For the electric guitarist, there is a dilemma…tube amp or solid state. Both have advantages. Both have disadvantages. Opinions vary as much as people do. I have traditionally been a tube guy, but I will not bias this article one way or another.
The first amplifiers were tube amps. The vacuum tube provided the first way to make sound using electricity. Thomas Edison discovered that if you put two wires in a light bulb, one close to the filaments and one away, the speed of the electrons would increase as they flowed from a heat source. This phenomenon is called thermionic emission. People like Nikola Tesla stepped in and helped perfect this idea into what became the vacuum tube. Without this, where would Rock and Roll come from? Not just Rock, but every form of electric guitar known to man.
For decades, that was your only choice. Transistors were developed much later and were not the choice for amplifier builders for a while after that. It’s hard to imagine people like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix without stacks of huge amplifiers containing tubes. They still rule the school for a lot of guitar players.
The sound is the reason you choose a guitar amplifier. Tube amps have a warm sound. They sound great when they distort. Solid state amps did not have that. They were kind of harsh sounding, at least at first. Technology has come a long way. Modern solid state amps sound much better. They are also more cost effective.
Tube amps require large transformers to supply high voltages and heat the tubes. This keeps the manufacturing cost a bit higher than solid state. They also weigh quite a bit more. Having said that, players still shlep tube amps to gigs. The sound is very important.
Solid state amps sound better and better all the time now. They are also getting more and more efficient. Size is another nice consideration. There are now guitar amp heads that literally weigh two pounds and are the size of a guitar pedal. You know what? They sound pretty good too. Even an old tube amp geezer like me was impressed. I have one on my shopping list as we speak.
I will never be without at least one tube amplifier, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel concerning solid state. The technology is getting amazing. There are room for both schools of thought. Just as guitar players have more than one guitar, most have more than one amp. The best thing to do is listen and make your own decision. Keep an open mind….and…especially open ears.
