So it looks like there are still some/quite a few of us using real amps

[logdrum]

Have not been posting here for a while and mostly playing bass. I only have 4 tube guitar amps now, Mark IV, Blue Angel head, Frenzel "Tweed" with octal preamps (sits on my desktop studio) and my Mesa Studio .22 combo. I gave my Ampeg VL503 to my friend, who has a wild synth setup and also plays pedal steel and he is loving it. I also have the Super Champ XD which has tube output.

I was expecting a lot of us have moved to the amp modeling section but it looks like many of us are still here

I have been getting better at the Charlie Hunter style guitar+bass made by Wes and Clay of Hybrid Guitar CO. So I need 2 amps -- one for bass and one for guitar. I have tried the software based modelling as well as those multi-effects boxes with amp modeling. Not bad, but every time I bring the tube amps out, it's just a different feeling for me the player. And the speaker characteristic, in a room, I just can't get it. I think I have good studio monitors and EQ tuned headphones (one costing 650) but somehow something is lacking.

The only modelled amps, I like is what Antelope Audio includes in their FPGA+DSP based interfaces. They have like 10 modelled guitar amps and 1 bass amp. You do not get all of them if you do not have the right interface. They have some guitar effects but they are not in my hardware bundle. I use real effect pedals after the guitar I keep 2 patches, one with an SVT sim + Vox and another one with a vintage preamp + EQ + compressor stack for bass and a Blackface. Pretty quick setup for recording ideas or even tracking. But for gigs and times when I want to play with real amps. I take out the real amps. I usually play with a drummer and a brass or woodwind player and the Mesa 22 is perfect although sometimes I play with the Blue Angel as well. I do not cart my Mesa 400 bass amp anymore and have a light class D amp with tube preamps.

Lastly greetings to the TGP amp section where I usually just hang

 

[C-4]

I was thinking quite seriously about going back to try another modeler, the Fractal FM9, after failing to enjoy a Kemper 6 years ago and playing regular amps between then and now.

However, the modelers are far more complicated than I would like to get into so I decided to stay with all valve amps.

There is just something very organic feeling and sounding about amps that I prefer. ymmv

 

[msquared]

I've been on the fence about getting one of these for years now. I imagine it'll happen one of these days.

When I imagine gigging with a Hybrid I don't ever consider taking out real amps, it's always a modeler. I like real amps well enough and my bass amp setup is great but that's a lot of gear to move. Give me a decent way to monitor and run me through the PA, please.

Regarding the other discussion the OP raises, I like both modelers and tube amps. They all have their place and I'm not hampered by needing one or the other in order to function as a musician.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I was expecting a lot of us have moved to the amp modeling section but it looks like many of us are still here

Some of us own and gig both and don't see it as an "either/or" kind of thing.

 

[macdaddyof9]

I haven't found anything modeler that I like to play other than my Eleven rack, which is ridiculously complicated to me. I keep trying to get one of my kids to learn it and teach me, especially how to hook up the midi pedal to it but they are more into keyboards, bass, and violin. I'm back to reading and studying up on it just because I feel like I'm wasting it, using it as a headphone amp only lol. I have found a few presets that I like through headphones, and pumped out of my power amp I can do stereo sound and effects that will almost make you dizzy. Lots to learn.

 

[Sgwrx24]

Tube amps all the way for me. More than a few Mesa Boogies, a Marshall, EVH, and a PRS. No extra effects or pedals. Just the guitar, guitar cord, and amp.

I went through the modeling and effects route over 20 years ago. Once I experienced my first tube amp (Mesa Rectoverb 50 Combo), I was all in on tube amps.

Nothing against any other amp configurations or use of effects pedals though. Whatever works! Mesa Boogies in particular really work for me.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Eleven rack, which is ridiculously complicated to me.

I feel like this is one of the reasons folks who have played amps for a long time gravitate toward them. Modelers can surely be complicated. If the Eleven Rack is "ridiculously complicated", you probably shouldn't even venture on to the more modern platforms. The 11R is almost as simple as it gets.

 

[Chuck's]

they'll have to pry my tubes from my cold, dead hands.

 

[VICOwner]

I think the gravitation toward an “amplifier” is the analog component that makes it behave with synchronicity between everything. Modelers have great variety and recorded sound great but they just aren’t “real”. Guitarists are real musicians and there’s a feeling and interaction that couples when using analog equipment.

