BluGuitar Amp X

I liked the Iridium and the other Blug I had for a few minutes but they didn't bowl me over by any means. Compared to the JVM cranked up dry because effects loop fun or the Multiwatt which is instant tonal home. Form factor is cool and the Iridium looks killer. But if I want a modeler; I know the continuous answer to that riddle for me. I would love to be knocked off my feet by this thing if it ever gets out and about in the wild \m/
 
Sascha Franck said:
In terms of project management and communication handling, this is just an epic fail.
Yes, Blug seems to be a pretty nice guy, but he shouldn't have done the PR things here.
Apparently he got so excited about his new baby (understandable) that he had to get the news out of the door without some pretty essential issues being adressed beforehand. When you promise something to be "almost there", the core technical issues should be solved already, at least the main framework should be pretty much bulletproof already. That very clearly hasn't been the case.

One of the huge mistakes possibly has been that he kinda announced "analog modeling", as in being able to deliver pretty much any classic amp tone in one single unit without using digital components in the dry signal path. Not only is that like dragging you into a corner you can't escape from anymore, it's also an incredibly tough task, especially in case you have high standards. Oh, that Vox sound isn't just right yet again? Time for another hardware revision whereas in the digital realm it'd just be some lines of code.

Add to this that over the years this took, the average quality of digital modelers got a lot better. Even some pretty cheap devices produce very convincing tones by now. The very same devices are packed with features. And when you look at the higher ended bracket, there's now things such as the HX Stadium. Which, from all I would imagine given the currently available information, would munch the AmpX for breakfast, especially as I also happen to think that the UI on the thing sucks (we've been talking about standard pots vs. endless encoders already).
The only things in favour of the AmpX would be a) that it's analog (but who really cares these days?) and b) that the dry path would have no latency (but again, who cares about 2-4ms of total latency?).

So, what's the target audience? Does Blug expect some analog afficionados to get rid of their existing rigs? That very likely isn't going to happen, at least not much. Or does he expect being able to compete with digital modelers? That's even less likely, especially given that the thing certainly won't come for cheap.
We can only hope for the dude that he's sorted financially, because AmpX will very likely never be able to even just recoup all the R&D costs, let alone be profitable.
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I wonder if he just doesn’t wanna release it because he doesn’t want other people to have his “signature tone“ i’m in your eyes brags about how his tone is so unique and all his effects. He has a very unique nobody does them right nobody has them blah blah blah so maybe in the end he just doesn’t wanna share it with the world, I mean, I can understand that
I know somebody in the engineering field that owns a robotics company called three brothers and they make robots for picking tomatoes and berries and certain vegetables or fruit fruits and he’s always traveling around the country and Canada to get people with a lot of money to fund him and apparently every robot he makes he loses at least 100 grand on so I’ve always wondered why he bothers
He’s like 28 now and it’s been out of college for a while, but I think in those five or six years or more that he’s had this company that he could’ve how to kill a job or jobs at various companies over those years to be making and pulling down probably 200 K a year at least as he’s an electrical engineer and he graduate at the top of his class he could’ve still done his own job on the side and built it up in that time so I don’t know it’s kind of weird to me.
So maybe Thomas doesn’t really wanna release it and maybe it’s not viable the amount of time he’s probably put into it in the last few years that he’s been talking about it. I mean if he added up all his hours and all the people to help him and blah blah blah it probably be like not even worth it to release it if he did, he’d probably have to charge like 4K
 
timbuck3 said:
I wonder if he just doesn’t wanna release it because he doesn’t want other people to have his “signature tone“ i’m in your eyes brags about how his tone is so unique and all his effects. He has a very unique nobody does them right nobody has them blah blah blah so maybe in the end he just doesn’t wanna share it with the world, I mean, I can understand that
I know somebody in the engineering field that owns a robotics company called three brothers and they make robots for picking tomatoes and berries and certain vegetables or fruit fruits and he’s always traveling around the country and Canada to get people with a lot of money to fund him and apparently every robot he makes he loses at least 100 grand on so I’ve always wondered why he bothers
He’s like 28 now and it’s been out of college for a while, but I think in those five or six years or more that he’s had this company that he could’ve how to kill a job or jobs at various companies over those years to be making and pulling down probably 200 K a year at least as he’s an electrical engineer and he graduate at the top of his class he could’ve still done his own job on the side and built it up in that time so I don’t know it’s kind of weird to me.
So maybe Thomas doesn’t really wanna release it and maybe it’s not viable the amount of time he’s probably put into it in the last few years that he’s been talking about it. I mean if he added up all his hours and all the people to help him and blah blah blah it probably be like not even worth it to release it if he did, he’d probably have to charge like 4K
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I believe you can get very similar tones to his style by tweaking the current blueguitar amps.
 
laxu said:
Which is why he has taken this long to get it right. You only get one chance at this when software alone cannot fix issues.

