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Amplification Methods for Guitar Players

Adam Manwill

ENGL 1010

Professor Kim

November 11, 2020

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As a guitar player I have always been chasing that “perfect” tone or always looking for

ways to improve my guitar tone and overall sound. This chase has led me to spending thousands

of dollars on many different amps, cabinet speakers and guitar pedals. In the early 2000’s the

first digital modelers hit the scene, and many guitarists hated them and said they sounded

“digital” or thin and harsh. In the last decade, digital modeling has become very very popular due

to the fact that it sounds much better than it did in the early 90’s. In this paper I’m going to

explore the differences in the methods guitar players use to amplify their sound and if one is

better than the other.

Traditional guitar amps have come a long way from the first commercial amplifier ever

built; it was produced by Fender in 1947 and didn’t have any controls on it, it only amplified the

vibrations that the magnetic pick-ups picked up (Wen Jie, 2017). For a majority of the history of

electric guitar, tube amps have been the primary device used to amplify the guitar; guitarists love

the “warm” response and the dynamic response to picking dynamics that they get from a tube

amp.

Towards the end of the 60’s solid state amplifiers broke out into the market

(guitar-amp.com, 2019) due to their light-weight and size they gained popularity but at the

compromise of sound and versatility. These amps don’t tend to break up when hitting it with a

hotter signal like a tube amp does, due to the lack of tubes. But the higher end solid state amps

can stand neck in neck with the best of them (guitar-amp.com, 2019).

In 1996 the AxSys 212 amp made by Line 6 came out, it was the first amp to ever use

software-based models to attempt to recreate the sound and feel of a tube amp (Line6.com). In

the early 2000’s the release of the Line 6 POD drastically increased the popularity of digital

modelers as it was a desktop modeler that had 16 amps built into it. Though this didn’t give exact
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recreations of those amps, it was more like sounds inspired by those amps (Burns, 2017). This

technology would vastly improve over the next 18 years.

Some of the biggest differences between tube amps, solid state amps and digital modelers

is how the sound is amplified and how it reacts. In a tube amp, vacuum tubes help create the

sound and the warmer they get, the more overdriven the sound can get. If you hit the front end of

a tube amp with a “hotter” signal, the tubes clip the signal and that’s what creates the overdrive

sometimes called distortion by people. Tube amps have an overdrive sound that’s classified and

described as warm and round.

Solid state amps use a transistor circuit to convert an electrical signal into an audio wave.

This leads to being able to have very loud clean sounds because in a tube amp the louder you

make it, the more clipping or overdrive you add to the sound; but this does lead solid state amps

to not having a very natural sounding overdrive, that is sometimes classified as “brittle”. Jazz

musicians tend to use solid state amps since they don’t usually care too much for overdrive in

what they play (Masterclass 2020).

Digital modelers use software to recreate the sound of different amps by using software.

Newer digital modelers aslo use algorithms to recreate the sounds of famous and popular tube

amps, and a lot of digital modelers also have different pedals modeled in them as well. These

modelers usually need a power amp or powered speaker to amplify the sound. But a lot of

modelers also run directly into the sound system at a venue.

In my research I have discovered that it’s more of a “tube versus digital” conlfict, there

aren’t much pros for solid state amps anymore. A few of the pros for digital modelers over tube

amps are: consistent tone, no failing tubes, no loud stage volume and the ease of loading in and

out (Holt, 2019). Now a few of these I can attest to personally: moving my tube amp around is
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really heavy, I always have to dial in my pedals and amp during sound check and I have had tube

amps fail while on tour. Not to mention that the sound of the amp can change a little bit during a

long set with the tubes getting hotter and hotter. Having a digital modeler allows these things to

be non-issues.

Now the pros for tube amps over digital modelers are: there tends to be a warmth that is

still slightly missing from digital modelers, they’re also slightly easier to dial in good tone. Luke

Green, product director of Marshall says “​It’s difficult to say because what makes valve products

special is the feel they give a player: it’s more than just tone. Achieving great tone is already

possible from digital, but to get the feeling is not quite there” (2019). He’s saying that while you

can achieve great tone very easily from digital amplification, the feel of a tube amp and how it

feels as you play is something that hasn’t really been recreated 100% yet.

Guitarists have always been a little reluctant to change their rigs over as technology has

changed over the years. Established guitar players have acknowledged that digital modelers are

getting close but don’t quite have the feel, but can understand why people use them for the

convenience and consistency and acknowledge that digital modeling will be there in the next

couple years (Slavkovic, 2017).

Really no system is better than the other. It really comes down to what your needs are and

how you are going to use it. Some people only use tube amps and pedals, some use solely digital

modeling (even some big names like Metallica, Def Leppard, Avenged Sevenfold) and some use

a combination of the two (U2, Steve Vai, Dream Theater). Burns states that with digital

modeling you can be as creative as you want and can do things that hardware would limit you in;

and that just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that it’s different and that can

be good (2017).
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So in conclusion there are pros and cons to each system, and most people can’t pick out

the sound differences in a blind test. It seems like it really depends on a guitar player’s

preferences and needs. In the end it comes down to what inspires someone to play guitar, and

that’s the best part of being a guitar player today, there are so many options!
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Citations:

Burns, J. (June 28, 2017). ​The History and Future of Amp Modeling.​ Retrieved from
http://www.philoking.com/2016/01/28/the-history-and-future-of-amp-modeling/

Gardner, J. (September 9, 2020). ​Marshall's Luke Green on the future of amps: "There's
still a way to go before the feeling of a valve amp can be faithfully replicated digitally".
Retrieved from
https://guitar.com/features/interviews/marshall-luke-green-future-of-amps/

Holt, J. (August 13, 2018). ​Why I Bought a Modeling Rig: And Why I Didn't Go Kemper.
Retrieved from ​https://worshiponline.com/bought-modeling-rig-didnt-go-kemper/

Line 6 timeline retrieved from 

https://line6.com/timeline/#:~:text=The%20AxSys%20212%20was%20the,single%202x
12%22%20speaker%20combo%20amp​.

Slavkovic, D. (December 7, 2017).​ I​ s Amp Modeling as Good as Tubes? Here's What

​ etrieved from
Established Guitarists Think of It Today. R
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/is_amp_modeling_as_good_as_tubes_
heres_what_established_guitarists_think_of_it_today-69879

Wen Jie, M. (September 15, 2017). W

​ ho Invented the First Guitar Amplifier? R
​ etrieved 
from 
https://ourpastimes.com/what-gauge-strings-does-a-gretsch-6120-guitar-come-with-12
545394.html

September 11, 2019. ​Tube Amps VS Solid State Amps VS Modeling Amps. R ​ etrieved
from ​https://guitar-amp.com/tube-vs-solid-state-vs-modeling-amps/ 
 
Master Class. (November 8, 2020). G ​ uitar 101: What Is a Solid-State Amplifier? Pros
and Cons of Solid-State Amplifiers and the Best Solid-State Amp for Guitar Players.
Retrieved from
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guitar-101-what-is-a-solid-state-amplifier-pros-and
-cons-of-solid-state-amplifiers-and-the-best-solid-state-amp-for-guitar-players#what-is-a
-solidstate-amplifier