you all werent in the room...you have no idea how good that sounded back in the 70s over AM radio and a single 6x9 dash speaker.....like when zepplin recorded and all 300 million of us were in the room so we knew it was the best album ever
As a guitar player, I love when I'm able to listen to something one time, pick out the amp in question, post time stamps on two YT accounts for double proof/chance of being seen (conveniently "wasnt" seen), then get told my ears suck and I don't know what I'm talking about by a producer who can barely play guitar... Point being; yeah, they all sound almost the same, and any one in a mix would do fine... but there's still a differences when placed side by side. Same with pickups (particularly in a live situation). And regardless of all that..... digital amp sims ARE the future, so this argument is irrelevant lol
@@AmericanNationalist852 I'm looking at your comment right now. This is copy and pasted so it's word for word what you said. themetalguy 6 days ago 7:46/47 is when the switch happens, solo is hard to tell because you didn't include any repeating lines. ss amps have gotten better, but digital sims are the future. All you did was timestamp where ONE of many changes that happened. As presented by this video the Orange came up more than once, even outside of the solo. All you did here was accurately timestamp one change and didn't specify which amp you thought it was. The challenge was to to spot where the orange was through the whole track. Not just one spot. Better luck next time.
@@DerSilvano this is true, but also wasn't the argument presented, either. It was just "guitar players are full of themselves and really can't hear a difference because they are usually hearing with their eyes". It's just like his argument on pickups; yeah in the final mix most will do perfectly fine, but in a live situation (ie while recording...) the minor nuances between p'ups will absolutely affect a player and their performance.
OK, this is interesting. When I listened to the clip with the transitions between the amps marked on the screen, I could clearly hear that they all sounded slightly different, especially the 5150, but then when I listened to the clip again with my eyes closed I couldn't hear the differences anymore no matter how hard I concentrated to spot them. Mind blown.
@@DjCzubaka I couldn't hear the differences in the original either. What totally amazed me is how I could hear the differences when I was looking at the visual cues, but mere seconds later I couldn't spot them anymore after I closed my eyes.
“Don’t have anything to look at…” Reminds me of a friend’s gig MANY years ago. Shortly before they were to begin…his amp went toes up. Power light & nothing else. It had power but NOTHING was making its way through the thing. I called another friend and he brought over a POD. (Dude, really?) He brought it down and dialed up his fave Marshall tone. Plugged it in to the PA and let it rip. We left the real Marshall on, that little jewel shining bright. Over the course of the evening, several self-proclaimed guitarists commented on how great his tone was…and how great that Marshall “roared.” Yeah, that thing was DEAD. Some of us kept waiting for the darn thing to simply catc That night changed a lot of our views, including my own.
This is one of the most important videos on youtube for musicians. Not only did you make a solid technical point that could shift an entire industry, but you also deconstructed and explained profound psychological concepts in a simple way. Thank for you being relentless with the troglodytes. New York sends their love.
Listening on my solid state phone…. The tones all sounded solid state to me. Where can I buy a tube phone so I can appreciate the beauty of the tube amps in the mix? 😂
I think what Glenn is trying to say is that the world would be a better place if guitarists put as much energy, passion and creativity into writing songs as they do defending their toobz.
Or developing their playing skills.. but, I too fall easily into the "better gear" quicksand ie [tube amps]. When I could actually sound noticeably better if I practiced as much as I shop for gear.
Chuck Schuldiner used a valvestate 8100 to record an play live and no one dares say he had a bad tone. Dime`s tone was built on a solid state amp. This discussion should have ended a long time ago.
Somewhat similar to this, for many years all of Opeth’s live distortion, time-based and modulation effects came from a Boss GT-3 being fed through Laneys. People will say “oh but they used tube amps”, but the bulk of their tone was from those Boss pedals.
Yup, Chuck used an amp and speaker setup that doesn't have a good reputation and yet Death's albums and live shows are something that nobody with a working pair of ears can say that sound bad.
I wonder if many true metal guys on here are the ones complaining about solid state amps? I can only think of one or two guys I've jammed with over the years that were tube snobs. Most metal guitarists just want a crushing tone.... the cheaper the better lol
Dime- Randall RG-100 ES blew my mind when I found out way back in the 90's. Never underestimated solid state after that. Disgustingly bad ass bass sound by the way!
I agree Glenn, I have used Amplitube as my live amp for about 5 or 6 years now, and I use the Mesa Dual Rec emulation and I could not tell you how many amp snobs have walked up to me at a live show asking what I was using and when I would ask why before I told them. They would say things like, because it sounds big and fat or just plain good, then I show them a Macbook or an iPad pro and they look at me with disbelief. The reason it sounds good is because I take the time to get things right and once it is right I never have to touch it again and no changes in tone because of crappy old club/bar power issues or knobs getting knocked around from stomping on pedals or forgetting exactly how I had the amp eq'ed. It all recalls exactly the way I had it 100% of the time. I have a real Dual rectifier I played out for about 10 years prior to moving digital, my reason for going digital was simple. Why would I drag that $6000 amp and cab to a bar, in the bed of a truck, out in the weather, to make $150/200? That is why. I can now take my entire rig in a guitar case.
My first amp was a $50 solid state Fender knockoff. I wanted that thing to sound like a 50’s Fender blown up with distortion. I ended up finding my signature tone on that amp and It sounded so good that for years I got compliments about how rich, thick, and creamy my tone was. When that amp eventually died, I bounced between multiple amps both solid state and tube trying to find my sound again. I wasn’t able to dial in my original tone again until I got my Marshall JCM 2000 this year (which was the first time I was genuinely able to hear the tone I worked to hard to come up with). Moral of the story. I bought a tube Marshall head so that I could replicate the perfect tone of my cheap solid state combo. I will say, in retrospect the Marshall does nail my tone better than my old combo, but its so close, even I probably couldn’t tell the difference between recordings of it
As one of the million tone chasers for decades, I've always been disappointed with tube amps. To make a long story short, believe it or not, I absolutely love my tone at the moment, a Boss GT-1 with the Bogner Uberschall sim, Into a Peavey Bandit 112, with a Blue Marvel speaker, and for bigger gigs I use two 2x12 Peavey cabs with Celestion Greenbacks. I'm telling you and your followers that solid state has caught up to tubes. And if they still have something to say, tell them the audience doesn't care what your using!
They sound great, and the differences are so minutely small that it was difficult to pick out, even when being prompted by the visual cue you put in. A testament to how good solid state amps are today.
@@SpectreSoundStudios I love how they take down "Faith healers" and the like! Banicheck is another big one on that list of debunkers, he was a student of James Randi's. I cannot say this enough: Religion is the antithesis of Science, and of the two, only science actually works bitches!
I've owned close to 30 different tube amps since the late 90's. I bought a super crush 100 last July, and it was instantly my favorite amp ever. It has been my main ever since.
Bought a Orange Crush 60, Swapped the orginal speaker for a V30 and its been a fantatic amp. Really like the clean channel as it has a nice smooth break up that I never noticed with the orginal 'voice of the world speaker'.
I might have kept my used CR120 but it cut out at hlf volume. I have a Bass 100 Crush 1x15 and a Cr20RT and sound great. My Dark Terror I run dirty, but the RV100MKII is run clean with SS distortion and eq in Front
I got one last year as well, and agree its a great amp and was worth every penny. Could I get a better tone out of a tube amp? probably. Is the difference worth me spending 3 times as much? absolutely not.
Without doubt you have exposed the truth about how we hear or should I say perceive tone. Unconscious bias reigns supreme in the minds of many and by definition we are just unaware of it. Great video and commentary Glenn!
A much needed video. I've been very guilty of guitar snobbery in the past but there is no doubt (for me anyway) I'm a happier person when I get my ideas tracked quickly, conveniently with solid state, sims, digital amps, IR's and so forth. We all like to nerd out, but making music should always still come first.
I love this so much! Listening with your eyes. Love it. I will say though I did like the sound of the Revv over the other tones but is that because now I know which ones were the expensive amps? The Orange 100% does the job. And I'm so guilty of spending ridiculous money on valve amps and top end guitars in the past only to realise that the most important thing is making great music that moves and brings people together. Trying to impress people (other musicians) with expensive equipment instead of focusing on actual music fans is fairly silly. My new motto is less cool more fun! Thanks again!
Started listening with my ears 8 years ago. Have been using the Orange Crush Pro amps exclusively since 2015. Added a Super Crush 100 this year. Both are just immense. Great video!
A few years ago I tried out my friend's Orange CR35 and was really impressed. I normally live on the edge of breakup sound but like to venture into a little more gain and that Orange amp sounded so good for that. Even though I do not need another amp I still want to get one of the Crush amps.
