the gain section on the solid state is especially a giveaway for me personally, guessed them all spot on thanks to that. over the years I've noticed that most solid states once they start pushing gain stages usually have a very distinct high end frequency tone characteristic to them that gives them away.. it can either add to the unique characteristic of the amp (like the RG1503 and it's predecessors) or it can really make it difficult to get a high volume tone that's actually pleasant (dozens of crate amps I've owned in the past near two decades)
Simon Smith: Simon, you certainly know your sausage dog-electronics. I listened to your bio and music. Very impressed. I would think, after hearing you play guitar, than some Classical Jazz or even some New Age Jazz might be something you should explore. Cheers!
Tonewise I have trouble hearing the difference between a good SS amp and a tube amp. The difference I hear is in pick action and the background harmonic response. Those don't really carry through UA-cam videos, so I won't even bother to pick. All I know is if you gig with a good SS amp, you will get a great tone and have a very reliable amp that needs almost zero maintenance.
I have been using the Bluguitar Amp1 for over a year now and will never go back to a heavy, unreliable tube amp that needs to be cranked really damn loud to sound any good! It weighs virtually nothing, sits on my pedal board (!) and is 100% reliable! I don't even use a cab anymore, just feed it back to my in ears. Sound guys love it too. To me, the biggest issue with valve amps is that you have to turn them up so loud to sound good and that doesn't always suit small stages or venues.
Just bought an Orange CR120h and what a beast of an amp! I own 2 x Marshall JCM800's (one very early 81 SLP1959) AND a 2203x reissue. I also own a JVM410h and two orange amps, one micro dark and this CR120h head. Solid state sounds SO GOOD i now use it exclusively for gigging! Ill drag out the valve amps for the larger festivals and stages but for pub gigs and the like - my god this amp is GOOD!! I CAN hear the difference (primarily in "warmth and less "fizz") however is is so nominal that i am willing to put up with this for the extra benefits the solid state head gives me. i AM a tone hound and have never found a pedal or digital platform that got me to this point but this amp has! Solid state has come a LONG way since the 70's!!
Amp 1's clean tone initially sounded bright to brittle in the treble range, indicating a valve-like quality, but maybe you set it that way to try to trick us. However, its crunch and high gain tones did not seem to match. Amp 2 started to sound more valve-like with its crunch and high gain tones. Amps 1 & 2 sounded made some nice sounding dirt. I looked up the Vox 15 and see its tones have won some awards from the guitar press. Yamaha failed on its poor dirt, which to my ear is the real test of a valve amp. Nice video.
I think the vox won overall. But we need to realise it depends on how he had the amps set too. I thought all three were good clean expecially 1 and 2. i think three sucked at anything heavy.. badly. 1 was set up brittle.. it was pure mids (but a lot of lead players WANT that). Id buy either of the first two after hearing the high distortion settings i wouldnt buy the laney . My vypyr 30 gets MUCH better tones. speaking of which it will match all of these or come close. That vox though.. just has that little something.. that only guitarists probably hear...
i actually expect vox's to sound good.. theyre becoming legendary for their gain. I was most suprised at how good the SS sounded. I think with the right eq settings/ cab it could easily match the vox
Can't believe how many people liked the sound of the vox, I mean no disrespect, but the crunch and high gain lacked definition and had so much noise IMHO. The laney only wins for the high gain sound for me, the rest was the yamaha, honestly
Nah.. Vox wins the fuzz contest. Crunch is the best hands down, high gain is a matter of taste. I love that dirt, though would not be suitable for clean metal heads.
The Yamaha was clearly (pun intended) the best clean. It got more interesting on crunch stuff but frankly I didn't like the sound of any of them on higher gain.
I have the Yamaha it really starts to lose it's quality at higher volumes. It's great because it sounds really great at late night bedroom practices. But when I turn it up it becomes less stellar. I had an old pig nose tube that I uses to crank to max and it really sang , beautiful chimey bell like tone with a warm rich sustainey sound. The problem with SS with the Yamaha is full chorded notes with gain some notes cancel each other out. While a tube amp you get every note of the chord.
the difference is INCREDIBLY subtle. (and im not a tube snob). More like at the very edge of the tone the vox seemed to have those smooth gain waves while the yamaha seemed to barely barely have a squarish wave edge. Honestly if i werent paying Intense attention i dont think id notice the difference between the yamaha and the vox
I have played the same SS combo for my entire music life (18-ish years) so I don't know the difference. For me, this demo was about finding my preference. I've played this video several times and I think I'm going to have to give it up to the Yamaha in every instance. I appreciate the immediate response and the consistency of it. I also feel that it's clearer and cuts through the mix better. It's interesting to read other people's opinions, though. And I appreciate the different colors in tone.
I have a THR5A as well as the THR5...I heard the similarity immediately in the clean tone of the first amp. Great demo. By the way, I've been playing for many, many years and I believe these Yamaha amps to be some of the best I've heard.
