If you’re considering buying a boutique amp, you’re probably going to make a considerable investment. So you’ll have lots of questions to ask and tube amps to test out before you make your choice. Very quickly, however, you’ll find that the talk gets pretty technical.
It’s easy to get lost – and a little intimidated – when pros start talking to you about circuit designs, amplification classes, and alphanumeric power tube model numbers. And they expect it all to mean something to you.
You’re in this to play guitar – fueled by your skills, your ears, and the music that interests you. Why should you have to know anything about push-pull circuits or other jargon?
Well, you shouldn’t. But unfortunately this is how amp people talk. And if you want to engage them in a conversation to benefit you and your purchase decision – and in the end, the musical enjoyment of your setup – it’ll help you to have a basic understanding of this jargon.
So in this multi-part series about the key components of guitar tube amps, we’ll cover the basics. And we’ll use some handy analogies to help it all make sense.
How many colors do you think there in the world? Millions and millions of them. Infinite colors. The same is true for guitar tones. There are limitless sound possibilities based on all the different variables that can be applied: playing style, guitar choice, pickup choice, amp, effects, speakers, mics, the room you’re playing in, etc. So let’s not start there. Let’s start simple. Overly simple.
Any color can be described by a combination of primary colors. Your computer monitor, for instance, probably uses varying levels of red, green, and blue (hence the term RGB) to make up the colors you’re seeing right now. So you can define every one of the infinite colors by saying how much red, green, and blue is in it. That system kind of makes the world of infinite colors a little simpler, right?
So let’s talk about the primary colors of the tube amp world. The vintage amps the modern boutique amps pay homage to. These amps are the classic models made by:
• VOX
• Fender
• Marshall
What are the quintessential VOX sounds? Think early Beatles, REM, Tom Petty, U2, and Queen.
Here’s a clip of The Beatles’ “Taxman” featuring amazing VOX sounds. Don’t miss the lead playing mid-song and at the end:
This sound has a muted attack but gets its rhythm gusto from an amazing compressed sustain of jangly, spongy grit (we’ll talk about how it achieves this in a later article). The lead playing has a haunting and wild cut: you can just go mad scientist brilliant while playing through a VOX.
What are the classic Fender sounds? Think Clapton, Dick Dale, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Eagles, later Beatles.
Dig this amazing clip of Derek and The Dominoes on The Johnny Cash show from about a million years ago. Listen closely, I think you can even hear Clapton make a “mistake”:
The Fender sound is all class. Super clean, characterized by an amazingly rich attack that’s springy, complex, and jubilant. I hear rubies and emeralds shooting out of the guitar with every pick and strum. Fenders can “boogie” under rhythm play and they can also wail emotionally under lead play.
And Marshall sounds? Pretty much any band with hair from the 80’s. Also, names like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, ZZ Top.
Here’s a clip of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” featuring classic Marshall sounds:
That sound is just bad boy overdrive. It never met a power chord it didn’t like and lets you fall out into arpeggio notes without turning them into mush. Also killer for pick harmonics – just ask ZZ Top. You can feel the Marshall sound in your gonads.
So now you know about the primary colors of the amp world. Got any clips that you think exemplify a particular amp sound? Please share in the comments section.
In the next part of this series, we’ll expand on the classic amps, talk about the tubes that live inside of them, the guitars that were meant to be plugged into them, and how to use this knowledge to start your boutique amp search.
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