Having played electric guitar for 30 years and recorded about ten albums, I've learned a thing or two on the subject...
First, when you're playing, you can hear incredibly tiny details that no one else can hear. The other day, I spent a half hour choosing which of four different variants of Dunlop Jazz III picks I liked best. (I'm a pick nerd and I'm always fussing over them. My drummer can hear when I change picks, but no one else can.)
Second, those differences are lost in the big picture. I have recordings of my own playing I love, where I couldn't tell you what guitar or amp I was using without looking at my notes.
Third, playing in a full band is a fundamentally different tonal experience than playing by yourself. Again with the subtleties. A lot of the subtleties that make gear nerding fun actually make for poor tone in a band context. More importantly, gear that sounds bad by itself can be magical in a band context.
Fourth, guitar playing is an incredibly physical and sensual experience. You feel it in your bones. Part of the fun of big tube amps is "getting your hair blown back", feeling the vibration literally shaking your body. It's a blast (motorcycles have the same physical presence). For me at least, it means I don't like guitars that are too easy to play - I want it to fight back and make me work for my tone.
On the subject of tube amps versus solid state modeling (Sansamp, etc) versus digital modeling... remember, not only is the guitar a physical thing, it's a very sensitive and responsive thing. The real problem with digital modeling imho is getting the response right, that precious moment when the pick leaves the string. This gets worse when the subtleties of harmonic distortion come into play - clean and mildly overdriven sounds (there's no such thing as really "clean" electric guitar).
What's worked for me in recording situations is to rely on analog pedals for the attack, and track into really neutral digital models. It's less hassle than miking amps, for sure, and the results can be very good.
Tubes are great for power more than drive. Transistors and op-amps have been part of the overdriven sound for almost as long as electric guitars have been around - starting with 1960s fuzz. Solid state amps tend to fall down delivering live power in a band context, although modern Class H switching amp technology (basically digital amps heterodyning the signal several octaves outside the range of hearing, so digital distortion artifacts are inaudible) is getting brilliant.
Me, I've more or less quit using tube amps, due to reliability issues. My beautiful Mesa Mark I and my monstrous VHT Pittbull 45 are both sitting with blown power transformers. I use a vintage Yamaha solid-state jazz amp and pedals, and I'm happy.
Oh, and studio recording? Anyone who demands "realism" from their hi-fi gear has no idea how recording is done!
Your last comment is great! I have an uncle who is a hifi fanatic. Ive done enough recording over the last 15 years, along with knowing how a lot of his "holy grail" albums were recorded to know that they are completely at odds. I think I have really just come to the conclusion that if a mix engineer can separate the soundstage and create a mix that sounds like there are several people playing in separate spaces then it is "reproducing live" music. The nit picking about turntable tone arms, different preamp stages, and all the other audiophile stuff is just silly when you think that most music is being recorded on mediocre quality IC based transistor gear and processed with DSP based effects and nary a tube has touched much of the audio signal.
> First, when you're playing, you can hear incredibly tiny details that no one else can hear.
I wish people would learn music. it's such a weird thing. the amount of unheard details that comes to you, tone, rhythm, harmony, texture, syncopation... And even playing. I never played on live amps pushing back at me, but just driving a few guys sitting behind the drums is like voodoo. Owning time is mystical, as is losing it; seems like our mammalian brains have a direct feed.
Drums are HARD, man! Drums are the second hardest instrument I've ever learned (the hardest was pedal steel, which kicked my ass. I gave up on it after realizing I'd need to spend three years or so as my primary instrument in order to gain real competence).
I love the pull back and forth to set the feel of a band, too. One band I'm in has an odd effect... in most bands, one person tends to be the timekeeper (usually but not always the drummer), and the rest of the band follows her. But in this particular band I'm in, time-leading rotates - three of the four members can be the timekeeper, depending on the song.
I don't know many instruments, I wouldn't say drums are especially hard, but they sure are deceptively simple looking. Even though, advanced stick control is akin to learning skateboard tricks, quite subtle. With the skin loudness, the tiniest variation become a catastrophe.
I think drums are hard because its more than just keeping time. Different styles are completely different vocabularies that require different dexterity to be effective. That said, I can pretty much play "rhythm everything"- meaning drums, bass, guitar, piano. Im not particularly good at any one instrument nor do I feel Im an expert to speak on any instrument but if I had to rank the instruments I can play in order of difficulty I would say:
1) piano - playing chords in a rhythm is not hard, separating your hands can be tough and playing classical can be infinitely difficult.