Glenn, here's an idea for a video: redo the same blind shootout between the amps but instead of recording one or two mics against the cab grille, record a few room mics and see how these "ya gotta be in da r00m" folks react.
There isn’t really any difference, because speakers. There are probably some minor differences to how they respond to guitar tricks/techniques, but not enough for it to matter either. As for the in the room sound, Austrian Audio should send Glenn their OC16, Henning stated that even close up it sounds like in the room. Would be interesting to hear what Glenn can archieve with such a mic.
I think for that, you'd need one of those stereo mics that pick up sound like human ears. Otherwise you'd get the same people saying that it's not done properly. I do think with some amps there is a difference in "feel", when comparing solid state, modelling and tube. I've played some solid state amps that were just horrendous and something just felt off. But I didn't get that with the Super Crush at all when I tried it. Amazing amp. Or the Fender Tonemaster amps, which are modelling amps with a class D power amp. And I'm sure that if more amp builders set their minds to it, they could exactly replicate their tube heads using solid state parts. I'm 99.99% sure that the real tone is all in the circuit, not the components.
@@mrcoatsworth429 Yup, the tone is in the circuit and the feel can be compensated for by utilizing todays knowledge within electronics and programming. Even the power sag of a tube amp can be replicated. Not to forget that some old and especially newer high gain tube amps utilize additional clipping, it’s not preamp tubes only. There are ofc. some clipping and eq differences between the heads when the knobs are set towards max. but apart from Spinal Tab, who want’s to do that anyway? From my experience the Orange Solid State amps are great as pedal and modeller platforms too, altough there is no need to use a Crush head for that, the OPB will do the same job for less. And then there is the option to skip power amps and cabs all together, some bands on 20.000 tons of metal did that. Check Hennings review of the mic I mentioned, I would say that it probably does a better job than a stereo room mic when it comes to get the exact sound of what it sounds like in the room without adding unrelevant ambience. I got that particular mic on my to buy list.
But they're all watching it on UA-cam, so it's all been digitized anyway. According to these people, you need a fully analog experience to hear the difference - either physically in the room hearing the tube piano lows, or hearing a recording made to tape, pressed to wax, and played on a turntable with a tube receiver. If there's any digital component anywhere in the chain, the sound is forever tainted by digital poison.
Carefull, there are few knocking right behind at your door Distract them by saying tube amps and tonewood instruments are at next door It will buy extra 5 days to come up new plan
I can't wait for a new release from Sin Waves and Sweeps tho, their album 494.5Hz really changed my life. I've also heard that they're gonna go to 25kHz next, which is something I've never heard before!
The only amp that sounded better/noticeably different was the 5150(didn’t notice until they were labeled though)but i think thats just a matter of being a very well designed overdrive circuit and not necessarily a tube thing. Great video!
I closed my eyes during the test and watched it back, and yeah the 5150 sounded the most unique out of the bunch. More mids and a bit softer highs. Could be a million things affecting that difference though, all the tones sounded great.
Wow, guitarists actually having a friendly, sensible conversation where they admit that the great tone they hear might not be from the tubes? Wow, a one in a million occurance! ;)
the 5150 stood out to me too, but i didn't favor it among them all. the REVV tho.... that stood out to me as well, but as a preference. felt like it had all the range, and a more warm/natural sound. any would be fantastic, but revv would be my choice if i had one. :)
I always look forwards to videos like this because I learn something new, about myself and about music and gear in general. I may not like what I see/hear or agree every time but the knowledge is always appreciated.
I was skeptical when I was first purchasing my SC 100 a year ago, but it still holds up very well to this day. I'm glad this channel exists so I can show my friends that you can make almost any amp sound good with just a bit of love and care.
my conclusion: Every single difference we only hear when we play is not a tone difference, it's a feel difference. pickups, tubes, tonewood, all the stuff that doesn't mean jack shit in the mix is pure feel difference and should be talked about as such. Exactly like setting up a guitar or changing the guitar's hardware. If bare knuckle pickups, exotic woods and expensive tubes make you feek different, have at it! If you wanna invest your money on that feel difference, that's more than fine! I do that too. Just remember that it's purely a feel thing and not a tone thing.
Removing the visual cues in the original test was brilliant. I have owned several solid state and tube amps, and unlike the pickups test you did a while back I was pretty sure I would be able to pick it out (though I am a guitar player, I sadly do not possess the gift of super-hearing). But when the test started and I was met with a wall of sound and the vastness of space...... I couldn't tell shit apart. Amazing.
Your videos have been an eye opener to me!!! I wish there was a channel that did the same thing for guitar tone for other genres of music. I am very aware that I listen with my eyes and feel with my ears, and your channel has changed my mind about guitar tone in metal. I wish somebody did the same for things you do for edge of breakup and clean tones!!! So I could just dial my tone knowing that I am changing things that actually matter. I play on a versatile band and I love making guitar purists angry when I get a better metal tone from my amp sims than their thousands of dollars back breaking tube amps played at low volumes!!!!
I used to hot rod and build tube amps, but got a bit fed up when an output transformer vlew up on a gig. I started using the ART PowerPlant and loved the tone. Who cares if it was SS? Now I'm playing a Super Crush and my wallet is happy, my ears are happy, and the folks that show up at our gigs don't care as long as we can play decently.
Has anyone seen the Devin Townsend rig rundown? He basically explains why tube amps are amazing and shit at the same time and, consequently, why he uses AxeFX. In summary, all that amazing goodness that guitar players love when playing alone in front of the cab (the old being in the room argument) had to be cut with filters and EQ out to open space for other instruments, and that is true for both recording and live music.
Yep! I play almost exclusively through my Fractals now. Can’t tell you the last time I turned on one of my tube amps. The fact that I can enjoy the same sound whether through headphones, studio monitors, FRFR, or full PA system is just glorious!
@@millman82 that has been my “mantra” for the last 10y maybe. Now with the QC, I sometimes use some pedals and tube preamps to get the sound in the studio but then just capture it in the QC and use it the rest of the time.
@@zajefajnylogin A transistor behaves like a diode in this context. The existence of a patent on gear like the Boss SD-1 is proof that diodes, can produce both odd and even harmonics using a circuit.
So, what’s the skinny on touch sensitivity of tube amps? That’s what I bought my Orange Rocker 15 Terror for? Have I been duped? 😊 Also, playing for break-up at 0.5 and 1 watt? How does that affect the tone? Hoping the answer isn’t: it doesn’t matter if you turn up the gain. 😊 Also, I have a valve amp stereo running into Dali Spektors in my living room for T.V. watching. If you believe the hype you’d expect it to be extra “warm”; I haven’t done a side by side a-b comparison, so probably doesn’t mean much, but It doesn’t seem any different to solid state to my ear. I think the perceived warmth must come from seeing those cosy glowing tubes. My mum loves the way they glow though, so, in that respect, it was a worthwhile purchase. 😊
Wow. What a great experiment this was. I’m so glad that you showed that solid state can be just as good as(if not sometimes Better) than tube amps. I own an orange super crush 120 and it’s by far the best amp I own and believe me I own a lot of amps. Keep doing what your doing because your doing great and you’ve even opened this aging metal head’s eyes to some of the BS that is out there.
I think people get confused with the old solid states made in Indonesia that are really cheap and sound like shit or the small 20 watt amps they had as a kid. I've heard so many good solid states that didn't sound cheap or shit at all. Can't wait to buy that Crush 100, finally a good solid state from my favourite amp brand!
I just made a new combo cab out of 3/4” pine and upholstery vinyl to replace the 1/2” tone-particleboard thing enclosing my Marshall (Park) 10w pawnshop special. The tone improvement of getting the speaker away from thin particleboard was so profound my family could hear the difference even through my terrible playing. At one point during the project I put the speaker in the top of a 6” terracotta flowerpot. It sounded disturbingly good. I was actually afraid to put the speaker back in the new cab in case it was worse than the flowerpot. I told mrs j the flowerpot might be a permanent solution and she made faces. My point is that the circuit and speaker of a G10mk2 are not what sucks. The original engineering was good. With a proper cab behind it the Park 6” speaker actually sounds decent and exploring the absurdly narrow clean-dirty transition on the knobs is very educational for a new player.
@@jrrarglblarg9241 this is good to know - I have an MG10 sitting under my desk gathering dust, because it sounds like complete ass and I generally just play through my DAW whenever I'm playing at home. Might have to dig it out and make a new cab for it when I have a bit of spare time.
@@SultanOfSlam69 It’s like playing a different amp now. Totally different. The original design must have called for 3/4” inch material because with the internal dimensions unchanged the outside dimensions fall from a 6’ piece of 1x8 quite nicely. I suspect marketing nerfed the specs to lower the cost of production and Marshall execs were willing to make it sound like a dry angry fart in a cardboard box because anyone with ears would want a better amp after a while. All part of the Planned Obsolescence Conspiracy. 😒 I suspect all the 10w and 15w SS amps on the market suffer from this.
