What do think are the standard features and componets a modern tube amp should have?

[Tatzmann]

AI-SS or simplified "Ice".

That is Automatic Instantaneous Shutdown System or "I cant erupt".

Activated at any attempt to play Slash or EVH material and also when it detects a Johann Segeborn unison bend or finger vibrato.

 

[Gunner64]

Might as well throw in a small meter for setting bias on the back, rotary switch to select the tube to test.
The price of a digital display is so cheap its ridiculous, I could get a meter and switch cheaper then a set of brake light globes for my car. I replaced the parking lights and brake and rear tail light globes and I was up at $50 AU for globes.

I have an old Fisher kx200 stereo tube amp that has a bias meter, bias pots for each pair of output tubes and a bias balance pot to get each pair equal. That set up would be sweet on our guitar amps.

I may have to do that to one of my clones.

 

[paul-e-mann]

Placing drinks on top of an amp should be a criminal offense, 50 lashes with a set of 6 strings.

Tell that to Billy Blades, triple solder is a feature too in his amps...

 

[PelliX]

They limit the data transfer bandwidth and don't let power pass thru, so any USB-powered devices also don't work on the isolators.

Yup, such is the nature of that beast. This is in part why I suggest addressing the cause rather than fighting the symptom. Isolators have they uses but they're a patch in this case.

Really high end gear used in a building with good power will probably not have these kinds of issues, but most of us aren't able to afford the most expensive computers or to buy a new house if the power is dirty in our current home.

True, AC power conditioning is a costly thing, absolutely. Computers don't have to be expensive to avoid those issues, though. One does need to do a little homework and you won't get away with the very cheapest 2-tenner ATX power supply on ebay but there's no need to break the bank either. The prices of computers revolve around all kinds of specs, but I can assure you that electrical interference and what matters for these purposes are not among them.

I have like $20,000 of gear, but I can't even get a clean guitar signal with active humbuckers in my apartment. There is so much EM/RF noise coming from the pickups, I've tried everything and nothing helps. I probably have to build a faraday cage big enough to play guitar in, that will take up half my living room.

That sucks... (well, not the 20K of gear!). Can't you get a folding one? No, really, that's a serious question/suggestion!

Placing drinks on top of an amp should be a criminal offense, 50 lashes with a set of 6 strings.

I reserve the 50 lashes for anyone who starts moving towards my amp and utters the words "lemme just [...]".

 

[Calebz]

Hmm.. necessary features for an ideal tube amp...

Minimal, really.

Effects loop that doesn't suck. Option to make it footswitchable.

External bias test points and adjustment pots. No meter or screen - too easy to screw up the implementation and introduce electronic noise.

If multi-channel, then basic gain/eq/volume per channel.

As lightweight as possible.

No DI, headphone or digital outs. Don't really care about power scaling. Definitely no on-board effects or internal load boxes.

 

[vinnemon]

Or you simply bias it yourself. It's really not that hard and scary as some make it out to be. Get a pair of bias probes and practically anyone could do it. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I do have some experience in electronics so biasing shouldn't be too hard.

 

[PelliX]

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I do have some experience in electronics so biasing shouldn't be too hard.

Depends a bit on the amp, but if you have test points you can just clip on a meter and twist a pot or two. Easy peasy. For any other kind of amp you just pop in a couple of bias probes and twist the pot(s). Without bias probes it may mean tacking on a couple of 1 Ohm resistors or various other methods that do require very basic electronics/soldering/metering skills, but it's really not that hard. Bias probes do make life very easy.

 

[TassieViking]

Even if your amp has a cup holder? Like the Blades death murder kill shit box 100 ?

Tell that to Billy Blades, triple solder is a feature too in his amps...

I think a cup holder on a valve amp (or any amp) is about as smart as an ashtray on a motorcycle.

Ashtrays should also be banned from amps, if you need a drink holder tape it to the singers microphone stand.

 

[paul-e-mann]

I think a cup holder on a valve amp (or any amp) is about as smart as an ashtray on a motorcycle.

Ashtrays should also be banned from amps, if you need a drink holder tape it to the singers microphone stand.

Again, take that up with Billy Blades!

 

[TassieViking]

Again, take that up with Billy Blades!

Why ? he must think it is a great idea to place drinks on the top of an amp.
My opinion is it is silly to place any liquid on top of any electrical equipment, it is just a personal opinion. (I like to look after my gear)
I think if a drunk sees you place a drink on your amp then it must be ok for him to do the same, so don't get upset when your amp gives off the magic smoke because it is half full of stale beer.
Also don't be upset when the same drunk leaves a burning cigarette resting on the edge of the amp as well.
I play it like I stole it, but I look after it like a newborn.