2) drums - I am not a natural drummer, so staying on rhythm and fills and different styles was a hard won battle for me. I think that some people are born with this ability so drums may seem simple to them.
3) guitar - probably the easiest instrument to compose a full song with, and its somewhat easy to vary from chords to leads and back. I think that anyone with 6 months and some determination can be a "competent" guitarist or at least get over the learning curve.
4) bass - I think this is easiest because you have the choice to relegate yourself to the rhythm section and just play a groove.
Im sure that others may feel differently, and I don't think there is a right answer. Being a virtuoso at any of these instruments is truly difficult, but getting over the learning curve and playing for fun definitely varies.
I dont see these running power amp sections. I was initially excited by this development as well, but I am hoping KORG doesnt just throw these "tubes" in every DSP synth, drum machine and prosumer piece of gear they make and say "NOW WITH MOAR TUBES!!!!"
I would be interested to see analog gear built front to back with this stuff however...
> For me at least, it means I don't like guitars that are too easy to play - I want it to fight back and make me work for my tone.
Interesting perspective. I'm the polar opposite. I have a love/hate relationship with Strat-type guitars. I love the huge dynamic range they have, but I feel the design of the guitar is fighting me all the way. I always end up back at my Les Paul, which sounds great no matter what I do.
I'm mostly a Telecaster player. One thing I don't like about the Strat is the smooth, comfy curves. I can't feel where the guitar is relative to my torso or my forearm, which costs me control and accuracy. The squared edges of a Telecaster dig into my ribs and arm, and I have a better sense of what I'm doing.
Les Pauls drive me nuts due to the lack of dynamics. Marshall amps, too. My favorite combination is a Telecaster into a vintage Mesa. The thing about Teles and Mesas is "all the way up" == "too much". They're happier with the control knobs backed off some. And picking? A little dynamic slip and it sounds like a gun going off by your ear. Forces you to be controlled!
+1 for telecaster "shape" -- I grew up on Strats, but play a thin line Tele most of the time now. I concur with your assessment of being able to "feel" where it is.
First, when you're playing, you can hear incredibly tiny details that no one else can hear. The other day, I spent a half hour choosing which of four different variants of Dunlop Jazz III picks I liked best. (I'm a pick nerd and I'm always fussing over them. My drummer can hear when I change picks, but no one else can.)
Second, those differences are lost in the big picture. I have recordings of my own playing I love, where I couldn't tell you what guitar or amp I was using without looking at my notes.
Third, playing in a full band is a fundamentally different tonal experience than playing by yourself. Again with the subtleties. A lot of the subtleties that make gear nerding fun actually make for poor tone in a band context. More importantly, gear that sounds bad by itself can be magical in a band context.
Fourth, guitar playing is an incredibly physical and sensual experience. You feel it in your bones. Part of the fun of big tube amps is "getting your hair blown back", feeling the vibration literally shaking your body. It's a blast (motorcycles have the same physical presence). For me at least, it means I don't like guitars that are too easy to play - I want it to fight back and make me work for my tone.
On the subject of tube amps versus solid state modeling (Sansamp, etc) versus digital modeling... remember, not only is the guitar a physical thing, it's a very sensitive and responsive thing. The real problem with digital modeling imho is getting the response right, that precious moment when the pick leaves the string. This gets worse when the subtleties of harmonic distortion come into play - clean and mildly overdriven sounds (there's no such thing as really "clean" electric guitar).
What's worked for me in recording situations is to rely on analog pedals for the attack, and track into really neutral digital models. It's less hassle than miking amps, for sure, and the results can be very good.
Tubes are great for power more than drive. Transistors and op-amps have been part of the overdriven sound for almost as long as electric guitars have been around - starting with 1960s fuzz. Solid state amps tend to fall down delivering live power in a band context, although modern Class H switching amp technology (basically digital amps heterodyning the signal several octaves outside the range of hearing, so digital distortion artifacts are inaudible) is getting brilliant.
Me, I've more or less quit using tube amps, due to reliability issues. My beautiful Mesa Mark I and my monstrous VHT Pittbull 45 are both sitting with blown power transformers. I use a vintage Yamaha solid-state jazz amp and pedals, and I'm happy.
Oh, and studio recording? Anyone who demands "realism" from their hi-fi gear has no idea how recording is done!