Can a guitar pedal REALLY sound like a TUBE AMP?
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- Опубликовано: 15 янв 2024
- In today's episode, I'm taking you on a unique journey - a challenge I set for myself to see if I can emulate the warm, rich tones of a tube amp using nothing but solid state circuitry just like we use in analog guitar pedals.
We start off with a nostalgic piece - the Crate V50, 5212, a budget tube amp that's been a trusty companion for many guitarists over the years. My mission? To replicate its sound using analog pedal circuitry, blending FET and NPN bipolar transistors. It's a fascinating process of breadboarding and tweaking to get as close as possible to that beloved tube amp sound.
Join me as I walk you through the design a little bit, sharing my thoughts and observations along the way, shall you? ;)
I also go into the technicalities of using a breadboard as a preamp, and how it changes the way you connect to your amp. Plus, I'll share my initial reactions to the higher gain settings, and how dialing back the gain reveals some interesting characteristics of the solid state circuit.
But this isn't just about the tech; it's about the journey. This video is a little peek into the experimental side of pedal and audio circuitry design, where trial and error lead to discovery and innovation. And, of course, I want to hear from you! Did this breadboard circuit capture the essence of the tube amp? Did it sound better, worse, or just different?
As always, we value your input - drop your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Did this experiment ignite your curiosity? Would you like to see more of these hands-on, experimental videos? Let me know!
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Attention Guitar Gear lovers and DIY Pedal Fanatics!!
For years I’ve had many folks ask me to make dedicated courses on some of these topics that I dive into here on youtube, but have been wanting me to go into way more detail.
I’m proud to announce that we now have two guitar pedal courses available that are deep dive on all of those pedal questions you’ve been wondering, and we are ALSO taking pre-enrollments for a huge “How to design overdrive and distortion pedal circuits” course for beginners and intermediates who are wanting to learn all about the electronics side of guitar pedals.*
All of these courses are ABSOLUTELY RISK FREE - 100% money back guarantee within 30 days of your purchase. If you don’t love the courses, I’ll refund you, no questions asked.
If the thrill of building and tweaking your own equipment ignites your passion, you’ll love it. Swing by my other website, www.guitarpedalcourse.com 
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The fact that you got that close in such a short amount of time is crazy, all that experience paying off big time on saving time.
I can't believe how good that Crate sounded.
True enough... Never liked the Crates I've used, but this sounded good - both of them.
I've had a V50 for a few years now. It's just not like the other Crates.
I still have my Crate G40XL combo.
I have that same Crate amp. It’s a beast. Loud. Tricky to dial in. Heavy as a house. But man, when you find that sweet spot, it is awesome! And it takes pedals just great.
Can you share your settings?
Dude, your ear is intense. Great job dialing that in, thats so impressive.
That board sounded grrrreat all around. But the first high gain take of the amp sounded stellar. Meaty, open, clear. Pretty much the sound I have in my head as perfect. Hope to see some pedal hitting the market soon by you 👌
You are a wizard when it comes to circuit development!
This is super interesting. You got me with the Crate in the thumbnail… I used a Crate V3112 from the same model series exclusively when I was touring in the Texas Music circuit. Worked great for me for the Red Dirt stuff and I was ALWAYS getting compliments on my tone. Many players didn’t know what it was and would come ask me… and the FOH guys would live it because the circuit sounds like a boutique cross between a JCM800 and an AC30, but the clean channel takes pedals really well and a tube screamer in front, but what won me over was that all the tube tone is there as soon as you crack the volume. I would play large stages and never needed to play louder than 2 or 3, and sound guys loved it because they could actually put me in the mix. Simple to swap tubes on it, because it is a tube muncher of an amp… I giggled it solid for 10 years and it never took a 💩 on me. I’ve got 2 combos I play in stereo sometimes and a head version too for the studio. Thanks for making this video!! More of these please
Those amps are total sleepers, wouldn’t expect them to sound that good. From what you’re saying they may be one trick ponies but that’s a nice trick for the price. The breadboard sounded awesome as expected. Maybe not a bad circuit design idea for a more budget oriented overdrive or something. I’m sure the two feel different but tonally over RUclips they’re really close. If I did a blind A/B I probably couldn’t tell you which was which.
Another pedal in the Triumph/Phenom line? A preamp-style pedal? I'd buy that.
Nice job for a such a quick breadboard! Yeah you could argue about the EQ but for me it was the same thing I’ve thought about SS vs Tube for years: the initial bloom and sag of the tubes is missing. Solid state is much more “anemic” or compressed. Again, the tone is there but the dynamics is the biggest factor. This is why I dug your Phenom, it focused on that aspect!✌️
Thanks Andy!
