Will we lose the sound of traditional amps or what they used to sound like.

[classicautopicks]

In a few decades at the rate we are going there will be more records made using non Marshal sounds. What will be touted as and associated with the Marshall sound may end up being some third party pedal manufacturer such as Menatone, Friedman, or any number of pedal manufacturer.

I just read an article of how one cannot really examine whether an FET Transistor can make a device sound like a tube amp. The article stated it was impossible using a comparison of tube amps against digital amps because of the involvement of the speakers, wiring and tone stack of each amp. There were too many variables.

I just bought a Menatone TBIAC and can send the guitar sound through an Effectrode SR71 or a Simplifier 0 amp, or even a Two Notes CAB M the choice being my on the pedal board. theTBIAC sound authentic to me and I have a Vox CCH. Eventually I will do a better comparison.

The point is that I feel the sond of an old Marshall JTM45 is going to be lost to history and a Vicotry amp or TWO Rock or some pedal with FETs in them will become the new Marshall sound if some group or lead player makes it popular. The Marshall Sound may be actually coopted by a Keeley or Wampler or Freidman. The name will remain but the sound associated with it will be much diferent, just like a reproduction of any classic differs. Like and old Shelby Cobra vs a replica cobra builder.

There is one thing I have not heard mentioned much if at all, how much does age affect the sound of an amp. Even oxidized wires and stiffer speaker baffles would seem to have an effect.

Rick Herron
americanrockrevival.com

 

[Far Rider]

As long as we have recordings of our favorite artists playing their Marshall's, that tone will never die.

 

[South Park]

Tubes may not help your grades it will help you get laid

 

[tallcoolone]

I'm 52, in a 'few decades' I'm def not gonna care lol

 

[mickeydg5]

It will cycle. Tube amplifier users aint going nowhere.

 

[saxon68]

I'm 52, in a 'few decades' I'm def not gonna care lol

Same here, same age.

 

[BftGibson]

today..as in here & now.. .. we can actually make music or we can worry.. mod.. search ...seek..complain..or simply plug in & make music.

not negative.. just its up to us to make our music world happen, can see by the year at 56, how technology progresses in everything. Mostly old school in gear & working on cars. Things change all the time not always better..sometimes better.
I go to studio with marshalls..next band in comes in with no gear.

 

[JM5010]

Nothing will come close to a real tube amp. Keep your hopes up!

 

[Wildeman]

Yes, eventually there will be no more tubes. We're on thin ice now with them coming exclusively from communist countries, i suggest hoarding them while you can.

 

[What?]

The speakers are already long gone. Some people say the sound of the old tubes is gone too. It seems inevitable.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

By the time the tube supply REALLY runs out, digital modelling technology will have reached such a level that literally no honest listener, player, sound engineer, or anybody else will be able to tell that he's not hearing and/or playing the real thing. So it won't be a problem.

You'll be able to get the full experience of playing Eddie Van Halen's No. 1 Marshall 30 seconds before it explodes, and have that experience as long as you want, any time you want it, if you simply have the appropriate modeller and models.

Or anything else.

With memory getting so big and so cheap, future modellers will have the room to store more amps and effects chains than you can try out and explore in the remainder of your life.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

and the prices will all go up as well.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

Prices will eventually start to collapse as interest wanes. 20 years ago, vintage console tube radios from the 30s and 40s brought good money. Today they're hard to sell for half the price because the people who were nostalgic about them aren't buying anymore and the younger generation doesn't care.

A lot of collectibles are going to suffer the same fate. Or already have. Nobody cares about a beanie baby collection anymore. Or a POGS collection. Sports trading cards are probably dropping in collectible value as well.

A hundred years from now you'll be able to get a Marshall Superlead from the 1970s but not with tubes that function anymore, most likely. By then guitars as we know them may be relics of the past, too.

 

[Edgar Frog]

If tubes ever do go away I hope we aren't stuck with nothing but modelers and profilers. Hopefully they will go in the direction like Orange did with the Crush Pro series. That way we can still at least have real single amp modeled heads and combos ran into a real cab. I honestly don't see tubes going away anytime soon in the near future. They are more popular and far more flexible and portable now than ever and they're only going to get better.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

A model (pardon the pun) for many future amps to come is the Fender Tonemaster series. They are modelling amps, but conventional in their physical design, appearance, and operation. They have a limited number of amp models in them, which are appropriate to their type. They're familiar, and they sound great. They're really a well thought out product and have been a big success for Fender. I predict this approach to be one that will become more commonplace in the amp market in the next couple of years.

