the glass and metal filament components of a tube affect the sound

  • I've been wracking my brain for some time now with this question. I have a theory that the environment inside the tube as the sound is converted to voltage and amplified by the tube that harmonics (or something) are being added to what eventually is emitted from the speaker as sound. I'm thinking that the electrons as they are emitted from the cathode and pass through the grid and hit the plate inside a glass tube are being supplemented with harmonics relative to the glass surroundings and the metal filament ( the grid) and I'm wondering if amp models account for this if not I'm hoping they could.

  • I wouldn't wrack your brain too hard about this. This has been considered by MANY smart(and dumb) people for decades. I would ask why you think electrons are being supplemented with harmonics. Do you understand the physics behind electron flow in a conductor? Do you know what harmonics are, and how they are defined? It appears there is a rather large disconnect regarding these two things in your current thinking. It is hard to imagine how an amp model would, or should, account for the two things you mention.


    On a secondary note, what is it about amp modeling that is missing from an aural perspective? As an electrical engineer and tube amp builder/ designer, I have concluded that amp models are so far developed that there isn't much, if any, need for improvement.

  • Who cares how it's done. The only job you have is to make your guitar sound good for the audience, and they don't care if you do it with an amp, a profiler, a modeler, a glass Coke bottle, or a mass electron accelerator. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I've been wracking my brain for some time now with this question. I have a theory that the environment inside the tube as the sound is converted to voltage and amplified by the tube that harmonics (or something) are being added to what eventually is emitted from the speaker as sound. I'm thinking that the electrons as they are emitted from the cathode and pass through the grid and hit the plate inside a glass tube are being supplemented with harmonics relative to the glass surroundings and the metal filament ( the grid) and I'm wondering if amp models account for this if not I'm hoping they could.

    Hence we use Kempers. Once a tube amp has been profiled, the tube and or speaker behaviour are nicely captured and available for our perusal. Modellers would probably use math formulae to mimic the behaviour.

  • Hence we use Kempers. Once a tube amp has been profiled, the tube and or speaker behaviour are nicely captured and available for our perusal. Modellers would probably use math formulae to mimic the behaviour.

    Boom....the Kemper copies what is there, not trys to work out how it was created. A fundamental difference..