 

[december]

Yup, such is the nature of that beast. This is in part why I suggest addressing the cause rather than fighting the symptom. Isolators have they uses but they're a patch in this case.

I use the USB isolators for Source Audio, Eventide, Boss, and Digitech pedals that have editors on the PC. They're perfect for this. I used to have to disconnect all the USBs before recording, then plug them in again every time I needed to switch or edit a preset. Now they stay connected and don't add any noise.

That sucks... (well, not the 20K of gear!). Can't you get a folding one? No, really, that's a serious question/suggestion!

A folding...? Faraday cage? I honestly don't know what my options are, I just started looking into this. I'm seeing rolls of faraday cloth or curtains, I'm thinking I could hang 4 from the ceiling to make a sort-of isolation booth. It would be tacky in the middle of my living room, and a pain to get in & out of the "booth" to interact with the amp/computer, but this noise is ruining my life... lol, but seriously, so much money and effort put into my work and everything sounds like trash.
I'm just hesitant to spend money on anything because I don't even know if anything would help. I already have at least $500 into a "power conditioner", Hum Exterminators, line isolators w/ground lifts, ferrite beads, copper shielding tape, rack isolation tabs...
The noise coming from my active EMGs is still extreme.

 

[geddy]

I think all tube with XLR out, effect loop, reverb, tremolo ?, 2 channel , built in dummy load would be ok if you could turn speaker on/off when you want, and a headphone out would be nice.
I do not want the dummy load to work with headphone jack, but it should come on if no speaker is plugged in.
I don't need any in built Fuzz, I'm fussy enough without adding more.

That would be a Blackstar St James

 

[TassieViking]

That would be a Blackstar St James

Well my search is nearly over then, as soon as I can find someone to give me one.

 

[geddy]

Th

Well my search is nearly over then, as soon as I can find someone to give me one.

That I cannot help with

 

[PineappleMeow]

I want it to shake the walls and floor when I play. The amp should be simple to me, I need 1 good channel, a few knobs and that's it.

 

[V-man]

This is a goofy premise.

On one hand, if tubes amps as originated are *really* a thing of the past, then tube tech is as well and we’re all 15 weeks/months/years from pure digital anyway (and no, this is not about making it into the “troll” post or whatever you were suggesting- this is steering the point to what “modern consumers” want in physical amps).

OTOH, insisting tubes completely do have their place, but only to the extent of this bedroom to coffeehouse parameter is ridiculous because it practically costs NOTHING to implement 5 (or 20) - 100W scaling as it would 5 (or 20) - 40W scaling.



Anybody with over 300 measley views has at least 1-3 50W+ amps in the collection and the DI/IR, attenuation, and reamplification industry has exploded over the past 10 years serving as evidence that your thoughts are completely incorrect.

When I was in HS, you got an amp. ONE. FUCKING. AMP. When it was good (enough) you stuck with it. When it was not, you saved and traded it in for something better. Back in the 1980s-90s the “modern amp” paradigm would have made sense. Today, that’s all nonsense, which partially explains why Marshall never reinvented their flagship amp that’s nearly 20 years old now. Anybody with a few nickels to rub together can have as many as 3-4 amps as a “starter” collection, with over a 1/2 dozen not being unheard of.

Well, sure there are “have nots” here and overseas who don’t have the luxury of some wild amp colle- well… actually bullshit. The 8th grader in public housing to the guy in poorer Asia/Latin America now has access to the Boss IR-2 and other digital “collections” that are no more expensive than a quality mid-grade (or even budget) amp. So, from inception people get a taste for widely different circuits that best fulfill tailored applications (or approach the same application with different voicing).

NOW the typical consumer doesn’t spend 8-25 years mastering every nuance of that AC-30, Princeton Reverb or 2204. They learned what a Soldano and a Boogie and an ENGL is and have had access to a sonic approximation of those and dozens more for < $500. They don’t want your wizz-bang “town n’ country fantasy moped.” They want 4+ awesome fucking amps, or they want some gizmo that gives some approximate experience.

Translation:Today’s consumer wants specialization in varied tube amps… ones with HUGE cleans and maximum headroom, OR insane gain and MASSIVE bass response, OR a dwarfed-down version for the Bar-Mitzvahs OR a 0.68W version to practice scales while taking a shit… AND they want ALL that from different physical amps, or all that in the same digital pocket device. What they don’t want is a $4,000+ standalone amp that purports to do all that shit so they won’t ever need another amp (certainly not many/most hobbyists). Hell, there is no shortage of ppl willing to pay that price just on a Soldano… before turning around and doing the same shit in a Wizard, ENGL or Friedman.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Thank you all for the input and your thoughts on the subject.