Guitar invention took place in the early 16th century or late 15th century in Spain. The first guitar had two strings tuned to similar notes and resonating. Guitars were getting evolved in terms of materials, body shape, body type, and length. In 1931 Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp invented the first electric guitar. There was one question mark? How to reach out to a larger audience? In a hall or stadium? They started using a public address system to amplify the sound. Though the sound could reach a larger audience, it did not have that listening quality of music. There were multiple distortions, harsh tones, and other prevalent noise in the background. The performance was not at all enjoyable to the ears. In 1947 the first guitar amplifier was invented by Fender. In 1960 Dick Dale worked with Fender and invented amplifiers custom made for guitars. Guitar amplifiers are of three types — Vacuum tube, Solid-state, and acoustic.
The small tube guitar amplifiers belong to the Vaccum tube category.
Amplifiers that use vacuum valves or vacuum tubes to amplify sound from a guitar or musical instrument are called small tube guitar amplifiers or tube amplifiers. The signals from the electric guitar are called pickups. They pass through the pre-amp and power tubes and generate output from the speaker. Two categories exist in small tube guitar amplifiers — Class A and Class AB. Class A is VoxAC30, and Class B is Marshall, Fender, and Mesa/Boogie amplifiers. Distortion is quick in Class A as the volume increases. Guitar players call the distortion warm since it is pleasing to the ear. Overdrive cascade is another effect of Class A amplifiers. In Class AB the bass throw or projection is much simpler due to good power management. Class A, and Class AB, are owned by players. Usage is according to requirements. Handwired small tube guitar amplifiers preference over amplifiers wired to the circuit board. Tonal quality excellent in hand-wired small tube guitar amplifiers. Amplifiers that run both Class A and Class AB circuitry are high-end small tube guitar amplifiers. Power output up to and below 10 Watts the Class A is active. Greater than 10 Watts, the Class AB circuitry is activated.
The pleasing distortion, in small tube guitar amplifiers, is produced by the Pre-Amp circuitry. The Pre-Amp tube commonly used is 12AX7. 12AT7 pre-amp tube also finds usage in applications. In small tube guitar amplifiers, the power amp tubes produce the required wattage. Power amp tubes are – The 6L6 produces the American sound and is known as a high headroom tube. 6L6 power amp tubes present in Fender amplifiers. 6L6 are loud before distortion. The 6V6 for single high notes. EL34 and EL84 are classic British power amp tubes. VoxAC30 has the EL84 power amp tube.
With the advancement in Electronics, you would think that solid-state amplifiers are more popular. Not true. As the saying “Old is Gold”. Guitarists still prefer small tube guitar amplifiers due to the quality of sound. Go ahead and connect to small tube guitar amplifiers to get the warm crystalline sound with tonal coloration.