Okay so as promised. 2 2
Here we go. We have a tube amp and a solid state amp. 3 3
And what we're gonna do is, we're gonna AB them. 4 4
We've spent about the last 20 minutes adjusting them to be as close as possible. 5 5
Both made by Thunder. 6 6
Both have 12 inch speakers. 7 7
We're not using any sort of effects. 8 8
It's just a Les Paul going through a Mogami cable, 9 9
and straight into the amplifier. 10 10
So, you use your ears. 11 11
And listen, to see if you can hear any differences between the two. 12 12
I'll play some chords. 13 13
I'll play some lead work. 14 14
And then, harmonic. 15 15
And we'll see if we can hear a difference. 16 16
Here we go. 17 17
[MUSIC] 18 18
>> Not bad for a solid state amp. 19 19
>> Not bad at all for a solid state amp. 20 20
>> But [LAUGH] we should have >> I guess that's a good comparison. 21 21
That's about the best you're gonna get from a solid state amp, I'd say. 22 22
>> Right. >> That's a pretty good sounding one. 23 23
>> [CROSSTALK] Let's hear some improvement with teams. 24 24
>> Yeah. 25 25
So here we go, starting with the harmonics here. 26 26
[MUSIC] 27 27
So there you go. 28 28
>> To our ears in the room, much bigger sound. 29 29
>> Yeah. 30 30
I'm hearing a lot more base response. 31 31
As I was saying earlier to Greg, 32 32
this amp which has a 12 inch speaker just like this amp. 33 33
>> Same exact speakers. 34 34
>> Same exact speaker. 35 35
The actual sound. 36 36
Hopefully, you're hearing that through our quality microphone. 37 37
Hopefully, you're getting that response. 38 38
The base response on this is much lower. 39 39
But I think even more important is when I was hitting those harmonics,. 40 40
And some of those higher pitched notes. 41 41
They were fuller sounding. 42 42
There was more, obviously more harmonics. 43 43
>> [INAUDIBLE] And the decay takes much longer. 44 44
>> Yeah. >> It's just, it's a different, 45 45
the fundamental notes here. 46 46
You hear the attack and the fundamental note, but 47 47
you don't hear the nuance and the color and 48 48
the bloom of the note and the harmonics like you do through the tube amp. 49 49
>> Exactly. Again, what we're talking about is, 50 50
we're talking about stacks. 51 51
We're talking about tube amplifiers. 52 52
We're talking about chords. 53 53
We're talking about strings. 54 54
We're talking about wood. 55 55
The pick ups. 56 56
All these things add up. 57 57
And when you take one of those variables out, 58 58
you may only be taking 10% of the sound out. 59 59
20 % of the sound out. 60 60
But, eventually, that's a big deal. 61 61
In fact, 10 or 20% of your sound is a big deal. 62 62
>> Oh yeah. >> Even the length of your cables and 63 63
stuff like that can make a big deal. 64 64
So, remember this is the pursuit of the ultimate tone. 65 65
Not the pursuit of convenience, which solid state amps are very convenient. 66 66
If you can find one that has great tone, 67 67
this one has some really great tone as we've been experimenting with it. 68 68
But still in a blind test, before we cut the cameras on and Greg 69 69
was adjusting these, that was very obvious to me, which one is the tube amplifier. 70 70
Which is probably why once I discovered tube amplifiers, I never went back. 71 71
I always wanted to talk myself out of it saying, it was something else going on. 72 72
But in fact, that has a large part to do with my sound and 73 73
I know other guitar players as well. 74 74
>> Oh, yeah. 75 75
They're both very close, but the tubes, to my ears, it's just another level. 76 76
[LAUGH] >> Yeah, it's like night and 77 77
day, night and day. 78 78
All right, let's keep going.