100 Models... but only one needed?

[Brent Hutto]

But here's the take away. I don't need the 100 Pre-Sets and wonder who does? Every time I turn on the amp I get pre-set 0 and it's some horrible, loud, distortion fest with a bad echo and I work as fast as I can to get to #22 which is just a simple Fender with reverb. So, I found an old manual and learned to make pre-set 0 into a nice '65 Deluxe Reverb with a little reverb and got it saved with a new name. Of course, that's the only "model" I use. Everyday. Just that one.

Maybe I'm failing to miss the point but I'm pretty sure everyone who has owned a modeling amp for very long sets it to power up with their normal go-to settings already dialed in. Not just the preset but all the knobs and everything. Maybe the Mustang makes that trickier than some but it's the same with a plain old analog amp, most people just leave the knobs and switches in some default positions when they shut down for the night and they start there when they power up the next day.

 

[drmordo]

It is useful to have different models if you have a bunch of guitars. I personally don't love Marshalls and Fender guitars, but I love Marshalls and Gibsons. So i kick on a Marshall with my Gibsons, but stick with a Vox or Fender model with my Fender guitars.

 

[bobio]

Who's idea was it that an amp needs 100 pre-sets, and crazy names and crazy sounds? I guess I just need one decent small amp like a Princeton Reverb Reissue - I'd even go for a Tonemaster version if one existed.

I guess I'm just too old to get it. Do you guys value many of the 100 pre-sets on Fender's modeling amps?

Maybe it is the fact I have been in IT for 35 years and counting, but I love the options of a modeler

I don't think Fender, BOSS or any manufacturer thinks you are going to use all of those pre-sets. They are there to try and satisfy the varied tastes and preferences of a large market of people. Most just pick their favorites and either program them into a footswitch or move them to the front of the line on the amp.

When I had my Mustang III, I spent most of the time on the '65 DR patch and set it to be the default, but I would occasionally wander around and try out the others.

On my current BOSS Katana and Next Tone amps as well as the Spark amps, I have my 4 channels customized and I use the panel settings when I want to experiment. I have both BOSS and Xsonic footswitches for the BOSS and Positive Grid amps so I can switch between those channels as well as alter the effects. The BOSS footswitch is wired, while the Xsonic uses Bluetooth and I have the Katana edition and the Spark edition.



I also have a Tone Master Deluxe Reverb which I often play without any pedals, but it is my pedal platform so more often than not there are a few pedals in front of it.

 

[Call Me Al]

On any gear with lots of settings, I tend to find 1 or 2 that qualify as “good” and stop looking. I have limited practice time and don’t want to spend it futzing with knobs.

 

[loopfinding]

Better to have too many and just choose one or a few than too little.

I use two on the regular (fender deluxe, marshall jtm45 with american cab sims), on my iridium. I love it, but I really wish there were just a few more models you could load up from the editor. I don't use the vox model, so that's a waste of a slot for me. I'd love to have an orange OR120 for heavier/sabbath-y stuff or an ampeg SVT for bass in that slot, and I would be totally set (instead I have to use analog pedals with IRs for those sounds).

I think they could really please everyone/expand the market for it if they at least added a bass amp (ampeg) and high gain (mesa) as optional models you could drop in with the editor in a firmware update.

 

[andy__d]

When I worked in a guitar shop, in the days before amps had presets, we had a bunch of cardboard charts we’d drawn out with some preset knob patterns for different types of sound (clean, crunch, drive, heavy, if I recall correctly), based on how the amp sounded in the shop, at a volume that wouldn’t make the amp sound too bad, but would allow demos of other equipment at the same time.

We’d ask the customet what sort of music they played, and choose our “preset”, dial it in, and, just let them try out the equipment, and, if they seemed in doubt, ask more questions and do some tweaking to try to get what they were looking for - or sometimes to show the range of what the amp could do (compensating where necessary). This meant we needed a fairly good understanding of multiple amps that we had on the floor. But, this was usually a lot better for selling amps and guitars than letting them fiddle with the knobs on an unfamiliar amp trying to dial something in themselves, which was usually unsatisfactory and often disruptive for other sales going on in the shop at the same time.

