High Gain? Why use it for an Amp?

[jrfrond]

Every amp builder has their own ideas of what sounds best. In my head, the shortest distance between two points (i.e. shortest signal path, meaning the least amount of tubes with the least amount of throwaway gain) sounds best, and that always translates to a lower gain amp. You get to hear the nuances (e.g. wood tones) of the guitar. You can always use a box of some sort for the high-gain effect, and we have PLENTY of good-to-great choices nowadays.

All else being equal, your substitution of lower mu tubes with their lower plate impedance can be used effectively to "open up" the tone somewhat. You can freely experiment here, but the lowest mu tube, the 12AU7, is not USUALLY effective as a 1st stage preamp tube, though it has been used successfully in some designs. Use your ears and fingers as a guide.

[Enzo]

"Why put lobster on the menu when there is perfectly good steak already there?"
I'm not sure what you mean to say here. I just don't see a point in running a guitar through what amounts to a magnetic phono cartridge input. There are a million valid guitar tones and a market for all of them.

The point was you seem to be dismissing one design approach because it is not the style you like. So I was making the analogy in a restaurant menu - why should they have other things on the menu when they already have what I prefer. If you like an vintage Fender tone, that doesn;t make a 5150 any less "valid." I doubt the metal crowd would get all excited if they saw a couple Deluxes on the back line.

Why does someone get the "perfect" amp and then also use a tube screamer pedal in front of it? Nothing is invalidated by this, it just adds a few more tones to your million.

[guitician]

I doubt the metal crowd would get all excited if they saw a couple Deluxes on the back line.

They would if a tech put a diode/cap on the speaker.LOL

The point of this thread was, I just think high gain "tone" is better when it is made with low gain circuits.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

They would if a tech put a diode/cap on the speaker.LOL.....

What do you think that would do?

[guitician]

What do you think that would do?

Ha! I knew that would bend someones mind.LOL

Back in HS I built this Heathlit SS amp for my brother and it would'nt distort, imagine that??? So I looked into Elect. Mags and found this simple distortion circuit that was just a diode and cap in series with the speaker lead. Well, it distored all right, and you had to turn the amp all the way up to get bedroom volume. But the sound was like Randy Rhoads "Crazy Train". It was useless for really playing the amp and I removed it after a couple of hours of noise.