amp modelers

[Muso]

I'm guessing that most people here own some kind of amp modeler and I was just wondering if anyone can reccomend anything.

Basically I have owned the original POD which was pretty cr@ppy and now I have the guitar port which is also pretty cr@ppy. Oh yea I had the Voodu Valve online which was really horrid.

I've been hearing great things about the VOX Tonelab, its an amp modeler but very easy to use and also uses a valve. Also the demos of it are quite impressive. I would love to hear if anyone has used one at all.

[HJM]

I like my Guitar Port, but I'm running it through a grands worth of studio monitors and a beefy PC....the expansion packs are good too.....I'd still have a real amp anyday.

The XT has some nice tones, but yes the Vox is top of the pile. Only used one briefly but I was very impressed.

[steve]

I use the original POD for home recording,i have found the tones are much better since i have been using BKP's.They sound more alive and authentic.

[Skybone]

I use a PODxt for recording at home, and IMO, it's a pretty darn good tonal sculpting device. Like any amp modeller, or amp for that matter, you do have to spend a fair amount of time dialling a tone in, the more time tweaking your sound, the better that sound gets.

The Vox Tonelab does have the single pre-amp valve in, which is said to "warm" the tone, and it has got some rave reviews in the past. I would advise that you "try before you buy" though.

[PhilKing]

I have the old Johnson J-Station, and I like it so much I bought another off e-bay.  It has some bass amps too, and digital output (S/PDIF).  I think the Vox is probably better, but for what I wanted it for, this works great.  There is also a really good software program for setting up the sounds.

[crispsandwich]

I had a Vox Tonelab. I sold it because I don't record and I had no form of amplification. I bought a Vox AD30VT amp with the cash I got for it and I'm very happy.

The Tonelab. The cleans and crunch tones are awesome. IMO they're by far the best of any modelling device. They wipe the floor with the Pod XT's. They react to your playing dynamics, they clean up, they sparkle, you feel like you're playing through a valve amp. The high gains are where the unit falls down IMO, but that's because of poor cabinet simulations. They're fizzy. The Vox cab model (AD412) is especially fizzy and dark. Upgrading the valve helps, but if you want liquid leads you can forget it, at least in my experience. I know Vox did a good job with the amp models because on my AD30VT (which has no cab sims) the high gains are significantly improved, so it must be the cab sims. There's also not much bass on the high gains. I never managed to solve this problem either. There's still a bit of fizz on my amp but it's nowhere near as bad as the Tonelab.

The effects are very good. The delays are awesome and the modulation effects are deep and very editable. The stompbox models were OK, though I never really used them. The OD/Distortion models didn't really do anything at all for me. The Octaver is fun and the acoustic simulator is very good. It makes an excellent acoustic preamp too if you have an electro-acoustic knocking about and want to record with it.  

I still think it's an awesome buy if you record. I've heard that people disabling the cab sims and using an outboard cabinet simulator (Behringer Ultra-G100 or something) have had stunning results. I never tried that (despite them only being £25 or so) because I don't have XLR inputs on my soundcard.

The cleans and crunch tones make the Tonelab worth the money alone IMO. If you're just after heavy tones, go for the Pod XT, but the Tonelab beats it in every other category. And it has 'feel'. The valve really works.

If you've got any more questions feel free to shoot me a PM.

-Danny :D

[Bob Johnson]

Modelers, or at least the best ones, are as good (or as bad) as the amount of time you have to spend on exploring what they have to offer.

Brief but no doubt to the point,

[Searcher]

I have a Vox Tonelab SE (as opposed to the smaller desktop one). Before I bought it I had tried pretty much every other modeller out there at the time. And I don't mean just in the store; I took most of 'em home. Firstly, the Digitech ones suck. The sounds are just awful. The POD stuff is good, but I can clearly hear that the sound is modelled, rather than from a real amp. I've sat through blind tests on the net where people have A/B-ed real amps with the POD XT and an amp of the same kind as the one being modelled and I can always tell before the clip is even half over which is which. Hell, even my wife can and she's a keyboard player, not a guitarist. The POD does have a good distorted sound, but I can still hear the difference between it and a real amp.

The GT-8 I didn't get a lot of time to try out. It seemed to be pretty good. Much better for effects than possibly any of the others, but I still didn't really like the amp modelling very much, though it was miles in front of the Digitech GNX4.

