What have you learned from digital modeling?

[EOengineer]

I'm dating myself here, but my "digital modeling" journey started when I threw some summer job money at this mysterious red bean people were going on and on about, the original POD. For others here, that journey may have started with SansAmp, or Digitech, or Kemper...but I loved that POD...especially the encyclopedic-style user manual.

I'd find myself excited to get home so I could throw on some headphones, and open up that amazing manual that taught me so much about all the classic amp circuits I had heard about but never touched. I must have spent hundreds of hours adjusting knobs, plugging in my Strat vs Les Paul, and discovering how each circuit responded to different guitars, knob settings, and playing styles. Then the PODxt happened and the realism increased and obviously continued through PODhd, Helix, etc.

It wasn't until I entered a college-level recording program in my 20s that I started to really appreciate what I had learned from my time in the virtual amp world. Suddenly I'm interning and assisting in sessions where there is an REAL deluxe reverb, 64 AC30, or JTM45, and I'm thinking back to my modeling time to remember how I got "that sound" and what mics seemed to work best in which situations. Once I was done with school, I was fortunate to end up working in a studio that had a massive collection of guitars and amps, and I still like to think that it was my knowledge of gear that in part came from modeling that helped land that gig.

In short, I appreciate modeling for its flexibility, its pursuit of accuracy, and for providing useful access to gear that most of us may never actually cross paths with.

 

[hemmelight]

Modelling and amp-sims helped solidify what I was looking for in terms of "tone hunting". I just didn't realise it!

When I first started playing guitar in earnest I was a cheap 15-year-old and used a Zoom G1 box plugged into a shitty "Delta" practice amp that I borrowed from a friend. I used that for a year or so until I discovered things like Amplitube and Guitar Rig 5. I then used the demo version of GR5 for a year before finally throwing them the $50 or whatever it was at the time.

My go-to sound on GR5 was the Plexi "Jump" amp with a tube-screamer in front plus some reverb and tape delay when needed.

It took basically another 14 years of buying real amps (and trying to love Mesas IRL) before I realised that I had already found my "sound".
A TS or an SD-1 into a Marshall-style amp with a strat (Humbucker in the bridge). I was always a Marshall-type person and it was staring me in the face for ages.

Edit: Found some photos from the web of my epic "first rig" lol
I only used the 'Santana' preset as described in the manual of the Zoom because it sounded the most like an actual guitar amp. All the others were terrible.

 

[itchyfingers]

Digital modeling has taught me that I'm a tube amp guy.

I haven't fully gone down the rabbit hole, just a few modelers over the last couple decades (Pod, Katana, Helix). They get better with each iteration, and I think most have nailed it from a sonic matchup perspective, but in my limited experience, the feel is not quite there yet. I fully believe it will be there someday, just not quite there now. I use an Iridium as a backup at gigs in case my amp goes up in smoke, but aside from that I just prefer the feel of tube amps in every playing situation from my music room to a stage.

 

[Sleezy E]

I started with a boss gt3 in the late 90's and didn't care about accuracy (still don't) I just wanted my guitar to sound like a guitar.

I was successful, imo.

Edit: what did I learn? I learned that no matter what I plug a guitar into.. I always sound like me.

 

[laxu]

My first modeler was the Yamaha DG80 1x12 combo. I bought it when I heard someone play Dream Theater riffs and solos through it at a store and it sounded great. Whoever played it then had some serious chops too. I still reckon it's one of the best modeler designs ever made - the simplicity of a amp, super easy to use effects, no faffing with "does it sound exactly like this or that amp" because the models didn't say what they were based on.

If modeling has taught me something, it's that I really don't care if it has hundreds of amp models. That's nice, but all I need is a handful of good ones. I'm honestly no less happy playing through my pedalboard running into a Strymon Iridium with its mere 3 amp models than using the overwhelming capabilities in the Axe-Fx 3.

I've also found that I don't really care about "FRFR" vs real cabs in the room. Most of the tones I've ever chased have been based on recorded tones anyway.

Finally I've found that there is no "one amp to rule them all". I like a bit of variety now and then and just having Fender, Vox and Marshall models on the Iridium is enough to satisfy that itch for change. Modeling has probably saved me a lot of money over buying a collection of tube amps.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I've learned like it all. Amps and modelers can be a blast no matter which road you go down. They both have strengths and weaknesses and I can enjoy both in different ways equally

 

[EOengineer]

My first modeler was the Yamaha DG80 1x12 combo. I bought it when I heard someone play Dream Theater riffs and solos through it at a store and it sounded great. Whoever played it then had some serious chops too. I still reckon it's one of the best modeler designs ever made - the simplicity of a amp, super easy to use effects, no faffing with "does it sound exactly like this or that amp" because the models didn't say what they were based on.

If modeling has taught me something, it's that I really don't care if it has hundreds of amp models. That's nice, but all I need is a handful of good ones. I'm honestly no less happy playing through my pedalboard running into a Strymon Iridium with its mere 3 amp models than using the overwhelming capabilities in the Axe-Fx 3.

I've also found that I don't really care about "FRFR" vs real cabs in the room. Most of the tones I've ever chased have been based on recorded tones anyway.

Finally I've found that there is no "one amp to rule them all". I like a bit of variety now and then and just having Fender, Vox and Marshall models on the Iridium is enough to satisfy that itch for change. Modeling has probably saved me a lot of money over buying a collection of tube amps.