The Amp 1 series is already a testament that the tech works. The Mercury Edition sent my much more expensive Bogner packing, and the Iridium is just as good as my Mesa Mark V - though obviously not voiced exactly the same.


Yet there's still a huge load of debate about what sounds/feels the best and all that crap. We have had "way more than good enough" for many years already in various products.


I think the appeal is that it is a full 100W (as in equivalent to a 100W tube amp) amp in the size of about the Boss GX-100.

People lump it together with modelers but it really is meant to be plugged into a guitar cab first and foremost. Everything about it is likely designed to allow for an easy live experience.

The Amp 1 Mercury and Iridium feel very drastically different to play, and if the Amp X can alter the feel of the amp like that, I think there's a lot to like for the people who care about how a particular amp feels to play. I think some of that can be very hit-and-miss for modelers in the "modeler -> poweramp -> guitar cab" scenario. Running eg. an Axe-Fx 3 through a Fryette PS-100 is great, but it also required work to get it to feel like a particular tube amp through the same cab - none of which was very intuitive.

I don't agree with many of Amp X's design decisions and they could very realistically be its big downfall, but I still want to see the final product before judging.


There's room for products in their own niches. You could easily ask why people buy e.g a Friedman preamp pedal instead of a complex modeler that does way more.

I think the biggest hurdle for BluGuitar has always been to get people to try their devices. They have none of the familiarity people expect from amps. It looks different, its EQ works in a massively different way (even between the two Amp 1 versions) and the Mercury requires a lot of the same tricks that are used to tame e.g old school Superleads. The Iridium is by comparison much more approachable especially with humbucker guitars.

If the Amp 1 series had been a tolexed wooden box, it would have likely been a lot more popular. But it wouldn't travel in a backpack like the Amp 1 does, not work on a pedalboard etc. It has taken years for pedalboard amps to become even a little bit popular.

I still worry for BluGuitar about how it will turn out. If it had come out years earlier, it'd be fine but now it seems like it could be dated to use right out of the box compared to HX Stadium, QC etc.
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Excited Cheer GIF
Go team laxu
 
Dimiguitar said:
I believe you can get very similar tones to his style by tweaking the current blueguitar amps.
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Thomas Blug Pedalboard.jpg


Exactly. His live sound is afaik generally Strat + Amp 1 ME Vintage channel + delay -> BluGuitar Fatcab.

The above is Blug's pedalboard from 4 years back. Seeing this, it's quite easy to understand why he'd want to make the Amp X. Imagine condensing all this to something that is about 1.5x the Amp 1, or for a visual, a taller Remote1. For a live player, that's a big convenience.
 
laxu said:
View attachment 49158

Exactly. His live sound is afaik generally Strat + Amp 1 ME Vintage channel + delay -> BluGuitar Fatcab.

The above is Blug's pedalboard from 4 years back. Seeing this, it's quite easy to understand why he'd want to make the Amp X. Imagine condensing all this to something that is about 1.5x the Amp 1, or for a visual, a taller Remote1. For a live player, that's a big convenience.
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It makes a lot of sense. I used to travel between continents a lot and this was always an issue. Ended up lugging around orange terror, small Laney rack unit etc. And before I forgot it exists, I was interested in the silent recording capacities of ampx, as well, loading IRs etc.

It could make a good solution for pretty much everything, at best. What I wonder is if the ampx will be able to do a VH4 style tone. Didn't find that in the current units, at least not close enough.
 
JiveTurkey said:
He has a great ear for his own amps but I have zero trust that he's going to deliver a plethora of "accurate" modeled amps and effects in any acceptable timeframe given the schedule he's been working at this whole time. Boss has the advantage of having a pile of effects they've invented/developed over the years at their fingertips. So as much as it "pains" me to say this; Boss is still winning this comparison and I do think it's valid to put the two up against each other.

It's going to sound killer. Zero doubt about that. Just not something that has my attention for a plethora of reasons.
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That was a plethora of plethora
 
Dimiguitar said:
It could make a good solution for pretty much everything, at best. What I wonder is if the ampx will be able to do a VH4 style tone. Didn't find that in the current units, at least not close enough.
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IMO the Iridium Classic channel with the side Tone knob turned to about 2 o'clock is in that VH4 ch3 ballpark...but I admit it's been ages since I've played a real VH4.
 
laxu said:
IMO the Iridium Classic channel with the side Tone knob turned to about 2 o'clock is in that VH4 ch3 ballpark...but I admit it's been ages since I've played a real VH4.
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They made this video where they try to match the VH4. But imo it's not that close. Or at least, not close enough.

 
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