Back in my day playing with bands, we were all broke as hell, used solid state, didn't pine after tube stuff, just played with what we could afford. Many years later (decades), I've learned to listen (and really just feel, if you get right down to it) and I really did not like amp one. It sounded unpleasant, it was sharp and annoying, and again on the feel level, it just didn't feel good. This was really apparent on the clean tones at the beginning of this vid. I hear mention of tone snobs etc, and I'm sorry but, I was young and dumb once too, so I know where you're coming from. If you could learn to listen and just feel sound, you'd start to understand the difference. It is this type of listening and feeling through each step of the playing, recording, mixing and mastering process that ultimately creates really good sound. Now just plain listeners can't identify subtle tonal nuances, but they sure as sh!t can tell what they like better, and when it comes down to it, they like the sound of things that are the end product of a whole series or correct decisions to trust the feel of sound. Now, if all you can afford is solid state... I'd say play it, play it to the maximum, but I would keep an eye out for moving up into better equipment, even if you can't differentiate what sounds quality and what doesn't. Over time, you'll learn to listen and learn to feel sound, and it'll click for you. And finally, I listen to demos and tests of all this stuff on cheap a55 laptop speakers, because that is how most music is being consumed (I don't know how we got to this point... really high end capabilities in sound reproduction, with low prices, but consumers prefer the crappiest sound reproduction technology in the history or recorded and reproduced music, "Like oh my god, I got the best mono bluetooth speaker the other day!"). If I can't hear a difference on the laptop speakers, it is esoteric bs (which still is valid for the inspiration/creation process, but I'll leave that for another day), but if I can hear the difference, then so can listeners. And truly finally, I don't know if this test is scientifically rigorous enough, that first solid state amp may have related to the mic or other aspects of the recording chain, and it could have soured the sound, rather than the sound itself being sour out of the amp. But still, I'd suspect that the solid state sound itself is responsible for the sourness. And truly truly, I say to you this is finally my last comment, if you're just jamming by yourself, or playing with some friends in garages and basements, cheap solid state stuff is probably good enough, but if you are gigging, or recording, you're probably going to have more success with good sounding "tone snob" type of gear, even if you can't initially hear it/feel it. If you made it this far, you're probably sufficiently grey in the beard to have already learned all this anyway, but if you're a little squirt and you made it this far, your curiosity and desire to understand is likely going to pay off in the end. It took me a long time to get here, but I rode the special bus(s), if you're sharper than me, you'll get to where you need to be much faster. Just don't focus on the sound, instead, focus on how the sound feels.
I think solid state amps are great if you realize what their strengths and limitations are. Solid state is very valid if you're playing clean, and people don't realize how much electric guitar in the past eight decades actually was clean. Guitar in the '30s, '40s, and '50s was all clean, and a lot of guitar in the '60s was also clean. From the late '60s to the present there's been both clean and dirty. My point is that there's a hell of a lot of real guitar music that can be played effectively on a solid state amp (whether it was originally played on such an amp or not). For example, a Quilter amp can absolutely nail the opening lick of "Surfing USA"--it sounds like you're listening to the record. Obviously a ton of '80s music was made with a Roland JC120. BUT solid state amps (even good quality ones like the Quilter and JC120) struggle to play the distorted stuff as well as a tube amp, and I'm not sure that they ever do. Quilters do OK but if I were in an AC/DC tribute band I'd rather have any tube amp than the Quilter. It's true that solid state amps have occasionally been used to make good heavy music (Pantera, Black Flag), but this has been a rarity (and nobody would ever say that Greg Ginn had good tone). So anyway, I think both solid state and tube amps are valid professional level tools, you just have to use them when appropriate. Tube amps have a greater number of applications, but they have their liabilities (size, weight, reliability).
Honestly, I just keep coming to see that solo on Clean 1, 2 and 3, the second one is my favourite. I could listen an hour of that guitar play with the second clean amp.
Finally someone that agrees with me, I can't understand people that think the second one sounded the best. Especially the high gain was absolute dogshit! I was 100% sure the last one had to be the Laney tho! Sounded the best by far and also actually has a good high gain tone, which is why I knew it had to be the Laney. I have the admit I thought number 1 was the Vox, so I wasn't right everywhere :x
the vox sounded magnificent high gain as did the ss. the laney was absolute shit. It put out a lot of bass, not much high end at all and a thin mid and it's gain sounded like cheap SS square wave distortion. I get it i love a lot of bass too but that amp is junk
I could tell right away that the first amp was the Yamaha. I got the other two backwards though. The valve amps definitely sounded better to me than the Yamaha. I have a Roland Cube Lite and was thinking about getting the THR10. I went to a guitar store and tried out the Yamaha and thought it sounded bad compared to the Roland. To each his own though.
It would of been better with out the backing track so l could hear the amp's full harmonics I still could tell the difference solid state and class d ( digital ) amp's have trouble with high frequency but saying that the Yamaha is a very good amp specially in the bedroom or small room Thankyou for the video much appreciate your time
Oy Mate. Been playing for 52 yrs. Forgot all about the test ! Really like what you were doing. Mixing maj and minor riffs within the minor key kickoff. Very very nice ! I'll tell you who you remind me of. Mr Randall Bachman ( aka "BTO" )
I only got one right. Just goes to show that sound is in the ears of the beholder, in other words, it makes no difference to the majority of us. Great video, thanks
I knew from the start on clean channel that amp 2 was the valve amp. Grew up listening to my father playing on one as that was what most of the amps back in the '70s were. Also I learned to play guitar myself on and old tube amp. Can pick that sound out from a million miles. So I would have to pick amp 2
oops. missed what he said. He said guess which is the solid state. I was guessing which was the valve amp. mybad lol. only had one solid state in my life and that was a Crate back in the '80s. You guys remember those? lol
it all depends ..a valve amp without the power amp cranked will sound and feel very much like a transistor amp..its when power amp section is cranked you get the big difference
Solid state amps, as I noticed, do not give as rich spectrum as valve. Chunchy (slightly sandy) highs of valve distortion are hardly unachievable for SS in good proportion. So SS tones are or muddy, or acute comparing to distinct and often transparent valve tones.
The first time I listened to this, I began distrusting you, Simon. Apparently, I was not focused enough - I was at work. Now I could tell clearly amp #2 is solid state. I guessed the other two as well, just I could not swear on them. I think the Yamaha nails it pretty well, and, actually, I like it beter than the Laney - although I am definitely not a fan of digitals...