Great idea to DIY it. Bigger cab with more solid construction does make a big difference, the speaker still makes a bigger difference in my opinion but is a subjective difference. I think the better cab is an improvement that anyone can agree upon. The question to me is that does more speakers make much difference. To me a 4x12 sounds better than a 1x12 but the cabinet is way bigger to hold those 4 speakers and I've never heard a 4x12 sized cab with only 1 speaker in it.
@@jrrarglblarg9241 oh yeah, that too. Makes more sense! One time with my band we rehearsed in a studio where they had (if i remember correctly) a new Fender Champion 100 and i swear to god that the other guitarist didn't realize it was a solid state amp. I wonder what kind of cone that one has, but anyways. The guy from the studio told us that the old one wasn't as good as this new one to him. My guitarist instead changed his mind on solid state amps after that, we both played on solid state in that studio with the drummer punching those freaking drums and making noise, and we could still hear eachother, this to prove to the tube simps that solid states are good when you get a good one. I've also heard the Orange Crush 100 live in a band context and it was badass, i didn't realize it was solid state until i was told lol
as someone much much wiser than i once said....'if it sounds good it is good" and it all sounds pretty durn good to these ears with 40 plus years of mixing all types of music under my belt 👺
Glenn, I recently got back into playing guitar again after years, and your channel is awesome to see. As someone who wants to get the most utility out of playing guitar without wasting money, your channel rings true and helps me listen to the proverbial angel on my shoulder to make reasonable purchases instead of just throwing away money listening to the horned guy on the other shoulder who says that "what's another grand gonna hurt?". I'll still buy pay a little more for the guitar because it has both the neck that I want, and it looks cool to me (it's the part that I actually touch, so that matters), but I'll live with the stock pickups, and I'll play a really cool solid-state that allows me to mix it with some high-quality, reasonably priced pedals. After all, the goal is to create sounds that I want to hear by playing guitar, and not to spend so much money on gear that I'll have to work forever and never get to really play it.
I Used to be a professional sound engineer. I have state of the art monitoring system here and honestly I couldn't tell the difference. Let alone tell that there are more than 2 amps. BUT... Listening thru youtube after the video was double compressed(once in rendering other in youtube processing), then playing really low tuned sound Is not a good comparison. Most of the amps will sound the same in low chugs. It would be great if you repeat the blind test with standard tuning and crunch/clean/high gain sounds and put a link to the PCM wave files. Also, psss don't tell anyone, in a recording studio environment you can make practically any guitar amplifier sound great. I once took a fender frontman 65r fx send out to a jcm 800 and made one of the best freaking distortion sounds I heard. Keep up the good work Glenn I really enjoy watching your videos👏
Please do a blind test for bass tone with different "tone woods". Since bass is played with lower distortion than guitar it would be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences.
I'll save Glenn the time and effort, even though his guitar "tone wood" tests answer this question already...the tone emerging from ANY electric instrument is produced by the actual electronic signal, not the slab of wood (or graphite, aluminum, lexan, Masonite, concrete, Legos, etc) that they're attached to. You can literally bolt a neck, bridge and pick-up to a chunk of crappy construction grade 2x6, and as long as you get the intonation right? It'll sound great...it just won't be as pretty (or expensive) as those exotic axes made from "select tone woods". In short? "Tone wood" makes zero difference with electric basses, doesn't matter whether you play them clean or go full Lemmy!
A lot of "World Class Chef's" will epically fail "blind taste tests" too. They also "eat with their eyes". That's why virtually all companies in all fields spend so much time and money on aesthetics and graphic design. Even people will spend more time and money on looking "healthy" than actually being healthy. Keep it up Glenn!
I fucking loved the tones from the Revv and the Orange! Bold mid-range and saturated as hell, without any loss in definition. I gotta say I thought the SLO and the 5150 sounded a little too scooped for my taste. What were the settings in the Revv, though? I was thinking about getting either a G3 or a G4, but I'm really struggling to make a decision. If this was recorded with the purple channel, I guess the indecision dies here!
@@kingfisher7960 No, I meant scooped (as in "scooped mids"). I would get both pedals if I could, but my budget barely allows for one. I live in Brazil and this stuff is really damn expensive here.
Since I'm playing this on a set of whack computer speakers, I'd only hear any difference if the mashup was between a Stradivarius and a church-organ. Not your fault. Got myself a reasonable guitar (Ibanez RGA42FM) and a decent (beginner) amp (Fender Champion 20) and having a ton of fun learning my guitar first riffs. I'm 58 and love your channel.
I listened through a pair of basic monitors (Mackie CR3) and I couldn't tell the difference. I also listened through my gaming headset and a pair of Sennheiser headphones and still couldn't tell.
mixing is definitely a big factor. most people just record 1 mic in front of their cabinet and don’t do processing or mixing. and it sounds gritty. (i was one of them) but after learning how to record cabinets , mic placement , and post eq and processing on reaper… my overall recording tone has improved a lot. i learned it all from you glenn, i watched your videos and i learned a lot. i grew up with solid state amps since that’s all i could afford. Now i use a tube amp and it’s incredible how much better it sounds. but nowadays solid state is great, i’ve been considering getting a solid state amp (boss katana) just to carry around and practice.
The boss katana amp modeling software can pretty much mimic a tube head to the exact frequency, it’s also 5x cheaper and includes a ton built in effects that make it one of the best amps on the market. I’ve been using my katana head for a couple years and I’ve gotten great tones out of it, and once I got a decent speaker in my cab, it honestly sounded better to me than any tube head I’ve ever played on.
Damn those tone differences were super subtle. really goes to show how the tone is often in the cabinet/speaker and the bass over the amp! I heard differences in the original but couldn't tell which was which and even reading it on screen i was like 'huh what was the change?' for some of them. also seriously songwriting > technical talent any day. As a person who focused on songwriting and arrangement for ages I can tell you how little your technical prowess and knowledge of gear means in the real world (i am a gear nerd too though, but that's how I know it's useless). The minor differences truly mean nothing at the end of the day if your song sucks. The point of music is to convey emotions not demonstrate how fast you can do arpeggios or a scale. it's novelty at best people will listen once if you are truly that impressive and move on. Also the 'feel' of an amp and how it responds is subjective so you can't say it is better or worse than anything else, only, i like this over something else. putting personal opinion as objective truth isn't always the best way to go about life.
I’ve got a 1994 Peavey Supreme 160. Does it Doom? Yes. Do I have to “warm it up?” No. Thing is built like a tank & loud/thick as hell. Cheap too. The 5150 stays in the closet.
Awesome conclusion, thank you for that! I'm running a Quad Cortex with a power stage 170 and are completely satisfied with this setup, Live and at home.
This whole experiment was excellent, but these responses had me absolutely rolling! I’m not an huge metalhead anymore. (However, as an adolescent lad in the early-mid 90s, I played almost exclusively San Francisco-style thrash metal, and though overuse of LSD has altered the sorts of sounds that most appeal to me, I still play with a great deal of high-gain overdrive and distortion in my tone, so your channel is still nearly always relevant to me.) I always have a good time here, and I nearly always learn something.
Yikes! Might want to try miking the amp up so the guitar pick doesn't come through the recording. Please see "How to Record Heavy Guitar" here... ua-cam.com/video/jfEh79A0b0U/v-deo.html
I just bought a Super Crush 100 a few weeks ago. First SS amp. Even through my PPC412, it needs a bass boosted EQ in the FX Loop to compare to high gain tube amps. But I actually love how much tighter the response is without tube sag. Can’t wait to gig this.
I got out my favorite AKG K240 studio headphones for the last video to try to hear the differences. Listened through it a few times, hung my headphones up. Couldnt tell. Great videos as always.
I love music and have been playing guitar for many years. I can't pick out the finer things that you can, sir. I'm glad there are those like you that have the ability to notice things. Peace to you, dude.
Dimebag made solid state amps sound awesome. Proof not all solid state amps are bad. I do prefer tubes, but I like the Orange Super Crush and Vox Valve Reactor series.
I spent many years playing a solid state amp and tube amps. I played gigs using a Yamaha G10-212 (Yamaha's version of the Roland Jazz Chorus minus the chorus) using the clean and gain channels with my only effects being a compressor (to get a bit more sustain on the gain channel and snap on the clean channel. I received nothing but compliments on my tone during the years I used the amp... in fact many guitar players were surprised when I told them it was solid state. I sold it, and I regret every day that I sold it, but I replace it with a Peavey 5150 the year they were released. I got nothing but compliments on the Peavey tone... the amp is a beast. The difference is how the amp reacts to the player. When you play a solid state amp for hours at a time, day in and day out, you learn how the amp will react to what you put in. The same thing goes for a tube amp, it will also be different if you're using an amp with a solid state rectifier vs an amp with a tube rectifier. The secret sauce when people talk about pros and cons between tube and solid state is the amp "feel" to the player... NOT THE LISTENER. A good player plays the amp as much as they play the guitar. A tube amp on stage reacts differently to the player than a solid state amp. The listener can't tell shit... they can only tell good tone from bad tone... and that's in the fingers as much as it is in the amp.
