Take That Tube Amp And Shove It

There’s been a revolution going on in guitar sound over the last decade that hasn’t been at all subtle. Amplifier simulators have gradually taken over to the point where even some of rock’s guitar gods are using them onstage. The common tube amp looks like it will soon to be a thing of past, as we’re seeing and hearing great near-perfect simulations on the latest amps. What really drilled this home for me though, is seeing that Fender just released new models of classic amps based on tube simulations.

The hallowed Fender Deluxe and Twin are now available at half the price and half the weight with a sound that gets close enough to the original tube designs that you probably won’t care about the minute differences. This is thanks to precise impulse response measurements of great versions of the original amps and some nice convolution reverb to simulate the original spring reverb.

But what really jumped out to me is that these amps looked almost identical to the original tube versions and operate in exactly the same way. Unlike a lot of other digital amps, there are no extra whistles and bells on the front panel. They look like an original Deluxe or Twin and operate just like them as well, including where the amps break up depending upon the volume knob setting.

The only things that jump out as different is on the back panel where you’ll find a power switch (goodbye power soak), and an XLR for a simple amp sim output with a level control and a couple of mic simulations.

Now I’m not treating these amps like I would on New Music Gear Monday in pointing out all the features (although I think I just did), I’m just trying to make a point that we’ve crossed the realm where just a simple simulation of the best version of the original is now good enough for many people. They don’t need a lot of choices, so the one classic sound is fine. For many younger players, they don’t much care whether it’s classic or not, just that it fits their style (probably the best reason to buy a piece of gear).

But everyone likes not having to wear a back brace for carrying an amp around, and the retail price ($899 for the Deluxe, $999 for the Twin) sure does help the pocketbook as well.

If this is the beginning of driving the final nail in the tube amp coffin, so bit it. That happened in plugins vs outboard audio gear long ago. Tubes themselves are getting more scarce, and there’s no guarantee that the plants that currently make them will be around in the future.

You can take that tube amp and shove it. You’re not going to miss it at all.

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