Modelers Losing Their Luster

Current gear is basically nothing. Yeah. Stomp had to go. As much as I love it and appreciate it, this time the purge was all about resetting myself. Haven’t touched gear or guitar in a few months and still don’t plan to. It’s all a big part of my mental reset. I had a musical/mental breakdown and had to let go of the gear physically to cure myself mentally. Can’t have things like Stomp or PG lying around if my “disorder” and personality issues makes me not use them in a sane and healthy way, enjoying music and being creative.

It isn’t the stomp… or any gear… it’s just me. It could be great… but it’s just me.

But my guitar, the only and most important part, is still here and ready for whenever i start my jurney back into it. :)

Don’t even now about the latest updates and new products because i cleared everything so nothing shows up in my YT or Instagram. And that’s how i want it for now. Came in here lurking just now, and notice a lot happens in a few months, including the news and updates. Can happily point out that for the first time in many years, I don’t actually care and this is also a big part of the mental reset process.

So that’s that. I’ll drop in now and than. Thanks buddy :)
I love this! Power to you!
 
I’m not tired of modelers because I find them a great tool for some of my needs. As long they fill that they’ll never be tired for me. Now if I was only limited to modelers then I wouldn’t call it tired but unfulfilling yes.
 
I think I'm on the opposite end of this argument. I bought my dream amp the other day (Mesa Dual Rec Multi-Watt) just to cross it off my bucket list but I've already found that it's largely impractical compared to my Fractal units and doesn't really sound any better despite being the real thing.
 
doesn't really sound any better despite being the real thing.

The value (what's left of it) of tube amps is not necessarily in sound.

* The experiene.
* Being limited to one or few sounds.
* Requires effort, experience, space, and more money to record the old fashioned way with decent results.
* My/Your guitar heroes used it and had the same limitations.

Overall it's the experience, the journey, more than anything that justifies owning tube amps for me.
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P.S
There's a whole generation who never played through a real tube amp and/or guitar cab, nor do they have any desire to, for them losing luster for modelers means losing luster for electric guitar entirely.
 
Are you tired of 1000s of models?
Downsizing to something smaller/simpler?
Going back to amps?

Overall it's the experience, the journey, more than anything that justifies owning tube amps for me.

I go back and forth between modelers and amps, love them both.

I am going to something "simpler" pretty soon, a 1x12 combo that only plays clean but has tons of headroom. It's good for me to leave the dirt and effects behind for a while and just concentrate on my playing. A tube amp can be great for that.

But I'll always go back to the modeler eventually just to have some variety and play something other than traditional Jazz or R&B.

I don't use tons of amp models. I have five set up on my FM9, two clean (one traditional high end rolled off Jazz tone, the other a vintage Super Reverb clean tone for Funk/R&B) and three for overdrive, crunch, and high gain. I go exploring every now and then just for fun and every once in a while I find an amp model that I really like and substitute it for one of my gain amp blocks but the cleans remain the same.

But for the discipline of it all I like to play clean through a tube amp with no effects other than reverb quite a bit, and the right tube amp can be a joy in that role.
 
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The value (what's left of it) of tube amps is not necessarily in sound.

* The experiene.
* Being limited to one or few sounds.
* Requires effort, experience, space, and more money to record the old fashioned way with decent results.
* My/Your guitar heroes used it and had the same limitations.

Overall it's the experience, the journey, more than anything that justifies owning tube amps for me.
---

P.S
There's a whole generation who never played through a real tube amp and/or guitar cab, nor do they have any desire to, for them losing luster for modelers means losing luster for electric guitar entirely.

Yeah this is my first tube amp after playing modelers and plugins for the last 20 years or so. Definitely gives me a new perspective on both guitar playing and recording. The experience is absolutely worth the price alone. Went tube shopping last week and completely re-tubed the thing. I felt like I was working on a classic car or something. It was a cool feeling having that sort of connection to a piece of machinery. Reminds me of that old rifleman quote "There are many like it but this one is mine."

I'm still hoping that SOMETHING is gonna come around one day and make tube amps, modelers and modern solid state designs obsolete. Something fully analog that doesn't even try to emulate tube amp designs and somehow sounds better in all scenarios. Yes, that's a tall (if not delusional) order but a boy can dream. I've seen some articles about graphene possibly being used for some sort of guitar amp advancements but until something actually makes it to market, it's a pipe dream at best. But I wanna see something truly revolutionary that leaves behind the days of JCM 800's and mandatory Vintage 30s in every cabinet. I don't think any one of us can predict what that will be but I hope I get to see something like it in my lifetime.
 
