Gone Ampless

[Russ C]

Without reading it all I’m confident I’m repeating someone, but my guitar, pedals, tube amp and speakers are about equal parts of my instrument. The thought of forsaking half of that to save moving something that’s heavy .. well the day I can’t move, or be bothered moving part of it is the day I stay at home.

On stage I aim my rig at me. I want none of it in the monitor. The audience can have whatever the sound guy gives them but I’ve spent too many obsessive hours getting the sound I want just to give control of it to someone at each sound check.

I’m sure people who don’t suffer from my level of tone psychosis are probably happier people but it’s who I am and I’m stuck with myself.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by Russ C

Without reading it all I’m confident I’m repeating someone, but my guitar, pedals, tube amp and speakers are about equal parts of my instrument. The thought of forsaking half of that to save moving something that’s heavy .. well the day I can’t move, or be bothered moving part of it is the day I stay at home.

On stage I aim my rig at me. I want none of it in the monitor. The audience can have whatever the sound guy gives them but I’ve spent too many obsessive hours getting the sound I want just to give control of it to someone at each sound check.

I’m sure people who don’t suffer from my level of tone psychosis are probably happier people but it’s who I am and I’m stuck with myself.

I get the amp thing because the ampless thing is new to me and might not even workout..
But on the other side of the coin, I'm tone picky, tube snob in a lot of ways, so no modeler is going to work and I'm not sure a Fender Tone master would even work
So the option is buy a new tube amp.. $$$$$
or find an old Tube amp $$$$ have it gone over $$$ and be happy or find a good enough solution for the minimal gigs I have at this time.
In the past the gigs pretty much paid for new gear, not these days.
I mean isn't going to Battery PA's is reducing the gear to carry ?

If I was going to buy a vintage tube amp I would do what I did in the past but separate the head and speaker cabinet..
My ideal Tube amp was a Dual Showman Reverb head put into a Twin Reverb 212 cabinet with C12N's
The Dual Showman Reverb might fit in a Twin Cabinet but the circuit is different and it actually sounds better than a SF Twin..

But the gigs aren't paying for gear at this time, So it's the good enough route for now!

Just my Looonnng .02

[stevecuss]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yeah, I started doing church gigs entirely with the POD 2.0 and Floorboard. I morphed into a POD HD500X that I carried in an Olive Garden bag and eventually moved into the Helix with its fantastic gig bag/backpack.



I do most of my sessions with the Helix these days - guitar in one hand and Helix on my back, plug 'n play.

Bob

Same. I sold all my pedals, bought a Helix and put money in the bank.

The only thing I miss is that 'new pedal anticipation.' The absolute belief that this next pedal will finally make take my tone to a divine level

The Helix is just incredible and also a fine acoustic rig when you need extra bells and whistles.

[jonfields45]

IMHO my no-guitar-amp solutions are better sounding than a tube guitar amp.

Not every fart out of an old tube amp needs, or should be, reproduced by a digital model!

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by stevecuss

Same. I sold all my pedals, bought a Helix and put money in the bank.

The only thing I miss is that 'new pedal anticipation.' The absolute belief that this next pedal will finally make take my tone to a divine level

The Helix is just incredible and also a fine acoustic rig when you need extra bells and whistles.

Is the Stomp and/pr POD-Go even close to the Helix ?? for a lower cost alternative?

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

IMHO my no-guitar-amp solutions are better sounding than a tube guitar amp.

Not every fart out of an old tube amp needs, or should be, reproduced by a digital model!

I agree, I like the idea of having everything in one box, which a tube amp doesn't do without help
My problem is finding a one box solution that has an acceptable sound...Thats my quest at the moment

I almost settled on the Zoom G1-Four for the acceptable tone but I can't seem to get it out of sounding confined/small as the box its in, maybe its the compressor?
but I am enjoying the Joyo American pedal but with that I need more boxes for the Trem-chorus and ?
The life of a Musician lol

[davidd]

Originally Posted by CASD57

Is the Stomp and/pr POD-Go even close to the Helix ?? for a lower cost alternative?

Yes, the POD Go has basically all the Helix presets. It has less memory so can't hold as many effects at the same time and also doesn't have as much connectivity etc., but in a real world situation it is somewhat meaningless. The POD Go is an amazing piece of kit.

[Yeah]

I recently bought one of these, and so far I LOVE it. I know it is pricey but it has a LOT of usability.

https://milkmansound.com/collections...oducts/the-amp

Going ampless has other advantages than just not carrying weight.

Most of these pedals offer direct outs with Cab simulations, so recording is far easier. You can record silently, and without fiddling with mic placement for hours. I love that.

You also gain space in your house/playing space. And the ability to play silently through headphones is great for me. I could never get good sound out of the headphone out or line out of an amp.