Is it realistic to have a tube amp at home?

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Good morning fellas!

Also the LC15R is an excellent recommendation.

 

[Eagle]

Good morning fellas!

Also the LC15R is an excellent recommendation.

It takes pedals great but don’t trash the tone with a Helix or something

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

It takes pedals great but don’t trash the tone with a Helix or something

For the price on the used market valve Laneys are always a great answer.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

So the conclusion … :) with the Yamaha Thr10ii and the helix + monitors I am good in the “at home” situation? Does that mean I can now primarily focus on getting more guitars? (Meant slightly funny but also real question)

 

[Eagle]

So the conclusion … :) with the Yamaha Thr10ii and the helix + monitors I am good in the “at home” situation? Does that mean I can now primarily focus on getting more guitars? (Meant slightly funny but also real question)

No , if you like a solid clean tube tone with reverb you haven’t got anything close.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

No , if you like a solid clean tube tone with reverb you haven’t got anything close.

Okay but that can’t be done according to this thread

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Except the difference is like a pair or earbuds that came with your phone and some hifi reference headphones.

No , if you like a solid clean tube tone with reverb you haven’t got anything close.

…because you’re playing at low conversation volume, often with other noises competing.

go to a shops and play some stuff. You may find you prefer the sound of a “real” guitar amp - tube, digital or solid state - over the Yamaha. That wouldn’t surprise me in the least. It may be that the one you get along with the most is a tube amp. But it won’t be because of the tubes at those volumes.

Mostly I’d recommend carving out time to actually play your guitar rather than noodling through an amp while your kids watch TV. Put the guitar down and hang with your kids when they need you in the room with them rather than being upstairs with your Helix rig.

 

[Eagle]

Okay but that can’t be done according to this thread

According to who ??? If you plug directly in to a fender blues junior playing quietly and get something out of it you will get the same from the Laney for less than a pedal.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

…because you’re playing at low conversation volume, often with other noises competing.

go to a shops and play some stuff. You may find you prefer the sound of a “real” guitar amp - tube, digital or solid state - over the Yamaha. That wouldn’t surprise me in the least. It may be that the one you get along with the most is a tube amp. But it won’t be because of the tubes at those volumes.

Mostly I’d recommend carving out time to actually play your guitar rather than noodling through an amp while your kids watch TV. Put the guitar down and hang with your kids when they need you in the room with them rather than being upstairs with your Helix rig.

Yep this is how I do it. When they are to bed I am upstairs. But having something nice in the living room is also cool.

 

[Jarick]

I'm in a similar boat, so here's my experience.

Don't worry about tone with the Yamaha THR. It's not really going to give you enough to work with to fuss over things like guitars and pickups and what not. It can do a bunch of different sounds at low volumes that can be fun to play but isn't really a "serious" guitar tone (flame me if you want...I've had two of them).

With a modeler and studio monitors, you can absolutely get a great tone that will let your different guitars and pickups personalities come through. No it's not the same experience as a tube amp in the room. You have to spend more time figuring out the cab simulation side of things. There's pros and cons, but it's probably easier to deal with at low volumes ESPECIALLY if you like gainy tones.

Now the tube amp, I have an Orange OR15 and matching 1x12 cab. This amp has a switch to drop down to I think 1/2 watt. Even in that 1/2 watt mode, it's conversation level at about 2-3 on the volume knob. If I cranked the amp up past 5, I'd be bothering the wife and kids. So volume wise, pretty much anything tube is going to be overkill.

However, the amp in the room absolutely does a different thing than the modeler. With my modeler and studio monitors, I can get these big 3D stereo effects going on. With the amp in the room, the vibrations coming off the big 12" speaker interacting with the room and all that sounds really cool. It's a real room reverb because I'm in a room with the amp.

If I try to do the same kind of thing with the tube amp at low volumes as I do with my modeler and speakers, I get frustrated and just go back to the modeler and speakers. I can't get a really good chunky rhythm guitar tone out of the amp super quiet. Would need lots of pedals and fussing. Then I plug in a modeler and get closer. Even better if I run into the power amp return. But then I'm damn near back where I started.

What I find works well at low volumes is, just like @Eagle is saying, if you want a good clean amp tone with a little reverb. THAT is where the real amp still sounds really good. It's so much more forgiving because you aren't worrying about which IR and which mic and high and low cuts and all that. It's just get in the ballpark and go.

I think something like a Fender Princeton Reverb would be killer for low volume home use. It has a really good clean amp tone at low volumes, has a good reverb, has tremolo built in for interest, and has basic EQ to tweak. But it's simple, has an open back cab to help with that 3D room sound, and takes pedals well. You'd have to fuss around to find the right pedal for low volume gain but otherwise it should be good.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

According to who ??? If you plug directly in to a fender blues junior playing quietly and get something out of it you will get the same from the Laney for less than a pedal.

“
Noodling while children are watching TV or when everyone else is in bed - no. And you'd need to take care with placement of any kind of "normal" amp, be it tube or solid state to make either of those scenarios possible. A 1x10" amp sitting on the floor, even at low volumes, transmits a lot of vibrations through the house.

Also at those volumes -- tube vs. not-tube you're not going to be able to hear a difference. You will be able to hear the acoustic sound of your guitar alongside whatever is coming from the speaker at pretty much the same volume. The only folks that can hear a dynamic/warmth difference of tubes in that scenario where you've already quashed the dynamic possibilities of the amp by turning the volume knob down and where it is evenly blended with the sound coming from your guitar (and fighting with the sound from your kids TV in some instances) have eagle eyes for ears.”

Page 1 :)

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

According to who ??? If you plug directly in to a fender blues junior playing quietly and get something out of it you will get the same from the Laney for less than a pedal.

That seems like terrible advice? “Hey, you liked this one amp with tubes in it? Clearly you will like this other amp that uses a different speaker and is voiced differently because tubes are universal. You like one you will like them all.”

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

That seems like terrible advice? “Hey, you liked this one amp with tubes in it? Clearly you will like this other amp that uses a different speaker and is voiced differently because tubes are universal. You like one you will like them all.”

He was literally answering the OP original question....which OP may or may not have been really serious about..... according to subsequent posts...

Seems like the mind was made up, before the question was asked.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

He was literally answering the OP original question....which OP may or may not have been really serious about..... according to subsequent posts...

Seems like the mind was made up, before the question was asked.

By saying “try a blues jr. if you like it, obviously you’ll like a different tube amp”.

 

[Eagle]

That seems like terrible advice? “Hey, you liked this one amp with tubes in it? Clearly you will like this other amp that uses a different speaker and is voiced differently because tubes are universal. You like one you will like them all.”

So you have never played one and are happy to say I am wrong? I know it sounds like that because I have played it back to back . Also the analog experience is different to anything digital.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

By saying “try a blues jr. if you like it, obviously you’ll like a different tube amp”.

He said specifically he didn't want a fender due to his wife's preference for aesthetics.

 

[Eagle]

He said specifically he didn't want a fender due to his wife's preference for aesthetics.

The basis of my recommendation. And the fact that the Laney is small and cheap and sounds really good for a low volume clean sound.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

He was literally answering the OP original question....which OP may or may not have been really serious about..... according to subsequent posts...

Seems like the mind was made up, before the question was asked.

Uh no it was not :) i rather by myself a nice small tube amp for the living room but the quote text made me think its just not possible.

It seems debatable.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

The basis of my recommendation. And the fact that the Laney is small and cheap and sounds really good for a low volume clean sound.

I get you.

Not sure what happened, other than someone wanting to start another modeler v valve amp convo.....yawn.