Originally the appeal of tube amps over solid state was simple. The tube amps distorted and saturated better when overdriven. Played clean there wasn't much difference...but in the late 60's and 70's it was all about playing crunchy not clean. Even the jazz guys were playing overdriven with "fusion".... Steely Dan more than Wes Montgomery Over the years, solid state has gotten better at mimicking the sound of an overdriven amp....but to my ear tube still sounds better in that situation. Playing clean like this guy is doing in places doesn't really enter into the argument much. And on top of THAT of course we are all listening to this UA-cam video compressed to death by being passed through a digital recording process, then the internet, then another computer, then through tiny phone, laptop, and/or computer speakers. Yea if I was some jazz guy playing noodling clean lead all night long I'd buy a Roland Cube 60 and be done with it. Low maintenance. Light weight. Bullet proof. Easy to use with a PA or effects. But if you are playing loud and crunchy all night, a tube amp beats all those pedals and digital effects to hell and back. No question
Yamaha sounded very dinamic. More so then the vox. I thought the 2nd amp was solidstate and the 1st was tube. I was wrong about those 2. But #3 the laney sounded like a tube amp. In high gain and clean.
I really don't like that much the second one... but maybe it's a valve amp... right? The third amp has more "power" on high gain, it's a tube one... I like the 1 (especially for cleans) and III
Nailed it ...thought the valve amps had slightly better crunch and overdrive tone. I have a Roland 80X SS , and a Blackstar HT20 combo all valve .... I’m struggling to get good tone out of the Blackstar, but also find the Roland to be a bit “harsh” if you know what I mean. Just would love to find Happy medium at this stage😒😒 very frustrating.
Yusss, I guessed correctly, but only because I have solid state and tubes and can recognize how they react, id say the tones were pretty good though, in the mix its definitely harder to tell
Hi Simon. I have a question for you. In addition to these two technologies (valves and solid state), there are now digital amps, which invades the market. I have found nowhere the answer to this question : I can boost a Marshall tube amp with an overdrive pedal for instance, but can I do that with the same digitally emulated Marshall tube amp ? Will a digital amp react to boost or overdrive or distortion pedales as a tube amp or even a transistor amp ? Are digital amps "boostable" ?
You can boost the preamp it won't distort in the way valves will - not that that's intrinsically worse but the effect won't be identical. Valve amps can also distort on the power amp (which is when you get that massive grunt) which solid states are designed not to do. That's part of the reason why solid states have a high power rating (because they sound awful when the power amp clips) and valve amps have a low power rating (because you WANT to boost it over that rating to get the power amp distortion)
I would also say that the answer is in it's most simple form "no" however the real answer is that those digital amps have effects built in and when you use the built in drive then yes it will work the way you would expect it to. Otherwise it will boost but not the way you would think it would.
In fact, few digitally emulated amps offer sounds for extreme metal. Some announce that, but it doesn't reach the sound that can be obtained with a MXR Fullbore Metal or even a Digitech Metal Master. So I think that, for this kind of metal, no one should buy a digitally emulated amp. That's a mistake I made. So, I set my amp on the clearest sound (the JC120), and I add pedals.
Clean 1 Yamaha - Correct 2 Vox - Correct 3 Laney - Correct Crunch 1 Laney - Wrong 2 Vox - Correct 3 Yamaha - Wrong Hi Gain 1 Yamaha - Correct 2 Laney - Wrong 3 Vox - Wrong Crunch 1 sounded warmer and the best to me even after I got the result at the end..
Interesting test. I preferred the sound of #2 the best and was sure it was a valve amp. #1 and #3 had me confused. I didn't like either of them as much but I actually thought #3 was perhaps the SS amp. I wasn't sure as I've built tube amps that sound very much like the Laney did. It's actually very tough to tell and I think I'd do better if I was playing, but maybe not. While I didn't love the Yamaha, I thought it sounded pretty decent.
People tend to focus on tone, but you can make any amp bright/dark/mid boosted/whatever - it's more for me how the distortion comes on and how it decays.
"Amp two" clean sounded to my ears a bit darker, smoother and softer and perfect for Pink Floyd and much other Seventies music like that but it sounded less good than the others in the other sound samples like it got saturated with too much distortion or harsh harmonics.
I consistently didn't like amp one throughout all the tests. I think I liked three better clean and two distorted. But overall liked both. I've heard good things about those little Yamaha's and I was surprised at how much I didn't like how it sounded
shrill sound : amp nr 1-transistor. looks like is "cleaner" and theeen: on laud enviroment ( pub, etc.) will cut Your ears like blade. amp2 and 3 much rounded sound - tube. Louder (Pub , blablabla) can be turn into bell ( who knows how to put transients up??? ) :) great demo cheers
What is that tune you are playing? Are you just improvising or is that something. Whatever it is..... daaaammmnnn. P.S. I like the sound of the second amp more, I'm curious to find out which is which.
i prefered Nr 3 Vox Night Night Train 15 , i've got the Yamaha TR5 cos i use it for My Nylon Acoustic guitar , and i am very satisfied , i could say how this would sound with real Tube Amp , maybe not As good as the Yamaha TR5 , dont know , my guitar is a Nylon Harley benton Clone of the Ovation Guitar , very cheap and really good guitar , this 100 euro guitar be came my favorite and beats my 800 euro guitar's , crazy , and could even be sound better if i doing the Final touch , thanks for the share ; nice video
Here's a thought. If I'm hearing the difference with a mobile phone, surely the modelling can improve. Essentially, all of these outputs (solid state or valve) are processed digitally at my end.
Thanks for comparison! I've got THR10X, so amp one for sure is THR, but it's not a true solid state, it is digital. Vox sounded best in clean and crunch, Laney sounded better in high gain.
i would have to say the vox sounded the best though i dont think the volumes did justice for the third amp i saw the price tag and was suprised the vox and laney sounded similar obviously the more expensive amp was a bit more clear but not by much.
Came to check the difference to see what i want to go with when i get back in to practice and i could hear the difference so no choice need amp for my new gibson.. Great listening in on the jammin' both sides though
I knew second Amp was a Vox, but not because of valves, it's just sounds like a Vox. Btw, they all sound great and no one sounds lower quality than the other, I thing the main difference was the sound of each brand.
