Hello again,

Considering im pretty much bored, (got injured cant walk and stuck at home), previous posts i wrote on watts, choosing your amp, differences between SS and tube amps etc etc. and as previously i always would say that i am no great guitarist (i know many otais here that can tapau me) as i am a hobby player (who wishes to play live but aih..)

today i am going to talk about

"tube tone"

a simple idea on tubes, is you are putting stress on a light bulb "thing" untill it starts screaming. electronically the important part is "stress", you want to put enough juice into the tubes to push your amp into OD.

many guitarists crave for this, put tube in their amp and they will jizz in their pants, if you got "tube" you will immediately becomes 5x better a guitarist (i wish). while many consider it the holy grail of amp tone, not many know that in tube amps THE tubes make a hell lot of difference.

which means, you need to know your tubes.

The 2 main kinds

Power Tubes are found in the power amp section they generally have a "short" lifespan, on normal use it lasts about 2 years before it pops. because of it being related to how you use it, the lifespan can vary a lot. a 50 watt amp on 1 all day can last longer than 2 years because its not normal use. but if you take that 50watt and switch it off and on recklessly, it might last lesser than 2 years.

These babies are the ones that give you the headache, they are the ones that break the fastest, heats up and cools down the slowest, doesnt swallow pedals when asked to, you name it, if there was any fault of a tube amp, it is likely to be this. hybrids give you the "ideal" situation by removing this section, using transistors to power the amp giving you tube tone from the preamp. - it should be perfect right? no.

unfortunately for you, this section is what makes the amp sexy. it is responsible for majority of the great recorded classic tones out there, the great overdrives you hear, the dynamics, the "tube glow". its the section that when you blast the amp, it gets better, annoys the hell out of your neighbors, makes you half deaf and turns you into a rock star.

in 50 watt you get 2 huge power tubes, 100 watts 4, small amps like the fender champ 1.

Preamp tubes last longer cause they dont normally take the weight of the amp,with a normal life of 2-4 years. Once upon a time this tubes are just there, you didnt notice that they exist, they dont glow as much (not big, often enclosed) and cause you less headaches.

untill someone decided to put a master volume.

today preamp tubes are responsible for the modern tone, a lot of modern amps utilize this to its fullest. want more gain? power up the preamp, add more power to them tubes, add tubes etc.etc...these are also the tubes you see in pedals and hybrids, cause they dont give you the headache that power tubes give and are long lasting.

in small amps, you can get 1-2 preamp tubes, larger 50 watt 2 tubes, 100 watts 4-5.

What does this mean?

In simple terms, Power tubes is the part of the amp that makes stuff sexy, pre amps make it work. If we look at amps like girls (easiest analogy i could think of) the power amp is the part where your gf looks good and is good in bed where as the pre amp is yours gf's personality to make the relationship stable. old vintage amps w/o master volumes use the power amp for its distortion, modern amps or those with master volumes allows you to choose which side you want more.

so it might sound like power + pre amp is the best way to go, however this is not always the case like girls it depends on what your tastes are.

Power Tubes Models

I wont go through every model but just to point out some very popular ones in history.

EL34 - the "marshall/ british OD" tube.

to some this is the tube that gave the marshall tone, this was fitted in the later plexis untill recent flagships like JCM2000 and mid-rage haze. even the lower watt cousin the EL84 is said to be related to this tube. Overdriven it gives you the very warm and responsive tone heard in a number of recordings like eric clapton's later cream work. (Found in: Most Marshalls, Hitwatts, ENGL Invader)

KT66 - the "oringal marshall" tube

This tube is the original marshall, found in their earliest super leads and JTM's (plexi's) and would give a lot of confusion in the marshall catalog. While the EL34 succeed this in the Marshall catalog, it is closer to the 6L6 we see in american amps(its a redesigned version of the 6L6). This tube is responsible for captons bluesbreaker tone, its rarely seen these days in amps. (Found in:Plexi Marshalls)

6L6 - the "american" OD

This tube is the reason for the american overdrive and its everywhere, to me it sounds sharper with more treble and more direct. Naturally being amercian a lot of american manufacturer uses this, mesa, fender, soldano.

Pre-Amp Tubes Models


ECC 83/ 12AX7- the standard issue

this is the most common preamp tube ever, found in pedals (voxtronix), amps (high low end), small amps. you name it its there.

End Notes

If you noticed in the pre-amp things are less fussy, thats cause of the reasons i posted previously. Its a very simple, not fussy and kind section of your amp.

Modern manufacturers mix and match their tubes often, ENGL for example uses a 6L6 on their fireball and a EL34 on their Invader. Bugera uses both 6L6 and El34 in their 333 range, these amps also have an option to swap tubes which mixes things further.

anyway i hope this helps cheers

my other guides:

Distortion and tubes (part 1)
Distortion and Tubes (part 2)
the going oversea with axe guide

This post has been edited by +3kk!: Dec 9 2011, 10:28 PM

*hands up

one question/request cikgu,
can u explain what happen/differences boosting a tube & solid state

p/s. i loike how u story these things a 'sekolah'-way

Anyone tried swapping out their rectifier tubes before?
say like replacing... 5R4 for GZ34?

i think i answered that in the other post, but just in case which boosting you mean?

When I started jamming using a Vox AC30, i never went back to SS.....The tone and ""punch" is awesome. i think anyone should just give it a try and see how it goes, despite playing metal or not.

Aiyo I need to change my powertubes la. My amp has been making crackling sounds at higher volume. Damn hard to get Sovtek 5881 over here.

I have to add that the speaker reacts differently at differently volumes. I use a some sort of attennuator on my amp, even when the master volume is at the same level, but the volume is lower, the amp sounds like shit. If you're gonna need a practice amp, better get a small tube/solid state combo with a nice 10" speaker (5w might be considered small but it is really loud).

Seriously thanks ts.

A noob like me trying to venture into tube amp land finds this useful.

Another awesome thing about tube amps is that they respond to your picking strength. The harder you pick, the grittier it sound provided that you do not snap the strings xD

Don't forget the importance of speakers and cabinets. Marshalls via 1X12 cabs usually pale in comparison to 4X12 halfstacks.

Open vs closed back, speaker made & characteristic, material of cabinet all r important in the quest for tone.