I've learned like it all. Amps and modelers can be a blast no matter which road you go down. They both have strengths and weaknesses and I can enjoy both in different ways equally

Im also a passenger on the gear == tools train. People lose their minds (and wallets) trying to find the do-it-all guitar and amp and all the variations usually just sound meh.

There are times I want a tele into a Deluxe Reverb, a LP into a Superlead, or a 7 string into a Rectifier. I think of these as tone recipes.

 

[Baba]

Digital modeling has taught me that I'm a tube amp guy.

I haven't fully gone down the rabbit hole, just a few modelers over the last couple decades (Pod, Katana, Helix). They get better with each iteration, and I think most have nailed it from a sonic matchup perspective, but in my limited experience, the feel is not quite there yet. I fully believe it will be there someday, just not quite there now. I use an Iridium as a backup at gigs in case my amp goes up in smoke, but aside from that I just prefer the feel of tube amps in every playing situation from my music room to a stage.

Same.

I have learned that, I do NOT know how to get a good recording tone at all. I'm the guy that sits in the amp room and plays, while the gurus sit in the control room and set my tone.

Give me an amp, in a room, with B/M/T controls, (I don't even need presence, lol), with good speakers, and all the cap values and whatever, already set the way they are, and I can rock it.

ANY adjustment past that, and it starts sounding worse.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I have learned that I can gig with just about any type of amp modeler except newer Zoom stuff. I've also learned that having a Helix LT allows me to do 100% of everything I will play with 1 patch. The extra real estate is worth it to me.

 

[DieSchmalle]

Digital told me that I'm a Fender guy who tries to be a Marshall guy.

 

[sleewell]

badonk goes brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[James Freeman]

I have learned that we are far from the end of the road of accurately emulating tube amps.
You try 10 different Rectifier models you get 10 different sounding variations of it. *edited

 

[holoholo]

Toan is stored in the balls

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I think modelling is better than I realised but there are certain variables that are REALLY important that we need more control over.

Most important of these is the poweramp to cabinet interaction. Fractal is just about getting there now, but most other modelling is playing catch up
A bit shocking how similar Fractal’s TC100 sounds to IK‘s when you disable the impedance curve/use a resistive load:

Similar story for their rectifiers, they sound flat unless you exaggerate the poweramp->cabinet impedance.

You try 10 different Rectifier models you get 10 different sounding variations of it.

I think this is largely down to the poweramp modelling, Rectifiers are particularly sensitive to the load they’re connected to. Some models are done with a fixed load (sometimes a reactive load, sometimes a mesa cab, sometimes even a resistive load). I think profiles/captures suffer just as badly from this because people are using all sorts of gear to capture them.

Also giving the model the correct input (more applicable for plugins than HW modellers) can make a huge difference on the end result, and is massively misunderstood.

Master volume affects the tone way more than most of us realise, both for real amps and modelling.

How we interact with a physical amp with controls we touch vs digital gear totally affects how we dial things in (even if we end up at the same place the route we get there is totally different).

 

[DrewJD82]

Can’t say I learned much of anything new; I still dial in tones the way I always did, just a lot more of them, still listen to 90% of my playing through studio monitors (which was what pushed me over the edge towards modeling originally)….I guess if anything is that I learned I’m more satisfied going out of real cabs than dealing with IR’s for live use.

 

[EOengineer]

I think modelling is better than I realised but there are certain variables that are REALLY important that we need more control over.

Most important of these is the poweramp to cabinet interaction. Fractal is just about getting there now, but most other modelling is playing catch up
A bit shocking how similar Fractal’s TC100 sounds to IK‘s when you disable the impedance curve/use a resistive load:

Similar story for their rectifiers, they sound flat unless you exaggerate the poweramp->cabinet impedance.





I think this is largely down to the poweramp modelling, Rectifiers are particularly sensitive to the load they’re connected to. Some models are done with a fixed load (sometimes a reactive load, sometimes a mesa cab, sometimes even a resistive load). I think profiles/captures suffer just as badly from this because people are using all sorts of gear to capture them.

Also giving the model the correct input (more applicable for plugins than HW modellers) can make a huge difference on the end result, and is massively misunderstood.

Master volume affects the tone way more than most of us realise, both for real amps and modelling.

How we interact with a physical amp with controls we touch vs digital gear totally affects how we dial things in (even if we end up at the same place the route we get there is totally different).

It does seem like the speaker impedance interaction is one of those areas where the tech has advanced recently and is helping modeling feel more realistic.

I still firmly believe that we’re going to see a non IR speaker simulation advancement in the next year, perhaps using AI/neural tech or profiling.

Similarly I’m hoping we also see advancements in re-amplification. We are all shoving this stuff through BAMs, Gnomes, etc and there has to be a better solution for reproducing traditional physical playing experiences. I don’t want to just hear that Plexi, I want my guitar cab to feel like it would if I were pushing the Plexi through it within reason. There is so much more to an amp than just the way it sounds. Let’s model all of it.

 

[Red Solo Cup]

Digital modeling has taught me that I don't know anything about advanced parameters, and I get lost messing with trying to tweak and figure all that stuff out. Fortunately, the stock settings on the FX3 are usually close enough for my needs.
And, my tube amps and cabs are heavy AF

 

[ragingplatypi]

Digital modeling has taught me light years more about tube amps than sales associate at the guitar store did.

 

[la szum]

 

[northern_fox]

That gear doesn't matter nearly as much as I thought it did, and that tone only gets so good and then just different from that point on. Also that ear fatigue is very, very real when A/B testing