Thr10 is considered a good solid state amp. You should use a good tube amb for the comparison like a mesa boogie or at least a vox ac. If you aim at same price tag then yes sometimes its better to go solid state for the bucks
Yay, nice. I could guess the Yamaha correctly. I own that little THR10 beast, :D But I prefer the sound of the VOX, :(((( (Using my THR10 as my PC speaker through which I listened to the video, xD))
I went by what I liked best not trying to guess what was what and I liked #1 for clean and #3 for both crunch and hi gain. I'm 63 so I don't care if it's tube or SS just stay off my lawn! ;-). I went through the introduction of really crappy SS amps in the '70's and 80's so I was always biased towards tube amps. That said, different amps "feel" (i.e. respond differently tactilely to your fingers on the guitar) differently when you play through them and when you find a SS amp that feels as good to you as your favorite tube amp and sounds as good as well you should buy it. All that to say that there's more to tube amps than just the sound because the sound can be altered by any number of variables. I think you have more options that can make huge differences in sound with tube amps e.g., experimenting with different tubes and biasing etc. They're prolly better for replacing PCB components as well I'm thinkin'. I recently bought a THR10 and I really like it. It responds really well but I don't think it'll be replacing my Marshalls or my Hughes and Kettner. It makes for a great acoustic guitar amp and my Martin sounds great through it. Solid state amps are getting more like tube amps every day. FWIW, I'm really a keyboardist that tries really hard to play guitar (lol) because I love it. Getting the overdriven tube sound of a Hammond B3 w/Leslie has been over a 30 year quest for me. I recently came across a very good replication, The Arturia B-3V but crap! Ya gotta use a computer, a keyboard that you can assign drawbars to.... I've had several excellent B3/Leslie clones but the overdrive was lacking horribly in all. It's often a trade off as I've never missed lugging 550lbs of organ and Leslie. Much the same with tube guitar amps. Tubes are, without a doubt, more work and more money. Very cool vid and thanks for going to the all the trouble! Please keep up all the great work!
The valve amp handles the square vaves so much better than the solid state amp. No question. But it comes much down to taste. But the warmth in the sound was very much present in amp 2 all the way through. Also at low volume.
VOX for sure for sure best tone all the way around. Laney get a close second if not just as good as the VOX. Toss the Yamaha in to the bathroom for bowels practice.
Wow.... After hearing this comparison it's hard to image why anyone would prefer a tube/valve amp? (#1) (The solid state amp) sounds very clean, expresses great definition, and solidly reproduces the played notes. (#2) Frankly sounded terrible. The lag was immediately noticeable as was excessive distortion. It sounded like it was struggling to keep up. It was like listening to a speaker with a blanket thrown over it. (#3) Wasn't terrible compared with #1. It was cleaner and livelier than #2 by far, but lacked the definition heard by #1 Thanks for sharing the video!
the gain section on the solid state is especially a giveaway for me personally, guessed them all spot on thanks to that. over the years I've noticed that most solid states once they start pushing gain stages usually have a very distinct high end frequency tone characteristic to them that gives them away.. it can either add to the unique characteristic of the amp (like the RG1503 and it's predecessors) or it can really make it difficult to get a high volume tone that's actually pleasant (dozens of crate amps I've owned in the past near two decades)
Came for the comparison, stayed for the playing. :)
Really?
They all sound good through my UNIVAC 1101 tube driven computer.
We joke about sausage dogs but they really can make a big difference in the way an amplifier sounds, both solid state and tube.
Indeed they do. They are like Rectifier Tubes in Daschund guise
Simon Smith: Simon, you certainly know your sausage dog-electronics. I listened to your bio and music. Very impressed. I would think, after hearing you play guitar, than some Classical Jazz or even some New Age Jazz might be something you should explore. Cheers!
As long as they get turned up to really "howl"!
Tonewise I have trouble hearing the difference between a good SS amp and a tube amp. The difference I hear is in pick action and the background harmonic response. Those don't really carry through UA-cam videos, so I won't even bother to pick. All I know is if you gig with a good SS amp, you will get a great tone and have a very reliable amp that needs almost zero maintenance.
and add a good cabinet
I have been using the Bluguitar Amp1 for over a year now and will never go back to a heavy, unreliable tube amp that needs to be cranked really damn loud to sound any good! It weighs virtually nothing, sits on my pedal board (!) and is 100% reliable! I don't even use a cab anymore, just feed it back to my in ears. Sound guys love it too. To me, the biggest issue with valve amps is that you have to turn them up so loud to sound good and that doesn't always suit small stages or venues.
Clean 1 - 0:55
Clean 2 - 2:02
Clean 3 - 3:10
Crunch 1 - 4:17
Crunch 2 - 4:59
Crunch 3 - 5:39
High Gain 1 - 6:21
High Gain 2 - 7:05
High Gain 3 - 7:50
Results - 8:54
OCCQDQCG LHIIHIL thanks
Lead @1:15 was immaculate brother, been watching your channel for a while but still finding hidden gems
Just bought an Orange CR120h and what a beast of an amp!
I own 2 x Marshall JCM800's (one very early 81 SLP1959) AND a 2203x reissue. I also own a JVM410h and two orange amps, one micro dark and this CR120h head.
Solid state sounds SO GOOD i now use it exclusively for gigging! Ill drag out the valve amps for the larger festivals and stages but for pub gigs and the like - my god this amp is GOOD!!
I CAN hear the difference (primarily in "warmth and less "fizz") however is is so nominal that i am willing to put up with this for the extra benefits the solid state head gives me. i AM a tone hound and have never found a pedal or digital platform that got me to this point but this amp has! Solid state has come a LONG way since the 70's!!
Conrad Kriel I bought an Orange CR120 a year ago, amazing piece of kit - totally agree 100%!!!
Orange boosts the 200 hz range, the loudest perceived range and also the most annoying, just to fool inexperienced players that they are loud.
