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Great fun for bass, outdoors at a big festival or somewhere similar... probably fairly pointless for anything else. I actually thought the 200 sounded slightly better too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
1. Reliability. In 50 years’ playing I’ve had too many valve failures and mechanical breakdowns.
2. Flexibility. In a covers band I want a range of sounds without carrying multiple amps and speakers. I also want to be able to use the same equipment at a wedding, in a pub, and when accompanying a solo singer.
3. Space in the house, in the car, and at venues. There are sounds which only a 4x12 will provide. I know a bass player who took his 4x12 to the dealership when he bought a car. With PA and lights to carry I don’t have room for that.
4. Ease of use. Once everything is configured it’s very simple to use. Plug in the mains, the xlr, and the guitar jack. There’s no fiddling with positions. I don’t have to wait for valves to cool down before packing away. I can carry it without straining my back.
If I were doing small gigs with a blues band the story might be different.
Considering you can now buy LP's again... I think you are wrong. ....or at least for another 30 years Do valve amps sound better, generally yes, but way more important than that... did Hendrix play a valve amp or a digital amp, what about Slash, Clapton, Page, Beck, Hammet, Hetfield, Bonamassa.... etc etc
As I've said 'do valve amps sound better' is a funny one. To me, there is still a very small increase in satisfaction using a valve amp live or at home Vs a modeler, but the overall sound of the band at pub gigs is definitely better using a modeller direct. We get a much more balanced sound, both out front and on stage. Every one in the audience gets a balanced mix and we get whatever mix we want.
I don’t doubt valve amps will still be used and probably made by small builders even in thirty years - but I’m not at all sure about the mass-production market for them. The big question is whether valves will continue to be made, if amps aren’t - or the other way round. Or will it become like germanium transistors, where builders are chasing diminishing stocks of NOS components and having to find ways of using out-of-spec ones or near equivalents...
The 90s was too soon to write off the technology, but without the ex-communist countries retaining valve manufacturing for a few critical years longer than the West it would have happened then - but for a while it looked like we might be down to only about three types of valves being made, and even a company the size of Marshall had to make a major change to stay in production. It could happen again - there are only three full-scale valve factories in the world now, and the market for them is tiny in global terms.
The difference now from the 90s is that the alternatives have other major advantages for convenience and flexibility than a 90s solid-state amp did compared to a valve amp.
Remember that even a company with the dominance of Kodak was caught out by how sudden the demise of mass-market film photography was, once digital reached the tipping point where the consumer market switched to it. Or what happened to the market for CRT TV and monitor tubes when flat screens became cheaper...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Yeah it's actually the transformer in the output stage that contributes a huge part of the valve amp experience. It's very difficult to design and make a linear transformer ...they basically introduce a lot of the goodness we like. Unfortunelty that's also the expensive part of building a valve amp... not so much the valves themselves
Personally I don't see class D as being as reliable as valve tech. It's clever, it's efficient but it's not as reliable as a linear supply. The caps will always fail which inevitably leans to the destruction of the switching transistor, sometimes the pulse width chip and normally a load of other stuff.
In my band Superheroes we have already had to repair both HK bins due to SMPS capacitor failure .... now they actually did 10 years in service before failing but 10 years is nothing for a linear supply. 20 years is nothing for a linear supply.
So don't get sold on class D being more reliable than valve, it's not really and believe me it's a world of pain and hassle to repair
Talking of the demise of CRT TV, it might have a knock on effect on valve production. CRTs are very similar technology to valves. With CRTs no longer being made, the suppliers that make the raw materials common to both valves and CRTs might stop production. If that happens, it could kill off valves even if the valve factories themselves had enough demand to keep going.
I'm seriously thinking about selling a valve amp, and getting a Strymon Iridium or the new Two Notes Torpedo Captor x to use with a small head. Either way, I'd end up going direct live.
I'd keep my Lazy J for now, but I don't actually use it very much any more. I use my Kemper at home almost all of the time. Currently I have a second valve amp that I leave at the church I play at regularly, but I think I'd be better off ditching that to go direct.
From what I've seen, if there is a half decent PA, the front of house sound is significantly better going direct - either digital or via some kind of device like the Torpedo.
It seems to me that the manufacturers of anything with a class D amp section just hope you'll want to upgrade to the next big thing before your current gear dies out of warranty.
If I had space to carry them I'd just go back to a Marshall valve PA head and a pair of 4x12 columns, they'd probably outlive me.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Genuinely, why are these people still relevant? They may inspire a particular generation of players but younger players won't care. I'm old enough to have seen most of these guys play in their prime, but I'd genuinely not class them as a major influence any more.
The thing you are missing is, if Hendrix was alive today (and a young man) he would be embracing digital tech. He was always trying to push the barriers and find the limit of the technology.
If you want to live in the past, fine - but don't assume all guitar players look behind them for their inspiration.
Why do people always say Hendrix would go blah blah blah, how do they know? Maybe he'd be addicted to the sound of valves like the rest of us?
Maybe in another ten years things will shift over for live guitar playing. For recording I'd say that modelling is already there.