Many will say valve guitar amps are ‘better’ than solid-state, or transistor/chip-based amps. Certainly both have advantages over the other, but it largely depends on the criteria as to which is ‘best’. By today’s electronics standards, valve amps are inherently expensive to build; thermionic valves and the transformers required for power supply and output to loudspeaker(s) are the main costs. Beyond those, the chassis construction involves more hardware materials and engineering.

So why choose valve? To put it simply, it’s the sound. The tone achievable cannot (in my humble view) be matched by solid-state. Sure, high-end ‘modelling’ amps come very close, but they also lack the aesthetic quality of a valve amp; the presence of the valves and warm glow of the heaters is satisfying. Even the inherent bit of background hiss or low level noise before playing adds to the atmosphere and experience. The overdrive characteristics are also unique to valves, related to how they work electronically.