Tone is absolutely subjective…until freaking Andy weighs in…at which point you have the correct answer. Wowsers!!
I appreciate this content and have found inspiration from way back from your first pedal showing your breadboard setup. Obviously there is a huge amount of talent and skill demonstrated in this video that deserves recognition, and one aspect I would point out is that to do this project, you are going between an engineering/design approach to a listening/playing approach in a very special way. The ability to see "how close you can get" to copy an existing amp is kind of burying the lead. Having the experience, skill, and drive to have a sound in your head or in your customers' heads and then capture it in a piece of gear is really what I find most inspiring and impressive here. Sure, a viewer can always watch your content and say to themselves, "I wanna be that good," about your playing, your design, your work ethic or business model, etc. Without overly gushing (too late), you should know there are many who are saying "I wanna be that good" regarding the ability to capture the sounds in our heads and make them a real thing. Thank you.
That’s very kind of you!
You are always so humble and so focused! Love this! Thanks for doing what you do!
Just signed up for your pedal course. I'm super stoked!
Awesome! As a teen in the 80s, I couldn't afford any of the BIG brand amps (Marshall, Boogie, Fender etc). Crate was my go to. I would love to see that circuit make it as a production pedal. Ah, the memories.
I love my Crate GX, I still use it as a preamp, just driving whatever is handy to use as a power section. If someone made that circuit in a stompbox I'd be like Fry: _Shut up and take my money!_
Amazing video, thanks for sharing this. I really think the solid state sounded excellent.
I appreciate all the effort & time you put into making content like this. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.
Sounds great to me. You're a genius creating overdrive/distortion pedals. Inspiring.
Very cool experiment and it sounded killer! Would love to see more of the nerdy details! I might have to get that course haha
It's really nice to see a classico style "Breadboarding With Brian" video.
Sounded awesome. I would love that class.
Wow ! when you first played the v50, sounded great. I have never heard or seen that series before.
Great video and that bread circuit is really good for a couple of hours work. Quite close, different but good.
Cool video! Sounded really good.
Would love to see the course once it’s ready. Keep us posted🎉 enjoyed the vid interesting as I thought both sounded very similar
Brian always has his own take on gear and it is appreciated. Thank you. Darrell
Its cool as hell that you can just bread board an amps preamp like that. Cool stuff Brian.
Great vid as always! Thanks man
Thanks for doing this experiment!
*for informational purposes only* 😁
2:29 Tube pre-amp
3:27 Breadboard pre-amp
4:39 Breadboard pre-amp. TAKE 2
5:43 Breadboard pre-amp GAIN@NOON 😃
6:22 Breadboard pre-amp TAKE 3
I want the deluxe solid state Wampler amp! Tube amps pose mostly inconveniences to me (operational volume, associated costs, maintenance, others...); just like Harleys... 😆 Once broken in, and actually understanding how to use them, Quilter Mach 3 are great. I bet Mr. Wampler can push things further.
Thanks, that was super useful!
Also, for the sustain comparison:
2:36 - Tube pre-amp
6:31 - Breadboard
Although to me it just sounded like the second clip simply had more gain?
I have 4 ss amps. I've been playing for 30+ years. I can't tell the difference. Tech has gotten so good.
@BOBANDVEG any recommendations, particularly on the more adorable end of things? 😄
@@ioncewasmikey yeah, the orange 20 rt. Sounds like every 80s rock hit just plugging it in
@BOBANDVEG Thanks! I'm more into new wave & alternative as far as that decade is concerned, more of a 90s guy in general I guess. Is it versatile enough for that kind of thing?
Great stuff. Sounds convincing.
Great sounds! I remember having a pretty good time and a killer sound with a borrowed crate some years ago...
Sounds great, you did a great job nailing that tone. It is awesome to see someone tell what really goes on with the guitar signal, instead of all the voodoo and magic and feel that people talk about.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. I love my Wampler Ephoria!
Brian, those 5112, and 5212 vfx amps are a huge bang for the buck! I have had a couple. Great job mimicking it!
Nice job, Brian!
Less sustain but could be fixed with a compressor. I find most pedals can be made more tube amp like by adding a compressor and just rolling off a bit of treble. of course I don’t have magic ears, but to me you can achieve most tube amp sounds with this method.
Very informativ! Sounds great, thank you
Sounds amazing. I'd love to have this pedal!
Great job! Did an awesome simulation. Sounded close enough, but a little high rattle could be noticed when things were boosted. Great job man!
A Crate v50 212 was my first serious amp. It was a Christmas gift from my parents and I loved it. Gigged it all over town :)
I learn so much from Brian.
