Modeling or tube amp - pros and cons

[Robert****]

I thought it would be good to talk a bit about modeling amps and tube amps, and why or why not pick one before the other.

Pros
Tube amp

• Great Tone. There is something about tube amp tone. Can't be beat.
• Take pedals well. Most tube amps work well with pedals and effects.
• Status - a tube amp usually impresses people more.
• Resell Value - can usually sell them later and get (most of) the money back.

Cons
Tube amp

• Price - if you need multichannel, FX loop, etc, it can cost a lot.
• Versatility - you may need external effects - pedals or rack gear if you want the kind of versatility a modeling amp has. Naturally, this also brings up the price quite a bit.
• Maintenance - can be costly if you have many tubes in your amp and you replace them every year.

Pros
Modeling amp

• Price/value for the money - usually costs a lot less than a tube amp and you get a lot for the dollars.
• Versatility/Utility - they usually have many amp models and effects built in.
• Maintenance - usually not much need to be done. For most modeling amps, there is no need for tube swapping (except for Valvetronix, as we all know).

Cons
Modeling amp

• Tone - usually hard to compete in the "Big Tone" department, although it is getting closer all the time. Subjective, of course.
• Value - will you get a lot of money back if you sell it 3 years later? Who knows, but I wouldn't bet on it.
• May not like pedals - most modeling amps work best if you don't use pedals with hot signal going to the amp input. A booster pedal for example, won't work that well.
• Status - most other guitar players won't be drooling over your AD30VT

Comments welcome - I probably missed something so feel free to remind me!