The value (what's left of it) of tube amps is not necessarily in sound.

* The experiene.
* Being limited to one or few sounds.
* Requires effort, experience, space, and more money to record the old fashioned way with decent results.
* My/Your guitar heroes used it and had the same limitations.

Overall it's the experience, the journey, more than anything that justifies owning tube amps for me.
To me the real guitar cabs are like 90% of the experience these days. If I plug a tube amp into a reactive loadbox and use cab sims, I could just use the modeler and skip the real amp inconveniences.

I do have some cognitive dissonance where I start thinking "should I buy another tube amp in case I'm missing something?" because it's hard to reconcile that an ugly little box like my BluGuitar can sound as good as the Bogner I had. Even though I verified through the same cab and matching volumes via decibel meter that yes, it did actually sound/feel just as good. Same applies to my Fractal.
 
To me the real guitar cabs are like 90% of the experience these days. If I plug a tube amp into a reactive loadbox and use cab sims, I could just use the modeler and skip the real amp inconveniences.

I do have some cognitive dissonance where I start thinking "should I buy another tube amp in case I'm missing something?" because it's hard to reconcile that an ugly little box like my BluGuitar can sound as good as the Bogner I had. Even though I verified through the same cab and matching volumes via decibel meter that yes, it did actually sound/feel just as good. Same applies to my Fractal.
this also goes the other way...at least for me.
Any modeller i have whether UAFX amp pedals, Tonex, Ax8 or any plug in routed out of the box are way more fun into power amp and guitar cab.
Even better into that as well as Ox Box into full range for w/d/w
 
After years and years of using multi effects, then modelers... Because I don't gig anymore, I went the software route and sold all my hardware. I am loving my less cluttered space now! I have a midi pedal and a "FRFR" cab for just in case I play out.
 
To me the real guitar cabs are like 90% of the experience these days. If I plug a tube amp into a reactive loadbox and use cab sims, I could just use the modeler and skip the real amp inconveniences.

I do have some cognitive dissonance where I start thinking "should I buy another tube amp in case I'm missing something?" because it's hard to reconcile that an ugly little box like my BluGuitar can sound as good as the Bogner I had. Even though I verified through the same cab and matching volumes via decibel meter that yes, it did actually sound/feel just as good. Same applies to my Fractal.
I seem to have the most fun when I'm playing through a real amp to be honest. At least that is the phase I'm in right now.
 
I seem to have the most fun when I'm playing through a real amp to be honest. At least that is the phase I'm in right now.

I have the most fun when I'm playing through a real amp, BY MYSELF, with no other instruments.

When playing in isolation, I enjoy the most.playing my HX Stomp through a real cab powered by a transparent solid state power amp. It feels exactly like the tube amps I have owned. Same feel, same experience, minus the heat (which I miss, esp. here in my Canadian basement). And the best part is, I can "switch" to a different tube amp depending on my mood, in a jiffy. "Ah some nice Mark Knopfler cleans.. switch, I am there. Some thick James Hetfield chugs, switch, I am there. Real cab, moving air, feedback and the whole gamut". That convenience never gets old, and reminds me constantly why I moved digital in the first place. It's been 15 year journey to embrace this.

When playing with people, I most enjoy playing through flat freq resp monitors, knowing that the tone I hear in the mix will be what the audience will hear.
 
P.S
There's a whole generation who never played through a real tube amp and/or guitar cab, nor do they have any desire to, for them losing luster for modelers means losing luster for electric guitar entirely.
This is SUCH and IMPORTANT point. And applies to so many things apart from music and amps. So important to look at how the future generations perceive things and what they deem as important, mainly so we respect them as well and minimize the risk of fading out of relevance. I think these perspectives are important to embrace, while not giving up on what we deem close to heart and nostalgic as well.
 
To me the real guitar cabs are like 90% of the experience these days. If I plug a tube amp into a reactive loadbox and use cab sims, I could just use the modeler and skip the real amp inconveniences.

That's why I'm getting a 55 watt Rivera Suprema Jazz Recording Combo. All of the goodness of a tube amp with Rivera's multiple voicing options but it also has the Mini-RockRec speaker emulator with reactive load functionality built in so I can do silent recording direct to a DAW or straight to FOH without it having to be mic'd.



FM9 in the loop or 4CM and I have everything I want available in a compact but very capable rig.

wtyaid9ciw6wbsjtd98s.jpg

fractal-audio-fm9.png
 
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