Amp Tone Principles

This reflects the next major direction the industry needs to head: thinking in terms of block diagrams. Think of gear in terms of modules. Don't think "distortion pedal"; think: "preamp distortion stage followed by an EQ stage, with no way to tap the signal between the dist and eq stages". Always look for FX loops to enable breaking your gear into pieces. Don't think "amp head"; think: "This is a single case containing two parts: a preamp distortion stage directly connected to EQ stage, terminated by an FX Out; and an FX In jack for a tube power amp, terminated by a Spk Out jack." Realize though that two stages in one case can have some back-feedback leakage from the later stage to the first -- in case you use high gain inside the fx loop and then hear mysterious squealing.

Big R's Amp Tone tips

tips on purchasing amplifiers, settings, usage and other tips

vht amp FAQ: http://www.vhtamp.com/answers.html

Additional Amp Topics to Cover - Eric recommended covering the following at this site:

Other topics of discussion on this site could be very useful to people who are unsure about tube amps.

• Articles about the difference in tubes, i'm not just talking about the difference between el-84's and el-34's but the difference between a quality american nos to a piece a crap chinese tube that can sound good or horrible depending on the quality control that day in the plant.
• The difference in wattage ratings. If i have read correctly wattage ratings are based on the amount of clean power an amp can run. Well solid state amps can run remarkably high clean also run at the same level distorted. And tube amps run at a a specific wattage clean and can go remarkably higher being distorted in the power stages. I read that a 100 watt plexi marshall can push out 170 watts distorted. That's why solid state amps usually list a much higher power rating than amps of the tube type but get crushed when put head to head.
• The differences in speakers are another important part to the vibe. For some reason mesa-boogie uses a 90 watt rated speaker in their 1x12 combos even the less powered one's such as the blue angel. The small amp can't move the speaker that much,constricting it's tone. Throw in a greenback or maybe even a blue and you get much more movement and thus more feeling.
• Another discussion based on tube amps is how to use delay type effects in a small club. Yes mixing the delay in at the board would be the best bet but it's just not possible. Some clubs have no PA and others who have a PA are usually just half the sound. What i mean is that most of the crowd will hear half to more than half of the dry signal. If your song is based on delay, such as pink floyd's run like hell the song just won't work. Wouldn't it be amazing if someone came out with a delay box that could handle speaker load!
• Last is the difference between class A and class A/B. I know all about that even order harmonics crap but I've had just as much tone with both styles. It just is different sounding. And one thing I'm not familiar with is a large amp running class A. Is there such a thing. I mean almost all class A designs run el84 or 6v6's.
• It is important to note that on amps that are non-self biasing i.e. meaning the bias has to be set for tube changes. These also have to be biased as the tubes begin to wear. As the tubes become more and more broke in the the bias levels will change. So to have the best sounding amp the biasing should be done on a regular basis if this is feasible.

Thanks

-- Eric

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