I think sausage dogs tend to absorb the high end and bump the mids.
Great video either way !
I'm not a believer in 'tone-dogs' on solid body guitar.
Damn it, all three wrong. I've got a THR5 as well. I should have been a drummer.
I had sworn, that amp no.2 was the tube amp, because it sounded best. I am very surprised. Thank You for that test. Very informative.
OMG ! i know whats missing from my electric guitar playing !! i need an amp ! ;)
Amp 1's clean tone initially sounded bright to brittle in the treble range, indicating a valve-like quality, but maybe you set it that way to try to trick us. However, its crunch and high gain tones did not seem to match. Amp 2 started to sound more valve-like with its crunch and high gain tones. Amps 1 & 2 sounded made some nice sounding dirt. I looked up the Vox 15 and see its tones have won some awards from the guitar press. Yamaha failed on its poor dirt, which to my ear is the real test of a valve amp. Nice video.
Agree with you a 100% I first thought #1 would be a tube amp but with the high gain it became clear. Also very surprised how good the Vox sounded.
I think the vox won overall. But we need to realise it depends on how he had the amps set too. I thought all three were good clean expecially 1 and 2. i think three sucked at anything heavy.. badly. 1 was set up brittle.. it was pure mids (but a lot of lead players WANT that). Id buy either of the first two after hearing the high distortion settings i wouldnt buy the laney . My vypyr 30 gets MUCH better tones. speaking of which it will match all of these or come close. That vox though.. just has that little something.. that only guitarists probably hear...
i actually expect vox's to sound good.. theyre becoming legendary for their gain. I was most suprised at how good the SS sounded. I think with the right eq settings/ cab it could easily match the vox
I think the real question is, does the user like the sound of the solid state and if yes, nuts to the rest of the discussion.
I like the price
Can't believe how many people liked the sound of the vox, I mean no disrespect, but the crunch and high gain lacked definition and had so much noise IMHO. The laney only wins for the high gain sound for me, the rest was the yamaha, honestly
Nah.. Vox wins the fuzz contest. Crunch is the best hands down, high gain is a matter of taste. I love that dirt, though would not be suitable for clean metal heads.
The Yamaha was clearly (pun intended) the best clean. It got more interesting on crunch stuff but frankly I didn't like the sound of any of them on higher gain.
I had a 15 watt night train and I don't remember what tubes I threw in swapping out the stock ones did wonders
I have the Yamaha it really starts to lose it's quality at higher volumes.
It's great because it sounds really great at late night bedroom practices.
But when I turn it up it becomes less stellar.
I had an old pig nose tube that I uses to crank to max and it really sang , beautiful chimey bell like tone with a warm rich sustainey sound.
The problem with SS with the Yamaha is full chorded notes with gain some notes cancel each other out.
While a tube amp you get every note of the chord.
I thought amp 1 had the clearest cleans
and amp 2 sounded the best high gain
Nice video as always and cute dog :)
^^ this
Those little Yamaha amps are great, I have THR10x for silent practice. Beautiful dog btw!
I just cant seem to hear the difference........I can only smell the difference with my eyes.....great vid bro
Eduardo Jimenez maybe you're just high
the difference is INCREDIBLY subtle. (and im not a tube snob). More like at the very edge of the tone the vox seemed to have those smooth gain waves while the yamaha seemed to barely barely have a squarish wave edge. Honestly if i werent paying Intense attention i dont think id notice the difference between the yamaha and the vox
Easy, but only because I play through a thr nearly every day. The high gain made me nervous, but I realized I never use that tone. Fun video!
Vox Night Train sounds best to me, then Yamaha amp follows and Laney not too impressive. Thanks for sharing
I manage to identify the THR, but would not be able to tell which valve amp i was hearing. I have a rather tiny experience with valve amps. Great vid!
I believe the second.
I think thr was competeting tube amp vox was bright which i dont like
I love my Marshall vs100. It's hybrid but sounds killer
I guessed 1. Laney, 2. Vox, 3. Yamaha. Amp One was my favourite in both clean and high gain though.
The Vox Night Train 15.
Nice playing! Love the clean riffs
I have played the same SS combo for my entire music life (18-ish years) so I don't know the difference. For me, this demo was about finding my preference. I've played this video several times and I think I'm going to have to give it up to the Yamaha in every instance.
I appreciate the immediate response and the consistency of it. I also feel that it's clearer and cuts through the mix better.
It's interesting to read other people's opinions, though. And I appreciate the different colors in tone.
Liked the Vox over the Laney even though I own a Laney Cub12R and an L20T. The Yam sounded thin and brittle. Nice job of demoing!!
Thanks mate
I have a THR5A as well as the THR5...I heard the similarity immediately in the clean tone of the first amp. Great demo.
By the way, I've been playing for many, many years and I believe these Yamaha amps to be some of the best I've heard.
Anon W They're great amps aren't they!
Back in my day playing with bands, we were all broke as hell, used solid state, didn't pine after tube stuff, just played with what we could afford. Many years later (decades), I've learned to listen (and really just feel, if you get right down to it) and I really did not like amp one. It sounded unpleasant, it was sharp and annoying, and again on the feel level, it just didn't feel good. This was really apparent on the clean tones at the beginning of this vid. I hear mention of tone snobs etc, and I'm sorry but, I was young and dumb once too, so I know where you're coming from. If you could learn to listen and just feel sound, you'd start to understand the difference. It is this type of listening and feeling through each step of the playing, recording, mixing and mastering process that ultimately creates really good sound. Now just plain listeners can't identify subtle tonal nuances, but they sure as sh!t can tell what they like better, and when it comes down to it, they like the sound of things that are the end product of a whole series or correct decisions to trust the feel of sound.