I didn't send a comment last week: but i surprised myself by properly guessing the Soldano and the Orange. You got more out of the Orange than I expected ----- WELL DONE! Great mix and tones.
I just saw King's X live and Ty Tabor was playing through an earlier version of this amp, the Crush Pro 120. Jesus Christ! The tone was amazing, it was 100% Ty, and as good as any King's X era. Good stuff.
Awesome. I couldn't tell the difference with the original video last week. Even with the visual indicators now I dont know if I can tell a difference or if my heads messing with me. Great experiment.
I played an Orange Crush 120 for a while and switched back to tubes a few years ago. Someone asked me after a gig if the Orange head was tube. So there’s that 🤷🏻♂️🤣. I dig them both. Great video Glenn!
Glenn, having years of experience as a metal guitarist and drummer. Completely agree, some people have to be too big of an ego to actually listen and not look at them selves and their gear. Keep up the great content. De&th to all but Metal. ✌️🤘🏴☠️🇦🇺
okay its kind of wild that when theres no names i genuinly had no fuckn clue and when there were names i could hear clear differences once i could visually see when they were supposed to change, that is some weird ass mental trickery my brain is playing on me like it feels silly to even say, and im team solid state i have a boss katana 100 and love it so i don't really have a dog in this fight just thought it was strange how its easier to hear the changes when you see the prompts on screen, feels like that shouldn't happen because its the same exact track without the prompts lmao
This was addressed to Jason of Spectre Digital, but now I think Glenn should see it too: Okay Jason, Now it's been nine more days, it's now the 19th and of course, it's a Sunday morning and I'm trying to write a song with my Crippled ELE Drums. Any Idea for a Possible Timeframe, for the Possibility, of an Estimate, just give me an Idea off the Top Of Your Head, when I might get an answer as to when the f___k is ELE going to be ready for use with the now VERY Pertinent Kontakt 7? Since Native Instruments won't let me roll back to Kontakt 6, Kontakt 7 has become the ONLY Kontakt I can use with ELE Drums, which I Paid for, it seems, a Long Time Ago. Was Kontakt 7 a Surprise to you guys on the Spectre Scene? Did it Sneak-Up on you? haha! I think I would have been just as Elated with ELE Drums had Spectre Digital waited the what, 4 or 5 months, or however long it took, for Kontakt 7 to come out. At least I don't think I would have been as disappointed with them, as I am Now. Yes, Son, I am Very Disappointed in you. (Lookin' at You, Glenn!).
That super crush is amazing. Also every guitar tone you've ever heard or loved was recorded and played back, even at most venues it's mic'd and sent through a PA. Lmao at "in the room".
So what you’re telling me is I can get a 5150 or a Revv for $500? Not gonna lie, an orange crush is on the way. Pairing that with a torpedo captor x might be the best thing on a budget. Think about it, different mics, cabs, and even rooms with the captor x. I was a tube snob until this video. Now question is, are there different tone variations within the solid state world?
Love your channel...even though I play grampa rock tones and love my Friedman Dirty Shirley mini. 😂 I think one part of this tone issue is when we start playing we start on shitty gear, max the gain. Scoop the mids, and to our inexperienced ear....it sounds great. Then our ears get better and more critical, we realized it doesn't sound as good as we thought. Because of this we learn to mistrust our ears and want some sort of concrete choice we can make that will inevitably end up with great tone. So we think I have a marshall, with a Gibson....so I automatically sound great. But you dont. So instead of learning to dial in your gear you think it's gonna be the next pickup swap, expensive cables, nos tube purchase or whatever that will lock it in for you. Back in the day, I pulled the logo badge of my peavey classic 50 head and I used to get compliments and questions about my "vintage tweed" amp. I love my Friedman, but I don't look down on anyone playing solid state. If it sounds good it is good. 🤷♂️
You make some fine points Mr Fricker. In the original comparison I thought you were fucking with us again, I couldn't hear much if any difference at all. Then with the visual help all of a sudden I could hear the changes, and none of them were bad.
I couldn't tell the difference with no indication as to which amp was which. Lo and behold, once it was labeled on-screen my eyes convinced my ears that there were subtle but obvious differences. If I wasn't convinced enough that I could "hear" with my eyes before, I definitely am now. Point proven Glenn! 😆
You did great with the mix in showing how the amps can all sound similar! That being said, I honestly have found myself liking the Orange sound in general. I can see myself getting a Super Crush one day. The mids just also blow my mind when they're at the forefront. I'm not a "tube snob" though, so I have a feeling this test wasn't for me unless if it's to confirm my own bias in liking the Super Crush .lol
That "moving goalposts" sound effect had really rich highs and lucious piano lows that literally gave me chills.
that's because they were tube goalposts not nasty solid state goalposts.
probably this effect was recorded on tape through a tube amp and was then played on vinyl record. :D
you all werent in the room...you have no idea how good that sounded back in the 70s over AM radio and a single 6x9 dash speaker.....like when zepplin recorded and all 300 million of us were in the room so we knew it was the best album ever
lol
@@kazzxtrismus hahaha !! You win best sarcasm of the day. lmfao !!!
As a guitar player, I love when guitar players are put in their place lol
"Their" ;)
@@CyberChrist goddamn it lol
As a guitar player, I love when I'm able to listen to something one time, pick out the amp in question, post time stamps on two YT accounts for double proof/chance of being seen (conveniently "wasnt" seen), then get told my ears suck and I don't know what I'm talking about by a producer who can barely play guitar...
Point being; yeah, they all sound almost the same, and any one in a mix would do fine... but there's still a differences when placed side by side. Same with pickups (particularly in a live situation).
And regardless of all that..... digital amp sims ARE the future, so this argument is irrelevant lol
@@AmericanNationalist852 I'm looking at your comment right now. This is copy and pasted so it's word for word what you said.
themetalguy
6 days ago
7:46/47 is when the switch happens, solo is hard to tell because you didn't include any repeating lines.
ss amps have gotten better, but digital sims are the future.
All you did was timestamp where ONE of many changes that happened. As presented by this video the Orange came up more than once, even outside of the solo. All you did here was accurately timestamp one change and didn't specify which amp you thought it was.
The challenge was to to spot where the orange was through the whole track. Not just one spot. Better luck next time.
@@DerSilvano this is true, but also wasn't the argument presented, either. It was just "guitar players are full of themselves and really can't hear a difference because they are usually hearing with their eyes".
It's just like his argument on pickups; yeah in the final mix most will do perfectly fine, but in a live situation (ie while recording...) the minor nuances between p'ups will absolutely affect a player and their performance.
Now that they are labeled I can tell that they are indeed guitar amps.
OK, this is interesting. When I listened to the clip with the transitions between the amps marked on the screen, I could clearly hear that they all sounded slightly different, especially the 5150, but then when I listened to the clip again with my eyes closed I couldn't hear the differences anymore no matter how hard I concentrated to spot them. Mind blown.
same here, i couldnt hear any differences in the original test aswell, but when the text appeared suddenly my hearing was 100x better!
@@DjCzubaka I couldn't hear the differences in the original either. What totally amazed me is how I could hear the differences when I was looking at the visual cues, but mere seconds later I couldn't spot them anymore after I closed my eyes.
What is your monitoring setup?
@@sparella A pair of 50W 4-way speakers connected to my PC. Nothing super fancy but pretty decent.
@@nation5478 Did you?
“Don’t have anything to look at…” Reminds me of a friend’s gig MANY years ago. Shortly before they were to begin…his amp went toes up. Power light & nothing else. It had power but NOTHING was making its way through the thing. I called another friend and he brought over a POD. (Dude, really?) He brought it down and dialed up his fave Marshall tone. Plugged it in to the PA and let it rip. We left the real Marshall on, that little jewel shining bright.
Over the course of the evening, several self-proclaimed guitarists commented on how great his tone was…and how great that Marshall “roared.” Yeah, that thing was DEAD. Some of us kept waiting for the darn thing to simply catc
That night changed a lot of our views, including my own.
Just read this while rewatching Glenn's old vids while he's away taking care of his wife.
This is the best thing I've read in weeks 😅
This is one of the most important videos on youtube for musicians. Not only did you make a solid technical point that could shift an entire industry, but you also deconstructed and explained profound psychological concepts in a simple way. Thank for you being relentless with the troglodytes. New York sends their love.
