The Magic of Tube Amps

Alex Vollmer

The vacuum tube is a quirky, outdated, expensive, and fragile technology. Long after the solid-state transistor replaced the vacuum tube, tone-chasing electric guitarists still treasure these relics of a bygone era. While designers flirted with solid-state amps in the 70’s and 80’s, they didn’t have the same feel and tone as those funny old glass tubes, so the tube amp is still the king of tone.
How the tube-amp rose to prominence is a case of fate and circumstance. It may seem that vacuum tubes are inherently magical and our forefathers were wise enough to harness them in their amp designs. In truth, they were the best tools available when the first amplifiers were built. But their unique characteristics have defined the sound of the electric guitar in popular music. As musical groups grew in size, the guitar needed to compete with the volume of other instruments. A traditional acoustic guitar was simply not up to the task of being heard with a horn section blasting away. The solution was to amplify the guitar electrically. This is done by placing pickups under metal strings. When the strings are played, a tiny electrical signal is created from the movement of the stri [...]
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