 

['63-Strat]

4 tube amps and love playing them. Not my business what others like.

 

[NorCal_Val]

If I knew for a fact, that I was never going to play with a band ever again, I’d sell my amps and cabs, and buy a modeler.

Still true.

 

[Trunkard]

I don't know a single guitarist in real life that uses a modeler in a live situation.

 

[michael patrick]

I like amps. I know how to quickly get sounds I like with them. It works for me.

 

[therhodeo]

I don't know a single guitarist in real life that uses a modeler in a live situation.

Ha I'd be interested in what circles you're in because they're everywhere in certain genres.

 

[macdaddyof9]

I feel like this is one of the reasons folks who have played amps for a long time gravitate toward them. Modelers can surely be complicated. If the Eleven Rack is "ridiculously complicated", you probably shouldn't even venture on to the more modern platforms. The 11R is almost as simple as it gets.

I was also overwhelmed when I first got my Roadster. Now that I've spent some time with her, I get it and can dial up about anything I want with out frustration. But she's heavy. Same with my DC 5 decades ago, so just like anything else, there's a learning curve. Some of the challenge is almost "unlearning" your older equipment.

 

[homeunit]

Tubes only for me. Tried many modeler's over the years and for me they kill all the things I like about playing rock guitar.

 

[Ejay]

I have been getting better at the Charlie Hunter style guitar+bass made by Wes and Clay of Hybrid Guitar CO. So I need 2 amps -- one for bass and one for guitar.

Cool….I’ve considered that…but the combination of high priced instrument…and the risk of extra/different strings…being to steep a hill held me back.

Do you have any affordable instruments in scope with 2 outputs?

Ive been “faking” it by using an octaver that only triggers on the E and A string of a regular tuned guitar.


Regarding modelers/analog/tube..here’s my impact assessment;-)

Traditional guitar cab versus frfr cabsimmed….80%
Tube powersection versus ss…15%
Modeled/analog preamp….5%

So…in my mind..there’s a lot to say for using a modeler into the return of a tube amp.

Personally I put analog preamps in my board, a modeler for efx/cansim to foh…and plug that into returns of amps…best of both worlds. Sounds on your board, direct capabilities, no sound compromise.

 

[logdrum]

Like I said the only one I really like and feels "real" to me are the amps modelled by Antelope Audio using FPGA+DSP. In my line of work, what is register correct/closest hardware emulation is usually FPGA. Although UAD has done great work with DSP as well (the Fender Tweed sim specially). But I am not going to bring in my recording interface to a gig. So simplicity not being a luddite is my main motivation. A simple tube combo which is not that much heavy and a Mesa class D amp with a light speaker. I have not invested in the high end modelers to be fair. Only the Zoom G6 and the Nux MG-30, which are fun for spacey and ambient guitar but I do not get the aural satisfaction of the real thing when you are in that room.

While I do not play at this level, this is the simplicity and purity that I go for.

I would need 2 modeler and 2 FRFR cabs

 

[Earl Foote]

No more tube amps for me. Can't carry them. Whenever my GTX50 blows out, I'll kick it to the curb and get another.

 

[logdrum]

Cool….I’ve considered that…but the combination of high priced instrument…and the risk of extra/different strings…being to steep a hill held me back.

Do you have any affordable instruments in scope with 2 outputs?

Ive been “faking” it by using an octaver that only triggers on the E and A string of a regular tuned guitar.


Regarding modelers/analog/tube..here’s my impact assessment;-)

Traditional guitar cab versus frfr cabsimmed….80%
Tube powersection versus ss…15%
Modeled/analog preamp….5%

So…in my mind..there’s a lot to say for using a modeler into the return of a tube amp.

Personally I put analog preamps in my board, a modeler for efx/cansim to foh…and plug that into returns of amps…best of both worlds. Sounds on your board, direct capabilities, no sound compromise.

Well, it only took me 27 years since I saw Charlie live. And at the start of Covid, Wes and Clay hooked me up with customer looking to sell his 7 string. Probably my most expensive guitar purchase 2K+ but I play that thing everyday that the wood is already chipped/grooved under the strings. this guitar has a cedar body. Yes one slab of cedar so it is softer

The best place for deals are in the FB Hybrid guitar forums. Reverb also but 2K is probably the starting point.