Listening on my solid state phone…. The tones all sounded solid state to me. Where can I buy a tube phone so I can appreciate the beauty of the tube amps in the mix? 😂
Your solid state phone is digital. The Orange is solid state analog.
I think what Glenn is trying to say is that the world would be a better place if guitarists put as much energy, passion and creativity into writing songs as they do defending their toobz.
We did that in the 90s, but, then the internet happened
Blame the Internet where anyone's unoriginal, daft opinions find an audience. But! It's an opportunity for the rest of us :)
Or developing their playing skills.. but, I too fall easily into the "better gear" quicksand ie [tube amps]. When I could actually sound noticeably better if I practiced as much as I shop for gear.
Chuck Schuldiner used a valvestate 8100 to record an play live and no one dares say he had a bad tone. Dime`s tone was built on a solid state amp. This discussion should have ended a long time ago.
Rather not, since that would drive the price up on certain SS amps. 😄
Pretty sure Chuck was also playing though the g12-t75s that everyone hates so much (I think they sound awesome blended with the g12-EVHs)
Somewhat similar to this, for many years all of Opeth’s live distortion, time-based and modulation effects came from a Boss GT-3 being fed through Laneys. People will say “oh but they used tube amps”, but the bulk of their tone was from those Boss pedals.
Yup, Chuck used an amp and speaker setup that doesn't have a good reputation and yet Death's albums and live shows are something that nobody with a working pair of ears can say that sound bad.
I wonder if many true metal guys on here are the ones complaining about solid state amps? I can only think of one or two guys I've jammed with over the years that were tube snobs. Most metal guitarists just want a crushing tone.... the cheaper the better lol
Guitarist are supersticious knucleheads. In other obvious news: water is wet, fire burns.
Thanks!
Thanks for this, Glenn. I've stood by solid states for as long as I've been a guitar player. They deserve to be in the room at this point.
Solid state since '98! High five.
Solid-state since 1975, and my Peavey never had a loose tube fizzing at the wrong time.
You deserve to be in the room! 😂
Dime- Randall RG-100 ES blew my mind when I found out way back in the 90's. Never underestimated solid state after that. Disgustingly bad ass bass sound by the way!
I agree Glenn, I have used Amplitube as my live amp for about 5 or 6 years now, and I use the Mesa Dual Rec emulation and I could not tell you how many amp snobs have walked up to me at a live show asking what I was using and when I would ask why before I told them. They would say things like, because it sounds big and fat or just plain good, then I show them a Macbook or an iPad pro and they look at me with disbelief. The reason it sounds good is because I take the time to get things right and once it is right I never have to touch it again and no changes in tone because of crappy old club/bar power issues or knobs getting knocked around from stomping on pedals or forgetting exactly how I had the amp eq'ed. It all recalls exactly the way I had it 100% of the time. I have a real Dual rectifier I played out for about 10 years prior to moving digital, my reason for going digital was simple. Why would I drag that $6000 amp and cab to a bar, in the bed of a truck, out in the weather, to make $150/200? That is why. I can now take my entire rig in a guitar case.
My first amp was a $50 solid state Fender knockoff. I wanted that thing to sound like a 50’s Fender blown up with distortion. I ended up finding my signature tone on that amp and It sounded so good that for years I got compliments about how rich, thick, and creamy my tone was. When that amp eventually died, I bounced between multiple amps both solid state and tube trying to find my sound again. I wasn’t able to dial in my original tone again until I got my Marshall JCM 2000 this year (which was the first time I was genuinely able to hear the tone I worked to hard to come up with). Moral of the story. I bought a tube Marshall head so that I could replicate the perfect tone of my cheap solid state combo. I will say, in retrospect the Marshall does nail my tone better than my old combo, but its so close, even I probably couldn’t tell the difference between recordings of it
As one of the million tone chasers for decades, I've always been disappointed with tube amps. To make a long story short, believe it or not, I absolutely love my tone at the moment, a Boss GT-1 with the Bogner Uberschall sim, Into a Peavey Bandit 112, with a Blue Marvel speaker, and for bigger gigs I use two 2x12 Peavey cabs with Celestion Greenbacks. I'm telling you and your followers that solid state has caught up to tubes. And if they still have something to say, tell them the audience doesn't care what your using!
They sound great, and the differences are so minutely small that it was difficult to pick out, even when being prompted by the visual cue you put in. A testament to how good solid state amps are today.
You've become "the amazing James Randi" of metal production. Good work Glenn!
I’m a huge fan of James Randi. Penn & Teller Bull! Was also one of my favorite shows.
LMAO , perfect comment !
@@SpectreSoundStudios Long hair & loud as fuck... Could be Penn's stunt double.
@@SpectreSoundStudios I love how they take down "Faith healers" and the like! Banicheck is another big one on that list of debunkers, he was a student of James Randi's.
I cannot say this enough: Religion is the antithesis of Science, and of the two, only science actually works bitches!
Id say its for all music that has electric guitar. Even clean tones can be perfectly mimicked by digital nowadays.
Stop it, Glenn!! I can’t handle the truth.. AGGHHHHHH🤯
I've owned close to 30 different tube amps since the late 90's. I bought a super crush 100 last July, and it was instantly my favorite amp ever. It has been my main ever since.
Bought a Orange Crush 60, Swapped the orginal speaker for a V30 and its been a fantatic amp. Really like the clean channel as it has a nice smooth break up that I never noticed with the orginal 'voice of the world speaker'.
I wish they make a 50W version of that. A slightly smaller head too.
I might have kept my used CR120 but it cut out at hlf volume. I have a Bass 100 Crush 1x15 and a Cr20RT and sound great. My Dark Terror I run dirty, but the RV100MKII is run clean with SS distortion and eq in Front
I bought the combo, and it's easily my favourite amp.
I got one last year as well, and agree its a great amp and was worth every penny. Could I get a better tone out of a tube amp? probably. Is the difference worth me spending 3 times as much? absolutely not.
Without doubt you have exposed the truth about how we hear or should I say perceive tone. Unconscious bias reigns supreme in the minds of many and by definition we are just unaware of it. Great video and commentary Glenn!
Josh (JHS): Proofs that the digitech Bad Monkey sounds the same as the Klon Centaur.
Guitarist: yeah, but the Klon is expensive 😎👌
A much needed video. I've been very guilty of guitar snobbery in the past but there is no doubt (for me anyway) I'm a happier person when I get my ideas tracked quickly, conveniently with solid state, sims, digital amps, IR's and so forth. We all like to nerd out, but making music should always still come first.
Love it. The amount of coping these tone snobs exhibited is extremely satisfying.
I love this so much! Listening with your eyes. Love it. I will say though I did like the sound of the Revv over the other tones but is that because now I know which ones were the expensive amps? The Orange 100% does the job. And I'm so guilty of spending ridiculous money on valve amps and top end guitars in the past only to realise that the most important thing is making great music that moves and brings people together. Trying to impress people (other musicians) with expensive equipment instead of focusing on actual music fans is fairly silly. My new motto is less cool more fun! Thanks again!
Started listening with my ears 8 years ago. Have been using the Orange Crush Pro amps exclusively since 2015. Added a Super Crush 100 this year. Both are just immense. Great video!
A few years ago I tried out my friend's Orange CR35 and was really impressed. I normally live on the edge of breakup sound but like to venture into a little more gain and that Orange amp sounded so good for that. Even though I do not need another amp I still want to get one of the Crush amps.
Glenn, here's an idea for a video: redo the same blind shootout between the amps but instead of recording one or two mics against the cab grille, record a few room mics and see how these "ya gotta be in da r00m" folks react.
Hmm. Not a bad idea
There isn’t really any difference, because speakers.
There are probably some minor differences to how they respond to guitar tricks/techniques, but not enough for it to matter either.
As for the in the room sound, Austrian Audio should send Glenn their OC16, Henning stated that even close up it sounds like in the room.
Would be interesting to hear what Glenn can archieve with such a mic.
I think for that, you'd need one of those stereo mics that pick up sound like human ears. Otherwise you'd get the same people saying that it's not done properly.
I do think with some amps there is a difference in "feel", when comparing solid state, modelling and tube. I've played some solid state amps that were just horrendous and something just felt off. But I didn't get that with the Super Crush at all when I tried it. Amazing amp. Or the Fender Tonemaster amps, which are modelling amps with a class D power amp. And I'm sure that if more amp builders set their minds to it, they could exactly replicate their tube heads using solid state parts. I'm 99.99% sure that the real tone is all in the circuit, not the components.
@@mrcoatsworth429 Yup, the tone is in the circuit and the feel can be compensated for by utilizing todays knowledge within electronics and programming.
