Vacuum Tube Guitar Amps: One Electrician’s Trash is Another Guitarist’s Treasure

Here is an article I wrote as part of my Writing 340 class at USC in 2007.

TITLE: Vacuum Tube Guitar Amps: One Electrician’s Trash is Another Guitarist’s Treasure (2007)

ABSTRACT: The transistor is the backbone of modern digital technology, but most professional guitarists insist on only using amplifiers that use vintage vacuum tubes and mid-twentieth century technology. This article transposes the technological advantages of transistors with the physical and perceived benefits of using vacuum tubes in guitar amplifiers, from their emphasis of certain sound frequencies to their simplicity of design and the subculture of musicians who build them themselves.

KEYWORDS: Vacuum Tube, Transistor, Electric Guitar Amplifiers, Amps, Vintage, Boutique

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