X-Mas Amp Mod 2019!

[Mattias Westlund]

(08-16-2021, 03:03 PM)Nayrb Wrote: I do like having something to just plug into and play, though, without having to fire up the whole rig just to mess around. That same reasoning is why I plan on buying a cheap practice keyboard again next time I move and have the space for it. I'm practicing more proper keyboard scales and such these days, and it's nice to just have an instrument handy that I don't have to plug into a computer.

That's my exact reasoning for having amps as well. With my PC, even if I set presets up in something like VSTHost instead of using Reaper, I will still need to run the cable to my audio interface, I will still have to muck around with the mouse to turn effects on and off or adjust settings, and I will still have to deal with latency. With an amp, I can just power it on and play. It's just much less of a hassle. Also (and this is just a personal preference, having spent far more time playing through amps rather than amp sims) I prefer the sound and feel of an actual amp to that of a simulated mic'd guitar sound coming out of my studio monitors. That's fine for tracking but it's not the same.

(08-16-2021, 03:03 PM)Nayrb Wrote: I will say (repeat, actually), that the best rig I ever played through was an EVH tube head going into a computer. I think the computer was mainly for cab modelling; the rest of the rack was external amp/pedal-board stuff. But I think I'm just not savvy enough to be able to make sounds like my friend who did set that up (same guy who does the luthierie). When I play my modest JB equipped guitar through it, I can somehow get tones that sound like raging EMGs.

The EVH amps are monsters. Never played one myself but I've heard them being demoed and they sound really great. Oddly enough, the various 5150 sims I've tried leave a lot to be desired. The TSE X50 2.0 for example won a lot of praise when it came out but it never really clicked with me. It's not a bad sim, I just couldn't get any tones I was really happy with out of it. So clearly modeling isn't 100% there yet. Still, I will take imperfect simulations over a bulky, expensive, fragile, high-maintenance and power hungry piece of hardware any day of the week, no matter how good it sounds.