Anyone still using a tube amp?

greg said:
I sold all my tube amps since getting the FM9. But lately I've been thinking about getting another tube amp. Does anyone still use tube amps now and then, or do most just use their Fractal?
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I’m going with a Revv G50 - Mesa 120w 2x12 - FM9
Using the FM9 for effects in 4cm
Sidelined the Mission Engineering Gemini 2P with 800w SS Crowne amp
I have previously powered the 2P with Seymour Duncan power station 170 - fryette ps2 (6L6 power tubes with 12ax7) - Orange pedal baby 100w
Too many adjustments for my ocd, chasing tone digitally.
Hopefully the G50 and the V30’s will cover all the tones I am looking for.
 
greg said:
I sold all my tube amps since getting the FM9. But lately I've been thinking about getting another tube amp. Does anyone still use tube amps now and then, or do most just use their Fractal?
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I presently have a Marshall DSL40 with Mesa 120w 2x12 using FM9 in 4cm
I was pleasantly surprised how my tone and volume respond.
The more I play with effects in my chain the more I like it.
Awesome tones.
I have a Revv G50 on order. Can't wait!
 
I still have about 25 tube amps, and oh yea I use them. My Ax8 is very very handy and sounds great though, but there's no way I completely abandon my great amps and great cabs and fx, until I'm totally too old to carry them . I'm 64 and getting there, but not yet
 
I still have a Peavey Rock Master preamp and Classic 50/50 power amp. I stil fire them up occasionally, just to remember. But the last time I actually used them was for FX8 beta testing.
 
Plenty of amps left. I could put a lot of money in the bank if I sold them, but I like playing them, even if it is far less often than it once was. I like them, and like having them around. They’re not a modeler, they’re the model, and there’s value in hearing the real thing. Besides, they sound awesome… it’s why everyone wants them in their modeler!

There’s no conflict between my Fractal and tube gear; they live happily together here. I could sell either, but there’s no reason to do that. They’ve all earned their place for what they do for me.
 
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Chromatizm said:
Just curios - any reason you don't want to upgrade to the latest models? Some think they sound better then AX8 :)
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My rationale won't apply to most people but here goes. I have 25ish tube amps. Really great ones, and I'm completely set for my gigs, and for home. I prefer the tube amps for ease of use, and real-time tweakability, and not wasting time programming. I had the Ax8 since it was brand new. (Had the 1st Axe-Fx Standard prior to that since that was new) .. Used the Ax8 for a few years, and then reverted back to my real amps. Then had a surgery in November, and have been using the Ax8 with a monitor since (for less weight to carry to/from gigs) . .I love it, and have spent LOADS of hours programming it. I still have a bit more to tweak but I don't want to spend hundreds of hours reprogramming something from scratch. User presets don't work for me, and I'm kind of picky about what I need, and I have a hard time 'stopping tweaking programs'. What I've done with the AX8 really sounds great to me, it's the perfect floorboard size and I have my Mission/Fractal expression pedals for wah and volume ..... . Next reason and it's a biggie . Most guys on these forums or who don't play out very regularly completely drool over 'updates'. I don't blame them at all. I was the opposite with my Fractal gear. I'd get everything all set , and then the updates screwed up my programs. I'm not saying the updates weren't valuable and better in the long run, but I had to reprogram everything each time. I 'm so glad that has stopped with the AX8. IF /WHEN I buy a newer Fractal I'll go through all that again, and I really don't want to (I know that's opposite of most users and that's fine with me) . . . . . . . As for everything that comes out that's newer and might sound 'better' , I'm not 100% convinced with that with kinda 'meat and potatoes' programming .. What I'm referring to is some of my best amps are modded-Marshalls, Splawns, etc... I can dial in those sounds with the Cameron Atomica model and boosts, and I'm happy. I don't need 20 new delay pedals, or 10 new reverbs. I love what's already in there. . Same with modulation. The ONLY thing I don't love is there's a gap in switching programs or scenes, when I'm using different amps. I'm sure that'd be beautiful with the new gear, but it's not enough to make me upgrade currently . If I tried a new Fractal and the AMP modeling totally blew me away, I'd be really tempted, but I think the modeling is just great on this already. I have Tonocracy and some others for computer plugins, and have downloaded hundreds of NAM captures to Tonocracy and I have patches I've set up on there that sound as good as anything. . Again they're kind of meat and potatoes patches , i.e. Gate, Boost/OD, Amp, Cab/IR, Delay/Reverb. . They're not patches like Simeon sets up for Atmospheric Music, if you know what I'm saying. We play everything from 70's hard rock to punk to 80's metal to 90's grunge to modern pop/alt rock and I can create my sounds from anything . So maybe the newer Fractals sound better, but everytime I bought new amps over the years they didn't necessarily sound better, they sounded different. They're tools and we use them the best we can! Sorry about the verboseness.. . . AND if I didn't have all the other gear I have, and didn't mind reprogramming from scratch again, I wouldn't hesitate to try a new Fractal , OR when this one dies. .
 
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Rick said:
Plenty of amps left. I could put a lot of money in the bank if I sold them, but I like playing them, even if it is far less often than it once was. I like them, and like having them around. They’re not a modeler, they’re the model, and there’s value in hearing the real thing. Besides, they sound awesome… it’s why everyone wants them in their modeler!

There’s no conflict between my Fractal and tube gear; they live happily together here. I could sell either, but there’s no reason to do that. They’ve all earned their place for what they do for me.
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EXACTLY :)
 
Rex said:
I still have a Peavey Rock Master preamp and Classic 50/50 power amp. I stil fire them up occasionally, just to remember. But the last time I actually used them was for FX8 beta testing.
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That's awesome... I had a great rig back in the early 90s based on that setup along with a Yamaha FX500, Alesis MEQ30, and an ART Multiverb III. Got some great sounds out of that rig!
 
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Got me a pair of blues junior III that I slightly modified and use these occasionally and am saving money for a supro 1624T after falling in love with it's fractal pending model. It's really just for fun. There's nothing with a tube Amp that I can't do with my FM3. Restarted a blues band recently and FM3 does it's job with dignity and efficiency, cuts through anything.
 
lauke-lux said:
Got me a pair of blues junior III that I slightly modified and use these occasionally and am saving money for a supro 1624T after falling in love with it's fractal pending model. It's really just for fun. There's nothing with a tube Amp that I can't do with my FM3. Restarted a blues band recently and FM3 does it's job with dignity and efficiency, cuts through anything.
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Do your blues people give you funny looks for going digital? Anyone else doing that in the band?

I definitely got some questionable looks in a somewhat similar situation a few years back. Didn't care, but it happened.
 
Just lie to them. Tell them this is a big comfy pedal to switch amp channels with a built-in tuner, nothing more. You're doing this old school, see - the cable is plugged into the amp.
Tell them the tuner is this big because it's analog, you don't trust those little digital clip-on tuners, they suck the tone and give wrong measurements!
Get them to approve this and make sure the sound guy never tells them the Fender backline was in stand-by.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Do your blues people give you funny looks for going digital? Anyone else doing that in the band?

I definitely got some questionable looks in a somewhat similar situation a few years back. Didn't care, but it happened.
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Actually we restart a band we had with the drummer and our new singer and bassist just discovered today at our 3rd rehearsal I was not using a tube Amp haha. But before they joined us we send them some examples of our former songs and actually did not need any other arguments (axe fx 2 in those days, but did not get worse with FM3...) sorry for the tripping on the guitar, our singer Marco insisted a lot on having much solos.


 
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