if not tubes or solid state, then what

[Bogner]

"neighborhood of B"

That Is Easy For Me...Just Say Out Of Key! I Just Bend Until I Get In Key Or A String Breaks.

 

[andy474x]

I hear Doug and Paul are close to having an amp powered by the Flux Capacitor. Fortunately, we don’t live in 1955, and plutonium is now available at every corner drugstore.

 

[WingerRules]

I hear Doug and Paul are close to having an amp powered by the Flux Capacitor. Fortunately, we don’t live in 1955, and plutonium is now available at every corner drugstore.

World domination with guitar amps! And, looking around the globe these days, it might be just in time!

 

[Rhythmisking]

The guitar amplifier was built to do one thing initially, amplify the sound of the guitar. Unfortunately (IMO), the technology of the time inserted other nuances that influenced the sound beyond pure amplification. As a result, the industry ended up with what can only be described as effects boxes as far as I am concerned that also amplify the sound level. hing more than amplify the sound, all else is effects you can add before or after the amplification.

So to answer the question of "if not tubes or solid state, what then?" my answer to the industry would be, stop looking at the amp as a sound influencer and find/build the purest no-effects amplification of the sound as possible. Add effects to taste before and after but find a way to give us amplification without it imparting any influence on the sound other than volume level ;~)) Now the speakers are a whole different story!!!

There are some problems with this. A really fine electric guitar plugged directly into a perfectly flat, high quality audio amplifier to most people doesn't sound very good, akin to how a spectacular acoustic guitar with a piezo element plugged into a dry, perfectly flat audio amplifier doesn't sound all that great, or anything like the actual acoustic guitar itself.

Electric guitars came about as a way to have an acoustic guitar be heard in a (big) band setting. The remedy, the magnetic pickup (original called a "guitar microphone") worked because the physics work, but the signal generated by the pickup going through mid 20th century vacuum tube amplification was very, very different from the sound of the acoustic guitar it was making louder. But people liked the sound for what it was. Add to this the fact that an acoustic guitar's body is also selectively amplifying certain parts of the strings sounds and diminishing others, also in ways that people like. Both an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar produce sounds that humans find enjoyable to listen to. So selective, specific modification of the sound of a vibrating string is an inherent part of what makes a particular instrument popular, not the accuracy of the reproduction from a physics standpoint. It's an esthetic preference, not a scientific one.

A violin, a kora, an erhu each also have very different, distinctive sounds because of selective amplification and filtration. For centuries humans have been doing this with mechanical contrivances, now we've added electrical contrivances as well.

Leo Fender, being an engineer first, was trying to make a better "guitar mic" that more accurately reproduced the sound of a vibrating string, and he did so (allegedly/anecdotally) by pushing one end of a dowel onto the bridge of a guitar and the other end onto his ear/skull, thinking 'this is what an electric guitar pickup should sound like'.

I think the esthetic quality of the sound itself is the most important thing. The specifics of how it's derived is less important to me. YMMV.
...and I'm somewhat pedantic...sorry

 

[Moondog Wily]

There are some problems with this. A really fine electric guitar plugged directly into a perfectly flat, high quality audio amplifier to most people doesn't sound very good, akin to how a spectacular acoustic guitar with a piezo element plugged into a dry, perfectly flat audio amplifier doesn't sound all that great, or anything like the actual acoustic guitar itself.

Electric guitars came about as a way to have an acoustic guitar be heard in a (big) band setting. The remedy, the magnetic pickup (original called a "guitar microphone") worked because the physics work, but the signal generated by the pickup going through mid 20th century vacuum tube amplification was very, very different from the sound of the acoustic guitar it was making louder. But people liked the sound for what it was. Add to this the fact that an acoustic guitar's body is also selectively amplifying certain parts of the strings sounds and diminishing others, also in ways that people like. Both an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar produce sounds that humans find enjoyable to listen to. So selective, specific modification of the sound of a vibrating string is an inherent part of what makes a particular instrument popular, not the accuracy of the reproduction from a physics standpoint. It's an esthetic preference, not a scientific one.

A violin, a kora, an erhu each also have very different, distinctive sounds because of selective amplification and filtration. For centuries humans have been doing this with mechanical contrivances, now we've added electrical contrivances as well.

Leo Fender, being an engineer first, was trying to make a better "guitar mic" that more accurately reproduced the sound of a vibrating string, and he did so (allegedly/anecdotally) by pushing one end of a dowel onto the bridge of a guitar and the other end onto his ear/skull, thinking 'this is what an electric guitar pickup should sound like'.

I think the esthetic quality of the sound itself is the most important thing. The specifics of how it's derived is less important to me. YMMV.
...and I'm somewhat pedantic...sorry

You arguments are noted. I still want an amplifier to not influence the sound but only amplify the volume level. If I want to influence the tone, I will use other devices to do so ;~)) That is my ideal world of amplification. Your mileage obviously varies, and that is a good thing!!!

 

[Jimi D]

Never heard of them but just did a search! Sounds like they have some good things going on paper, but I would have to hear them in person before I could muster any real interest in them. If my stars were to align financially, I would get a couple of Meyer sound wedges and call it a day!! Currently play mostly through headphones but occasionally set up my JBL PA speakers when I want to fill the house with noise ;~)) Thanks for the Quilter idea, I will keep my eye on them!!!

I have a couple Quilters, including this one, of which I am rather fond:

 

[Going Modal]

I have a couple Quilters... of which I am rather fond...

Indeed, the Quilters are very impressive--even when surrounded by a handful of really nice tube amps, as mine is.

 

[opnoob]

There are some problems with this. A really fine electric guitar plugged directly into a perfectly flat, high quality audio amplifier to most people doesn't sound very good, akin to how a spectacular acoustic guitar with a piezo element plugged into a dry, perfectly flat audio amplifier doesn't sound all that great, or anything like the actual acoustic guitar itself.

Electric guitars came about as a way to have an acoustic guitar be heard in a (big) band setting. The remedy, the magnetic pickup (original called a "guitar microphone") worked because the physics work, but the signal generated by the pickup going through mid 20th century vacuum tube amplification was very, very different from the sound of the acoustic guitar it was making louder. But people liked the sound for what it was. Add to this the fact that an acoustic guitar's body is also selectively amplifying certain parts of the strings sounds and diminishing others, also in ways that people like. Both an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar produce sounds that humans find enjoyable to listen to. So selective, specific modification of the sound of a vibrating string is an inherent part of what makes a particular instrument popular, not the accuracy of the reproduction from a physics standpoint. It's an esthetic preference, not a scientific one.

A violin, a kora, an erhu each also have very different, distinctive sounds because of selective amplification and filtration. For centuries humans have been doing this with mechanical contrivances, now we've added electrical contrivances as well.

Leo Fender, being an engineer first, was trying to make a better "guitar mic" that more accurately reproduced the sound of a vibrating string, and he did so (allegedly/anecdotally) by pushing one end of a dowel onto the bridge of a guitar and the other end onto his ear/skull, thinking 'this is what an electric guitar pickup should sound like'.

I think the esthetic quality of the sound itself is the most important thing. The specifics of how it's derived is less important to me. YMMV.
...and I'm somewhat pedantic...sorry

This was really informative. Thanks.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I hear Doug and Paul are close to having an amp powered by the Flux Capacitor. Fortunately, we don’t live in 1955, and plutonium is now available at every corner drugstore.

The BTTF 88 if I’m not mistaken.