Tube be . . . or not tube be?

You may or may not know who Andrew Barta is . . . but as a guitar player, you probably should. Long before Line 6 entered the world of modeled, solid-state amplification - (7) years to be exact, Tech 21, Barta's NY-based company, introduced the SansAmp, which literally set the music and recording worlds on their collective ear.

Back in 1989, amp-modeling was pretty much undiscovered country. Yes, there were many companies designing / manufacturing effects - but none that could emulate the tonal characteristis of (3) highly sought-after tube amplifiers - - all packed snugly into a foot pedal! As if this wasn't a feat in and of itself, the SansAmp also pioneered the idea of line-direct recording - i.e. electronically facilitating the "effect" of microphone proximity in relation to the sound of the amplifier. In 1989, these were incredibly broad and defined strokes on a very large, but completely blank canvas. And the only artist holding a brush - Andrew Barta.

Nearly (20) years later, it's hard to name a major player in the burgeoning guitar retail market that doesn't have some type of modeling offering. The surprising thing here is that amongst all the Flash Gordon, whiz-bang techno candy currently out there - the Tech 21 SansAmp (*now marketed as that SansAmp GT-2) is still one of the best and the most reasonably priced.

While browsing the Sound OnS ound website, I came across an interesting 1996 interview with the Tech 21 founder. In the article, Mr. Barta spoke about some of the intricacies of the solid-state tube-emulating concept, as well as the physical and technical theories that came into play during the design process. One thing I found particularly interesting was that many of of the key tonal elements were rooted in very basic sound & electronic principles - things such as decay, clipping, phase inversion, and reverb.

So how does an article like this equate to the everyday player? Very simply - when applied to your own tone, having a basic understanding of key sound and electronic principles can lead to some pretty big things. Whether it be live sound, recorded sound, gear choices - whatever; knowing how things work, and how sound behaves has benefits all across the board.

If one were to judge by recent trends, it would appear that vintage tube technology has made a prolific return to prominence. In fact, so much so, that many high-profile players have all but written the epitaph for the solid-state amplifier. But the bell tolls not for ye', o' venerable purveyor of guitar tone. Solid state amplification is alive and well, and sounding better than ever. As a matter of fact, Andrew Barta & Tech 21 have a few new tricks up their sleeve. More on that one later. J.