I'm a tube amp lover, for sure, but what really matters is the sound, and not whether or not it's being made with a thermionic valve or a DSP algorithm running in a custom FPGA. It's the sound, not how you get to it. And we're at the tipping point where modellers are gaining converts among even the most dedicated tube loving guitarists. Lots of professionals who really care about their sound are using modellers. On stage, at least. And sometimes in the studio.

The tube amp is far from dead but eventually it's going to become more niche market and that trend will continue as tube demand tapers off, causing the tube makers to eventually turn off the production lines due to lack of profitability, and then stockpiles will slowly get used up.

I say that you should be stockpiling new tubes NOW. Go to the Brimar website and buy tubes from them. Your purchases will help support the Brimar/ Great British Valve Project which is trying to restart tube production in England, using original Mullard tooling and machinery to start making British tubes again.

 

[printer]

Kids don't want to sound like their dad's music. They want something that sounds fresh and new. Not some smelly old amp.

Who knows what will be popular in the future?

 

[wakjob]

In a recording environment it doesn't matter what is used.
Tube amp, digital modeler, plug-in + IR's...the end result will be the same to the listener.
The source is already non-relevant.

There are AMAZING young players out there that have never known or played anything but a computer.
That includes killer feel, compositions, and technique.

Are they missing out of the grand experience of the pant legs flapping in the breeze of a cranked tube full stack?
I don't think they care.

 

[StingRay85]

Just a thought. THE Marshall sound already exist, whatever it may be. A lot of companies jumping on the digital route NEED to make money, they need to sell their gear and convince people it's as good as the real thing, or even better. There are no companies promoting the vintage plexi with NOS glass pushed to the limit, and micing a real pulsonic greenback cab. Why would they? There's no commercial reason to do this, because the amps are already in the possession of the people, collectors, etc... Prices going up doesn't make it more easy to obtain them.

So what you see on youtube are often people (influencers) getting stuff send to them to review, but of course they are biased in their opinion because they get paid or get stuff for free. So always be skeptical on these kind of voices that "the real thing" gets replaced. The organic sound of a cranked tube amp cannot be easily replaced, but maybe that's also not the purpose of the digital solutions. If you're after a very tight and modern sound, a cranked Marshall is probably also not going to give you good results

 

[tallcoolone]

By the time the tube supply REALLY runs out, digital modelling technology will have reached such a level that literally no honest listener, player, sound engineer, or anybody else will be able to tell that he's not hearing and/or playing the real thing. So it won't be a problem.

We are already there.

 

[StingRay85]

A model (pardon the pun) for many future amps to come is the Fender Tonemaster series. They are modelling amps, but conventional in their physical design, appearance, and operation. They have a limited number of amp models in them, which are appropriate to their type. They're familiar, and they sound great. They're really a well thought out product and have been a big success for Fender. I predict this approach to be one that will become more commonplace in the amp market in the next couple of years.

I'm a tube amp lover, for sure, but what really matters is the sound, and not whether or not it's being made with a thermionic valve or a DSP algorithm running in a custom FPGA. It's the sound, not how you get to it. And we're at the tipping point where modellers are gaining converts among even the most dedicated tube loving guitarists. Lots of professionals who really care about their sound are using modellers. On stage, at least. And sometimes in the studio.

The tube amp is far from dead but eventually it's going to become more niche market and that trend will continue as tube demand tapers off, causing the tube makers to eventually turn off the production lines due to lack of profitability, and then stockpiles will slowly get used up.

I say that you should be stockpiling new tubes NOW. Go to the Brimar website and buy tubes from them. Your purchases will help support the Brimar/ Great British Valve Project which is trying to restart tube production in England, using original Mullard tooling and machinery to start making British tubes again.

It's difficult to predict. Equipment like UA OX box are specifically designed to capture the sounds of a cranked amp, meaning the use of power tubes gains importance because even in an apartment you can record your amp at full power. I would never stockpile new tubes unless they are really proven to be premium quality. Maybe the last tube that achieved this status is the SED winged C? I don't think a JJ falls in the same category.

To me it's quite surprising that RFT and Philips (Blackburn/Mullard) tubes can still be found here without too much difficulty. Collecting these tubes is addictive though. I have 85 Blackburn EL34, around 20 RFT, some winged Telefunken, brown base Tesla. I buy everything that is reasonably priced. That's my savings account that my wife is unaware of

I hope one day they'll be used for great recordings