Well , 55 seconds in and I am 10000000% loving the idea of this video, what a thoroughly amazing idea for a video
Once you dropped the gain it sounded awesome. Badass dude
It sounded really good!
This is the first video I've seen from this channel, and I could not be more impressed. That tone was amazing. I don't think you can ever make an amp-in-a-box sound identical to a tube amp, so there will always be people who can "tell the difference" or have preference for the tube amp. Really, this is like graduating from Cornell and spending the next forty years wishing you had gone to Columbia ...
Very cool, makes you wonder why amp companies aren’t using analog circuits instead of digital stuff for solid state amps… love to see more vids like these.
I thought the same. I can only this of Quilter that does this.
❤Great video - fascinating. The quick breadboard pedal sounded surprisingly good. The low gain sounded as good or better than the actual amp. Your video also illustrates how much of the actual tone comes from the power amp speaker/s interplay.
Brian you're an absolute wizard dude haha well done
Love this type of content. 👍
Thanks Brian! To me it sounded pretty close especially for such a quick board. Very impressive and interesting!
Cool video Bryan. That's a real sleeper amp.
Those old crate amps are awesome! Great video. I always learn from your videos Bryan.
Yea they are, got a v1512 and v58 myself, they run hot but they got a sound that's hard to beat for what they sell for
Never owned a crate . But played a couple used ones at guitar center years ago that I really liked . Then they all just sort of disappeared . Playing a mesa mv 25 which I'm really loving . Was going through gt 1000 before I got the Mesa . Still have the gt 1000 but not using it so much . Only pedal im using right now is Keely mod station . May need to pull out compressor and wah pedal and I think im good
@@riviecc a mesa Boogie! Brother you are set and ready for anything.... unfortunately Boogie's are big Bucks where I live😞 I'm still dreaming of owning one....after 30 years of playing🤣
@heavybrett-al4082 Was a little pricey , but just bought the head for 1300 . Going to sell my bass breaker 15 head and using cab for mesa . The head is super lighr and the 12 x1 cab is only 18lbs . Was lugging around a hot rod deluxe for years at 40 plus pounds . I have a back injury so this really helps and this amp does everything
@@riviecc 👍 nice, yea those fender amps get super heavy, I've just started diving into modelling and ir's (after years of being suspect about tone quality) , and just got the Boss ir-2....very impressive including official celestion captured cab's....but one day I'll save for a Boogie (but only to just have one and look over to it and smile) 🤣
That was really cool! I really liked how 'chime-y' that last round was. It had a 'glean' or a 'gliss' to it that sounded fat but had a sweet, compressed top end that didn't get out of hand.
That V50, always wanted one but never got ahold of one. Understand I own a ton of amps and nothing stops me from grabbing one except forgetting or something. But that circuit course looks interesting. I could 'build my own'. Thing about that: I just bought that new TC Electronic pedal, the Jims 800, that is a JCM 800/JMP 50 in a pedal. I watched a video where it was ear tested and computer tested, and it MATCHED the actual heads it was going up against. I couldn't tell the difference. I've owned a 1978 JMP 50 MK II head before so I'll know if it's for real or not. But if I can build these things instead of buy them, and enjoy the process while doing so, that might be just the ticket.
I just enjoyed watching a master at work. That Brent Tele sure is nice!
Sounds awesome!
It's pretty similar, indeed!
Congrats!
Dude, you do some of the coolest stuff! When you rolled the gain off that solid state circuit, it was close to my own tone. Headroom it seemed and clarity like a blackface amp. Some compression would help the sustain but who am I telling. Thanks for the vid!
I loved the circuit🤘
That tone was rock and roll as hell. I personally think you got real close. Ive migrated away from tube amps myself and really got into clean solid state power with a good preamp pedal. Quilter amps are amazing for this.😊
I thought exactly what you thought. It was doing some interesting stuff with the gain dialed down.
I want the pedal...great tone. nailed it.
Really interesting experiment. Good explanation as always as to the method, results and conclusion. Damn close, bit more tweaking as you said then unlikely you would really hear much difference at all. Really enjoyable vid.
Great video👍
Great experiment. I had difficulty hearing the difference, as I do with most RUclips comparison videos. Due to that, I normally listen for level of inspiration - both circuits seem to have been as motivational to you, and you didn't stop playing the solid-state circuit until you heard the difference in sustain, which seems very fixable (not easy, I imagine.)
i listen to it in the car. its easier to hear the difference. unless you have a shity stereo?😊
it sounded really good. the amp as well. more videos
Awsome stuff...i found it flubby as it was being rolled down and it tightened up as you rolled it up...As usual though i love all your videos and content...You make some of the greatest pedals out there...the paisley rules!!!
