MusiciansHUB Blog

What is the Difference Between a Solid State Amplifier and a Tube Amplifier?

The two main types guitar amplifiers are solid state amplifiers and tube amplifiers. The difference between them, is characterized by how they amplify the incoming sound waves from the guitar pickups. The two types of amplifiers have very different sound qualities, and each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Tube Amplifiers

Tube amplifiers have relatively simple electrical circuits that utilize old-fashioned valves (tubes) to amplify sound. The overall tone they generate is almost always described as “warm”. This warmth is very difficult, if not impossible to measure, which is perhaps why it is so difficult to emulate with solid state amplifiers. The tubes, or valves, are responsible for the pre-amplification of the signal, the distortion and tone, as well as for the power circuit.

 

The big difference in sound characteristics with tube amplifiers, occurs when the input signal is high enough to cause overdrive. The sound is then “clipped”; in the case of tube amplifiers, this clipping creates a very natural sounding distortion, which is harmonically pleasing.

Tube amplifiers need internal transformers to power the circuitry, this, together with the heat that the tubes themselves produce, make for possible overheating issues. Some guitar tube amplifiers have built-in fans for cooling, but the majority do not.

Tube amplifiers are much heavier than solid state amplifiers and they require regular maintenance. The tubes need replacing once a year or so, and the output-tubes need re-biasing every year or two. Tube amplifiers need to be played at high volume, to get the full, rich tone that they are known for.

 Solid State Amplifiers 

Tube amplifiers dominated the market until the 1970's, when more sophisticated electronic circuitry started being used for amplification, creating the first “high definition” amplifiers. These amplifiers used semi-conductors instead of valves to control the output of the sound signal.

Solid state guitar amplifiers have a much “colder” sound, mainly due to the harsh distortion that occurs when the incoming sound signal is clipped. Solid state amplifiers are cheaper, generally, due to the use of circuit boards and no need for heavy, expensive transformers. The distortion that occurs in solid state amplifiers, is often described as being “too sudden” and therefore harsher than that of valve amplifiers.

Solid state amplifiers are good for guitar playing in the following respects: they have a very quick response time to the input signal from the guitarist; the sound is very crisp and clear (as long as the input signal is not over-driven); the amplifiers are fairly robust and the components are not easily damaged when the amplifier is moved around.

Although there is less that can go wrong with a solid state amplifier, when things do malfunction, it is very difficult for the average guitarist to diagnose the problem, and inspection and repair of these units is potentially very expensive. Tube amplifiers can be diagnosed quite easily and tubes themselves are not difficult to replace.     

Has Guitar Hero had a Positive or Negative Impact on Musicianship?

The Guitar Hero franchise from Activision, has been a highly successful one, and journalists described the first installment of the Guitar Hero series, as the most important gaming development in the first decade of the 21^st Century. With over 25 million units sold worldwide, on almost all gaming platforms, the cultural impact has been incredible.

Guitar Hero's Appeal

Guitar Hero is instantly appealing to the majority of console gamers, even those who do not have a great appreciation of music. Its simplicity, aesthetics and addictive gameplay elements, make for a wonderful gaming experience.

With Guitar Hero making use of a simplified rhythm game to represent the complexities of playing pop, rock and metal guitar music, most people would think that the game encourages youngsters to choose the fantasy world of musicianship in the game, over slogging it out and actually spending years learning to play a real instrument. The complete opposite is true.

According to research done by one of Britain's music charities, Youth Music, 20 percent of children who play video games, have started playing real musical instruments -  as a direct consequence of playing musical rhythm games. Not only have children taken an interest in real instruments, they have also started taking formal music lessons.

This has been good news for both music teachers and musical instrument retailers. This phenomenon of increased interest and higher instrument sales has also been felt in the USA: in 2007, there was a massive increase of 27% in guitar sales alone.

Why Guitar Hero has Sparked Interest in Real Guitar Playing

The music in the Guitar Hero series has always been a mix of classic rock and metal, along with a few current favorites. What this has done, is expose children to the magic of great guitar playing, from the 60's, 70's and 80's – music that many of them would never have bothered listening to, due to the dominance of electronic dance music, manufactured pop stars and hip-hop over radio stations  during the last decade.

Suddenly, children have discovered that Black Sabbath and AC/DC is “cool”, and that many of the songs are quite playable to novice and intermediate guitarists. Even people who have had owned guitars for years, have found that playing Guitar Hero, has sparked renewed interest in playing guitar and learning new songs and skills.

Guitar Hero World Tour features a complete band experience: there is a guitarist, a bass player, a drummer and a vocalist in the virtual band. This introduces youngsters to the concept of the guitar as part of an ensemble, rather than a solo instrument. It also gets kids to try jamming on a real guitar with friends, rather than restricting themselves to learning and playing songs alone.

MusiciansHUB Primer 101

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