The difference between tube and solid state amplifiers

One of the biggest questions when it comes to buying an amplifier is the decision between taking a valve amplifier or a solid state one home with you and the point of this blog is to hopefully help you come up with a decision a little easier by telling you the Pros and Cons of each one.

Valve amplifiers are a very popular amplifier amongst many artists from across the globe. They are powered by vacuum tubes which solid state guitar amplifiers do not use. When these tubes are saturated by turning the volume up it sends more power to the tubes which in return provides a very nice natural distortion which was an influential sound that came around when blues players were playing in bars or clubs so they turned their amplifiers up to cut through. This comes with a whole new sound which was thicker and grittier than before. Usually on the records they would keep the music clean until the late 40’s when rock ‘n’ roll and blues songs started to take off.

Probably one of the greatest valve guitar amps and most well-known is the Vox AC range. We currently have a Vox AC15 and AC30 here at our Bolton store and they distribute every note with beautiful clarity.

Some Notable Pros on Valve Amplifiers are :

• They have a stunning analogue sound that can vary the warmer the tubes are, changing sonically with how long they have been on.
• They are easily fixable if something goes wrong, you can pop the valve out and replace it with ease.
• The impeccably warm distortion tone you get from saturated the tubes is what drives these to have the success they have. It is unrivalled amongst the amp world.

Solid state amplifiers describe themselves. They use a combination of transistors to get their sound. The solid state part is aimed at the semiconductor units used. These don’t fry out and require replacement like valve amplifications uses which makes them more stable or ‘solid’. What they make up for in stability they lose a lot of the warm distortion tone you get when you turn them up. Rather they clip in a completely different manor to valve amplifiers.

A great example is the Boss Katana range we also have one of these here at our Bolton store to which we would love for you to have a go on.

Some pros for the Solid state range:

• Solid state amplifiers are a lot lighter than valve amplifiers and thus more easily transportable.
• They sound the same every time as they don’t need to warm up through the tubes.
• They are much more robust than valve amplifiers and break less often.
• They are ready to go as soon as you turn them on and you can get good sounds from them immediately.

Thanks for reading this quick guide on Tube vs Solid State amplifiers. I hope it has helped you with a decision-making process and if you are still unsure please come down to one of our stores and we will be happy to show you a few and help you make your decision. Every guitar or Bass needs a great amp to go along with it and so this decision is just as important as your instrument!

Tom, Bolton Store