Tube Amps Are A Dying Luxury.

Hoenstly, tube amps are becoming a very expensive luxury that will only be seen in museums in the following decades. This is why.

Support This Channel
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Socials
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
.
.
.

My Camera Gear
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

*All Links Are Affiliate Links*

[stug]

My gigging days are over and I lm just a home player now - this said, I’ve never found a digital solution I’m happy with. I’ll run my tube heads at 2% volume happily for the rest of my life. You can get close with a recorded sound, but you’ll never nail the feel of a tube amp pushing a cab - that experience is part of the joy of playing for me

[KaddysJamKave]

No matter how the world changes... I'll be that old dude that still sits in his garage with a WALL of tube amps and cabinets reminiscing about the "Good ol days" 😂

[JackStevens]

Tube amp + attenuator and I’m fine at home. Attenuator completely changed my experience of playing at home. I always prefer the tone of tube amps over plugins, even though they are obviously less convenient.

[haydenlee]

I agree. Tube Amps are a luxury...

Less in terms of "oh no, it's so pricey" luxury,
but definitely more in terms of "I can't afford to keep something this big when my home is so small, and it's so cumbersome/costly to move it from place to place", "I can't afford to play something this loud when I'm not guaranteed to be able to play/practice where I won't get complaints" kind of luxury.
(Especially considering that less and less people can buy their own homes these days. Size and Mass matters, unfortunately)

Tube combo/stacks are most likely going to end up as enthusiast collecters' items, or for recording studio purposes.

[lucistired]

Conversations like this always focus on whether or not the amp or plugin sounds the same but always neglects to consider whether or not the player will sound different using different gear. Having a powerful amp in the room changes how I feel about my playing, inspires me, gives me confidence, and that makes *me* sound better. Tube amps are a cool inspiring musical device, and that counts for a lot

[AlexH]

Tube amps and analog are incredible to play through. It's like playing a real grand piano vs. a synthesizer. Every guitarist should be familiar with it.

[fraktheskye]

Amp companies are making smaller amps with built in load boxes to connect straight to an interface ie Mesa Badlander, REVV, etc. They’re also putting out lower wattage amps at relatively lower prices. I’m 33 and I’ve had all the modelers but finally found the tone I was looking for from a 25 W Mesa Badlander. I can record quietly or play into headphones. I also just got a speaker cab. I get option paralysis with amp sims, but with just a few knobs on the real amp, I can dial in exactly what I want. I think amp companies are shifting and I welcome it. I will be buying the 20W Friedman JJ next year.

[kosmajahn]

Hey, I'm 17 and I just bought a 100W Marshall head with 4x12 cabinet, and what I can say is that you will never get that feeling of playing a big, cranked tube amp from a plugin. It's just.. impossible. You have to feel the knobs under your fingers, and feel the wind blowing through the speakers. I know it's a bit uncomfortable to tour and carry big stacks of amps and cabs, but it's really worth it, especially when you finally can play a show with a tube amp behind you. Love it
Greetings from Poland!

[RyvenProductions]

Tube amps will never die, and vinyl records will tell you the same thing. As much as I love amp sims, I will always gravitate towards the real thing. Tube amp, load box, and some IR's are the perfect solution for bedroom volumes. There are a ton of affordable used tube amps out there. You don't need some 3000-dollar amp to get good tone. Most of us know it's the speaker, mic, and cab that matter most in your signal chain.

[Jaxisagod]

As a working guitar player I can say you are bang on!! Guitar processors, direct to FOH, in ear systems, very minimal stage noise, etc.

[ilikelittlebikes]

I bought a fender tonemaster when they came out specifically because I wanted to avoid the caveats that come with tubes. i.e. weight, maintenance, etc. After a year of enjoying it, I had the opportunity to buy a vintage 60's deluxe. Now the poor tonemaster sits there, in all it's lightweight and convenient glory, silently looking on as the valve amp gets all the love.
It's not that the tonemaster is a bad amp in any way.. its a very serviceable pedal platform with some actual character; but the valve amp just feels better in every conceivable way. The advantage of this is that my amp inspires me to play where it used to just be a part of the rig. Now I can glance over lovingly at the thing and get the urge to flip that standby switch and see what fun there is to be had. I think ultimately it comes down to what works for you and what inspires you to play.

[Victorbrotto]

People been saying this for the last 20 years. In the early 2000s people swore modeling gear of that time sounded ''just like an amp dudeeee'', and now what do we think about those Line6 PODs? Kemper is now obsolete, and Quad Cortex is the new ''Sounds just like an amp brooo''. You know what really sounds like an amp and always will? Yeah.

[jameshayward]

Not gonna lie, having a dad who was a tube amp repair tech and one of the only "good ones" in my area, i was SUPER fortunate growing up being able to check out a bunch of different amps as they came through the house. Stuff that id never be able to afford or see as some rare gems cane through.
**edit**
From the replies I'm not sure if my comment was read correctly, when I said "good ones" I meant out of repair techs, wasn't referring to amps. Alot of people would end up sending their amps to my dad to fix after bringing it to other places that either made the problem worse or better yet those places would just contract my dad to fix em lol

[wilhelmrifflord]

So I wanna say that I’m 39 and I really feel this. I use a SS Orange these days and it really leaves me nothing to be desired so I’m not at all shocked that a younger person who isn’t conditioned to “need” an amp rig couldn’t care less about them. I do love amps and amp culture. K, I’m gonna go roll a blunt on my svt classic now ❤️‍🔥

[KyleKingGuitar]

Completely agree. I think the main turning point has been that everything surrounding a modern musician is conducive to using gear that is as small, light and quiet as possible on stage.

I found out really early on when playing clubs how unusable a traditional amp and cab was on stage (completely regardless of what the wattage or cabinet size was), I was never able to get my amp loud enough for it to start sounding right. I was being constantly told to turn down, sometimes to the point where if I turned my amp down anymore there would be no volume at all.

I got to the point where I thought what’s the point anymore, ended up buying a quad cortex and as much as I do miss my amps it’s so much easier in pretty much every way.

I really don’t miss being hounded by the promoter or sound engineer to hurry up setting up my equipment because they can’t ever seem to organise changeover timing properly.

And if you are able to leave your modeller plugged in until you go on you literally just have to switch it on and you’re good to go.

[electropentatonic]

I'm older and from what I see, great tube amplifiers have never been more affordable

[TelesPlayMetal]

I’ve got an AxeFx III. I also have 11 tube amps. I think it comes down to physical feel. The AxeFx, even through cheap speakers, sounds great. But the feel of a speaker cab with a tube amp pushing air back at you is the feel you can’t get with processors. The AxeFx with a power amp into a speaker cab doesn’t do the same thing either.

[ShredRexGuitar]

I work in a music store....and I am an old guy that grew up on tube amps. Most younger players have no idea what it like to plug into a real amp, or play at pant leg moving volumes. They know modeling amps and plug ins. We sell modeling amps every day, the odd tube amp and normally to the 40 and up demographic. I love both tube amps and today's modeling and capture options. Honestly my tube amps stay at home, I don't wanna haul them around anymore. And having XLR outs to FOH live and USB for recording has made it easier than ever to get a great tone anywhere. I have this convo almost daily at work, and I agree while amps may never go away, they are not mainstream anymore.

[PhuketMyMac]

Funnily I've started collecting tube amps when modeling became really a thing and I don't regret it.
These are beautiful devices and playing through these with an attenuator feels a lot different than playing with my plugins and I prefer it.
I'll continue to buy tube amps.

[satchrules]

No way the power of a tube amp and feel, is ultimate feeling, and makes me play in a different way !