What I Wish I Knew Before I Bought a Tube Amp

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Tube amps are one of those things that don't really make sense. They're a bunch of unreliable 75 year old technology in a big wooden box, and we have countless "better" options on the market today, whether that's solid state amps or amp modelers. But tube amps will always have a place in my sound and I don't think I'll ever stop playing them. There's something different, more organic feeling about tube amps that you can't really get anywhere else. In today's video, we're going over some of the basics of tube amps, and what I wish I knew before buying my first amp over 10 years ago.

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0:00 Intro

0:00 Intro
0:40 PRS DGT 15
1:38 Let's hear the amp
2:19 How this video works
2:41 Tube Amp Basics
5:14 How Much Power Do You Need?
6:42 Gain Staging 101
9:42 How To Use Master Volume
10:50 Using Pre and Master Vol Together
12:20 How different guitars change the amp
14:47 How to dial in your amp
16:05 Use ALL of the control
16:54 Top cut and Presence
18:58 Finding the perfect amp
20:18 Outro

[HeckfishMusic]

"Use your ears, not your eyes" - that's actually great advice. I've been playing for 25+ years now, and I still make that mistake... Thanks a lot, Rhett!

[jmtn]

So nice to hear an Amp demo short and sweet by a player repeating the exact same phrase just a simple 2/3 chords s short riff and a quick couple of chops
And repeated perfectly each time to be as close as before
Instead of a random shred that has no Relevance to what was previously played as the Amps dynamic range and features are demonstrated
Great job sir 👍
🤙

[cliftongardner]

The “dialing in your amp” part is so true. I had a Marshall DSL40C for a while and I always thought it was a “bad” thing that I had to turn the treble all the way down and the mids all the way up. But it sounded fantastic when I played it that way, and it turns out a lot of Marshalls sound best when the EQ knobs are pushed to extremes. Those knobs twist for a reason!

[robmuzick]

It’s crazy to me that I’ve been playing for over 30 years and already knew and learned all of this, but I watched the WHOLE video cause you did such a great job explaining it! 😂

[concretebadger]

Great video; I wish something like this was around when I was a tube amp noob. "Listen with your ears, not your eyes" when tweaking the eq, and "you need fewer watts than you think. No, really" are two of the best bits of advice that I should have learned much earlier!

[dewey]

Great Video! I just “graduated “ to a tube amp and I’m happy I did. I went from a Line 6 Catalyst 60. To a Marshall DSL40cr. I’ll be staying with tube amps from now on.

[MattyK-USA]

This really should be a must-watch for folks new to the Tube/Valve Amp scene. Kudos to you, Rhett! 🔥🙏🏻🔥

[kirkbolas]

Rhett…thanks for the U&C excellent vid/content. I’ve been a musician & guitarist for 43 years now and while you didn’t present anything new that I didn’t already know, you did give me a different way of thinking about a couple of things.

While kinda off topic, but not entirely, you’d mentioned the scenario where you park your PRS 15 watt head next to you and then park your cab in another room…

I play gigs at a few venues where the stage volume is restricted or there’s a Silent Stage rule. I used to have my amp head on stage w/me and I either had my cab in a back room or I used an internally mic’d iso-cab backstage.

About a 18 months, ago I started experiencing the progression of a health issue that necessitated a reduction/simplification in load in/out considerations. Fast forward to a year ago and after researching potential solutions, I purchased a Quilter Aviator Cub UK 1x12” 50 watt combo. It emulates, as I recall a 1963 Vox AC30, a 1964 Vox AC30 Top Boost and a 1977-ish, give or take a couple of years, Marshall JMP 2204 50 watt head.

It is solid state as opposed to tube, but it’s also a 50 watt 1x12” combo that weighs in at only 22 pounds (10 kilograms). That’s the icing on the cake. It sounds outstanding. Pat Quilter did a remarkable job nailing the tone and feel of the emulated amps. The preamp is FET/MOSFET based and the output section is Class D.

I plug in, turn on and set my tone. I then set the master volume to the venue limits or roll it back to zero for silent stage (I’m plugged into the amp’s volume-controllable, speaker emulated out that goes to FOH for venue mixing purposes no matter the scenario) and I’m ready for sound check. The amp takes pedals very well too.