Dude that was awesome! I’d love to see you try this with a clean/high headroom type pedal platform type preamp. Like a two rock traditional clean or something that won’t break up. Then Use this preamp as the second half of the pedal… 😉 nice work brian! Your content is awesome!
That Tele sounds really good!!!
I was just impressed with how much you nailed it in such a short amount of time.
I liked the 30 watt Marshall Artist amps of the mid 1980s, and they had a solid state preamp section, and I currently have a Quilter Power Block UK as a backup amp for gigs. That said, I prefer my 65 Amps, my Dr Z Amps, and my Shaw Amp to them.
The Circuit sound good!
I'd buy that circuit as it sits! Very cool.
excellent stuff and demonstrates perfectly how sometimes we're paying for a 'named' amp that actually isn't much different to something much cheaper that could sound just as good!
Great demo, very interesting. I really liked the sound of the breadboard with the gain rolled back. I love your pedals, btw. But I play pretty clean so my signal chain is a dab here and a dab there. That’s probably why I liked the gain down - I was starting to hear your Tele tone. Nice job! Thanks for all your hard work.
PS Your Faux Spring Reverb is outstanding!
I really liked the lower gain sound!
The gear box is my fav sounds amazing
Ok, I want the bread board overdrive 😅 nice 👍🏻
Thought they sounded pretty close, really liked how the bread board sounded
Ha, I had that amp! Great clean channel, very dark OD side.
Enjoyed this.
This is awesome! My main amp for years and current is a 5212. I crank my amp and gain and clean up with my guit vol. Everything from zz top to satriani. Love the rev and delay 2. Then theres the clean channel, can be sweet or big. Love it with a seymour dunc pickup booster.
It should really be titled "Can a pedal sound like a tube PREAMP?" - I'd wager the tube power section of the amp plays a HUGE role in here, not to mention the speaker.
I know how you felt walking out that door, those things are crazy heavy, I found mine to be dark but sounded good, I had an older model vintage club 50
Sounds fantastic!
My buddy Jeff (Slaughter) has been using 50w Crate Stealth heads for years…
They sound great! Total sleepers
I like the sound overall. I agree with some other comments that it was a little darker and as you said, a little tighter. Overall a fantastic sound.
Amazing result from an hour's work! You can hear the Crate preamp "breathe"; there's that "clank" of the tubes working, but I'd say in a live mix it wouldn't be as noticeable. Curious as to how hard you were driving the power amp. In my experience with Crate V-series and Blue Voodoo amps, the power section really made a huge difference in their tone. I could get crappy 90's digital rack gear to sound great through the power section if you cranked them a bit.
It’s only a 9v circuit, it’s not being driven hard
Brilliant experiment..hard to tell the difference between them in my opinion..Great work, very interesting
gutsy ambition sir!
Sounds pretty good already. Pedals can sound good in the effects loop if u use an eq boost pedal. Make it!
Loved the sound would actually be interested in a pedal along those lines.
That amp sounds way cool. i do love valve power amp section that i feel it gives it warmth.
Man, I love these videos…..
I think this is just amazing for a couple hours of breadbarding. Overall, Brian makes a very valid point.
I also had the 2x12 version of that USA Crate V50. Absolutely fantastic sleeper amp IMO.
Even in it's current iteration, I would still purchase this if it was marketed as a pedal - quite lovely!!
Wow! I thought it was just me. When you turned that gain down it sounded so dang good I thought you plugged back into the tube amp and had to come back to my computer to check (listening with wireless headphones while dong some housework 😁) I was shocked it was the solid state circuit. Sounded amazing!!!
Sounds very close, very talented.
I have The Sovreign Distortion...which Pairs great with my 79 JMP Combo... great job!
I used to own 2 Crates one was A wired 1-12 which was my go to. I really enjoyed them. I'll say your emulation is somewhat smoother but still ballsy... I'm enjoying your British mini drive at the moment.. I'll buy the pedal when you're done!
awesome sounding for sucha quick project, and the VC series was pretty killer but there was probably some diode gain with the tubes too
No clipping diodes in these particular amps
I totally agreed with your views on it, I feel there's a stage on the real amp thats getting saturated / compressed leading to the increased sustain
I had a VC3112 and loved it. I still have the little 5 watt VC in the closet somewhere.
The circuit was in the ball park but it was a bit dark. The amp was brighter which made it have it stand out from most of what is out there. Just a bit brighter and I would want you to do a pedal of it, LOL. I love these shows. I usually watch them over and over to actually learn something.
I wrote almost exactly the same post. Then I read yours and figured there was no point in posting it.
@@captainsparkySame here