Always used solid state head live and a tube amp in the studio. Liked the reliability of the solid state for gigging.

Great job on the video! It's so refreshing to see someone appreciating bass tube amps. I recently did a video on my rare Italian amp, which is turning 50 this year, and I've been using it for 4 years now. The sound it produces is phenomenal, and it's incredibly versatile. Transistor amps are great too, but they'll never really be my soft spot. Your video is a testament to how underrepresented these amps are in the music community. Well done!

Tube amps are more articulate. If you lay into the string hard, the tubes will react. That is why guitar players like tube amps. That's why I like a tube amp for bass. You also get a real nice subtle compression with tubes. Doesn't sound squashed, just sounds good.

does everyone at reverb have perms

First 15 seconds was all I needed to make my decision. Excellent video, excellent playing.

Odd that they picked on of the most tube-like solid state bass amps. I would've went GK to show the difference.

Very brutal mix between his voice vs the bass tone levels

Not fair. Aguilar Tone Hammer is pretty much regarded as the most "tube-like" solid state bass amp currently on the market.

no, tube bass amps are not what you are always hearing when you listen to anything before 70's. Many studios, including the one example you play - motown records - were well known for recording the bass directly. James Jamerson used the B15 only for live gigs.

Orange Terror bass is "just" hybrid. It has only tube in preamp.

For me, you can model the SOUND of tube amps very convincingly on bass but the FEEL is what is hard to model

Great demo bro... Loved it and agree with you totally. One point.. To me, the biggest difference will always be the instrument. I have a Jazz 5 ultra and F-Bass vf5PJ and there is no comparison. Fender has always been in my set but F-Bass is far superior. Start with the best instrument you can afford.

Why decide on just one?? My 25-year-old Trace Elliot has got a blendable pre stage that lets me dial in any ratio of tube-to-solid state at the turn of a button.

Jake, you know better. Almost all SS amps have their baked in tone, that colors your sound. Case in point that tone hammer you're playing has a very distinct baked in tone that colors your playing.

Moved to tubes about a year ago from solid state and I'll never go back. I have an output jack out of mine at the speaker jack that I can use to drive power amps for almost limitless loud.

I spent several days playing my mark bass III head...then I plugged my all tube Fender 100t head back in ..and it blew the mark bass away.. first time I had ever done any real comparison. The mark bass sounds really good though. I was playing on it, and adjusted EQ and I thought it sounded great. But the Fender sounded epic immediately,no comparison

last week, got a pf50t with 112 amp, thats super cool. more melow, better warmth and brings more joyfulness. wish i had it earlier

although i have never tried one my self, i personally think that hybrid bass amps are the best option because you simply get the best from both worlds. Minimal enclosure, Warm tube saturation (from the tube preamp) and finally you can get as loud as you want.

I like the ampeg better. Nice job on Bernadette-one of the best James Jamerson bass lines.

I have a variety of tube- and solid state - amps, hybrids and full solid state. Like for all tube the Peavey Vb3, Ampeg V4b Ri and a Ampeg SVT clone, the Bugera BVV 3000. None of them ever let me down the last years. For solid state there are a GK 400 RB I, a Peavey TMax, three GenzBenz GBE (the old 600, newer 750 and 1200) and a Marshall MB 450h. Then there are some lightweight amps, as the Markbass LM II, Genzler Magellan 800 and an Ibanez Promethean Combo 5110. I use the amp that suits my needs for the given gig. And I can tell you, it's nice to be able to choose. Same with cabs. From Tecamp L 810" and 215" over SWR 212" to Peavey TVX 410", Marshall MBC 410" and some custom built cabs (sealed 410", two 14" + 5") I am able to choose what does the trick in sound, size and volume.

This may be a case of people just liking whatever they learned to play on. For electric six-string guitar I’m all about the valves/tubes, but my first instrument was an electric bass guitar, and I learned to play on a solid state amp… and, call me an apostate, that’s still the sound I’m after when I amp-shop today. And I only just figured that out now. Who knew?

Would've been great to compare an ampeg solid state portaflex (ie PF-350) to the tube PF-20T. I disagree that solid state amps give no character...every solid state amp I've played is voiced a certain way and has their own character to them, personally why i think you should have compared a portaflex tube head to a portaflex solid state head.

Ola Englund is laughing quietly in his studio

Solid state for me, given that recent problems with tube availability, for me they are consigned to history.