I don’t have to fiddle with the knobs once I set my master volume as the Class D output doesn’t change the tone or gain/dirt set in the preamp. It just makes the sound quieter or louder without affecting the signal’s salient preamp configured qualities.

Rhett, I’ve always been a tube guy. I never saw myself plating a solid state amp little alone playing one and enjoying it. While the deterioration of an aspect of my health was the mule I was given to ride for my trip through QuilterLand,
While my fat, infirmed ass limited what that mule could carry, I had other choices, tube driven choices besides Quilter that I’d discovered.

Still, nothing had the tone, versatility, feel and feature-set that Quilter offered me. It was not the least expensive by far, but it was just the best balance of all things considered.

Talk with Pat. Perhaps he’ll sponsor a video by lending you this or the American-flavored model for you to go through. Hint, hint…topic for a future video.

[timchalmers]

My first tube amp (after a few solid state amps) was a used Blackstar HT-5R. It was very affordable, so I wasn't too concerned about money down the drain if it didn't work out. Turns out it's great for my practicing at home. I've learned how to replace the tubes without sticking my fingers where they shouldn't go. And I like the range of tones I can get by twiddling the knobs.

[maximmunity]

The human ear percieves tone differently at different volumes (the Fletcher-Munson Curve). It is why some stereos come with a "loudness" button: at softer volumes the curve flattens out and bass and trebel needs to get boosted. It is also why you dial in the perfect tone in your living room and then get to the gig, turn it up to gig level and it sounds like an ice pick - suddenly there's too much bass and treble and not enough mid.

I always have a BBE Sonic Stomp Sonic Maximizer in my chain; I can dial in my sound on the amp and then customise it at the gig for the room and the volume I'm playing at. That pedal is the secret sauce for my tone.

But rule of thumb: as the overall volume goes up, the treble and base need to come down (or the mid needs to go up).

[athensattila]

I found that I prefer as simple of an amp as possible. Basically, the fewer knobs, the better. I've been using the "normal" input on a mid-60s Fender Band-Master for years. 4 controls: volume, treble, bass dials and a switch labeled "bright". Sounds great. Your pedals will do anything else you want.

[khrislord]

Very helpful… thanks for diving into fundamentals! So easy to get caught up in gear and pedals, but there is so much that can be done with just dialing in the amp! Great video, thanks!

[compucorder]

I know it's obvious, but something I learned early on is that how powerful an amp you need for stage volume mainly depends on how clean you need it to be. So you might want a 2x12 100W Fender Twin for squeeky clean stage volume cleans for a pedal steel or Rhodes mk.I. Or a Vox AC30, to a lesser extent. And most people don't need that, which I guess is why Twins can seem good value compared to Princeton's or Deluxe Reverbs. But, these days for dirty Marshall tone, the small light 20W studio heads make more sense than a big heavy 100W model. But then small Fender's like Tweed Champs and Princeton's are stun guns when fullly dirty. So yeah, no perfect amp, always the question is what's the main intended use.

[gcheath]

Brought up as a kid hanging around an electronics repair shop. My 1963 AC30 Top Boost had a silicon rectifier mod. Gotta lot of stick from the techs as this, according to them, shortened valve (tube) life, stripping the Cathodes when cold. Most of my good amps have a standby, my latest a Fuchs ODS II 25/50 also has one, and Andy Fuchs would not have put one in had it been unnecessary or detrimental.

[robfrasier]

Great video, very educational. I use this theory on my modeler. Been playing for 2 years on a QuadCortex. Been very happy with its versatility. Maybe one day I’ll buy a tube amp.

Great video, I wish i would see that 10 years ago. I'm glad that you have pointed out the difference between a speaker and a guitar cable. It's very important as it may even cause a fire.

[josephandrosky]

Simple and direct explanation of how to utilize tube amps. Great video !

[Targula]

Thanks for this, loved the video. Went from a really frustrating Line 6 Spider, to a Marshall Valvestate and now to a JCM800. Such an incredible difference!

[TonyODonnell]

best thing about a valve combo is that you can plug it into a separate cab, 1, 2 or 4x12 of your choice for gigging or a bigger venue and keep the combo for home use or practice.

[colinmacdonald]

STBY which is now often called standby stands for Startup Tension Bypass. Warms up the tubes nice and softly.