GT-2 vs VALVE PURIST

[SISKO]

Hi all.
Well, the main reason of posting this topic, is because some of you guys already talked about the advantages of the SANS AMP GT-2, but my main question its how bad it sounds against a valve amp. I must Say that i`ve never played trough a tube amp, i don´t know what the "feeling" is, so i`m asking for your help.I have a silicon with a very warm sound.. but don't know how the "real thing" sounds.
I`ve heard that the bass freq. were to tight or something like that.. anyone knows of other bad points (i know there are for sure).
can anyone help me outthere?
i really appreciate your help
SISKO

[If SoMeOnE Is HaPpY WiTh HiS SiLiCoN AmP.... WeLl... He HaVe NeVeR PlAyEd TrOuGh A TuBe AmP....]
(thanks for the guy who wrote this!!!)

BYEE

[mac]

I'd say that the gt-2 does a good job simulating amps. It is not the real thing but very close.
BTW, there are a lot of well known songs that were recorded using a SS pedal/amp combo. Think Brian May Deacy amp.

mac

[bwanasonic]

A lot of it depends on what aspect of a tube amp you are comparing it to. You can get a *waveform* that sounds good, but the dynamic response, and particularly the way it goes from clean to breakup in response to pick attack is a whole different beast. A good tube amp allows you to ride the edge between clean and breakup in a very organic, expressive way. The GT2 is an old standby in my bag of tricks, but I stopped deluding myself about the possibilty of replacing a real tube amp with a stompbox a long time ago. Believe me, I tried like hell! Not to say that any amp with tubes is automatically superior. And for those times when you are forced to deal with some heinous scenario like going direct to a PA, or using a borrowed solid-state amp (because your tube amp crapped out ), a GT2 can help ease the psychic pain. Just keep smiling, and act like it isn't eating away your soul

Kerry M

[vortex]

Also worth pointing out is that tube amps generally respond much better to compression, boost, overdrive and distortion pedals.
I suggest getting aquainted with some tube amps! I have a solid state Bandit 65 that I think is a decent SS amp, but played next to my two Fender tube combos it quickly gets turned off and ignored. I have a GT-2 at the moment but frankly I think it sounds only so so. The GT-2 isn't a miracle box.

Telling you about what a tube amp "sounds and feels" like is a bit pointless. Go check some out! Have some fun!

[SISKO]

Telling you about what a tube amp "sounds and feels" like is a bit pointless. Go check some out! Have some fun!

that`s the right thing i`m thinkin now.. but the only way here in my town to get a tube amp its making a diy tube amp. and dont you even think that the valves are here..no.. you have to mail them.. and thats is a lot of money to spend compared to a simple GT-2..
IM gonna try to make diy.

ROCK ON-..
SISKO
BYE

[mac]

The day you play with a tube amp you will feel like your first experience with a girl...
ehhhmmm, you've been with a girl, have you??? 

Like vortex, I had a ss amp for practice and for DIY'ing but I sold it because I always used my laney's.

mac

[brett]

Hi.
A good alternative to the GT-2 is the real McTube. Or maybe just a tubescreamer.

I didn't find the GT-2 like a tube amp at all.  I'd summarise it as having poor compression, poor overdrive, but ok distortion sounds.  Choosing the "Hot-wired" or "Hi-gain" settings just make it sound worse.

cheers

[SISKO]

HI all ...well  thanks..
the other day.. i forget to say that i have a DECOUD (anybody know it?) GR-100.. it has  6 12AX7 valves but the power amp.. well.. SS. so i don't think i have played trough a REAL TUBE AMP.
i cant make it distort, even with a MXR micro amp at 10`.. could that be that the valves are too old..
BTW i think I'm gonna make a fire fly tube amp with those tubes and 12au7.. I'm very excited to built it because all the things that you have told me..
BTW... Ive been with girls ... yes.. OHHHH YES... the holy GRAIL 
OK thank you ..
ROCK ON.. GOOD SOLOS...
BYE..
SISKO

[mac]

HI all ...well  thanks..
the other day.. i forget to say that i have a DECOUD (anybody know it?) GR-100.. it has  6 12AX7 valves but the power amp.. well.. SS. so i don't think i have played trough a REAL TUBE AMP.

