The Tube. If you’re British – The Valve. But specifically, the vacuum tube. It’s been with us since 1904. That’s right – this amazing tech is 120 years old as of this article. (Human years not dog years.)
So, in this world of digital mastery and propulsion – why do we still care about a vacuum sealed glass bottle that controls electric current flow? I mean, Kemper and Fractal say we don’t need ‘em. They wear out. They break. They…
They sound AMAZING – that’s why. And if you play guitar, bass, etc – you may already know – they FEEL amazing as well.
With all the advancements in guitar tech – they still have not found out how to make a digital amplifier ‘feel’ like it has the natural push and pull of a tube. The glorious ‘response’ of a tube to dynamics, picking attack, finger touch – digital just can’t do it yet. There’s a magic in that glass, those collectors, those plates… Read about the tech of a tube –it is fascinating – especially given the time period it was invented. Thank you, John Ambrose Fleming! (Whom I swear is Nicolas Cage’s great, great grampy – take a look!)
Tube’s make our preamps sing with snap and gain. They make our currents move from AC to DC to AC. They make our power amps thunder. Try a Marshall 50 or 100 watt on 7. Hit it lightly and it will sound as though it is the clean entry to heaven. Then smack a power chord and whoosh – the bottle comes to life, the compression gods open their arms, and she roars like a jet. Nothing like it. No digital whatcha-macall-it can do it.
We ain’t dogging the 1’s and 0’s flair. It’s great. It has awesome uses, practicality and sounds. It just can’t do what glass can do. Until then, you need to welcome EL34’s, 6L6’s, 6V6’s, EL84’s, 12AX7’s, EC83’2 – and a slew of other flavors of tubes into your life.
Don’t be scared. Be bold. Stand on the backs of legends who have created magic with these tone bottles since the dawn of electrified guitar.
Check out the fantastical tube delicacies we have here at Music Go Round St. Louis. We have a whole sub-category dedicated to these wonders.
“ Muddy Waters invented l’ectricity’ “
Blind Willy Brown
And he used a Tube…
