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Author Topic: Modelling VS. Real amps  (Read 35270 times)

carlaz

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #90 on: April 04, 2006, 11:07:40 AM »
Quote from: Dakine
EXACTLY,
"If I was a signed recording artist on wortld tour", course would have a gigantic rig, free probably too. But young Sam here is primarily a bedroom player and a jammer. His band (so said) is not gigging yet. He will be able to keep one amp. A modellor will be able to supply him with a range of effects and also amp models. This will be very handy/nice in his circumstance (remember all his, "cannot crank these amp" threads). [...] Anyway, it's great debating/discussing the merits and dreams of certain gear. I just think we should keep in context what the person asking is really needing and more importantly can best afford :)


Good points, well made!  So that said, if I were a bedroom player with a not-yet gigging band ... mmm, I guess it depends on the circumstances a bit, like, obviously to rehearse with acoustic drums you need [i[some[/i] kind of amplification.   For flexibility at the bedroom/small rehearsal level, I think it's tough to beat a digital modeller that you can run into a PA or perhaps one of those Atomic amps that are designed to couple with modellers.

But perhaps budget is the real question here?  A new POD has gotta be GBP 250 and those Atomics are gonna run GBP 450ish, while something like a Laney hybrid combo will do you good cleans and distortions, has a headphone jack for quiet practice, and should be under GBP 200.  You can't beat that either!

I'd be a little leary of an all-in-one modelling amp simply because, as pointed out, modellers will improve and (I'm guessing) "vintage" amp models will not attract as much resale value as a vintage valve amp. Of course, people pay silly money for "vintage" drum machines from the '80s that sound, IMO, as terrible now as they did then, but can't be beat if you wanna nail that retro-80s drum machine sound (for some reason). So maybe in 20 years people will want to nail that early 2000s digital amp sound?  Weirder things have happened.

Still, in the meantime, I think the situtation calls for something not unreasonably expensive but that is still one of: a) easily upgradeable , b) usable until it falls apart, or c) still saleable in few years when you want to change over to something else and need a little cash boost for your G.A.S.
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sambo

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #91 on: April 04, 2006, 11:22:10 AM »
thanks carlaz, good stuff.....

well.... maybe if i keep the laney i have at the mo.... that will serve as my investment, and hold its value.......  (ish)....

and also, upgrading stuff.... things like the POD have patches and new packs which upgrade it..... obviously i dunno how long they'll continuing making them but its a good thing to have....

and makin gthings obselete, well its the norm with everything hi-tech nowadays... and i dont care about having the original xbox for example even if the new one is glossier and does more stuff..... see what i mean?

what im saying is... i think i can cope with not having the latest gear, as long as im happy with what ive got.

duability wise.... i think most of the modellers (gt-8, PO XTL, tonelab) are metal and pretty strong and my laneys as tough as nails so im ok there.

its the first point- the re-sale value of things which probably worries me the most..... cause i think your right about modellers not holding there value as well.... but then i may not want to sell it in the future... and when i decide i want, say, and ENGL.... i can keep the modeller exclusively for home use and band practice e.t.c......... and for general fun as well.....

and if i sell the modeller to buy an ENGL i may discover that i dont like the ENGL anymore and go back to modeller ... see?

_tom_

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #92 on: April 04, 2006, 11:25:25 AM »
Yeah modellers are fun to play around with the effects late at night through headphones or whatever, my V Amp 2 has some crazy patches that could well scare small children/animals  :twisted:

carlaz

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #93 on: April 04, 2006, 12:09:39 PM »
Quote from: sambo
well.... maybe if i keep the laney i have at the mo.... that will serve as my investment, and hold its value.......  (ish)....

Yeah, I still have an old Marshall 8080 Valvestate in the US that I would certainly use if I was back there.  It sounded fine, basically, and I'd only replace it if I went all-tube.

They dinnae have amp modellers when I were a lad, an' all that, up the hill both ways, etc. ;)

Quote from: sambo
and also, upgrading stuff.... things like the POD have patches and new packs which upgrade it..... obviously i dunno how long they'll continuing making them but its a good thing to have.... and makin gthings obselete, well its the norm with everything hi-tech nowadays [...] its the first point- the re-sale value of things which probably worries me the most..... cause i think your right about modellers not holding there value as well.... but then i may not want to sell it in the future... and when i decide i want, say, and ENGL.... i can keep the modeller exclusively for home use and band practice e.t.c......... and for general fun as well.....

Line6 seem pretty good at providing updates, but hey, modellers are basically computers. So: they'll keep providing backwards compatible upgrades until they need to make a big enough hardware change (new chips or something) that it's no longer easy/efficient to make backwards compatible software/firmware.

But you're right about the key issues of usability: today's digital modellers aren't bad and will a current POD still sound mostly OK to most people in 10 years?  Sure.  Will modellers sound better in 10 years, eh, very probably.  Will they sound better enough that you care?  Well, that's a G.A.S. issue as much as anything else :)

I have it in mind to get a POD for home recording stuff, though I haven't got room in the budget just yet.  What would be really cool would be if there was a Line6 plug-in for GarageBand/Logic that would let me run a dry guitar signal into GB but then digitally offload that to a POD-like hardware unit for effecting, then run the wet output back to GB without changing the dry signal recorded on the GB track -- essentially using the POD-like hardware to do the work of CPU-hogging GB/Logic amp sims.  That would get you the better sound of the POD's amp models without sacrificing a) the recorded dry signal, so you can change the amp sound later, and b) crunching up onboard CPU with all the amp model processing.  Wicked!  But I digress .....  :roll:
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Spleen

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #94 on: April 04, 2006, 09:06:42 PM »
Unfortunately, the person who posted about Modelling amps not holding their value was dead on the money.  The resale value of my Line 6 Flextone is certainly less than if I had bought that 5150.  Then again they made a 5150 II didn't they, so maybe they aren't worth as much either?

Then again, mine has served me well for almost a decade.  Would I have liked the newer versions?  Yes, but there's nothing wrong with what I've got.

dave_mc

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #95 on: April 04, 2006, 09:40:02 PM »
Quote from: Spleen
Unfortunately, the person who posted about Modelling amps not holding their value was dead on the money.  The resale value of my Line 6 Flextone is certainly less than if I had bought that 5150.  Then again they made a 5150 II didn't they, so maybe they aren't worth as much either?


I've heard a lot of people say they prefer the 5150 to the 5150 II...

Searcher

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #96 on: April 04, 2006, 11:10:28 PM »
Sequels are never as good as the original movies.


What were we talking about again?
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Dakine

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Modelling VS. Real amps
« Reply #97 on: April 04, 2006, 11:12:45 PM »
Flaming V's of course  :P
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