Even the power sag of a tube amp can be replicated.
Not to forget that some old and especially newer high gain tube amps utilize additional clipping, it’s not preamp tubes only.
There are ofc. some clipping and eq differences between the heads when the knobs are set towards max. but apart from Spinal Tab, who want’s to do that anyway?
From my experience the Orange Solid State amps are great as pedal and modeller platforms too, altough there is no need to use a Crush head for that, the OPB will do the same job for less.
And then there is the option to skip power amps and cabs all together, some bands on 20.000 tons of metal did that.
Check Hennings review of the mic I mentioned, I would say that it probably does a better job than a stereo room mic when it comes to get the exact sound of what it sounds like in the room without adding unrelevant ambience.
I got that particular mic on my to buy list.
But they're all watching it on UA-cam, so it's all been digitized anyway. According to these people, you need a fully analog experience to hear the difference - either physically in the room hearing the tube piano lows, or hearing a recording made to tape, pressed to wax, and played on a turntable with a tube receiver. If there's any digital component anywhere in the chain, the sound is forever tainted by digital poison.
Triggered knuckleheads incoming in 3..2..1..
Gold comment. I can start my day. Thanks dude ✌️🎸✌️
@@johnstitt2615 🤟🏻🤟🏻
Carefull, there are few knocking right behind at your door
Distract them by saying tube amps and tonewood instruments are at next door
It will buy extra 5 days to come up new plan
BOOOOOM!!!!
I can't wait for a new release from Sin Waves and Sweeps tho, their album 494.5Hz really changed my life. I've also heard that they're gonna go to 25kHz next, which is something I've never heard before!
*Sine Waves of Exquisite Pleasure has entered the chat
Oceans Ate Alaska have a song named fourthirtytwo, which is a banger. No wine waves though, it refers to the tuning frequency they used.
Meh, their last album was inconsistent. There were too many ups and downs.
@@clugokillscluco needed way more compression.
The only amp that sounded better/noticeably different was the 5150(didn’t notice until they were labeled though)but i think thats just a matter of being a very well designed overdrive circuit and not necessarily a tube thing. Great video!
I closed my eyes during the test and watched it back, and yeah the 5150 sounded the most unique out of the bunch. More mids and a bit softer highs. Could be a million things affecting that difference though, all the tones sounded great.
Exactly the same experience here. It wasn't even different in a good way - just different. Not better. All great tones.
Wow, guitarists actually having a friendly, sensible conversation where they admit that the great tone they hear might not be from the tubes? Wow, a one in a million occurance! ;)
the 5150 stood out to me too, but i didn't favor it among them all. the REVV tho.... that stood out to me as well, but as a preference. felt like it had all the range, and a more warm/natural sound. any would be fantastic, but revv would be my choice if i had one. :)
That mostly sounded different because the bass line changed at that point I believe.
More blind tests! I love this. Actual real data that doesn't rely on "feel". More power to your elbow sir! Do more!
Do tube snobs use ampsims I wonder?
Noooooooooooooo !
I always look forwards to videos like this because I learn something new, about myself and about music and gear in general. I may not like what I see/hear or agree every time but the knowledge is always appreciated.
"their super human listening skills evaporate once they don't have anything to look at" says it all
I have a couple solid state amps and a couple tube amps, the thing they have in common is I like the way they sound.
Never mind that it only applies to some, not all.
I was skeptical when I was first purchasing my SC 100 a year ago, but it still holds up very well to this day. I'm glad this channel exists so I can show my friends that you can make almost any amp sound good with just a bit of love and care.
my conclusion: Every single difference we only hear when we play is not a tone difference, it's a feel difference.
pickups, tubes, tonewood, all the stuff that doesn't mean jack shit in the mix is pure feel difference and should be talked about as such. Exactly like setting up a guitar or changing the guitar's hardware.
If bare knuckle pickups, exotic woods and expensive tubes make you feek different, have at it! If you wanna invest your money on that feel difference, that's more than fine! I do that too. Just remember that it's purely a feel thing and not a tone thing.
Removing the visual cues in the original test was brilliant. I have owned several solid state and tube amps, and unlike the pickups test you did a while back I was pretty sure I would be able to pick it out (though I am a guitar player, I sadly do not possess the gift of super-hearing). But when the test started and I was met with a wall of sound and the vastness of space...... I couldn't tell shit apart. Amazing.
Your videos have been an eye opener to me!!! I wish there was a channel that did the same thing for guitar tone for other genres of music. I am very aware that I listen with my eyes and feel with my ears, and your channel has changed my mind about guitar tone in metal. I wish somebody did the same for things you do for edge of breakup and clean tones!!! So I could just dial my tone knowing that I am changing things that actually matter. I play on a versatile band and I love making guitar purists angry when I get a better metal tone from my amp sims than their thousands of dollars back breaking tube amps played at low volumes!!!!
Holy $hit! I laughed so hard when you kept speeding up to read the "wind bag's" long statement. You are hilarious sometimes, Glenn
You definitely got me! Well done. I wasn’t a tube snob before the test but I do feel much more educated now regardless
I used to hot rod and build tube amps, but got a bit fed up when an output transformer vlew up on a gig. I started using the ART PowerPlant and loved the tone. Who cares if it was SS? Now I'm playing a Super Crush and my wallet is happy, my ears are happy, and the folks that show up at our gigs don't care as long as we can play decently.
Has anyone seen the Devin Townsend rig rundown? He basically explains why tube amps are amazing and shit at the same time and, consequently, why he uses AxeFX. In summary, all that amazing goodness that guitar players love when playing alone in front of the cab (the old being in the room argument) had to be cut with filters and EQ out to open space for other instruments, and that is true for both recording and live music.
Yep! I play almost exclusively through my Fractals now. Can’t tell you the last time I turned on one of my tube amps. The fact that I can enjoy the same sound whether through headphones, studio monitors, FRFR, or full PA system is just glorious!
@@millman82 that has been my “mantra” for the last 10y maybe.
Now with the QC, I sometimes use some pedals and tube preamps to get the sound in the studio but then just capture it in the QC and use it the rest of the time.
I'm an electrical engineer (8 years) and guitar player (20 years). I promise I can make solid state designs do anything that any tube circuit can do.
Tubes generate even order harmonics, transistors generate odd order harmonics.
@@zajefajnylogin A transistor behaves like a diode in this context. The existence of a patent on gear like the Boss SD-1 is proof that diodes, can produce both odd and even harmonics using a circuit.
This is a believable statement.
Also... anytime someone throws in a pedal or a preamp, etc., in there, the whole tone is "compromised" anyway, lol
@@ChuggOfCthulhu Thanks :)
@@zajefajnylogin You're an odd order harmonic
At 09:09 I literally spit my coffee out while laughing. That made my day. Thanks, Glenn.
It was a diet coke, but I spit mine out too.
Same. And I wasn't even drinking anything!
So, what’s the skinny on touch sensitivity of tube amps? That’s what I bought my Orange Rocker 15 Terror for? Have I been duped? 😊
Also, playing for break-up at 0.5 and 1 watt? How does that affect the tone? Hoping the answer isn’t: it doesn’t matter if you turn up the gain. 😊
Also, I have a valve amp stereo running into Dali Spektors in my living room for T.V. watching. If you believe the hype you’d expect it to be extra “warm”; I haven’t done a side by side a-b comparison, so probably doesn’t mean much, but It doesn’t seem any different to solid state to my ear. I think the perceived warmth must come from seeing those cosy glowing tubes. My mum loves the way they glow though, so, in that respect, it was a worthwhile purchase. 😊
Please let us hear more solid state amps in the mix context. It's actually a very interesting topic in my opinion.
Wow. What a great experiment this was. I’m so glad that you showed that solid state can be just as good as(if not sometimes Better) than tube amps. I own an orange super crush 120 and it’s by far the best amp I own and believe me I own a lot of amps. Keep doing what your doing because your doing great and you’ve even opened this aging metal head’s eyes to some of the BS that is out there.
I think people get confused with the old solid states made in Indonesia that are really cheap and sound like shit or the small 20 watt amps they had as a kid.
I've heard so many good solid states that didn't sound cheap or shit at all.
Can't wait to buy that Crush 100, finally a good solid state from my favourite amp brand!
I just made a new combo cab out of 3/4” pine and upholstery vinyl to replace the 1/2” tone-particleboard thing enclosing my Marshall (Park) 10w pawnshop special. The tone improvement of getting the speaker away from thin particleboard was so profound my family could hear the difference even through my terrible playing.
At one point during the project I put the speaker in the top of a 6” terracotta flowerpot. It sounded disturbingly good. I was actually afraid to put the speaker back in the new cab in case it was worse than the flowerpot. I told mrs j the flowerpot might be a permanent solution and she made faces.
