EFFECTS

[Bob Johnson]

There's lots of stuff about various pedals and other upstream effects on this forum but I was wondering what the communities opinions are on things like the Line 6 XT pro, Boss GT6 and other modelling gear as opposed to seperate stomp boxes?

Anyone got anything to say?

[chrisola]

i've never bothered with em, had a Korg multi fx thingy which i spent more time fiddling with than actually playing my guitar through!

also pods and such seem good if you need to make your guitar sound like different things alot (a friend of mine swears by his for his covers band for example)... but i've never got on with them, again far too much tweaking and fiddling for my tastes... (this is after owning a Line6 spider 2 & a yamaha DG60 modelling amps)

i found i only needed 2 sounds, less dirty and REALLY dirty :lol:

[TwilightOdyssey]

Bob, I have 3 mdoelers, and I love them all, for different reasons.

Modeler #1 is a KORG PXR-4. Aside from the portability, it sports many good clean and distortion models, with all the effects being customisable. It also sports a very accurate tuner, condenser mic that doesn't suck,  and 4 tracks of digital recording; the perfect sketchpad for a songwriter.

Modeler #2 is a ROLAND VG-88.  Hands down, the best amp modeler in the world; when I use it with my Roland Ready Strat, it also opens up totally authentic models of steel guitars, actoustics, mandolins, synths, etc etc.

NOTE: The real downside to my synth rig (RRS, VG-88, GR-30, FC-200) is the Roland Ready Strat; The RRS tracks very well, but the guitar istelf plays rather poorly. Not sure if I want put a new neck on the guitar, or just get a proper guitar with a piezo/13-pin output ...

Modeler #3 is a JOHNSON MILLENIUM 2x12 combo amp. Some great models in this amp, but if I want to use an amp, I can just use valves. It's really an afterthought as far as my gear is concerned.

[Kilby]

I have limitged experiences of moddelers.

I had a line 6 Spider, which was enough to put me off line 6 products for life, it was awful :(

I still have a pandora, for portable playing and it's excellent even when feeding a clean amp.

A friend bought one in preference to a Pod 2 for demo recording.

Korg / Vox seem to be liked for the quality of their amp / speaker simulations.

Apart from multi fx and large numbers of emulations I would suggest using analogue effects, as even comparing the current Boss phaser agains the older analogue items is not a contest, analogue wins every time.

Especially in the realm of distortion.

[HJM]

Modelling and multiFX are a bit like mircowave ready meals....they taste great when your hungry but you can get better!

I have a Line 6 Guitar Port - that's really nice and easy to use, tones are OK.

The GT6, my old bandmate had one, I found it too harsh sounding.

Used to have a POD and a POD v2, both were pretty good also.

I don't like modelling amps, but desktops and multieffects are great tools, especially for home studio use.

As to seperate stomp boxes vs multieffects, it depends. Multifx are quiet, have lots of fx, but can be a pain to program, and sound a bit digital....some of them colour the sound too much.

Well design traditional pedals tend to offer better transparancy and better dynamics, and not to forget, more mojo!

[Elliot]

I have a Vox AD30VT - its an ok practice amp but it tends to be one D in sound

I also have a guitar port and during a rich phase I bought the add on amps - I play it through Harman Kadon Sound Sticks II - I have to say it sounds absolutely fantastic as a practice amp/phrase trainer/recording amp.  

Between a cheap solid state practice amp and a modeller like a Vox - I would go with the modeller, but given a choice between something big and digital and a real Fender Bassman I would go with the Fender.

[carlaz]

I see most of my future guitar playing happening in a home-recording context, so I'm very keen to get into the digital modeling thing.  (If I turn out to be wrong, I'll buy a big valve head 'n' cab set :)!)

I didn't much like what I heard from the old V-amps and Pods, but I liked the PodXT's sounds rather better -- not enough to get one, though, not least because I really want something that has at least a few sensible bass amp models mixed in with the  guitar models; I think the PodXT has only guitars, while the Pod Bass has only basses--which is kinda lame.  Only the Bass V-amp has a handful of guitar amps mixed in with the bass models, AFAIK.  Honestly, I'd rather have half-a-dozen good guitar amp models along with half-a-dozen (if that) good bass amp models than a bazillion of either. On the other hand, the V-amps don't have USB or OS-X-compatible editing software, and the PODxt does.

So really I'm kinda hanging out with my fingers crossed hoping for a next-gen digital amp modeller that offers both guitar and bass amp models, as well as a USB interface with support software that my Mac can use to talk to it.  That would be cool.

At the moment, I just use an analogue Sansamp GT2, or the COSM stuff built into my old Roland VS-1680 (some of which still sound pretty damn good actually, despite being 10 years old or so!).

[willo]

You know what its like when you're younger; anything with flashing lights and lots of buttons seems 'better'. I owned a Korg AX1500G and I still have my Line 6 Spider, but I hope to replace this soon.

My memories of the Korg is that it was OK, nothing great, but it was easy to use, compact and by having so many far out effects (ring mods, weird delays, two types of phasers, trems etc) allowed me to really explore the sounds you can get from a guitar. However, as I got a little older, I realised that this was a curse as much as it was a blessing; all the messing around led me to actually work on my technique a lot less. I certainly don't subscribe to the idea that more pedals = a worse player, but in my experience I was less happy to work on my technique when I could spend all day pissing around with fancy delay effects.

So now I prefer something that is simple yet absolutely top-notch. It's like cooking - you can throw 100 flavours into a dish and it will be rubbish. But if you have only two ingredients, but they are absolutely top notch - and you have the ability to use them well - then the dish can be superb.

[38thBeatle]

I have an orginal pod. OK the models are not like the real thing but are useful for demos. I have never found it practical live but take it in case of amp failure.
I picked up a KorgAX1500G a few months ago really really cheap. As I play in a covers band, I need a whole range of tones and it does the job reasonally well.I have to play stuff ranging from Buddy Holly, 60's 70's through to Green day- with a Strat and Tele. I'd rather have the real thing but as I don't have a road crew and articulated truck, this will have to do.
I have used the Korg for recording recently and with a bit of tweaking, it wasn't bad- I avoid the reverbs though. 38th waffles again !

[rinse_master]

I have a PodXT and while it can be a bit of a pain tweaking to get a decent tone, I liek having lots of choice (it also sounds 100% better through my Atomic Reactor - a valve amp with a docking station for the pod, or other modeler http://www.atomicamps.com)

I did have a GT6 before I got the Pod, it had excellent FX but there were way too many paremeters to set and fiddle with, although not completely mental, still a little less intuitive that the Pod.

Amp model wise, well I cant really compare to "real" amps, as I havent really played more than a handful of the models, but they all sounds pretty different from each other for the most part and it keeps me busy.

[Underground_Player]

Well said willo.

[Tim]

Personally I don't like the sound of any of them, I'm not a big fan of modeling at all.If I want a Marshall tone I plug into a Marshall etc although I do appreciate how useful they are especially if you need access to a large variety of ballpark tones and space is at a premium. A tone is a tone at the end of the day and if you like it then use it but for me personally I like to see the wood for the trees :D
Now if you DO want to see alot of toys in one place get HJM to post up pics of his toyboards that are in his studio.................wow, days of fun 8)

[HJM]

I've rationalized.....kind of

[Tim]

Please don't HJM.............those toys are pure genius and if you can't find a tone amongst that lot well.......... :D

Anyway, since when was playing guitar about  being rational :lol:

[HJM]

Dammit...there's a tone in here somewhere..... :lol: