Winwood Uses A SS Modeling Amp

[FirstBassman]

In the December issue of Guitar Player (apparently not up on the website yet) is a very short interview with Steve Winwood. In it he reveals that he uses a Fender Cyber-Twin amp on stage (and in the studio).

This is not necessarily the news of the century but I thought it was interesting. Especially his reasoning (which I have also similarly espoused) that “(one) may get a good sound out of your vintage-style tube amp, but you lose the advantage once you put a mic in front of it and go through the house P.A. system.”

[kludge]

Steve Howe uses a modeler too. So does Adrian Belew.

Doesn't mean they have the best possible tone - just that their tone is good enough for the best artists. Funny how many of the greatest players aren't at all fussy about the things we fuss about.

[iggs]

Funny how many of the greatest players aren't at all fussy about the things we fuss about.

That's because they are busy living a life most of us can only dream about ... ;)

[fullerplast]

In the December issue of Guitar Player (apparently not up on the website yet) is a very short interview with Steve Winwood. In it he reveals that he uses a Fender Cyber-Twin amp on stage (and in the studio).


Well, it's just a little bit more convoluted than that....(from a different interview):


I’d been messing around with some kinds of physical modeling amps—scientifically modeled, I suppose, is the way to put it—and a lot of the other ones tended to sound a little bit … oh, how can I say it? “Plastic-y.” You know, just a little bit manipulated, the sound. But the Cyber-Twin seemed to have a depth with which, obviously from the tubes, it gave it more of a real organic sound, and I liked it very much straight away. So I went ahead and got one.
But then the Cyber-Twin is not exactly a modeling amp either:

Regarding amps, he sheepishly says, "Your readers probably won't like this much - Lace Sensors and a Cyber-Twin SE is what I've been using lately. It's a kind of hybrid. It has valves - or tubes, as you call them - which give it a lot of flexibility. (Ed Note: Shane Nicholas, Senior Marketing Manager for Fender Amplifiers, details: "The SE, the second version of the Cyber-Twin, came out a few years ago. It's basically a solidstate amp with a tube front-end, and Steve has some of his own presets programmed into the amp. It allows him to store effects, the level of gain, EQ, etc., for different songs onstage. It's kind of like a modeling amp, except that modeling amps digitally simulate the characteristics of different amps. The Cyber-Twin engages and disengages different components; it's actually changing what components are hooked up when you switch from, say, a tweed Twin to a blackface.")
And about vintage:

It's not that Winwood is adverse to vintage gear. "I'm thinking of looking at some more basic vintage stuff," he says. "A lot of my old stuff got stolen.

Especially his reasoning (which I have also similarly espoused) that “(one) may get a good sound out of your vintage-style tube amp, but you lose the advantage once you put a mic in front of it and go through the house P.A. system.”

Not sure I follow that reasoning.....if you extend that reasoning, a singer with a good voice would have no advantage over a singer with a bad voice once you put a mic in front of them....:confused:

[fullerplast]

Funny how many of the greatest players aren't at all fussy about the things we fuss about.

"They're" no different than us. Some are fussy, some aren't. Many of the greatest players are even more fussy than some of us. Some of them are us.

[puls]

The last time I saw Todd Rundgren (last year) he was using a Line 6 amp. The time before that he was using a pod & there was no amp on stage.

jwp

[jtm622]

That's because they are busy living a life most of us can only dream about ... ;)

And because they're getting them FREE...

[joseph]

I believe the Cyber Twin is, as discussed above, only 'digital' in the control parameters, and possibly/probably in the time based on-board effects (chorus/delay etc). Other than that it's a standard SS amp w a preamp tube; not a true 'modeling' amp.
As we all know, Solid state amps - yes sometimes even with digital pedals like chorus and delay - can sound pretty good with a real player ;).

[jay42]

I saw Winwood when the Yamaha DG-100s were new. He sounded pretty good with it.

[teddys]

From 20 feet away, Winwood Sounded great to me!!

[bostonwal]

Not sure I follow that reasoning.....if you extend that reasoning, a singer with a good voice would have no advantage over a singer with a bad voice once you put a mic in front of them....:confused:

I never think rock vocalists sound as good live as they do on record, especially in rock bands. The details of the their voices are lost in the din of the show. Part of that is the use of lower quality mics for live use and part of that is due to all the sounds coming through the PA at the same time - at very loud volume usually. And I'm referring to bands from U2 and Coldplay to unsigned bands on the local level. So, yes, the quality of a voice can drop when performing live and so can the sound of a guitar. One advantage for the guitars though is it is often possible to use the same mic on stage as in the studio (SM57?).

