Gone Ampless

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by davidd

I get the feeling that many commenting have never owned and regularly gigged with a great amp.

Maybe, but I have. None of the modelers really feel or sound the same because they emulate the sound of an amp being miced in another room and you’re hearing them in the studio control room with monitors. It’s something you have to adjust to. Once you do, it’s great.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by davidd

I get the feeling that many commenting have never owned and regularly gigged with a great amp.

I've gigged with
73 BF'd SF Twin Reverb
68 Super Reverb
BF Rivera era Fender Deluxe Reverb
Rivera R30
Line 6 1st generation Amp forget the name
Alot of Peavey's Bandit's old an new
Fender Blues Junior
Carvin Belair
Roland Blues 3/10's
Ampeg Super Jet
A couple of custom built amps... one was a AC30 clone and they other one could run 6V6's, 6l6's, EL34's, KT88's (selector knob)
and more...
And I'm tired of hauling amps around

[89bruin]

Originally Posted by CASD57

I've got a Zoom G1-Four and A1-Four I could make due with on a pedal board..but the IR thing has me intrigued

Is there any IR multi-effect units that have more than one channel so I can set it up for Electric and Acoustic? or will I need a A-B switch

I've got both acoustic and electric IRs loaded in my Boss IR-200 and I've been very pleased with the unit. Other than reverb, noise suppression and EQ it doesn't have any built in effects but I don't use much in the way of effects so I just run a compressor and overdrive into the IR-200 and have some modulation effects in its FX loop. I like things simple which is why I chose the IR-200 over many of the other offerings ... once you've picked the amp and cabinet you can just tweak the knobs like a "real" amp.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by 89bruin

I've got both acoustic and electric IRs loaded in my Boss IR-200 and I've been very pleased with the unit. Other than reverb, noise suppression and EQ it doesn't have any built in effects but I don't use much in the way of effects so I just run a compressor and overdrive into the IR-200 and have some modulation effects in its FX loop. I like things simple which is why I chose the IR-200 over many of the other offerings ... once you've picked the amp and cabinet you can just tweak the knobs like a "real" amp.

Nice....I really only use Reverb-Trem maybe compressor
I'll take a deeper look into it...maybe some video's

[redir]

I don't find it difficult at all to haul around my Marshall 18 what head and a 1x12 cab. I used to gig with a Twin though and that was indeed a beast.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by redir

I don't find it difficult at all to haul around my Marshall 18 what head and a 1x12 cab. I used to gig with a Twin though and that was indeed a beast.

I like the pedalboard-Guitars-JBL Eon One Compact, gigbag and Speaker Stand idea better

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by davidd

I get the feeling that many commenting have never owned and regularly gigged with a great amp.

I've owned and gigged with a Black face Twin and a Black face Super Reverb. Both were great amps but I don't miss either one of them in the least.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by davidd

I get the feeling that many commenting have never owned and regularly gigged with a great amp.

Blackface Deluxe and Pro
Marshall Jubilee
Vox AC30
Bogner Shiva

and other odds and sods over the years. The beauty of my Fractal is I have all of those and more. They sound great, and they feel great. I cannot say that about a number of previous modeling solutions I've tried.

And I'm not breaking my back...

[T.Lime]

Originally Posted by davidd

I get the feeling that many commenting have never owned and regularly gigged with a great amp.

I still have a stunningly good Fender amp sitting in the studio, and a Blackstar and a Marshall stack with 4x12 cab. The fact is that 99.9% of audiences have no idea of what kind of tech they are listening to.. for example using an acoustic sim on an electric to them sounds exactly like an acoustic... there are a tiny percentage of folks who will deride the tone as not being "authentic" or " NOT REAL ACOUSTIC".. tbh I do not care.... having a good sound FOH is pretty much all a paying audience wants, about one in 2 thousand might say.. "oh look they have no amps" having a quiet stage is a bonus that makes live gigs so much easier...with a set of good wedges you can actually hear the rest of the band...