Succint, concise, clear and spot on

Total bullshit with that temperature concerning tubes. Tubes are a lot more stable with parameters concerning ambient temperature. Precise tube measuring equipment doesn't even have temperature stabilisation whereas comparable solid state devices has it. Just for example.

You played clean and driven tones for the tube, why not the SS as well? Lots of folks dump on SS amps, when if are properly designed they can sound incredible (even having more pleasant drive character...). That's a bummer not to see that compared.

Ampeg for ever !!!

Something else to consider, you’re louder than the actual demo of the equipment.

I actually dig his hairstyle. Kinda has an 80's post-punk/goth vibe to it.

I really dig the tone on both of these.

In these never-ending debates, the truth must be one of the following: that one type of amp is objectively better and the people who favor the other type (and all of their arguments) are objectively wrong, or that both types of amps are so complicated and have so many potential uses and configurations that both sides can be equally right in their tastes and explanations, or that it's all subjective and all arguments are simply retroactive justifications for something that can't be adequately explained.

Great advice, I going for tube !

wow i cant believe hobo johnson works at reverb

I typically use the best of both worlds. A tube preamp and a class D power amp or a tube preamp direct to the PA.

One correction - where you said any bass sound you hear on a recording before the 70s is tube; through the 60s, Motown recordings were universally using the now famous Wolfbox Passive DI box.

Tubes are not as fragile as everyone thinks. If you have a good DI you're all set in case things go wrong. But that would be the case with a solid state amp as well... I know guys that have played for DECADES with tube amps with no issues.

I have the PF50T, the DI with the XLR out after the all tube power amp is out of this world.

There is definitely a palpable difference. The way the amp pumps and breathes is different. I've played through Bassman's, Ampeg SVT's and smaller Ampegs, and Music Man HD130s. When you get a good one it's magic. I don't currently own any. I have an Eden rig and an Ampeg SVP tube pre into an old QSC 850 watt SS amp (heavy). They work but I still jones for an old SVT regardless of how impractical they are in many situations or a good HD130. Now that I'm on a roll I miss the old Acoustic 270s too. New players have so many great choices and a decent 250 watt SS 2 x 10 combo can meet "most" any gig. For the rest there is a PA to handle that. Enough. When I see a kid young enough to be mine I know I have gotten old enough to have been there and done that. Its funny when the stuff you ditched years ago is now sought after "Vintage" gear.

One of the sad parts about this comparison is that the drive in the ToneHammer is set to 0 instead of noon which would be a better head to head comparison with a tube amp. It gets really close.

you look like ted mosby back in his college times

trying amps in person can be problematic when there are amps I'd like to try that brick and mortars don't keep in store, or when you have to try and find a random stranger that has one of them, then another with something else.

This kid has not lived long enough to be able to say that tube amps are not reliable. There is so much fear among the young people, they think tube amps don't last long. That's wrong. Even the tubes can last 10 years, that's right-10 years. If you do need to change the tubes, it's easy. not a problem.

tube amp: vintage, warm, authentic solid state: better

Props for the NIB

To see if the tone is different. I listened to the first part of the video to try and see if I could hear the audio change in sound, and I didn’t hear anything different until I watched. The only difference I noticed was that the solid state was either loud or more pronounced.

My Fender Rumble 500 is doing really well for me.

Orange AD200B pushed with Darkglass Microtubes B7K all modeled up on my Axe FX works for me.

Reverb great video watched and i shared it as well

Thank you ..this help me a lot..

I got to play a Kustom DE200-210 tube combo at a rock festival recently, and it was the most beautiful sound I've ever gotten out of my bass, especially once I mixed in my Alpha Omicron and compression. Turns out that they're super rare though, so I'm probably gonna trade my rumble 500 combo for it, even though it's technically worth more ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Very helpful, thank you!

Try some Traynor stuff from Canada, it's good gear that's fairly affordable

Well explained sir

Tubes will not hide your mistakes and will tell on you. The feel and warmth of tube amps is awesome.

honestly I prefer ss bass amps

note,,, ss is fast,,,, tube lags...tis called speed,,, very dependent on spkr too

Now, I disagree on the point about solid states being "cleaner"... I find tube amps have a clearer sound, and even with their warmth, feel more flattering. Solid states often make me feel like I'm playing through a filter, fighting to get the tone I want.

