Maybe I Like Amps?

There is something special and raw about using tube amps cranked up that nothing processed compares to…
Its Raw GIF by Gordon Ramsay
 
paisleywookiee said:
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.
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Honestly I think the changing amp tones per song to try and match albums in a cover band is something that I really don’t see as necessary IMHO. I find in a band like that, the guitar tones constantly changing becomes headache for the sound guy and jarring for the listener. I’d much rather a guitar player in a cover band stick with a few tones and play well.
 
ejecta said:
Honestly I think the changing amp tones per song to try and match albums in a cover band is something that I really don’t see as necessary IMHO. I find in a band like that, the guitar tones constantly changing becomes headache for the sound guy and jarring for the listener. I’d much rather a guitar player in a cover band stick with a few tones and play well.
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Whether we’re talking modelers or tube amps, I agree. With the FM3 when I had it, I had a patch with the effects I’ll use, and two amps. That’s it. A rectifier dialed in to closely replicate a Badlander, and a Fender Bandmaster dialed in to sound close to a Fillmore.
 
paisleywookiee said:
Whether we’re talking modelers or tube amps, I agree. With the FM3 when I had it, I had a patch with the effects I’ll use, and two amps. That’s it. A rectifier dialed in to closely replicate a Badlander, and a Fender Bandmaster dialed in to sound close to a Fillmore.
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I do the dumbest shit on guitar a guitar player that still calls himself a guitar player can do and I stay on one guitar/cab combo for 3/4 hours a gig. All that tone swapping in a set is not the way to go imo.
 
ejecta said:
Honestly I think the changing amp tones per song to try and match albums in a cover band is something that I really don’t see as necessary IMHO. I find in a band like that, the guitar tones constantly changing becomes headache for the sound guy and jarring for the listener. I’d much rather a guitar player in a cover band stick with a few tones and play well.
Click to expand...
Im in 2 cover bands and a tribute band. I use a total of 3 amps. What I concentrate on are amount of gain needed and ballparking effects like mods and delays. I have one Helix patch that can cover all 3 bands. Thank the Gods for snapshots.split path one going to FOH with IR and one to amp return.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I do the dumbest s**t on guitar a guitar player that still calls himself a guitar player can do and I stay on one guitar/cab combo for 3/4 hours a gig. All that tone swapping in a set is not the way to go imo.
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And yet over the years, how many knuckleheads on the other site have you run across that NEED all those amp models? I’ve run into plenty. Life didn’t exist until modelers happened.
 
paisleywookiee said:
And yet over the years, how many knuckleheads on the other site have you run across that NEED all those amp models? I’ve run into plenty. Life didn’t exist until modelers happened.
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I view these things for me as separate. I certainly like to have that variety in my jam room when I am fuzting with shit. But for actual gigging; just give me a Recto and some good fx and I am golden.
 
paisleywookiee said:
And yet over the years, how many knuckleheads on the other site have you run across that NEED all those amp models? I’ve run into plenty. Life didn’t exist until modelers happened.
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Yeah I don’t get these silly justifications that some people come up with. There’s plenty of other solid reasons a modeler can be the right tool for a job but when we go into these types of justifications for a modeler being the best choice it sounds stupid.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I view these things for me as separate. I certainly like to have that variety in my jam room when I am fuzting with s**t. But for actual gigging; just give me a Recto and some good fx and I am golden.
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Definitely. I hate tap-dancing on pedals at gigs. Would rather focus on the audience, my playing, and how much fun I'm having.
 
James Freeman said:
My guitar gear motto is always keep at least one favorite tube amp and one favorite cab.
Many reasons for that.
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Totally agree. We have a big move coming up and the thought of more gear gives me anxiety when I think of packing it all up. Once we get resettled and back to a normal income I might grab a tube amp. I think my days of $3k ones are over though.
 
Mongillo19 said:
Totally agree. We have a big move coming up and the thought of more gear gives me anxiety when I think of packing it all up. Once we get resettled and back to a normal income I might grab a tube amp. I think my days of $3k ones are over though.
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Yep. 3 years ago I moved cross country and sold off all my Mesa and Marshall amps and cabs. I also sold my 65 DRRI FSR, Basson 4x12 and a 1976 Twin I had. Between not wanting to deal with it and being afraid I may have to deal with the possibility something gets busted up in transport, I think it was the right decision. Plus I ended up with a little over 8k that went into my GAS piggy bank.
 
I switch brains between a gig and being in the studio; at a gig I’m thinking like a guitar player and want to play the gig like I have for the last 25 or so years, feeling an amp behind me. Doesn’t have to be cranked, the more inspiring sound for me onstage is when I can hear the whole band equally as well, I’m not any louder or quieter than anything else. It’s not really my playing that gets me into it but the combination of everyone playing together, especially if the kick drum is thumping my chest.

In the studio I don’t care about anything other than what works for the song I’m working on and how quickly I can obtain what I think the song needs. Sometimes that means playing with a tone I don’t even particular dig but it’s working for the song, or the harder ones to get past, something that doesn’t feel fun or inviting to play because it’s stiff or fuzzed out to the point it’s not easy to play and you have to work for it, which is generally the opposite of what I go for with my normal tones. Those tones usually lead to the happy accidents that toss some life into a song with the more unpredictable they can be.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I do the dumbest s**t on guitar a guitar player that still calls himself a guitar player can do and I stay on one guitar/cab combo for 3/4 hours a gig. All that tone swapping in a set is not the way to go imo.
Click to expand...

If you’re not changing guitars either, there’s a strong undercurrent of similarity there too.

90% of my QC patches were dailied with my RG using the same IR, so yeah different amps with different gain profiles/emphasis, but they still sounded like my RG slamming an amp and slapping a Friedman cab.
 
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