Now, if all you can afford is solid state... I'd say play it, play it to the maximum, but I would keep an eye out for moving up into better equipment, even if you can't differentiate what sounds quality and what doesn't. Over time, you'll learn to listen and learn to feel sound, and it'll click for you.
And finally, I listen to demos and tests of all this stuff on cheap a55 laptop speakers, because that is how most music is being consumed (I don't know how we got to this point... really high end capabilities in sound reproduction, with low prices, but consumers prefer the crappiest sound reproduction technology in the history or recorded and reproduced music, "Like oh my god, I got the best mono bluetooth speaker the other day!"). If I can't hear a difference on the laptop speakers, it is esoteric bs (which still is valid for the inspiration/creation process, but I'll leave that for another day), but if I can hear the difference, then so can listeners.
And truly finally, I don't know if this test is scientifically rigorous enough, that first solid state amp may have related to the mic or other aspects of the recording chain, and it could have soured the sound, rather than the sound itself being sour out of the amp. But still, I'd suspect that the solid state sound itself is responsible for the sourness.
And truly truly, I say to you this is finally my last comment, if you're just jamming by yourself, or playing with some friends in garages and basements, cheap solid state stuff is probably good enough, but if you are gigging, or recording, you're probably going to have more success with good sounding "tone snob" type of gear, even if you can't initially hear it/feel it. If you made it this far, you're probably sufficiently grey in the beard to have already learned all this anyway, but if you're a little squirt and you made it this far, your curiosity and desire to understand is likely going to pay off in the end. It took me a long time to get here, but I rode the special bus(s), if you're sharper than me, you'll get to where you need to be much faster. Just don't focus on the sound, instead, focus on how the sound feels.
I think solid state amps are great if you realize what their strengths and limitations are. Solid state is very valid if you're playing clean, and people don't realize how much electric guitar in the past eight decades actually was clean. Guitar in the '30s, '40s, and '50s was all clean, and a lot of guitar in the '60s was also clean. From the late '60s to the present there's been both clean and dirty. My point is that there's a hell of a lot of real guitar music that can be played effectively on a solid state amp (whether it was originally played on such an amp or not). For example, a Quilter amp can absolutely nail the opening lick of "Surfing USA"--it sounds like you're listening to the record. Obviously a ton of '80s music was made with a Roland JC120.
BUT solid state amps (even good quality ones like the Quilter and JC120) struggle to play the distorted stuff as well as a tube amp, and I'm not sure that they ever do. Quilters do OK but if I were in an AC/DC tribute band I'd rather have any tube amp than the Quilter. It's true that solid state amps have occasionally been used to make good heavy music (Pantera, Black Flag), but this has been a rarity (and nobody would ever say that Greg Ginn had good tone).
So anyway, I think both solid state and tube amps are valid professional level tools, you just have to use them when appropriate. Tube amps have a greater number of applications, but they have their liabilities (size, weight, reliability).
Honestly, I just keep coming to see that solo on Clean 1, 2 and 3, the second one is my favourite. I could listen an hour of that guitar play with the second clean amp.
I have a THR 10X and I absolutely love it, fantastic distortion sounds! But it's clean tones let it down a bit so for me it was quite easy to guess!
I couldn't tell which one was which, but my favorites were in order 3,1, and 2
Finally someone that agrees with me, I can't understand people that think the second one sounded the best. Especially the high gain was absolute dogshit! I was 100% sure the last one had to be the Laney tho! Sounded the best by far and also actually has a good high gain tone, which is why I knew it had to be the Laney.
I have the admit I thought number 1 was the Vox, so I wasn't right everywhere :x
the vox sounded magnificent high gain as did the ss. the laney was absolute shit. It put out a lot of bass, not much high end at all and a thin mid and it's gain sounded like cheap SS square wave distortion. I get it i love a lot of bass too but that amp is junk
I thought vox was no 2 coz its sounded bright
I could tell right away that the first amp was the Yamaha. I got the other two backwards though. The valve amps definitely sounded better to me than the Yamaha. I have a Roland Cube Lite and was thinking about getting the THR10. I went to a guitar store and tried out the Yamaha and thought it sounded bad compared to the Roland. To each his own though.
I got the first two, but the LH50 fooled me. Nice playing. Cute dog.
It would of been better with out the backing track so l could hear the amp's full harmonics
I still could tell the difference solid state and class d ( digital ) amp's have trouble with high frequency but saying that the Yamaha is a very good amp specially in the bedroom or small room
Thankyou for the video much appreciate your time
Favourite was the No 2... Clearly, much brighter to me
I guessed right...which surprised me. I only have a solid state, Marshall Valvestate actually, but love that vox sound...personal preference.
Oy Mate. Been playing for 52 yrs. Forgot all about the test ! Really like what you were doing. Mixing maj and minor riffs within the minor key kickoff. Very very nice ! I'll tell you who you remind me of. Mr Randall Bachman ( aka "BTO" )
+Mark Brock Thanks Mark mate.
I picked amp #2 which turned out to be the tube amp. I could definitely here the difference.
I have the choice of a few amps , transistor always wins out for consistency and convenience.
I only got one right. Just goes to show that sound is in the ears of the beholder, in other words, it makes no difference to the majority of us. Great video, thanks
what am i listening again ,your speakers, you tube compression , music fills ,room ,microphone , or amps
I knew from the start on clean channel that amp 2 was the valve amp. Grew up listening to my father playing on one as that was what most of the amps back in the '70s were. Also I learned to play guitar myself on and old tube amp. Can pick that sound out from a million miles. So I would have to pick amp 2
oops. missed what he said. He said guess which is the solid state. I was guessing which was the valve amp. mybad lol. only had one solid state in my life and that was a Crate back in the '80s. You guys remember those? lol
That is some relaxing music.
it all depends ..a valve amp without the power amp cranked will sound and feel very much like a transistor amp..its when power amp section is cranked you get the big difference
It was obvious during the clean mode. The Vox sounded great!
