What do people mean when they say modelers "lack the amp feel"?

[Jan Geerts]

I've played Axe only for years, have tube amps in the shop, hear and play them everyday, and never had any gas for them. Until we got the 68 Vibro Champ. After a while, I bought one. And yes, it does sound and especially feel different than my trusty Princeton model in the Axe. There's an immediacy from the guitarspeaker, and greater touch sensitivity.
I have integrated it in my Axe setup: output 3 from the Axe goes after the stomps into the Vibro, and the Princeton in the Axe handless all the post delay, plexes, reverbs....
My ears have taken a beating over the years, and I prefer low volume now. At the same low volume, the Vibro does respond differently than the Axe.

 

[DLC86]

I recently made a video where you can find some answers about the OP question:

 

[Chromatizm]

f this was true then there would be transistor amps with very similar tones to tube amps. There aren't any, sadly.

DV amps which many top guys use, such as Greg Howe or Marco Sfogli, seem to fit the bill.
I'd love to see the in Axe to understand why they are so popular. Can't get my hands on then IRL.

 

[Piing]

My Axe-FX III feels like a 3" speaker inside a plastic box. Buaaa! Buaaa!

 

[oacikgoz]

If this was true then there would be transistor amps with very similar tones to tube amps. There aren't any, sadly. There are great transistor amps like the Roland JC120 but definitely not tube tone.

It's simply not profitable to build SS amps with highest quality components, that's why you don't see them, JC120 isn't in that category. They are cheaper to manufacture, and as soon as they hit the market with a cheaper price point, they are labeled immediately as crap. When someone puts a high >$800 price tag on a SS amp with high quality components that probably still cost half that to manufacture, like in the case of DV amps, people say,

"OOO, it must be good, let me check".
"Ah it sounds great, what tubes does it run on?",
"Oh, it's PBT"
"Sorry what is that?"
"It's patented blahblah technology?"
"What does it do?"
"Ahem, it's SS, but with....",
"Oh I knew it, it does not have the tube warmth... the I ain't paying 800 bucks for SS"... end of story.

Tell me I'm wrong

In addition to people hearing with their eyes, two things here: People are a lot more inclined to check out new amps if they are higher in price range, second, big fat tube lobby and huge profit margins, which have only recently been getting a lot of heat and competition from companies like Fractal.

Having said all this, I still don't think you can nail the cranked Plexi tone, or a Fender "on the edge of breakup" using SS tech, but if we are talking Recto, Mark 2-3-4-5, Engl Savage, which use preamp as the main source of gain, I would be very surprised if SS wouldn't be able to get it right.

Anyway, my two cents... there is always a chance I might be completely wrong

 

[lastcaress83]

It's simply not profitable to build SS amps with highest quality components, that's why you don't see them, JC120 isn't in that category. They are cheaper to manufacture, and as soon as they hit the market with a cheaper price point, they are labeled immediately as crap. When someone puts a high >$800 price tag on a SS amp with high quality components that probably still cost half that to manufacture, like in the case of DV amps, people say,

"OOO, it must be good, let me check".
"Ah it sounds great, what tubes does it run on?",
"Oh, it's PBT"
"Sorry what is that?"
"It's patented blahblah technology?"
"What does it do?"
"Ahem, it's SS, but with....",
"Oh I knew it, it does not have the tube warmth... the I ain't paying 800 bucks for SS"... end of story.

Tell me I'm wrong

In addition to people hearing with their eyes, two things here: People are a lot more inclined to check out new amps if they are higher in price range, second, big fat tube lobby and huge profit margins, which have only recently been getting a lot of heat and competition from companies like Fractal.

Having said all this, I still don't think you can nail the cranked Plexi tone, or a Fender "on the edge of breakup" using SS tech, but if we are talking Recto, Mark 2-3-4-5, Engl Savage, which use preamp as the main source of gain, I would be very surprised if SS wouldn't be able to get it right.

Anyway, my two cents... there is always a chance I might be completely wrong

It has a lot to do with damping and the interplay between the output components (tubes, transformers, speakers), SS tech just behaves differently. That being said, a quick glimpse of the harmonic components of SS distortion vs tube distortion always shows differences. Digital is much closer.