
Because I'm interested.
This is the way
I kinda want to see if I can get anywhere close now.
I play bass through both my SS bass amp and tube guitar amp, which has a tremolo, so I all I need is a tube tremolo pedal, and to route my tube amp’s tremolo back through my bass amp, and I could totally pull this off to achieve Universal Bass Harmony. Nobody will hear it, but just give me a beer and I’ll be happy off in my corner.
Tube + SS in stereo doesn’t mix very well
It does with maximum t-r-e-m-o-l-o in s-t-e-r-e-o.
Here's the manual on that:
Nah, it's gotta be at least four tube amps doing the tremolo thingy.
I was waiting for this one. :D
Ah, how could I have forgotten this awesomeness?
Worked for Johnny Greenwood. Then again, he is a bit of a scrub.
Sir join us where your wisdom is needed the most r/guitarcirclejerk
Can I run the speaker cable from a tube amp into a tremolo pedal? Will it make it tremolololo?
Yes, you can. Everyone else should give it a miss. (It'll make it a Trololo.)
That will blow your output transformer.
But Tony Iommi told me it's how he got his guitar to make the piano sound on Changes
name checks out
But do you have a tremolo system on your GUITAR as well? Floyd Rose, Bigsby, Two Point Classic Style. Any will do.
Then you can do tremolo flutters through your tube tremolo boosted going into your tube amp, then run another tremolo pedal with a tube in it through the FX Loop of the amp that has tremolo.
It's tremmin' time.
My Guild Thunderbird had Tremolo. I think my Peavey Deuce had one too. Never use it on either :)
my everything has a volume dial on it, so I don't even need a power button
Do you like tremolo effect?
Not really, no.
Thoughts on tremolo tube tremolo(s) in stere-ere-eo?
Yes.
Thought I was in gcj for a second
this really does look like a gcj post, I only realized its guitaramps when I saw your comment
I don’t turn my peavey on and off for tremolo. I switch between the clean and gain channel with the foot pedal.
Letting your tubes warm up and cool down is a myth, and the standby switch only ever existed for amp technician safety. Nowadays it’s more of a marketing gimmick. Plenty of smaller tube amps come without standby switches and operate just fine
Edit: for the pedants in this group, obviously the tubes still take a second to warm up and you can’t use the power switch as a tremolo.
I read somewhere “leave your amp in standby to warm up”
I read somewhere else “don’t put your amp in standby until it’s warmed up for 15 mins”
I don’t care anymore. I just turn the fucker on, set up my pedals and guitar and go for it.
I keep a kitchen timer on top of my amp. I power it up in standby for exactly 15 minutes before switching standby off. If I miss the 15 minute mark I turn everything back off and wait an additional 15 minutes and then I restart the whole process.
Once I get everything powered up and my guitar in hand I turn everything back off because I have chores to do.
”until it’s warmed up for 15 mins”
Haha wtf. Imagine showing up to a gig being like “no no I have to wait FIFTEEN MINUTES”
So much ridiculous dad lore around tubes
There's a shitload of dad lore around all guitar gear, but especially valve amps. I've heard people say you should always bring your amp to shop if you want to switch the power valves. If you don't want to do the bias yourself, I get it, but I've heard people with cathode biasing / fixed bias amps say this as well.
Another prime example is "getting your guitar set up professionally". The guitar tech's professional magic fairy dust just really brings the thing to life!
I didn’t build one into my 5f1. A friend did as why. Just not needed.
Letting your tubes warm up and cool down is a myth
Not entirely but it's grossly overrated.
Tubes have to "warm up" meaning the filament needs to glow before they can conduct, and if you hit them with the full B+ voltage before that happens, you could break a filament through electrostatic forces.
The same with cooling down: A hot filament is still fragile and can break if you move the amp around, much like a light bulb. The chance of that happening is still very small.
And we're talking about a matter of 10 seconds here, not minutes.
While this isn’t comprehensive, I’d say it’s safe to assume that the tube you’re using has a controlled warm-up for its heater. According to the linked site, tubes under 1kV plate voltage rating have this
10 seconds seems like a lot. I feel like the filaments heat up in like 1.5 seconds.
diff amps are different
Hence my addendum addressing pedants
Yup. I have a Marshall origin 20 head that doesn't gave a standby switch
So it’s smaller wattage tube amps then? Cause I’ve yet to see a 100w or 120w tube amp without one.
I would guess so, I haven't seen a larger head without a standby either
way to spoil us pedants' fun. Tubes still need to warm up a few seconds before it'll play. There, I said it anyways. U can't stop me. U can make me look pedantic, but u can't stop me
Lol I like the cut of your jib. And it’s your cake day, so you get to be as pedantic as you want. Enjoy it!
