High-gain amps:

[mhorse]

Hi guys, in my opinion there really is no call for these "huge" valve amps anymore, I work in a music store and have tried alot of high gain gear. Im a huge JP fan and have my own fully loaded JP six. With Line 6 amps such as the POD XT or the Vetta you can get tremendous high gain tones, easily as good as a soldano or mesa at a fraction of the cost, they are digital and very reliable, wont be long before valves are a thing of the past!!!!! I used to own a 5150II, a real monster for gain but I went to a guitar show and heard line 6 demonstrating the Vetta, it blew me away so i sold the Peavey and bought a Vetta, Awesome!!!

From Musician's friend:
Peavey 6505 Plus (aka 5150 II) - $974
Line 6 Vetta II Head or Combo - $1699

Feel the difference.

Valves will never be things of the past because of inertia in people's thinking.

High-gain tones I heard from Line 6 POD XT or Spider II didn't impress me, neither did Vetta sound on recordings by, say, Evanescense. Yes, it's very heavy and high gain and all, but they all remind me of distortion I get when overdriving AD converter in my Tascam recording interface. Something about that sound makes it artificial and fuzzy. Everything above is IMHO.

 

[hbucker]

2¢:

1. I agree that for the most part, large cabs and 100 watt tube heads are WAY overkill for most of us. They do feed that drive for more testosterone we have though. (or to compensate for other, smaller things...) And there's something about 4 speakers that sounds better IMO. Yet in many situations you mic one speaker for the PA and suddenly you might as well have a 112.

2. Tubes sound great. No doubt. But I'm one who thinks the practicality and cost (once it starts coming down more) of digital will eventually make tubes relatively obsolete. Digital continues to improve daily. I predict a generation of guitar players will come in the not too distant future who will welcome compact, good sounding digital gear with open arms. This may be their form of rebellion. Leaving tubes for the old guys who can't let go of the past despite their herniated disks.

Tell me there's no substitute for tubes and I won't argue with you. But the latest generation of digital gear ain't too shabby either. And if you know how to dial it, you are the only one who knows the difference. The audience doesn't have a clue.

 

[Eddie Van Halen]

thats true, i think im going to try out the Peavey XXX, i was going to try the 6505 but there is no clean channel and thats a huge loss. The Peavey XX doesn't have reverb tho...

 

[blackspy]

I more or less agree with all of what's been said about the digital stuff, the Line 6 stuff seems very 'almost there' to me. On stage I'm sure in the mix of a band they'd be pretty damn good. However, when I sit and listen to them alone, I don't like the tone the digital stuff puts out. It's almost right, but it just doesn't do it, for my ears anyway.

Having said that, after lugging around a 5150 combo (with no casters) for the last few months ... I'd be tempted to give them another try.

 

[Eddie Van Halen]

in 15 years i dont think tubes will be top of the line anymore

 

[SteveB]

Okay, I'll bite...

I think tubes will be around for as long as guitar players have ears.

At high volume, if you've got the eardrums to discern it, you can HEAR the glass of the tubes sort of 'plink'-ing when a note is picked on a guitar. I love that sound, and no modeling system will ever produce it.

I do own some modeling systems, primarily for the ease of changing many effects settings with one button press. I also find them infinitely useful for home recording, so I can record at 3am without having to fire up a half-stack.

But I also own an old Fender Vibrolux Reverb, which is a thing of beauty, and I have recently purchased a Peavey Triple XXX head. (Yes, that's what they call it.. not Triple X... but Triple XXX.. kinda redundant..)

And yes, I need the volume.. because my drummer plays cannons.

These opinions can be redeemed for government cheese in some jurisdictions.

 

[Danjp1928]

From Musician's friend:
Peavey 6505 Plus (aka 5150 II) - $974
Line 6 Vetta II Head or Combo - $1699

Feel the difference.

Valves will never be things of the past because of inertia in people's thinking.

High-gain tones I heard from Line 6 POD XT or Spider II didn't impress me, neither did Vetta sound on recordings by, say, Evanescense. Yes, it's very heavy and high gain and all, but they all remind me of distortion I get when overdriving AD converter in my Tascam recording interface. Something about that sound makes it artificial and fuzzy. Everything above is IMHO.

I do understand were you are coming from and yes i do agree with certian aspects of what you are saying, for instance I know that earlier line 6 models like the flextone and flextone II range sounded a bit dull and lacked warmth and clarity. However, Line 6 have come a long way since then and the tonal manipulation on something like a vetta means you can get pretty much any tone your want, it doesnt have to be artificial or fuzzy. If you know what your doing and manipulate it correctly, i doubt very much that youd be able to tell the difference from hearing alone!! Im not saying they are entirely there yet with their modeling but they are getting pretty damn close

 

[Pundix]

2¢:
Tell me there's no substitute for tubes and I won't argue with you. But the latest generation of digital gear ain't too shabby either. And if you know how to dial it, you are the only one who knows the difference. The audience doesn't have a clue.

Even though I still use tube amps I do agree that digital equipment is getting very much better at a very fast pace. Some of the solid state amps I've tried out lately have really impressed me. Not so much that I loved their sound, but just the fact that they sounded so mucuh better than the solid state amps I had tried in the past. Good sounds in a compact package is drastically improving as well. Just plug into one of the little Roland Micro Cube 30's to see that. They are far from perfect, but for something you can chunk on the front seat of your car with one hand they aren't bad either.

 

[hbucker]

Okay, I'll bite...
I love that sound, and no modeling system will ever produce it.

Wow! If you can predict the stock market with as much confidence, we need to talk!

 

[mhorse]

Let's move the discussion to the near-by thread that's dedicated to it: http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7436

 

[SteveB]

Wow! If you can predict the stock market with as much confidence, we need to talk!

Actually, a few years ago I took first place in a stock picking competition on MSN Moneycentral. I won a free copy of Windows ME when it first came out (and a whole load of other MS stuff). There were somewhere around 1800 contestants, so I'm not too bad at making predictions.

I haven't paid any attention to the stock market since 9-11. I have pretty much delegated that task to these good people. If you're in the market for such service, I recommend them highly.

 

[CudBucket]

While I'm not ready to dump tubes, I think the Flextone III is great.