pvampmgr wrote:tiger j wrote:Michael Smith,
If you dare venture an answer given the all-tube flamers may pounce... can you shed light on why all the brands, including Peavey, who offered a hybrid-tube modeler have stopped producing them in favor of solid-state only modelers? Is it that the modeling labs and engineers believe they are achieving high-end imitation of tube amp tone without the need for any actual tubes in the modeler itself? Or is it something more mundane like cost, reliability etc.?
It's really simple, the tube models don't sell enough to really justify their existence. I'd say the solid state models outsell the tube models 100:1. It's really no more complicated than that. But keep in mind, Peavey's Transtube sounds and feels like real tube distortion. When I first got to Peavey in 2005, I was that guy, a total tube snob. So, knowing I'd have to sell SS amps I got a red stripe Bandit and took on the road for a few weeks. Truly I was blown away, and became a Transtube believer, not a poser by default. You really do forget you're playing a SS amp.
Michael,
Thanks for your reply. I know you are busy. I appreciate your taking the time to converse with us.
My background with Peavey and Trans-Tube: I have been a long-time supported of Peavey (my first Peavey was a Peavey Musician head and 4X12 - back in the 70s). I have also been a supporter of Trans-Tube. Compared to other technologies on the market, Trans-Tube is far superior.
I am an owner of an original series Vypyr Tube-60. Wonderful, wonderful amp. I gigged with it at church for a number of years. Once I heard it (with someone else playing) and once I played through it, I was sold on the Trans-Tube preamp + valve power section.
The VIP series: To be up front (but not argumentative), I was a disappointed when the VIP series came out - and the original series was left hanging in the wind. There were a number of customers who had original-series Vypyrs and were anxiously awaiting firmware updates for many of the issues that were yet outstanding. I cannot speak for the entire group, but I was bummed when the new series came out and the original series was seemingly abandoned (none of the issues were addressed).
I do understand the points about marketing. But, I think most people (and, to a degree, even Peavey) underestimated just how good that original series was. While it was priced as being almost an entry-level modeler, it was far superior to anything on the market. People seemed to discount just how good it was. They saw the price and the "fangs", and concluded it was "entry level" - when it (and especially the Tube-60 and Tube-120 models) definitely exceeded mere entry-level.
In that context, I totally see what Peavey did with the VIP series. They filled an entry-level (beginner) modeling niche with it. It was the perceived dumping of the original series that bummed me.
The Pro series: When talk of the Vypyr-Pro came out and we were questioned as to what we wanted to see in the new amp, I based my views and responses on my thinking the Pro series was going to be a continuance of the original series (since the original series was so heads and shoulders above everything else on the market), and not a continuance of the VIP series.
I was completely wrong, and disappointment when I realized the Pro series was an iteration of the VIP series. To me, Peavey took a step back when they did that. Even though the amp is labeled "Pro", the people I have talked to associate it much more with the VIP series (which they view as being an entry-level amp) than they do the original series (which they thought was quite good).
PS: This is not to take anything away from the VIP series. If I had not already had an original series amp, I would have probably purchased a VIP series model. But, for someone who already had a Vypyr, the VIP series did not offer enough over and above the original series to warrant me purchasing one. But, I have recommended the VIP series for some of my students.
Tube snob? Circling back to the question to which you were responding, am I a tube snob? It depends on how you define a "snob". To me, a snob is one who looks down on others who do not have the same view as them. A snob would consider their choice to be "inferior". I have no problem with someone who does not make the same gear choices as me. Their preferences are simply not the same as mine. Neither is right, neither is wrong.
I still love my original Vypyr Tube-60. I think it sounds wonderful. I love the response and dynamics that come from the Trans-Tube + valve combination. In comparison, I had a Marshall "valvestate" amp that was the opposite. It had a valve preamp (1 12aX7) and a solid-state power section. The Tube-60 blew it away. I got rid of it, but still have my Peavey.
I understand Peavey and what it did with the Pro series. I simply see where, to me, it could have had a better entry into the marketplace than it did. It seems as if its close association to a perceived entry-level amp has caused some percentage of buyers to discount it and not give it a fair shake.
Conclusion:The original Vpypr series
still blows away anything Line 6 has done, most of what Zoom has done, and anything Fender has done in the Mustang series. It is not in the same league as some of the higher end modelers, but it has a rather unique position in the middle tier. The series has been around for a while - and the competitors at that tier of the market
still can't touch it.
Thanks for making yourself available and responding. And, thanks for hearing me out.