My point is that the circuit and speaker of a G10mk2 are not what sucks. The original engineering was good. With a proper cab behind it the Park 6” speaker actually sounds decent and exploring the absurdly narrow clean-dirty transition on the knobs is very educational for a new player.
@@jrrarglblarg9241 this is good to know - I have an MG10 sitting under my desk gathering dust, because it sounds like complete ass and I generally just play through my DAW whenever I'm playing at home. Might have to dig it out and make a new cab for it when I have a bit of spare time.
@@SultanOfSlam69 It’s like playing a different amp now. Totally different.
The original design must have called for 3/4” inch material because with the internal dimensions unchanged the outside dimensions fall from a 6’ piece of 1x8 quite nicely. I suspect marketing nerfed the specs to lower the cost of production and Marshall execs were willing to make it sound like a dry angry fart in a cardboard box because anyone with ears would want a better amp after a while. All part of the Planned Obsolescence Conspiracy. 😒
I suspect all the 10w and 15w SS amps on the market suffer from this.
Great idea to DIY it. Bigger cab with more solid construction does make a big difference, the speaker still makes a bigger difference in my opinion but is a subjective difference. I think the better cab is an improvement that anyone can agree upon. The question to me is that does more speakers make much difference. To me a 4x12 sounds better than a 1x12 but the cabinet is way bigger to hold those 4 speakers and I've never heard a 4x12 sized cab with only 1 speaker in it.
@@jrrarglblarg9241 oh yeah, that too. Makes more sense!
One time with my band we rehearsed in a studio where they had (if i remember correctly) a new Fender Champion 100 and i swear to god that the other guitarist didn't realize it was a solid state amp. I wonder what kind of cone that one has, but anyways. The guy from the studio told us that the old one wasn't as good as this new one to him. My guitarist instead changed his mind on solid state amps after that, we both played on solid state in that studio with the drummer punching those freaking drums and making noise, and we could still hear eachother, this to prove to the tube simps that solid states are good when you get a good one.
I've also heard the Orange Crush 100 live in a band context and it was badass, i didn't realize it was solid state until i was told lol
as someone much much wiser than i once said....'if it sounds good it is good" and it all sounds pretty durn good to these ears
with 40 plus years of mixing all types of music under my belt 👺
Glenn, I recently got back into playing guitar again after years, and your channel is awesome to see. As someone who wants to get the most utility out of playing guitar without wasting money, your channel rings true and helps me listen to the proverbial angel on my shoulder to make reasonable purchases instead of just throwing away money listening to the horned guy on the other shoulder who says that "what's another grand gonna hurt?". I'll still buy pay a little more for the guitar because it has both the neck that I want, and it looks cool to me (it's the part that I actually touch, so that matters), but I'll live with the stock pickups, and I'll play a really cool solid-state that allows me to mix it with some high-quality, reasonably priced pedals. After all, the goal is to create sounds that I want to hear by playing guitar, and not to spend so much money on gear that I'll have to work forever and never get to really play it.
I Used to be a professional sound engineer.
I have state of the art monitoring system here and honestly I couldn't tell the difference.
Let alone tell that there are more than 2 amps.
BUT...
Listening thru youtube after the video was double compressed(once in rendering other in youtube processing), then playing really low tuned sound
Is not a good comparison.
Most of the amps will sound the same in low chugs.
It would be great if you repeat the blind test with standard tuning and crunch/clean/high gain sounds and put a link to the PCM wave files.
Also, psss don't tell anyone, in a recording studio environment you can make practically any guitar amplifier sound great.
I once took a fender frontman 65r fx send out to a jcm 800 and made one of the best freaking distortion sounds I heard.
Keep up the good work Glenn I really enjoy watching your videos👏
Please do a blind test for bass tone with different "tone woods". Since bass is played with lower distortion than guitar it would be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences.
I'll save Glenn the time and effort, even though his guitar "tone wood" tests answer this question already...the tone emerging from ANY electric instrument is produced by the actual electronic signal, not the slab of wood (or graphite, aluminum, lexan, Masonite, concrete, Legos, etc) that they're attached to. You can literally bolt a neck, bridge and pick-up to a chunk of crappy construction grade 2x6, and as long as you get the intonation right? It'll sound great...it just won't be as pretty (or expensive) as those exotic axes made from "select tone woods". In short? "Tone wood" makes zero difference with electric basses, doesn't matter whether you play them clean or go full Lemmy!
A lot of "World Class Chef's" will epically fail "blind taste tests" too. They also "eat with their eyes". That's why virtually all companies in all fields spend so much time and money on aesthetics and graphic design. Even people will spend more time and money on looking "healthy" than actually being healthy. Keep it up Glenn!
I fucking loved the tones from the Revv and the Orange! Bold mid-range and saturated as hell, without any loss in definition. I gotta say I thought the SLO and the 5150 sounded a little too scooped for my taste. What were the settings in the Revv, though? I was thinking about getting either a G3 or a G4, but I'm really struggling to make a decision. If this was recorded with the purple channel, I guess the indecision dies here!
You were supposed to say compressed. Just get red and purple and say you bought a revv amp....🎉
@@kingfisher7960 No, I meant scooped (as in "scooped mids").
I would get both pedals if I could, but my budget barely allows for one. I live in Brazil and this stuff is really damn expensive here.
God damn it! How about a little heads up before moving the goal posts? I think I may have permanently lost some high frequency hearing.
I can't wait to see how you got this bass tone. it's fucking insane. reminds me of Flummox
Piano lows, 3D tube sound and feel, man, those guys are crazy romantic poets, LOL
musicians could've used that imagination for their songwriting instead smh
Since I'm playing this on a set of whack computer speakers, I'd only hear any difference if the mashup was between a Stradivarius and a church-organ. Not your fault. Got myself a reasonable guitar (Ibanez RGA42FM) and a decent (beginner) amp (Fender Champion 20) and having a ton of fun learning my guitar first riffs. I'm 58 and love your channel.
Having a ton of fun, that’s what it’s about!
I listened through a pair of basic monitors (Mackie CR3) and I couldn't tell the difference. I also listened through my gaming headset and a pair of Sennheiser headphones and still couldn't tell.
@@Plexyglazz So I'm told. Perhaps it's not, but this is more fun.
mixing is definitely a big factor. most people just record 1 mic in front of their cabinet and don’t do processing or mixing. and it sounds gritty. (i was one of them) but after learning how to record cabinets , mic placement , and post eq and processing on reaper… my overall recording tone has improved a lot. i learned it all from you glenn, i watched your videos and i learned a lot. i grew up with solid state amps since that’s all i could afford. Now i use a tube amp and it’s incredible how much better it sounds. but nowadays solid state is great, i’ve been considering getting a solid state amp (boss katana) just to carry around and practice.
The boss katana amp modeling software can pretty much mimic a tube head to the exact frequency, it’s also 5x cheaper and includes a ton built in effects that make it one of the best amps on the market. I’ve been using my katana head for a couple years and I’ve gotten great tones out of it, and once I got a decent speaker in my cab, it honestly sounded better to me than any tube head I’ve ever played on.
Damn those tone differences were super subtle. really goes to show how the tone is often in the cabinet/speaker and the bass over the amp! I heard differences in the original but couldn't tell which was which and even reading it on screen i was like 'huh what was the change?' for some of them.
also seriously songwriting > technical talent any day. As a person who focused on songwriting and arrangement for ages I can tell you how little your technical prowess and knowledge of gear means in the real world (i am a gear nerd too though, but that's how I know it's useless). The minor differences truly mean nothing at the end of the day if your song sucks. The point of music is to convey emotions not demonstrate how fast you can do arpeggios or a scale. it's novelty at best people will listen once if you are truly that impressive and move on.
Also the 'feel' of an amp and how it responds is subjective so you can't say it is better or worse than anything else, only, i like this over something else. putting personal opinion as objective truth isn't always the best way to go about life.
I love your channel more and more with each video. Debunking bullshit is so satisfying, and I’m as giddy about it as you are. Thank you!
I’ve got a 1994 Peavey Supreme 160. Does it Doom? Yes. Do I have to “warm it up?” No. Thing is built like a tank & loud/thick as hell. Cheap too. The 5150 stays in the closet.
what happened the last few days involving JHS pedal is pretty funny.
Glen, you are the James Randi of the guitar world! Keep on debunking!
Awesome conclusion, thank you for that! I'm running a Quad Cortex with a power stage 170 and are completely satisfied with this setup, Live and at home.
This whole experiment was excellent, but these responses had me absolutely rolling! I’m not an huge metalhead anymore. (However, as an adolescent lad in the early-mid 90s, I played almost exclusively San Francisco-style thrash metal, and though overuse of LSD has altered the sorts of sounds that most appeal to me, I still play with a great deal of high-gain overdrive and distortion in my tone, so your channel is still nearly always relevant to me.) I always have a good time here, and I nearly always learn something.
