Vince Leonard, via email

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THE END OF VALVES?

In issue 460 of Guitarist there was a review of the new digital Vox Cambridge50 combo with its 6P1 Nutube in the preamp. This - alongside other developments such as the Kemper profiler and the recent, much-praised Fender Tonemaster Reverb modelling amp - begs a question: could valve amps soon cease to exist? As far back as the 60s, Vox themselves were ahead of the game producing solid-state amps they thought were the way forward, even ceasing valve-amp production - but not for long… There is a fear among the older players (and not so old ones) that something would be lost forever if these amps disappeared. The benchmark of tone and the classic voicings of the past would become blurred. As things are, only a small number of factories in the world make tubes. It’s interesting that Supro are still making tube amps... and have done since 1935!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vince. You’re right that valves aren’t being made in too many places at the moment - and, in fact, the relocation of one of the Chinese factories has further disrupted supplies. That said, if the world stopped making valves tomorrow there’d still be a good few kicking around in new or NOS condition for some time. So we’re probably not facing the imminent demise of valve amps for that reason, at least. What might drive a shift away from them is a fresh generation of players having different functional needs from their amps. As gigs become quieter and - post-COVID-19 - very thin on the ground for the immediate future, modelling amps that offer ultimate flexibility in the studio gain currency. If you’re not fully invested in the heritage and lore of valve amps already, as many younger players aren’t, then they make a lot of sense. However, as editor Jamie found when longterm-testing the Kemper Stage recently, perhaps its more useful to think of them as complementary rather than competing technologies. In certain scenarios nothing is ever going to beat a little tweed combo - in others, you’ll probably find a good modelling solution helps you make music more easily. Interestingly, this issue features a valve amp from Revv that comes loaded with cabinet and power amp simulations to aid silent playing and recording - maybe the best of both worlds is what we’ll all settle on eventually.