Maybe I Like Amps?

TimOwens316

TimOwens316

Roadie
Messages
342
I've recorded most of my gigs since I can remember and I spent the afternoon listening to them. The one that stood out to me was when I played my homemade JCM800 into a Carvin Legacy cab with V30's. While the guitar was a bit loud, it just sounded amazing to me. I've had great gigs with modelers but this one just stood out to me. Maybe I'm an amp guy???







Extra internet points to anyone who can name the original artists in each of these songs.
 
Great clips! I'm not going to try and guess the songs to save myself embarrassment lol

The biggest thing I enjoy with digital gear is the flexibility. With real amps, what you see is what you get (which also has it's pros). I also think the price of top of the line amps have gotten outrageous and then add in tube replacements, space, weight, etc....digital devices just suit my needs better. Totally can see both sides tho!
 
Mongillo19 said:
Great clips! I'm not going to try and guess the songs to save myself embarrassment lol

The biggest thing I enjoy with digital gear is the flexibility. With real amps, what you see is what you get (which also has it's pros). I also think the price of top of the line amps have gotten outrageous and then add in tube replacements, space, weight, etc....digital devices just suit my needs better. Totally can see both sides tho!
Click to expand...
Thanks! If you factor in my time, it probably cost me at least $4000.00 to build that amp, and I used cheap transformers. But it was a fun project, I learned a lot.
 
When I saw Petrucci last month, I was right up front and heard his amps' sound direct to my ears. And it was nothing short of glorious.

But they had these things on the front of them, microphones, capturing that sound and sending it to an amp, mixer, and speakers so that sound could fill the theater. But I'm quite sure 80% of the people in that theater didn't hear them the same way I did.

A modeler simply emulates what the rest of the audience hears. That's the way I see it, so it's not a valid comparison. I love the sound of a real amp. It's just earlier in the chain from what a modeler is designed to reproduce.

I love listening to VH records through headphones. But I would've given a lot to have been able to hear his real amp in the studio too.
 
Getting close to SRV through a mic’d amp in a small venue—yes he was too loud by any modern measure—was glorious, maybe even life-changing. I can name a dozen others, all tone disciples who obsessed over rigs that enabled them to take flight on stage. Just because someone is your hero doesn’t mean you’re gonna leave his show .. elevated. But the ones devoted to .. what amps can do .. those are wow experiences.

Digital. So .. of course I’m a user and a believer. But no, for whatever reason, twenty+ years in, you rarely read firsthand accounts of hearts and minds being absolutely blown by digital rigs at up close and personal live shows.

Whether it’s a technical or a user limitation, or simply that tone is way down on the list of what amounts to talent—that singular zing of brilliance where it all comes together is truly uncommon—I know that I don’t have one go-to clip of a hero on a digital rig that I return to over and over again that embodies that special thing I seek from a great guitar performance. Really, I’m not sure why.

Maybe I like amps.
 
TimOwens316 said:
I've recorded most of my gigs since I can remember and I spent the afternoon listening to them. The one that stood out to me was when I played my homemade JCM800 into a Carvin Legacy cab with V30's. While the guitar was a bit loud, it just sounded amazing to me. I've had great gigs with modelers but this one just stood out to me. Maybe I'm an amp guy???







Extra internet points to anyone who can name the original artists in each of these songs.
Click to expand...


Yeah I don't care what system someone runs, the tones coming out of a good amplifier and cab cannot be beaten. Thats why I run a hybrid rig now. I use a tube 2x12 combo on stage with me for monitoring. Much better experience than just going direct.
 
Amps are still better. They sound better, they’re easier to deal with, they react better. It’s more visceral. I’m interacting with another instrument, not a computer. Yes, I can get a Fractal/Helix/AmpliTube/Kemper to sound exactly the same. But the effect an amp has on the performance is still something that matters to me.

I know, I know. 95% of people are in cover bands that have to nail the album tone to the nth degree. I wonder what cover bands did before 1998?

An amp isn’t for the audience. It’s for you.
 
Mongillo19 said:
I think 95% of our gear is for us and the audience couldn't care less :rofl
Click to expand...
Oh, fucking 100%. 110%.

Insert meme of guy telling his girl about his boutique handmade in Greece Tube Screamer clone that has the same NOS chip as the originals, and therefore has a smoother spike in the midrange.

EDIT ah yes, here we go.

A46D252A-59D3-482A-B91E-EB7FB549DCCB.png
 
I wouldn't say amps are better than modelers.

I would say speaker cabinets, especially 4x12s, give a better experience than IRs through "FRFR" speakers.
 
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