[davidd]

Originally Posted by T.Lime

I still have a stunningly good Fender amp sitting in the studio, and a Blackstar and a Marshall stack with 4x12 cab. The fact is that 99.9% of audiences have no idea of what kind of tech they are listening to.. for example using an acoustic sim on an electric to them sounds exactly like an acoustic... there are a tiny percentage of folks who will deride the tone as not being "authentic" or " NOT REAL ACOUSTIC".. tbh I do not care.... having a good sound FOH is pretty much all a paying audience wants, about one in 2 thousand might say.. "oh look they have no amps" having a quiet stage is a bonus that makes live gigs so much easier...with a set of good wedges you can actually hear the rest of the band...

I'm not talking about what the audience experiences. I'm talking about what I experience. My '69 Princeton Reverb and my '72 Deluxe Reverb sound infinitely better than any amp sim and IR I have experienced.

Here we are on a forum where players argue about the thickness of a finish and its effect on tone, types of fret boards, sitka versus adi, and then happily process it through a gobbledygook of digital effects, cab sims and preamps.

[Puddleglum]

This is a great thread and something that interests me. I'd be interested to learn more about going ampless for playing at home. I don't play out and don't need to plug into a PA, but I play at home through headphones. I've been having some trouble with my Boss Katana just randomly conking out (I'll turn it off and then on and it usually last another couple hours). This is most disappointing and I feel that for almost $300 this thing should be better made. I had an old Crate SS amp that lasted for almost 20 years and never once hiccuped on me! Anyway, are there some good units for just playing through headphones?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Puddleglum

This is a great thread and something that interests me. I'd be interested to learn more about going ampless for playing at home. I don't play out and don't need to plug into a PA, but I play at home through headphones. I've been having some trouble with my Boss Katana just randomly conking out (I'll turn it off and then on and it usually last another couple hours). This is most disappointing and I feel that for almost $300 this thing should be better made. I had an old Crate SS amp that lasted for almost 20 years and never once hiccuped on me! Anyway, are there some good units for just playing through headphones?

Evaluate your needs based on what effects you will be using and then make sure the unit you have is plainly marked for headphone use.

I think all of the major contenders that are made for headphone use will have true stereo output, a necessity for me. Make sure you are using good headphones. Audition a few if you don't have a good pair. High quality headphones make all the difference for enjoyment.

[jonfields45]

One more thing to consider...

If you don't set up your FRFR speaker correctly, you won't get the best tone out of your amp modeler. Most FRFR speakers sound flat response on a pole off the ground. When you put it on the floor you need to compensate for the bass boost. My QSC CP8 sounds best on a pole with the back side EQ set "default", or nearly as good on the floor, on its side with the backside EQ set to "monitor".

Sitting on the floor upright is not great no matter how I set the backside EQ.

I was able to figure all of this out using the line out of a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. When the QSC CP8 sounded as good as the amp, I new I was there.

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Evaluate your needs based on what effects you will be using and then make sure the unit you have is plainly marked for headphone use.

I think all of the major contenders that are made for headphone use will have true stereo output, a necessity for me. Make sure you are using good headphones. Audition a few if you don't have a good pair. High quality headphones make all the difference for enjoyment.

I stay on the Brown setting on the Katana with a bit of reverb and delay - that's about it. I wouldn't need or want anything elaborate; I find that all that stuff distracts and detracts from actually playing music. I just want a good sound to jam on riffs with. I have some pretty good headphones too.

[T.Lime]

Originally Posted by davidd

I'm not talking about what the audience experiences. I'm talking about what I experience. My '69 Princeton Reverb and my '72 Deluxe Reverb sound infinitely better than any amp sim and IR I have experienced.

Here we are on a forum where players argue about the thickness of a finish and its effect on tone, types of fret boards, sitka versus adi, and then happily process it through a gobbledygook of digital effects, cab sims and preamps.

With this I agree 100% my "thing" is that I make music because I enjoy it.. but if the people who buy tickets to our gigs cannot tell the difference it makes our touring life so much easier if we can haul less kit.. smaller vehicle which means less cost, and, in Europe enables us to gig in the cities with low emmisison zones at less cost. London for example charge £127 for one day to take our old bus in, and £12.50 for a large station wagon that holds our fully ampless rig. That is more money for the band, more money to buy more kit, buy more merch ( which is where we really make our income)more money for the increasingly expensive PR and promo work....