[daddyo]

Both Steve and his ace guitarist, Jose Neto, used Cybertwins when I saw them in August. They sounded good. In a band context with a drummer, a percussionist, a drummer, some sort of horn, and a B3, the subtle nuances of a fine amp are lost anyway. Food for thought.

[Tonefish]

Well he's a keyboard player, right?

[wombat66]

Well he's a keyboard player, right?

Winwood is and has always been a great guitarist
check out this live vid from 67:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdottB7UU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhf9yTXh8dc

mr fantasy w/cybertwin (solo starts at 5:20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvT_f_lVyNQ

[Guitar55]

That first clip of "Keep On Running" is great! It's rare to see real live performances like that from then.

[TieDyedDevil]

Steve Howe uses a modeler too. So does Adrian Belew.

Doesn't mean they have the best possible tone - just that their tone is good enough for the best artists. Funny how many of the greatest players aren't at all fussy about the things we fuss about.


Maybe... Or maybe these greatest players (or some of them, anyhow) really do have the best possible tone for their own musical vision.

Just because there's some kind of perceived consensus on TGP (and admittedly in other quarters as well) about the nature of and means to accomplish "best possible tone" doesn't mean that this is a universally accepted viewpoint. There's nothing inherently desirable or undesirable about any instrument or technology when it comes to making music. You get out of it what you put into it...

[playon]

I totally disagree with this. I think a tube amp is the best thing for a clean tone. Going direct has it's uses for sure, but it can sound pretty sterile. I also think the modeling boxes are better for distortion than for clean sounds.

If the majority of your recorded or live guitar tones are clean, then it's very easy to get away with a modeller, or a modelling amp.

Think about it, a clean guitar tone is not very difficult to achieve, plug into almost any DI box and into a PA, there you have it, a decent clean tone.
Gilmour recorded the "Wall" solo with a Les Paul plugged "almost" directly into the board.

All the digital modellers I've tried easily nailed some great clean tones, in fact the first Line 6 Pod 2 has an incredible 65 Deluxe Reverb sim, the BlackPanel model.
The shit hits the fan as soon as digital modellers attempt to model distortion, that's when the problems start.

So it doesn't surprise me when an artist who plays mostly clean uses a modeller or modelling amp, because modellers emulate the clean sound very well.

IMO

[shane88]

Maybe... Or maybe these greatest players (or some of them, anyhow) really do have the best possible tone for their own musical vision.

Just because there's some kind of perceived consensus on TGP (and admittedly in other quarters as well) about the nature of and means to accomplish "best possible tone" doesn't mean that this is a universally accepted viewpoint. There's nothing inherently desirable or undesirable about any instrument or technology when it comes to making music. You get out of it what you put into it...
+ 1
also there's a time when u don't want the best poss tone
or ur prep to make a trade off for reliability
or you realize 99% of the audience can't tell the diff
many acts are pluggin digi mod units direct into the PA these days

[jumpnblues]

"[...Funny how many of the greatest players aren't at all fussy about the things we fuss about...]"


It's because they're not nearly as good as we are. ;)


Tom

[The Golden Boy]

Toot Toot!!!

It's the SS Modeling Amp!!

http://www.archives.gov/publications/record/1998/03/images/titanic-sea-trials.gif

[Red Suede]

I'm with you GuitarTone.

[jaxworlds]

I have always liked the sounds out of the Cyber, you need to plug away and tweak the presets, the ability to change velocity and pre and post efx and then save and name is very handy. On the SE they added an Acoustic tone bank that is awesome.

[jtees4]

A "blind" listening test would cure a lot of the "snobbishness" of some guitarists...including me. Everything thinks they can tell the difference, but most (the majority) are wrong.

[guitguy28]

When it comes to tubes vs. digital, in my experience, the tones are good on both...

but it's the FEEL factor that I find missing on digital. Mainly with overdrive.

I haven't played through anything that feels like when I play a Les Paul through a cranked, low-watt tube amp. The humbuckers driving the amp, the power tubes being slightly pushed by a good overdrive pedal into a sweet, singing tone, the feedback...

Can any digital amps do THAT?

(If they can, please let me know!)

Nothing against digital. It can be very practical. I mainly use a little Vox digital amp myself. But it can't do certain tubey overdrive tones the way I really like them.