DECOUD... me suena tan conocido como el mate y el dulce de leche...

mac

[SISKO]

DECOUD... me suena tan conocido como el mate y el dulce de leche...

mac
[/quote]
JAJAJA amargo o dulce....?

Conoces el modelo (CRIOLLO)

Do you know the amp (ENGLISH)

Rock on BOys

bye
SISKO

[mac]

DECOUD... me suena tan conocido como el mate y el dulce de leche...

mac

JAJAJA amargo o dulce....?

Conoces el modelo (CRIOLLO)

Do you know the amp (ENGLISH)

Rock on BOys

bye
SISKO

jaja prefiero la chocolatada, pero si solo hay mate entonces dulce che.

no conozco ese modelo de ampli pero si escuche alguna vez otros todos valvulares y sonaban aceptables. en una epoca era casi todo lo q habia en el pais.

mac

[Ben N]

OK, lemme add my $.02, FWIW. 
I don't think a GT-2 by itself can get you even close to real tube amp territory, any more than any pedal can (with all due respect to Doug H & the ROG guys, who get as close as anyone).  (I can only compare to the sound & feel of vintage style amps, like my Fenders, Ampegs & Traynors.  I've never played any vintage Marshall, and pretty much hate any high gain amp I have tried, which ain't many--seems like the higher the gain, the more it just sounds like a high-gain pedal, and the less the tubes make a difference.)  BUT, there is a lot that happens when you combine those pedals, including the GT-2, WITH a properly driven tube amp.  It is not curently on my pedalboard, but back when I gave a damn about getting a variety of "standard" Marshallly & tweedy sounds out of my combo rig (an Ampeg Jet and Traynor Bassmate together), the GT-2 went a pretty long way toward changing the sound of my tube amps to the ones I wanted for the particular song.  Did it hit those sounds dead on?  Well, no, but who cares?  It gave me the versatility that I wanted in a package that works.  After all, can you really afford to lug around four or more amps?  IMHO, the eq and cab sim are at least as important as the distortion, and the ideal (at least with the GT2, which can be a noisy little beast) is to use as little pedal gain as you need and can get away with, and let your amp do the rest.
BTW, you should give some thought to what sound you really want.  If all you are after is the sound of an overdriven JCM800, consider the vintage Marshall Guv'nor circuit.  A lot of those ROG amp sim circuits have samples posted through SS amps.  And, at the risk of blaspheming, SOME digital amp sims (like the ones in a POD) are not half bad, especially direct to a PA.  So you may find a solution that works for you without changing your amp.

Still, there ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Ben

[brett]

Hi.

I've never played any vintage Marshall, and pretty much hate any high gain amp I have tried, which ain't many--seems like the higher the gain, the more it just sounds like a high-gain pedal, and the less the tubes make a difference

If this is suggesting that vintage Marshalls have high gain, I'd suggest a listen to a few vintage Marshalls.  In the cases where the sound is high-gain, they usually have a high-gain pedal driving them.  e.g. Jimi and his fuzzfaces.  Most vintage Marshalls have quite moderate drive (eg 18 watters and plexis).  In fact, for rock and roll, they ARE the classic tube tone (in my opinion).  I really like my black-face, but sometimes I want to get dirtier.  For that I LOVE my 18 watt.

cheers

[Ben N]

Sorry abouit being unclear.  I meant to put vintage Marshalls and hi-gain amps in two separate categories, having in common only the fact that they are both supposedly among the amps that the GT2 sets out to mimic.  My point was that I cannot trully weigh in on how well they duplicate the sound & feel of those amps, although I can guess. 