Playing live, of course. The harmonics that resonate into the ear are richer w/ the tubes
I liked the first amp on the three reviews. The sound is warm.
Solid state amps, as I noticed, do not give as rich spectrum as valve. Chunchy (slightly sandy) highs of valve distortion are hardly unachievable for SS in good proportion. So SS tones are or muddy, or acute comparing to distinct and often transparent valve tones.
The first time I listened to this, I began distrusting you, Simon. Apparently, I was not focused enough - I was at work. Now I could tell clearly amp #2 is solid state. I guessed the other two as well, just I could not swear on them. I think the Yamaha nails it pretty well, and, actually, I like it beter than the Laney - although I am definitely not a fan of digitals...
High gain is what gives away that first one is solid state.
Originally the appeal of tube amps over solid state was simple.
The tube amps distorted and saturated better when overdriven.
Played clean there wasn't much difference...but in the late 60's and 70's it was all about playing crunchy not clean. Even the jazz guys were playing overdriven with "fusion".... Steely Dan more than Wes Montgomery
Over the years, solid state has gotten better at mimicking the sound of an overdriven amp....but to my ear tube still sounds better in that situation.
Playing clean like this guy is doing in places doesn't really enter into the argument much.
And on top of THAT of course we are all listening to this UA-cam video compressed to death by being passed through a digital recording process, then the internet, then another computer, then through tiny phone, laptop, and/or computer speakers.
Yea if I was some jazz guy playing noodling clean lead all night long I'd buy a Roland Cube 60 and be done with it. Low maintenance. Light weight. Bullet proof. Easy to use with a PA or effects.
But if you are playing loud and crunchy all night, a tube amp beats all those pedals and digital effects to hell and back. No question
It's a good argument but it's kind of funny how jazz people say that solid state amps can do pretty good distortion but sub-par cleans.
No you misunderstood something there fichtl.
@@juanfichtl2011
Jazz people don't say that.
@@profd65 Funny you should say that.
Yamaha sounded very dinamic. More so then the vox. I thought the 2nd amp was solidstate and the 1st was tube. I was wrong about those 2.
But #3 the laney sounded like a tube amp. In high gain and clean.
First one Is valve, second and third are solid state?
I really don't like that much the second one... but maybe it's a valve amp... right? The third amp has more "power" on high gain, it's a tube one... I like the 1 (especially for cleans) and III
They all sound good
Nailed it ...thought the valve amps had slightly better crunch and overdrive tone. I have a Roland 80X SS , and a Blackstar HT20 combo all valve .... I’m struggling to get good tone out of the Blackstar, but also find the Roland to be a bit “harsh” if you know what I mean. Just would
love to find Happy medium at this stage😒😒 very frustrating.
Yusss, I guessed correctly, but only because I have solid state and tubes and can recognize how they react, id say the tones were pretty good though, in the mix its definitely harder to tell
Hi Simon. I have a question for you. In addition to these two technologies (valves and solid state), there are now digital amps, which invades the market. I have found nowhere the answer to this question :
I can boost a Marshall tube amp with an overdrive pedal for instance, but can I do that with the same digitally emulated Marshall tube amp ? Will a digital amp react to boost or overdrive or distortion pedales as a tube amp or even a transistor amp ? Are digital amps "boostable" ?
You can boost the preamp it won't distort in the way valves will - not that that's intrinsically worse but the effect won't be identical. Valve amps can also distort on the power amp (which is when you get that massive grunt) which solid states are designed not to do. That's part of the reason why solid states have a high power rating (because they sound awful when the power amp clips) and valve amps have a low power rating (because you WANT to boost it over that rating to get the power amp distortion)
Thanks for these informations.
I would also say that the answer is in it's most simple form "no" however the real answer is that those digital amps have effects built in and when you use the built in drive then yes it will work the way you would expect it to. Otherwise it will boost but not the way you would think it would.
In fact, few digitally emulated amps offer sounds for extreme metal. Some announce that, but it doesn't reach the sound that can be obtained with a MXR Fullbore Metal or even a Digitech Metal Master. So I think that, for this kind of metal, no one should buy a digitally emulated amp. That's a mistake I made. So, I set my amp on the clearest sound (the JC120), and I add pedals.
not true of all ss amps
Clean
1 Yamaha - Correct
2 Vox - Correct
3 Laney - Correct
Crunch
1 Laney - Wrong
2 Vox - Correct
3 Yamaha - Wrong
Hi Gain
1 Yamaha - Correct
2 Laney - Wrong
3 Vox - Wrong
Crunch 1 sounded warmer and the best to me even after I got the result at the end..
Interesting test. I preferred the sound of #2 the best and was sure it was a valve amp. #1 and #3 had me confused. I didn't like either of them as much but I actually thought #3 was perhaps the SS amp. I wasn't sure as I've built tube amps that sound very much like the Laney did. It's actually very tough to tell and I think I'd do better if I was playing, but maybe not. While I didn't love the Yamaha, I thought it sounded pretty decent.
People tend to focus on tone, but you can make any amp bright/dark/mid boosted/whatever - it's more for me how the distortion comes on and how it decays.
"Amp two" clean sounded to my ears a bit darker, smoother and softer and perfect for Pink Floyd and much other Seventies music like that but it sounded less good than the others in the other sound samples like it got saturated with too much distortion or harsh harmonics.
Liked the 2nd one the best... its notes do stand out - but by only 15% or so in clean ... I felt it more in crunch + gain ...
I consistently didn't like amp one throughout all the tests. I think I liked three better clean and two distorted. But overall liked both.
I've heard good things about those little Yamaha's and I was surprised at how much I didn't like how it sounded
100% love the dog.
Very nice riff does any one knows what is Simon playing ?
Cute pup!
shrill sound : amp nr 1-transistor. looks like is "cleaner" and theeen: on laud enviroment ( pub, etc.) will cut Your ears like blade. amp2 and 3 much rounded sound - tube. Louder (Pub ,
blablabla) can be turn into bell ( who knows how to put transients up??? ) :) great demo cheers
Brother !!!!! this guy can play !!!!!