I couldn't get a Tonelab SE in town to try out, so I ordered it based on clips I'd heard online and reveiws and such. But I'm so glad that I did! It has the closest to genuine miked amp sound that I've ever heard. It even sounds better than a real solid-state modelling amp (like the Line 6 Flextone) to my ears. Although that does depend, of course, what you plug it into. I find that when I play live and plug right into the house system, the Tonelab SE sounds excellent. It feels very much like a real amp and I'm extremely fussy when it comes to my sound. It's also more portable than the real thing, though maybe not by too much--these things are the biggest, heaviest multi-effects-type units around!

Speaking of effects: they're adequate. I am not over the moon about the effects, but they get me by. I tend to use only a few effects anyways. But that's not to say that they're bad! I do like them, but I would prefer a few boutique stomp boxes--who wouldn't, really?

Still, it's not as good as a real amp and a couple of 4x12s, but then again, I can't really afford a Hughes and Kettner Triamp stack right now and I don't think I'd get to use it to its full potential at the places I play these days. Plus it would be even less portable.

[38thBeatle]

I'd agree with Bob. I have an original POD and I picked up a Korg AX1500G cheap off Ebay. Less is definately more- often the reverbs are the weak link.

[Muso]

I've recently discovered compression and it seems to be improving my guitar port tones quite a lot. I originally thought this made the sound totally cr@ppy and compressed but it seems to help me a lot of with volume levels.

I still want a Tonelab but yes I've heard that the cabinet modelling really sucks. Seems like these companies make what should be a good product and totally skiv on something really important like that cabinet modelling. Never mind ey.

[carlaz]

What I've heard about the Tonelab suggests that it has a certain number of very good sounds, but that it's not as flexible as the PODxt (particularly for higher gain stuff).  And, yeah, I've heard complaints about the cab sims.  Not tried it personally though.

I've wondered what the effect of putting a little valve pre-amp in front of a POD-type digital modeller would be like?  Just to warm it up and get some valve vibe ....

I'm kinda holding out for reviews of the upcoming Line6 Toneport/GearBox package, since it promises decent guitar and bass amp sims at a non-extravagant price.  I hardly need all the guitar amps packed into the PODxt, but hardly want to shell out a big pile of money for another box in the form of the Bass PODxt.  Screw that!  (Though I see the Bass V-amp, which includes guitar amps, has now gotten pretty cheap.  Not as good sound as the PODxts, though, and less configureable .....)

I'm still with my ol' Sansamp GT2 for the moment, which is actually pretty decent.  I did notice Steinberg's Warp VST dropped to 20 quid in Digital Village -- and while it's probably not that great, it could be a cheap add-on to my toolbox.

I guess I just need someone to make me a modeller with Vox's valve, Line6's digital modelling, and the Bass V-amp's mix of guitar and bass amp types :)  And I don't need it to sound great live -- if I really want great live guitar amp, I just need to buy a whacking great half-stack and I'm fine :)  But I do like modelling for home studio use.

[jimibt]

well, i've gone round quite a few circles for my sound. coming from a fender twin reverb to a trannie marshall (bad swap!!)  :oops:

i have been using the pod since it came out in '99 and just recently replaced it with the podxtlive. as someone noted earlier, you've got to really get to grips with dialling in your tones as the factory tones are pretty bland. also, you really need to set up your tones for your particular guitar/playing style or it just doesn't respond.

i was also for a while using amplitube on my laptop but that just wasn't there for me and i went back to the pod after a few weeks of trial and mostly error!!

if you run the podxtl thro' a full frequency setup (i.e. a pa), then it does sound immesurably better than running it thro a standard guitar amp. of course, for recording as opposed to live, then it's great for 'covering' all the bases painlessly.

that's not to say mind you that plugging into a mesa boogie isn't more instantly satisfying tho  :D

[aisuru]

i use a software modeler - Native Instruments Guitar Rig. it's pretty good, has a good range of amps, cabs, effects. all pretty tweakable too.

of course, i'd rather have an actual hardware valve amp, but the bank manager stands in my way  :(

[NPH]

I love my Vox Tonelab!

I use the fender, vox and old marshall settings mostly with one or other of the pedal options in front, and you can switch these in and out with the controler like you would with a stomp box and the real amp.

I can get good high gain sounds too, the Modern Marshall patch can do liquid modern stuff, and whats wrong with a flat out Plexi with a stomp box in front of it? Good enough for Yngwie widdle bloke innit!

All the amps respond well to changes in the guitar volume settings (and BKP's) and I spend any available free time playing my newly Mule filled LP standard plus through it.

Run it through something good though, I use a Marshall 20/20 power amp & 2x12 which seems to work very well.