Hold up... So the reason your told to let the tubes warm up isn't to avoid damaging anything. A lot fo tube amps get louder and louder for the first few minutes after they are turned on. You let them warm up so you can set volume levels without them fluctuating. But it only takes a minute or two. Even less if the room or weather is warm.
How is a standby switch for technicians? Using the standby is what causes the capacitors to stay charged. If you turn the amp off without going into standby, the caps will usually discharge on their own.
They dont even put standby switch on most tube amps anymore
Most? I’ve never had one without a standby. I’ve seen a lot of small amps without
It's mostly there because people are used to it being there. I think they're just afraid that if they don't include it customers will think the amp will explode once turned on.
The smaller amps don't tend to have it anymore, but you're right - I've never seen a 50+ W valve amp without standby. It's unnecessary but I don't mind it being there - the only amp I wouldn't buy because of the standby switch is the EVH 5150, I can't think of a more idiotic place for the switch than the back. Well, now that I think of it maybe they could've put the switches on the bottom.
I just played a 5150 iconic in guitar center last week. I had to lean the thing forward to read the three switches before turning on. Kinda annoying
It’s not necessary anyway
This post is brought to you in part by Jazz Chorus simps
present and accounted for.
Gotta find a clip of it, but live, LCD Soundsystem would play the song “Movement” and James Murphy would go to the (guitar player) Alex Doyle’s Jazz Chorus and just switch it on and off really quick for a kill switch effect at the end.
Man I LOVE some LCD Soundsystem. What a talented guy. Is he sticking to retirement? I can’t recall but last I heard he said he was going to then played a show. Think it was just the one-off though. All My Friends and I Can Change are heartbreakingly beautiful pieces.
They just released a song for the White Noise adaptation Noah Baumbach’s making! It’s called “new body rhumba”
Sick!! I’m racing to read that right now before I start catching glimpses of trailers. Delillo is one of my favorite author’s (David Foster Wallace) favorite authors. Had White Noise on the list for a while but now I’ve gotta jump on it.
Tube amp til I die
It’ll probably die first.
Hasn’t happened to me once in 15~ years of gigging and practicing 🤷🏼♂️
It happened to my 1990 Tweed Bassman a few months back during a gig :( Caps gave out.
Oof that’s gotta be terrifying. Mid gig trying to figure out where the issue is. My 5150 is probably 30 years old.. I bet it’s waiting for a chance to pull that crap on me haha. I will admit I’ve been lucky!
Take it into a tech if you can! My guy told me it’s not uncommon for them to die out around the 25-30 year mark. Getting it looked at wouldn’t hurt, and it would be terrifying if it died mid gig.
I admit that a tube amp sounds phenomenal but at my age I rather haul around a 30lbs boss katana or peavey bandit than a heavy tube amp... At the end of the night, 95% of the people at a gig can't tell the difference in tone and the people who can are probably too drunk or high.
Studio recording is a total different thing though
There’s something about a neck pickup just about to break up on a tube amp
You can either own a tube amp or something attempting to imitate a tube amp.
Lolol. I made my old bandmates mad because I was a caveman, and played a Randall RG100 for most of our sludge metal existence. The bass player always tried to sway me into buying a tube amp since his brother had a peavey 6505+( it sounded great). At the time, I didn't care at all about gear the way I do now. Now I prefer tube amps, but I definitely won't try and tell someone how to play, and what to buy.
Gonna be some angry tube amp users in here
Not angry, but I’m also not in such a rush that I can’t wait 30 seconds for the tubes to warm up on a $2,500 tube amp just to be sure we’re all good
Guy in the audience before a touring band’s set: “hey, make sure you’re letting your tube amp warm up before playing!”
Guy in touring band: “lol ok” switches amp on and plays the show like the last dozen shows
Hey, that’s a schematic for a vibrator!
Let's assume that preamp tubes sound "better" than solid state preamps. Why would you use tubes for the power amp, since that part shouldn't be modifying the tone ? (Not an expert by any means by the way, I'm genuinely curious)
Because power sections absolutely do affect tone and it's a misconception that they shouldn't.
Today I Learned. Thanks
Is it also the one responsible for giving that great distortion when gain and volume is turned all the way up?
At high volume, power amp tubes absolutely affect the tone. This is the reason that amp attenuators exist: to allow the power amp to struggle just like it would at high volume, but without your neighbors complaining. If you could just turn down the master volume and get the same tone, there would be no reason for attenuators to exist. (Okay, I suppose, technically, it's more the output transformer that's the thing affecting the tone, but you don't [generally] get an output transformer without output tubes.) It's also the reason you see people recommending lower-wattage amps if you want tube distortion. There's no way that a bedroom player can get a 100W tube amp into saturation, but a 5W amp? Yeah, that's possible.
It's not just the transformer, it's also the power supply. When the power section demands more than the power supply can provide, voltage sags and output is compressed.
Mmm sag.
