Excepting a minority of wacky contrarians , everybody loves tube amps . What ’ s not to love , right ? The sound of saturated power tubes has proven very tough to top over the years . Hot valves set an early standard for what we sonically expect from an electric guitar , and the characteristic feel and touch-sensitive dynamics of tube amplifiers have provided an equally crucial and distinct component of the guitar playing experience since the beginning . The first tube guitar amps hit the scene in the ‘ 30s , and here we are some 80 years later still obsessing over them , so something about these antiquated electronic beasts must be intrinsically appealing to our ears and hands .
For all its wonderful qualities , however , a tube amp isn ’ t always the best tool for every job . Tube amps can be heavy , expensive , and high-maintenance , and they often don ’ t sound their best unless they ’ re operating at near full-tilt , which can result in conflicts with bandmates , audio professionals , neighbors , audiences , and local law enforcement . And these days , many guitarists get the bulk of their sounds ( especially dirty sounds ) from their stompboxes , with the amp functioning less as a primary tone generator , and more as just a source of basic signal amplification and overall tone shaping . If pedals and effects form the backbone of your tone , is it worth expending all of the money and effort necessary to purchase and maintain a tube amp ? For many guitarists , the answer is a resounding “ no .”
A solid-state amplifier is the perfect platform for the player that relies mostly on pedals for their sound . The best modern solid-state amps exhibit superb , highly detailed clean tones and will happily eat all manner of dirt pedals for lunch , thanks to typically abundant headroom and relatively neutral overall voicing . Furthermore , they are uniformly more reliable , lighter in weight , and less expensive than tube amps . Some have excellent onboard overdrive and effects , but for many pedalboard jockeys the ideal way to employ a solid-state amp is as a sort of blank canvas , waiting to be filled in with color by the array of sonic pigments at their feet . If this sounds like something you might be into , we ’ ve compiled a short list of excellent solid-state amplifiers that are ideally suited to stompboxes .
Words by Jamie Wolfert
Excepting a minority of wacky contrarians , everybody loves tube amps . What ’ s not to love , right ? The sound of saturated power tubes has proven very tough to top over the years . Hot valves set an early standard for what we sonically expect from an electric guitar , and the characteristic feel and touch-sensitive dynamics of tube amplifiers have provided an equally crucial and distinct component of the guitar playing experience since the beginning . The first tube guitar amps hit the scene in the ‘ 30s , and here we are some 80 years later still obsessing over them , so something about these antiquated electronic beasts must be intrinsically appealing to our ears and hands .
For all its wonderful qualities , however , a tube amp isn ’ t always the best tool for every job . Tube amps can be heavy , expensive , and high-maintenance , and they often don ’ t sound their best unless they ’ re operating at near full-tilt , which can result in conflicts with bandmates , audio professionals , neighbors , audiences , and local law enforcement . And these days , many guitarists get the bulk of their sounds ( especially dirty sounds ) from their stompboxes , with the amp functioning less as a primary tone generator , and more as just a source of basic signal amplification and overall tone shaping . If pedals and effects form the backbone of your tone , is it worth expending all of the money and effort necessary to purchase and maintain a tube amp ? For many guitarists , the answer is a resounding “ no .”
A solid-state amplifier is the perfect platform for the player that relies mostly on pedals for their sound . The best modern solid-state amps exhibit superb , highly detailed clean tones and will happily eat all manner of dirt pedals for lunch , thanks to typically abundant headroom and relatively neutral overall voicing . Furthermore , they are uniformly more reliable , lighter in weight , and less expensive than tube amps . Some have excellent onboard overdrive and effects , but for many pedalboard jockeys the ideal way to employ a solid-state amp is as a sort of blank canvas , waiting to be filled in with color by the array of sonic pigments at their feet . If this sounds like something you might be into , we ’ ve compiled a short list of excellent solid-state amplifiers that are ideally suited to stompboxes .