And you dare saying bassplayers are dumb 🤣🤣🤣
Here is Mr. "Piano Lows" version of clearly "superior" tube tone: ua-cam.com/video/9P5PZFGvJj0/v-deo.html
Yikes! Might want to try miking the amp up so the guitar pick doesn't come through the recording. Please see "How to Record Heavy Guitar" here...
ua-cam.com/video/jfEh79A0b0U/v-deo.html
@@SpectreSoundStudios That sounds like effort. It seems like tube snobs are scared of that, along with recording knowledge.
@@BlueBarrier782 the second one was meh after he stepped on a pedal or turned off something by doing it so (ua-cam.com/video/9P5PZFGvJj0/v-deo.html)
It hurt to listen to…
@@ErnestStreetMafia yeah, phone camera mic… still, the difference is audible but also he might have changed his playing, so the test is inconclusive!
Dude, no wonder you make a VC video every week! These guys do all the work for you!! 🤣 Keep it up brother 🤘
Man, this was so eye opening.. Awesome video!!
I just bought a Super Crush 100 a few weeks ago. First SS amp. Even through my PPC412, it needs a bass boosted EQ in the FX Loop to compare to high gain tube amps. But I actually love how much tighter the response is without tube sag. Can’t wait to gig this.
I got out my favorite AKG K240 studio headphones for the last video to try to hear the differences. Listened through it a few times, hung my headphones up. Couldnt tell. Great videos as always.
I love music and have been playing guitar for many years. I can't pick out the finer things that you can, sir. I'm glad there are those like you that have the ability to notice things. Peace to you, dude.
Dimebag made solid state amps sound awesome. Proof not all solid state amps are bad.
I do prefer tubes, but I like the Orange Super Crush and Vox Valve Reactor series.
I spent many years playing a solid state amp and tube amps. I played gigs using a Yamaha G10-212 (Yamaha's version of the Roland Jazz Chorus minus the chorus) using the clean and gain channels with my only effects being a compressor (to get a bit more sustain on the gain channel and snap on the clean channel. I received nothing but compliments on my tone during the years I used the amp... in fact many guitar players were surprised when I told them it was solid state. I sold it, and I regret every day that I sold it, but I replace it with a Peavey 5150 the year they were released. I got nothing but compliments on the Peavey tone... the amp is a beast.
The difference is how the amp reacts to the player. When you play a solid state amp for hours at a time, day in and day out, you learn how the amp will react to what you put in.
The same thing goes for a tube amp, it will also be different if you're using an amp with a solid state rectifier vs an amp with a tube rectifier.
The secret sauce when people talk about pros and cons between tube and solid state is the amp "feel" to the player... NOT THE LISTENER.
A good player plays the amp as much as they play the guitar. A tube amp on stage reacts differently to the player than a solid state amp. The listener can't tell shit... they can only tell good tone from bad tone... and that's in the fingers as much as it is in the amp.
Enjoyed the little Douglas Adams reference at the end there. Very true, and that Orange sounds amazing.
thanks a F'n lot for the clarification video glen! keep it up. cheers from austria
I didn't send a comment last week: but i surprised myself by properly guessing the Soldano and the Orange. You got more out of the Orange than I expected ----- WELL DONE! Great mix and tones.
I just saw King's X live and Ty Tabor was playing through an earlier version of this amp, the Crush Pro 120. Jesus Christ! The tone was amazing, it was 100% Ty, and as good as any King's X era. Good stuff.
Awesome. I couldn't tell the difference with the original video last week. Even with the visual indicators now I dont know if I can tell a difference or if my heads messing with me. Great experiment.
I have a tube in a ziploc bag pinned to my studio wall so everything I do in there is automatically fucking amazing.
This was great. I played both in my time of play. I love them both, and I can't tell the difference it was a nice mix. Great job.
I played an Orange Crush 120 for a while and switched back to tubes a few years ago. Someone asked me after a gig if the Orange head was tube. So there’s that 🤷🏻♂️🤣. I dig them both. Great video Glenn!
Glenns a riot I love this channel. I dont mean that sarcasticly. Its enlightening and entertaining. kudos to you Mr Glenn.
Glenn, having years of experience as a metal guitarist and drummer. Completely agree, some people have to be too big of an ego to actually listen and not look at them selves and their gear. Keep up the great content. De&th to all but Metal. ✌️🤘🏴☠️🇦🇺
okay its kind of wild that when theres no names i genuinly had no fuckn clue and when there were names i could hear clear differences once i could visually see when they were supposed to change, that is some weird ass mental trickery my brain is playing on me like it feels silly to even say, and im team solid state i have a boss katana 100 and love it so i don't really have a dog in this fight just thought it was strange how its easier to hear the changes when you see the prompts on screen, feels like that shouldn't happen because its the same exact track without the prompts lmao
This was addressed to Jason of Spectre Digital, but now I think Glenn should see it too:
Okay Jason, Now it's been nine more days, it's now the 19th and of course, it's a Sunday morning and I'm trying to write a song with my Crippled ELE Drums. Any Idea for a Possible Timeframe, for the Possibility, of an Estimate, just give me an Idea off the Top Of Your Head, when I might get an answer as to when the f___k is ELE going to be ready for use with the now VERY Pertinent Kontakt 7?
Since Native Instruments won't let me roll back to Kontakt 6, Kontakt 7 has become the ONLY Kontakt I can use with ELE Drums, which I Paid for, it seems, a Long Time Ago. Was Kontakt 7 a Surprise to you guys on the Spectre Scene? Did it Sneak-Up on you? haha! I think I would have been just as Elated with ELE Drums had Spectre Digital waited the what, 4 or 5 months, or however long it took, for Kontakt 7 to come out. At least I don't think I would have been as disappointed with them, as I am Now. Yes, Son, I am Very Disappointed in you. (Lookin' at You, Glenn!).
Hey Glenn, still got the Volt176 from a previous video and it's been a great starter for me to record my stuff. Another interesting video here too.
That super crush is amazing. Also every guitar tone you've ever heard or loved was recorded and played back, even at most venues it's mic'd and sent through a PA. Lmao at "in the room".
I love this channel. Might have to find an Orange Super 100 to check out.
So what you’re telling me is I can get a 5150 or a Revv for $500? Not gonna lie, an orange crush is on the way. Pairing that with a torpedo captor x might be the best thing on a budget. Think about it, different mics, cabs, and even rooms with the captor x. I was a tube snob until this video. Now question is, are there different tone variations within the solid state world?
"We play mental guitars on a mental channel!" LMFAO @5:13 OMFG, my ribs!!!!
The first 3 seconds of the video is pure gold xD I’m a guitar player and I’ve learned this by first hand experiences and couldn’t agree more.
Love your channel...even though I play grampa rock tones and love my Friedman Dirty Shirley mini. 😂
I think one part of this tone issue is when we start playing we start on shitty gear, max the gain. Scoop the mids, and to our inexperienced ear....it sounds great. Then our ears get better and more critical, we realized it doesn't sound as good as we thought.
Because of this we learn to mistrust our ears and want some sort of concrete choice we can make that will inevitably end up with great tone. So we think I have a marshall, with a Gibson....so I automatically sound great. But you dont.
So instead of learning to dial in your gear you think it's gonna be the next pickup swap, expensive cables, nos tube purchase or whatever that will lock it in for you.
Back in the day, I pulled the logo badge of my peavey classic 50 head and I used to get compliments and questions about my "vintage tweed" amp.
I love my Friedman, but I don't look down on anyone playing solid state.
If it sounds good it is good. 🤷♂️
You make some fine points Mr Fricker.
In the original comparison I thought you were fucking with us again, I couldn't hear much if any difference at all.
Then with the visual help all of a sudden I could hear the changes, and none of them were bad.
Great video Glen....there is always one word that comes to mind when i watch your videos INTEGRITY!!!
Glad youre doing this glenn and others chasing this stuff. Alot of people will have their tonebase dropped off from them.
I couldn't tell the difference with no indication as to which amp was which. Lo and behold, once it was labeled on-screen my eyes convinced my ears that there were subtle but obvious differences. If I wasn't convinced enough that I could "hear" with my eyes before, I definitely am now. Point proven Glenn! 😆
You did great with the mix in showing how the amps can all sound similar!
That being said, I honestly have found myself liking the Orange sound in general. I can see myself getting a Super Crush one day. The mids just also blow my mind when they're at the forefront. I'm not a "tube snob" though, so I have a feeling this test wasn't for me unless if it's to confirm my own bias in liking the Super Crush .lol
Glenn, was the goal post sound clip of Will Smith dragging the table in the first Men in Black movie? Awesome!