Will an indefinitely relevant/sold modeling platform ever exist?
- Thread starter Boudoir Guitar
- Start date
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,642
It’s pretty much same way computers have gone, I guess. You can’t pay still spend $3k+ on a powerful machine. Of $150 on a Chromebook.
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,642
Right but again - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe; Peavey Classic, etc.
newholland
Roadie
- Messages
- 967
i kid. i keep my shit for decades- but i think im odd man out. someones always painting a greener grass scenario even if it isnt.
drri guys are the old skoo wilford brimley types like me.
drri guys are the old skoo wilford brimley types like me.
Chocol8
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,867
I don't think that is necessarily true, both are very good with room for improvement.
deathbyguitar
Roadie
- Messages
- 380
I still think the Axe-FX Ultra sounds amazing. We've been increasingly splitting hairs for years now. Even Line 6 combos sound great. No matter how much you wanna spend or what form factor you're looking for, everything is pretty much amazing. Far cry from the Zoom 505 I had when I started playing.
Chocol8
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,867
Bad strategy. I buy the latest and greatest iPhone Pro models every 3 years. With trade in programs they have always cost me between $150 and $200. So we are spending about the same amount of money but I am using newer tech. I would happily do the same with laptops and modelers if I could!
Chocol8
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,867
My Flextone II combo begs to differ!
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,642
If I drop my phone in the ocean while paddling I don’t care.
- Messages
- 2,068
thats not the knockout blow you think it is hahahaha
both of those brands continue to make and sell many models after that that were all billed as improvements just like what happens with every new modeler year after year
just bc you love a hot rod deluxe does not mean modelers are going to stop coming out being billed as an improvement to their previous model. a helix LT could still be perfectly fine for you for many years to come but that is not going to stop L6 from releasing the next one.
my point is that brands cannot continue to exist by making one product and then stopping as you are suggesting. our entire system of consumerism exists to keep making products, keep employing people, keep convincing you that you have to spend money on the next product.
ivanmancic
Groupie
- Messages
- 39
Of course they can, I'm just saying I would probably not be able to tell the difference. I'm much more into usability, pitch effects and audio to midi improvements than I care about getting "more accurate" modeling.
jay mitchell
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,143
We're programmed. We've all been getting programmed by advertising - print, radio, TV, and now the internet - since we were toddlers.
One part of the programming is aimed at convincing us that a marketing explanation in an ad or commercial is all we need to understand biological, physical, medical, mechanical, etc., processes.
Another part is aimed at indoctrinating us to believe that "new technology" is reliably better than "old technology" and that the thing they're hustling to you actually contains new technology.
Yet another element in the indoctrination is the notion that we need to replace "old" technology with "new" technology on a schedule that serves the interests of the manufacturers rather than our own. It helps when FW updates tend to hobble the present platform (see iphone for one example) and when those updates are automatically downloaded and installed. If they slow your present device down (or otherwise hobble it) sufficiently, the shiny new replacement will be an easier sell.
There's no intrinsic reason that DSP-based signal processors can't continue to work reliably for many years, but the ability to repair older equipment is close to nonexistent these days, and the cost of doing so when it's even possible is high enough that buying a replacement is often a better deal.
I have no problem creating the sounds I want with my modelers, one of which is now 20 years old. If either stops working, I may be forced to find a replacement, however.
One part of the programming is aimed at convincing us that a marketing explanation in an ad or commercial is all we need to understand biological, physical, medical, mechanical, etc., processes.
Another part is aimed at indoctrinating us to believe that "new technology" is reliably better than "old technology" and that the thing they're hustling to you actually contains new technology.
Yet another element in the indoctrination is the notion that we need to replace "old" technology with "new" technology on a schedule that serves the interests of the manufacturers rather than our own. It helps when FW updates tend to hobble the present platform (see iphone for one example) and when those updates are automatically downloaded and installed. If they slow your present device down (or otherwise hobble it) sufficiently, the shiny new replacement will be an easier sell.
There's no intrinsic reason that DSP-based signal processors can't continue to work reliably for many years, but the ability to repair older equipment is close to nonexistent these days, and the cost of doing so when it's even possible is high enough that buying a replacement is often a better deal.
I have no problem creating the sounds I want with my modelers, one of which is now 20 years old. If either stops working, I may be forced to find a replacement, however.
Last edited:
ChordInversion
Roadie
- Messages
- 783
You can decide right now that the modeler you have sounds great to you and does what you need it to do. Then you can never look at gear again and be happy.
Will anyone on this site do that? Probably not. But I know plenty of people playing old generation digital equipment happily - and making lots of what I consider to be good music.
I'm in my 50s, and for the first time in forever, I can say that it's very likely that I won't sell or replace my AM4 and VP4. Like, probably not ever. I know a guy who is sticking with his regular Helix no matter what, because he's happy with it. I know another who will give up his Kemper when his heart stops beating. He hasn't read a single conversation about null tests, and he never will. Stating the obvious: Just because there's a new version doesn't mean you actually have to go get it.
But yes, manufacturers will keep trying to one-up each other in order to capture newer customers in the modeler/capture market and to get gear maniacs to sell their old gear so they can move new hardware.
Will anyone on this site do that? Probably not. But I know plenty of people playing old generation digital equipment happily - and making lots of what I consider to be good music.
I'm in my 50s, and for the first time in forever, I can say that it's very likely that I won't sell or replace my AM4 and VP4. Like, probably not ever. I know a guy who is sticking with his regular Helix no matter what, because he's happy with it. I know another who will give up his Kemper when his heart stops beating. He hasn't read a single conversation about null tests, and he never will. Stating the obvious: Just because there's a new version doesn't mean you actually have to go get it.
But yes, manufacturers will keep trying to one-up each other in order to capture newer customers in the modeler/capture market and to get gear maniacs to sell their old gear so they can move new hardware.
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,642
I'm not suggesting that everything else stop. Fender has made a whooooooooole lot of other new products alongside the venerable HRD, DRRI, etc., and while the HRD has had modest changes along the way, none have been like, say, a Boogie Mark III to Mark IV change, or a DRRI to ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb change.
I have no vested interest in this situation happening or not, just curious if it will. Or if the cost of evolving a new modeler-equivalent of the HRD is so low that there's always going to be more evolution in that area.
- Messages
- 10,108
I don't see why a Stomp or FM9 or whatever can't be a relevant device 20 yrs from now. Assuming parts aren't failing and things can be fixed easily, because inevitably it will happen. The beauty of an old tube amp is it's relatively simple to fix unless Mesa lol, and they still sound great. As long as tubes are available they're good.
Dez
Rock Star
- Messages
- 3,973
WE LIVE AND BREED AND DIE FOR THE MAN - KEEP THAT MONEY FLOWING FOR BEZOS
TheTrueZoltan!
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,991
Dez
Rock Star
- Messages
- 3,973
Similar threads