Power section distortion also happens and is in fact quite desirable in certain applications, including many classic amps like tweed era fenders, for which its the characteristic part of their sound and feel. But also a lot of bigger tube amps get power amp saturation when you really crank the master volume. It has a very loose, warm, bassy sound, and natural dynamic compression.
But for a lot of people this is actually pretty true and why hybrid amps (tube preamp, SS power amp) are so popular. A lot of guitarists have no idea how these things work and come up with a lot of myths about how various things affect sound that lead them to make gear choices based on aesthetics rather than what they actually want to sound like. I’m thinking of YouTube guitarists who get 100W Marshall heads to play them at bedroom volume.
I’m thinking of YouTube guitarists who get 100W Marshall heads to play them at bedroom volume.
Dev Gohil be like (he's playing engl and blackstar but also 100W heads)
I think Blackstar does that. They do some kind of hybrid thing that tube guys hate. Can't remember the details because I'm not interested in tube amps.
I think the gripe many people have with Blackstar is the addition of SS gain/clipping stages in their preamps.
I don't know how accurate this grievance is, but I remember when I had a shot of an HT20, the dirt channel was very flat and clinical sounding, with no nuance at all (which was surprising as the HT1 does it very well, albeit at lower volume)
Because many people disagree and think they should be part of tone shaping.
Let's assume that preamp tubes sound "better" than solid state preamps
They do lol
Sure
I suppose I’m not careful enough with my tube amps 🤣
Different tools for different jobs.
Lmao TGP makes me so mad just a bunch of weird pedantic miserable people. It sucks that sometimes there’s some legit useful info buried in a bunch of sommelier vibes
I feel validated
My amp is catheter based
Yep.. I have 2 tube amps. One is like 5 years old (Orange), I basically turn it on in standby, then go get my guitar out of the case and plug it in, then tune it, then I take it out of standby. It's been fine all these years and has never even blown a tube.
My other tube amp is only a year old (fender) and doesn't even have a standby switch. That one I just turn it on often with the volume at 1, then get the guitar, tune it, etc.. and then turn the volume up. It seems fine too.
The TGP guys would hate me for not letting them warmup, but they'd also hate me for keeping my guitar in the case. If you don't keep your guitar out of the case you're not serious about playing. Otherwise you'd be too bothered by the amount of time you lose to casing and uncasing the guitar. (Despite that you just gain time back having to tune less and deal with fewer wood issues.)
Tell me more about your wood issues
I love how the comment session basically confirms the meme
Russia is the biggest suppliers of valves in the world. At some point, they'll be super rare because of the current situation. And I'll just sell the tube amp with the tubes at a ridiculously inflated price. Hope you have some internal organs to spare 🤣
I have both types of amps... I prefer my solid state most of the time... /shrug
Why is that?
I prefer tube guitar amps. However, some solid state amps sound very good and obviously have the benefits of digital technology (effects, no cost & maintenance of tubes, etc). You can always have both. Tubes by themselves are very expensive even the “new production” tubes. I almost always use NOS tubes, always NOS for preamp tubes, not always for power tubes, rectifier tubes - not always (for instance, the JJ 5Y3S is a great rectifier tube). In my opinion tubes amps just sound better - more depth.
You can also just use the guitar's volume knob to simulate tremolo. Seeing Jeff Beck swell his volume in and out live blew my pathetic mind as a kid and I became fascinated with the technique.
Common emitter master race
I used to do the 3-5 min warm up on my JSX head, but after researching more and more I just let it warm for like 30 seconds, than power up and go. Sold it last year and now I’m using a Kemper Stage, that thing kills.
I still have a Grandmeister 40 Deluxe for when I get the urge to play through some real tubes.
I never wait for my tubes to warm up or cool down and not had any issues. Pretty sure even a soild state amp wouldn't hold to being repeatedly turned on and off.
I play a Fender Twin with an Eagletone Tube Distortion pedal and an Vox Ice 9 Overdrive and a Goat Octaver Fuzz. Those 4 Create some killer tone :) Just makes me smile and people blocks away frown lol 😝
Oh and Solid state is for practice those combo amps shit a brick 🧱 when I put a pedal on them.
My valve amp is warm enough to work in around 15 seconds.
The one thing I do miss about a high(ish) gain SS amp is the satisfying THWUMP! it made when I turned it on
both sound great, if you have the right amps.
Solid state? Do you even lift bro?
I love my tube amps and wouldn't trade them for the world. If you think solid state amps are bad though, you should give vox or boss katana a try. Also, if you're in the doom world like me, never forget sunn beta leads
My tube amp has a tremolo in it. My tremolo pedal has a tube in it. My other tremolo pedal doesn't have tubes in it, but it has a boost to boost the tremolo pedal with a tube in it going into the tube amp with the tremolo in it in it.
AMA.