What is that tune you are playing? Are you just improvising or is that something. Whatever it is..... daaaammmnnn.
P.S. I like the sound of the second amp more, I'm curious to find out which is which.
i prefered Nr 3 Vox Night Night Train 15 , i've got the Yamaha TR5 cos i use it for My Nylon Acoustic guitar , and i am very satisfied , i could say how this would sound with real Tube Amp , maybe not As good as the Yamaha TR5 , dont know , my guitar is a Nylon Harley benton Clone of the Ovation Guitar , very cheap and really good guitar , this 100 euro guitar be came my favorite and beats my 800 euro guitar's , crazy , and could even be sound better if i doing the Final touch , thanks for the share ; nice video
Here's a thought. If I'm hearing the difference with a mobile phone, surely the modelling can improve. Essentially, all of these outputs (solid state or valve) are processed digitally at my end.
i like the vox ive never tried one might need to check those out
They're cracking little amps.
Thanks for comparison!
I've got THR10X, so amp one for sure is THR, but it's not a true solid state, it is digital.
Vox sounded best in clean and crunch, Laney sounded better in high gain.
i would have to say the vox sounded the best though i dont think the volumes did justice for the third amp i saw the price tag and was suprised the vox and laney sounded similar obviously the more expensive amp was a bit more clear but not by much.
Came to check the difference to see what i want to go with when i get back in to practice and i could hear the difference so no choice need amp for my new gibson.. Great listening in on the jammin' both sides though
I prefered the Vox Night Train all the way apart from the last piece of music where i prefered the Laney H50
Amp 3 sounds the best to my ears, sometimes 2 sounded good too
I got them all right, but i have a THR10 so the first was easy for me, second two I guessed!
I knew within seconds which one was the solid state. Still sounds great tho!
I knew second Amp was a Vox, but not because of valves, it's just sounds like a Vox. Btw, they all sound great and no one sounds lower quality than the other, I thing the main difference was the sound of each brand.
Thr10 is considered a good solid state amp. You should use a good tube amb for the comparison like a mesa boogie or at least a vox ac. If you aim at same price tag then yes sometimes its better to go solid state for the bucks
The sausage dog sounded the best after the THR10.
Yay, nice. I could guess the Yamaha correctly. I own that little THR10 beast, :D
But I prefer the sound of the VOX, :((((
(Using my THR10 as my PC speaker through which I listened to the video, xD))
I got them all right even though i ve never played the vox and the laney and only played the yamaha once in a store for 5 minutes
Amp two is the tube or valve amp.
I went by what I liked best not trying to guess what was what and I liked #1 for clean and #3 for both crunch and hi gain. I'm 63 so I don't care if it's tube or SS just stay off my lawn! ;-).
I went through the introduction of really crappy SS amps in the '70's and 80's so I was always biased towards tube amps. That said, different amps "feel" (i.e. respond differently tactilely to your fingers on the guitar) differently when you play through them and when you find a SS amp that feels as good to you as your favorite tube amp and sounds as good as well you should buy it.
All that to say that there's more to tube amps than just the sound because the sound can be altered by any number of variables. I think you have more options that can make huge differences in sound with tube amps e.g., experimenting with different tubes and biasing etc. They're prolly better for replacing PCB components as well I'm thinkin'.
I recently bought a THR10 and I really like it. It responds really well but I don't think it'll be replacing my Marshalls or my Hughes and Kettner. It makes for a great acoustic guitar amp and my Martin sounds great through it. Solid state amps are getting more like tube amps every day.
FWIW, I'm really a keyboardist that tries really hard to play guitar (lol) because I love it. Getting the overdriven tube sound of a Hammond B3 w/Leslie has been over a 30 year quest for me. I recently came across a very good replication, The Arturia B-3V but crap! Ya gotta use a computer, a keyboard that you can assign drawbars to.... I've had several excellent B3/Leslie clones but the overdrive was lacking horribly in all. It's often a trade off as I've never missed lugging 550lbs of organ and Leslie. Much the same with tube guitar amps. Tubes are, without a doubt, more work and more money.
Very cool vid and thanks for going to the all the trouble! Please keep up all the great work!
Nice in a cosy room but, play a live gig and the valves will win. Really lovely doggy 😁👍 best wishes to you ☺️
How did you get the Yamaha to play through the cab?
it's pretty obvious, actually... maybe if you use some sort of direct (with two notes), the solid-state will get a bit advantageous 😁
The valve amp handles the square vaves so much better than the solid state amp. No question. But it comes much down to taste. But the warmth in the sound was very much present in amp 2 all the way through. Also at low volume.
actually they all were good. I could tell the first one was solid state. I liked the Vox best.
Liked sound from 1 and 2. Honestly couldn't tell difference.
So which one was the tube amp? I'm not that familiar with the models you showed.
The Yamaha was the only one that wasn't a tube amp
Marshall MG 100 Watt solid state series amps over any Tube Amp
VOX for sure for sure best tone all the way around. Laney get a close second if not just as good as the VOX. Toss the Yamaha in to the bathroom for bowels practice.
The cab makes way more impact on the tone no matter what type amp you use.
i can't do the comparison... cause i just lost my mind on what you are playing...
Wow.... After hearing this comparison it's hard to image why anyone would prefer a tube/valve amp?
(#1) (The solid state amp) sounds very clean, expresses great definition, and solidly reproduces the played notes.
(#2) Frankly sounded terrible. The lag was immediately noticeable as was excessive distortion. It sounded like it was struggling to keep up. It was like listening to a speaker with a blanket thrown over it.
(#3) Wasn't terrible compared with #1. It was cleaner and livelier than #2 by far, but lacked the definition heard by #1
Thanks for sharing the video!