When you gotta poop but recording starts any minute

I want to understand tube amps but after buying a 200 watt Trace Eliot Elf for like around $200 the fact it fits in my back pocket and handles pedals well and can get super loud with nice tone. I just dont see a tube amp competing with that. Is that specific "tone" or "warmth" people talk about really worth thousands of dollars and having to lug around a heavy ass tube amp?

Thats TJ Miller young brother?

Tube amps are louder than solid state amps when played at the same volume. The downside is that tube amps are also heavier than solid state amps when they are the same weight.

"Can't just throw it in your backpack" Me figuring out how to fit a Rumble 200 combo in a Backpack

I can't stop looking at your hair

It is ironic that you are using the Aguilar Tone Hammer as the solid state amp. As solid state goes, the Tone Hammer is voiced to sound tube like. It has drive circuitry and can be used to mimic tube overdrive and even without using the drive circuitry, the amp has a baked in midrange warmth. Although it is obviously not a tube amp, it was designed to fake it just a bit.

Whats the best way to get good tonal coloring from a solid state?

What's the deal with tube preamp ss main amp?

Push em! I love solid state with fuzz!

Tubes are actually louder at the same wattage.. it just takes a lot more wattage to get there

Always used SS; still have my 1974 Carvin B-3000. Light as a feather compared to a same year SVT. If you want a warmer sound change to flat wound strings. Tube amps have a lag, why guitar amps are preferred. SS bass amps are punchy and RIGHT NOW!!; why I prefer them. JMHO, I have played for 48 years.

Cold temperatures affecting tube performance is utter nonsense. The cathode is the part that needs to be heated. It is in a hard vacuum so there is no convection and almost no conduction to the outside environment. It is operating near 1000 degrees so the outside temperature being 0 or 100 degrees is just not a factor. Solid state devices are far more affected by temperature, a lot of them aren't even spec'd much below freezing.

No Hartke?!?

What about Hybrid amps?

All my amps are either full tube or at least hybrid, that being said I’d never recommend a tube amp to a newbie simply for cost, portability, power and maintenance reasons. Tube amps are totally reliable if you mind them and are infinitely reparable . When solid state amps die that’s it, not worth repairing most of the time. In my experience he best type of solid state amps are class AB MOSFET amps (like trace Elliot) they just run forever .

Doood, they are so expensive though.. I am about to play my first gig, and I can’t afford this stuff!

This is not a tube vs SS comparison. It's a tube vs class D comparison.

If you can... why not both?

Plot twist if you look in about 1965 there was a solid state amplifier company called Kustom

Young ted mosby?

Solid state

SVT-6 Pro has entered the chat....

This dude inspires hatful rage in me.

The ampeg which is a tube amp sounds so much cleaner and sharper, fuller, so much better to my ears. The aguilar which is a solid state amp on the other hand sounds foggy, not a pleasant sound when you compare it to the ampeg tube amp. I play on a genz-benz contour which is a class d amp and I really like the sound but never had the opportunity to compare it with an all tube amp.

*except Motown. DI’d to the board. No bass amp.

for the first 30 sec i though it was Andy

You forgot one very important factor. When you play it, it sounds like a bass, when you play it with the band, it also sounds like a bass. So...which is better?

So much disinformation in this video

Tube.

You sound just like that glasses guy from the late Sugar Pine 7.

Sooo... are we gonna talk hybrid amps?

Why play a tone dead plank to demonstrate tone? Should have used a Lakland or Ibanez premium or Dingwall or Spector, something with some clarity and tone.

Aguilar sounds best

the only reason to go for tubes is if you're an old man with a ponytail who says 'those were to good old days, there's no good music being made any more'.

Too much money spent on hipster light bulbs and cameras, not so much on getting good information out ;)

Since when does Andy wear glasses?

Tubes...

Whatever you do don't but the Ampeg Micro VR. That thing is a turd. I'm on my second head in 3 years, and one little piece of dust will make it fail. I've heard al kind of bad stories about them.So you can throw reliability right out the window this this solid state amp. a little deoxit did the trick but now I'm just waiting for it to blow up from something else. Its a shame because its a really nice sounding amp

When it comes to bass, it doesn’t really matter that much. I have a Ampeg BA-115 and that’s enough for ANY gig in the world

A

Damn, I just got schooled by TJ Miller.