New to Modeling and Want to Dip my Toe in the Water

[maguchi]

Do you want to replace your amp AND your pedal board .... or just your amp?

The reason I ask is that there are quite a few options (some listed in other posts above) that are ONLY replacing the amp. ie, these devices do not have any (or very minimal) effects capabilities, they just make amp sounds.

What does your pedalboard have in it today?

Just the amp. I don't really use many effects at all, just a occasional mod pedal, delay, or drive pedal. I don't really have a pedalboard. Just will grab a occasional pedal or two at the most and put them on the floor and into the amp

 

[GTR37]

I am going to say Hotone Stage or POD GO

 

[GTR37]

Someone elsewhere posted that the QC high end all sounded like it was coming from a piezo pickup

I did not experience this
I thought the high were aggressive on some models but the harmonics and sustain was really good
But it was so long ago I don’t recall but based on the amp models in there at launch the modelling tones were not the issue

 

[laxu]

Just the amp. I don't really use many effects at all, just a occasional mod pedal, delay, or drive pedal. I don't really have a pedalboard. Just will grab a occasional pedal or two at the most and put them on the floor and into the amp

Then the next question is...how particular are you about the sound of those pedals? Namely would you be happy if you could avoid picking those pedals in the first place, and could just use one box that does similar effects, just perhaps not the exact flavor you get from your pedals?

 

[OneEng]

Just the amp. I don't really use many effects at all, just a occasional mod pedal, delay, or drive pedal. I don't really have a pedalboard. Just will grab a occasional pedal or two at the most and put them on the floor and into the amp

Ok, just to be clear, when we say "just the amp", we mean "Just the Amp without ANY of its built in effects OTHER than gain". This is what you get with a digital "just amp" pedal.

Your venerable Vox AC15 has the following built in efx that a Vox digital amp pedal would NOT have:

• Tremelo (with depth and speed adjustments)
• Reverb (with level adjustment)
• Top Boost socket (with bass and treble eq)
• Footswitch that turns on and off the tremelo and reverb

In addition to these capabilities you have said you want:

• Modulation (Chorus?)
• Delay
• Drive

While my suggestion of a used Kemper Stage is above your budget by $300.00 it would provide ALL of the features you would need to replace your VOX AC15.

• Banks of 5 "Patches/Rigs" you can select quickly within a song without the need to "arrow up/arrow down" to different setups common to 3 button devices
• 4 efx On/Off buttons that are assignable per "patch/rig" each having color coded LED's to indicate the type of effect they are controlling
• Large readable LCD screen to show you what "patch/rig" is selected
• 4 pre-amp effects, 4 post amp effects configurable per "patch/rig"

Other suggestions in this thread (most of them) will accomplish replacing your current rig, but most of them fall short in a gigging work-flow. Personally, I would NEVER use a 3 button device live. The idea of tap dancing on buttons between every guitar sound change inside a single song is simply out of the question for me. I need a SINGLE selection to change my sound. That single selection must be INSTANTANEOUSLY executed with NO delay between patches.

For me, these are the basic table stakes for a live guitar rig.

 

[GTR37]

If it’s just the amp and maybe just minimal effects you have a lot of choices
Pod Express
Kemper Player
Two notes opus

Realistically though if you really want no effects
I would say something like a Friedman IRX or Blug Mercury

 

[JiveTurkey]

For a new modeling user; I'd get the Boss 10x over the Kemper.

 

[GTR37]

For a new modeling user; I'd get the Boss 10x over the Kemper.

Agreed , they should learn disappointment early in their journey

 

[Moe45673]

Agreed , they should learn disappointment early in their journey

Tone is in the fingers!

FWIW, here's me recording with the ME-90. Absolutely no post-production, no eq, no compression, nothing. You can tell from some of the tap dancing I do (LIKE A REAL PEDALBOARD).

I took the audio file of my playing (a term I use loosely), aligned it with the backing track I used while tracking, set the levels of the two, and ba-da-boom......

 

[ragingplatypi]

10 pages, WTF?

It’s 4 more months til the next Helix update. You’re all we got.

 

[Jarick]

Okay I'll go wild and off base here.

Try one of these little Headrush MX5 units. They're $400 new but you can find them used for under $300 shipped.

It has a full color touch screen interface which is super easy to figure out. It has three switches and an expression pedal integrated. Small, light weight, fully integrated gigging solution if you don't need complex switching. It also has the ability to do dual amps and low gap patch switching.

It doesn't have the most models or the most effects or the most detailed amp capturing tech. But a really fun and easy unit that's super affordable.

 

[Mongillo19]

Probably would have been easier to ask what not to try at this point

 

[Frodebro]

Probably would have been easier to ask what not to try at this point

The responses would have been exactly the same, just from different people.

 

[GTR37]

Probably would have been easier to ask what not to try at this point

If he wants to know what NOT to buy TB3 has got ya covered

 

[MindCrime]

If he wants to know what NOT to buy TB3 has got ya covered

...and not from personal experience ! But he'll find a YouTube video somewhere and post it...