Modeler & Multi FX memory lane

[gonzoknife]

Least favorite. I had this at the same time as the DG80 and boy, did the Boss sound so much worse for just about everything! It was such a pain in the ass to use as well with that god damn value wheel etc.

I had one too. I bought it to upgrade from my GT-5 which I sold. That was a big mistake. I could never get a sound I was happy with on the GT-6.

I re-bought a GT-5 this year on a whim and it's great as a multifx. The drives are analog and the effects sound fantastic. Just ignore the amp sims or turn off speaker sim and use them like an amp sim pedal. They're fine that way. I wish I had known that the first time I had it. Sure it doesn't have fancy effects but they're excellent will get you through most situations. It does have a great synth sound and a feedbacker (take that Fractal!).

It came with the original case (I couldn't afford that luxury in the 90s) and is a great grab and go pedalboard into a clean amp. In hindsight I could have saved a boatload of money over the years if I had known how to use it and kept the GT-5 (I was young and didn't know gear). It's far from perfect but I sometimes think I don't need all my fancy pedals and could be happy with just the GT-5.

 

[Aleksi]

I believe my first modeler was Turdinger V-Amp 2. All I remember is that I paid maybe 50€ and one button didn't work properly. It probably sounded like a V-Amp 2

The next one would have been a Line 6 Toneport UX1. Amazing stuff, especially with external cab sims. I think my brother was using it with bass until a few years ago when it finally broke.

Then I went Axe-Fx Standard in 2009 when I finally had some disposable income. Sold it to a friend when I got the II and it's still in use as far as I know

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I've got nostalgia for amps and guitars; I ain't got much for older digital gear.

 

[holoholo]

I think I performed for the first time at my high school’s open mic with this and was hooked ever since. God this stupid thing was so cool as a kid.

 

[Orvillain]

Not my photo. But these were awesome. Genuinely awesome.

 

[StarF666]

I wish I knew, what my GT-3 or GT-5 were capable of back in the day. But my favourite piece of digital gear of yesteryear was a TC G-System. It was the first digital device that I really used for a long time. It already had encoder foot switches long before the QC, and it was very durable. The effects unit itself was a 19" unit under the floorboard which could be mounted in a rack (had this for a while). It had no drives or amp modeling but loops and there was a great sounding midi controlled analog drive pedal (TC Nova Drive, I still own it) which could be integrate with and controlled by the G-System. And it looked so cool and the effects were form TCs studio quality effects units. I always hoped there would be a G-System 2 but TC went south. Soon after I bought the OG Helix but used a loop switched Pedalboard for a while before I went to Helix only (with a tube amp as playback system).

 

[laxu]

Was that before or after the Magic Stomp era?

Before. The Magic Stomp followed the DG/UD-Stomps. The Magic Stomp design was so dumb, it threw away all the good parts of the DG/UD Stomps for more compact size.

 

[[Nathan]]

Even as a kid it was terrible, but I spent a stupid amount of time with it

 

[Sascha Franck]

For me, things started with the (back then glorious) Roland GP-8. No, it's not an amp modeler, but still one of the trendsetters for guitar MFX units:

It's actually been a very decent unit. Allowed for 4CM and had 2 amp switching outs. All pre-loop FX have been analog (just as with the GT-5).

For amp duties, I've been using this here:

Yes, that's a programmable full tube amp.

I later on added an SPX-90 to the rig and everything was controlled via the Roland FC-100 floor controller.

An incredibly capable setup for that time.
I then even had a friend of mine (who was a lot into amp modding and such) built me a loadbox for the Dynacord (the built in power amp wasn't exactly powerful), been then running the loaded out into all the post-FX (GP-8 and SPX-90) and then into a solid state stereo power amp from "Musik Produktiv" (still one of the bigger retailers over here), I think it was called "Taurus", used 3 RU and was as heavy as it possibly gets (unfortunately a Google search reveals no pictures - goes to show how much of a "famous" thing that poweramp was).
Everything was then running into a stereo split 4x12.
Sound was partially glorious, partially anemic.

Went back to the setup with just the Dynacord later on, the same guy who did the loadbox managed to slightly modify the power amp so there was a bit more "oomph" and I realized stereo was overkill at that time as well.

TBC...

 

[2112]

The first modeller I remember is the Roland VG8 my Dad had. "My guitar is a saxophone man, check it out!".

My first piece of guitar gear was a Zoom 707, particularly the step phaser, got me hooked on guitar. Having a tuner, metronome and headphone output made it absolutely critical to me actually practicing and progressing.

After that it was the Tascam CD GT which had the ability to slow down CDs AND had built in guitar FX. That taught me to transcribe and learn by ear, another critical phase in my burgeoning musical development.

I got a BOSS BR1600CD for Christmas when I was 16 and that really opened the doors for me - plug in, record tunes and burn them to a CD! Magical!

I used the free Eleven amp sim plugin for years when I moved to a computer based setup.

After that I got into amps,, racks and pedals and didn't own a modeller until I got an Axe-Fx Ultra in 2016.

 

[Byrdman]

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Not my photo. But these were awesome. Genuinely awesome.

I had the same amp then sold it and got a Flextone III. They sounded great but they were heavy as hell.

With the Flextone, I remember being able to download the midi files and upload them on the amp with some DOS-like program from L6. I thought that shit was so cool. Kids dont know how good they have it now

 

[[Nathan]]

Oh yeah, this was gateway to interfaces and plugins. Everyone seemed to have a pod but I had a guitarport.

 

[2112]

Oh yeah, this was gateway to interfaces and plugins. Everyone seemed to have a pod but I had a guitarport.

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Far out this brings back memories. I got one of these for Christmas when it came out, hated it and swapped it for a graphic EQ pedal and some other gear

 

[GTR37]

My main first gigging rig was the Marshall JMP 1 w a peavy
120 power amp I used that for years
I also had an old Roland SDE EVH that I bought off a guy for like $250 CAD it had a broken knob and needed a little cleaning but it was awesome but I stupidly sold it and they probably go for a crap ton now

 

[metropolis_4]

Even as a kid it was terrible, but I spent a stupid amount of time with it
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That was my first one too! I thought it was the coolest thing in the world because it was the first time I ever had effects.

Later I “upgraded” to a 3030 that had a sidecar expression pedal and a headset for talk box effects.

 

[MTB1973]

 

[metropolis_4]

I think I owned and gigged just about every iteration of Line 6 floor devices.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I got a BOSS BR1600CD for Christmas when I was 16 and that really opened the doors for me - plug in, record tunes and burn them to a CD! Magical!

After being away from electric guitar for about a decade, a used BR600 got me back in big time. The guitar sounds weren't great, but the presets were all totally usable without much work needed (which is good, because nearly impossible to edit). Instantly useable presets w/ built-in drums and ability to very quickly lay down a backing loop to noodle over...I wouldn't trade my Logic rig for that now for any purpose, even practicing, but for a time-strapped father of two little kids that was a lot more interested in re-learning to play electric than getting back into the gear-side of electric, it was a god send of a device.

 

[StarF666]

Oh yeah, this was gateway to interfaces and plugins. Everyone seemed to have a pod but I had a guitarport.

View attachment 56475

Well that's kinda the predecessor to Helix Native, isn't it? I only had an UX2 for some time.

 

[laxu]

I think I owned and gigged just about every iteration of Line 6 floor devices.

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Seeing them like that it's interesting to see the lineage. The POD HD500X almost looks like the bottom half of the Helix LT, and there's some HX Stomp-ish things going on with the screen.

I do miss when these things had some controls dedicated to e.g the amp.