Ben

[mac]

Most vintage Marshalls have quite moderate drive (eg 18 watters and plexis).  In fact, for rock and roll, they ARE the classic tube tone (in my opinion).  I really like my black-face, but sometimes I want to get dirtier.  For that I LOVE my 18 watt.

I like to sit on my laney lc15r and feel how it kick my butt. I enjoy much more playing through a 15 - 20w amp than a 100w beast. More fun to me.

I guess that the gt-2 and others amp simulation boxes are intended to go to a PA or sound card. They can be connected to an amp, but IMO to get the best of them, the amp must be a clean ss or tube.
The gt-2 can be helpful to get a tone your amp lacks. Close, but never the real thing. After all, the circuit has only a couple of ICs and some tonal shaping here and there. I wonder if an eq and a mxr+/ds-1 can do the same?

mac

mac

[SISKO]

Well.. Thanks guys.. you`re being very helpfull.
with all your comments, Ive decided that I'm gonna build the firefly AND a GT-2 ..
you know .FIREFLY=tube GT-2=more sounds..
i think that i agree with all your comments. THAT IS:
GT-2 its a very good simulator but its never gonna take you in to the real thing territory..
if you can get some tube amp before the disappear from your store (it seems that in my store they were taken a long, long time a go, because, in my life Ive never seen one..)

sorry if i repeated some thing that you have already said..just for a conclusion

well..
ROCK ON

BYE

SISKO

[SISKO]

if you can get some tube amp before the disappear from your store (it seems that in my store they were taken a long, long time a go, because, in my life Ive never seen one..)

go and see  if you can get some tube amp before they disappear from your store (it seems that in my store they were taken a long, long time a go, because, in my life Ive never seen one..)

sorry i dont know in what i was thinking

bye
SISKO

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

I just don't see why everyone says that it can never be the 'real thing'... the fact that you can identify a 'real thing' makes it attainable (or, at least approximable) and likely to eventually happen. Eventually, the digital technology will encompass tube technology effectively enough to compete. There's simply no arguing it. Our task as consumers will be to decide where the technology is close enough to the 'real thing' that we cannot detect any real difference.

I have tube amps, but they don't win any points for just being tube amps. My favorite amp is digital. My second choice is a tube amp, but it gets murky and noisy when dimed. I am bothered by people consistently attacking SS or digital technology in favor of tubes. I think these people are developing a both unfair and costly stereotype.

At the moment, the LXH2 project is taking up some space on my desk, and it is supposed to accurately model the Marshall sound. It has been a serious investment in time and i expect nice results. With 14 opamps, i just don't see it messing up too bad! 

as a small side note, my father constructed a tube amplifier when he was young to use with his radio. He commented that anyone who worked with those tubes, resistors, caps, and their associated tendencies warmly welcomed transistors. 

[mac]

When I tell musicians that dsp will eventually replace tubes and transistors, that one day we will plug our guitars into laptops, that dsp could outperform tubes, that I like some ss amps more than some tube amps, they look at me as if I were a stupid newbie or a madman.

Today is tube day, tomorrow dsp day.

mac

[SISKO]

WOWOWOW.
                    It seems that sudenly, the bomb exploded(please, do not take me grong). Now we have two diferent opinions. (great)
The other day i talked to my dad about building a FireFly, and he told me that tubes were a fashions, similar to mac.
So.. i spend some time thinking (some times i do) and got to the conclusion that the guys (man) who`s opinion are here, they already have a tube amp.. (well... almost). But i dont. Some day not far away from today, when ive finished the firefly im goona get the posibility of saying:.. OH god..Connoisseur of Distortion was right i spend a lot of time and money and i cant tell de diference... or.. i yeahhh theres nothing but the real thing..
maybe fashion... maybe psicoacustic..maybe the sea.. or wathever

ROCK ON

BYE

SISKO