 

[Festofish]

Sounds like the Boss 200 series. 4 presets on the face and over a hundred in the update. I never got beyond the controls on its face but there’s way more if you’re a banks and menus person. The OD200 is superb. The DD200 is a boss digital delay so it is also superb. I also have the MD200 and that is a great pedal but the OD and DD are the cream.

 

[CupofJoe]

Everything IS in the fingers. Tone, lick, story. That's why I have minimal effects. Great guitar, great amp, then it's up to the fingers to sound good.

I had a hard time digging this vibe but I found a MKII50 for $100 and it is just amazing in what you can do with just the knobs… I’m kinda rethinking a lot of things after hearing this. Incredible value for a real amp that can push air when it needs to… I am going to go into more “computer mode” and see what else is there but for my needs it is really cool.

 

[ASATKat]

I had a hard time digging this vibe but I found a MKII50 for $100 and it is just amazing in what you can do with just the knobs… I’m kinda rethinking a lot of things after hearing this. Incredible value for a real amp that can push air when it needs to… I am going to go into more “computer mode” and see what else is there but for my needs it is really cool.

Glad to hear that. I never get interested in deep editing. I know it's there but finding great tone just from the front panel keeps me so happy. And I don't even keep presets because I know my favorite settings, from there it's all up to me to make it sound awesome, I do try.

 

[CupofJoe]

Glad to hear that. I never get interested in deep editing. I know it's there but finding great tone just from the front panel keeps me so happy. And I don't even keep presets because I know my favorite settings, from there it's all up to me to make it sound awesome, I do try.

So far I’ve done the same… and going to stick with it but knowing it’s there makes me curious I can’t deny… plus I kinda love some Robert Fripp stuff I might make a lame attempt at…

 

[ASATKat]

So far I’ve done the same… and going to stick with it but knowing it’s there makes me curious I can’t deny… plus I kinda love some Robert Fripp stuff I might make a lame attempt at…

Stay curious.

 

[TX_Slinger]

I have such a broad taste in music that it's nice to have choices. I did go with a modeler that does "fewer amps better" instead of 100 marginal amp sims. It is silly to have a Dr. Z and an AC30, and the Friedman model come very close to overlapping one of the Plexi models. I think the Catalyst configuration was brilliant, just picked what people seem to enjoy in each of the most popular amp types, without claiming to have perfectly modeled a specific version. I'd like to see more modelers do this. The Iridium and Amp Academy do this on a smaller scale.

 

[Doutorfunga]

I've owned so many guitar amps. Everything from a 2-12 Silverton to an all original 1965 BF Princeton Reverb - with a number of VOX and Fender amps big and little packed in there along the way. Over the past 5-years I've scaled back as my playing has also scaled back. I sold so much stuff and that's fine because I truly had too much really good (expensive) gear yet my playing was really bad to non-existent.

I'm left now, with one partscaster Tele and a Fender Mustang III (Version 1, no less). I've been working on my playing and spending time on the amp every day.

But here's the take away. I don't need the 100 Pre-Sets and wonder who does? Every time I turn on the amp I get pre-set 0 and it's some horrible, loud, distortion fest with a bad echo and I work as fast as I can to get to #22 which is just a simple Fender with reverb. So, I found an old manual and learned to make pre-set 0 into a nice '65 Deluxe Reverb with a little reverb and got it saved with a new name. Of course, that's the only "model" I use. Everyday. Just that one.

Who's idea was it that an amp needs 100 pre-sets, and crazy names and crazy sounds? I guess I just need one decent small amp like a Princeton Reverb Reissue - I'd even go for a Tonemaster version if one existed.

I guess I'm just too old to get it. Do you guys value many of the 100 pre-sets on Fender's modeling amps?

Unfortunately, they have to sell amps to a bunch of peeps, and they'll tend to like a different one out of the 100, in theory. But the search for simplicity and good sound in a modeler is the very point of the Tonemasters; they have recently released a Princeton model, in fact. Cheers

 

[danielreid27]

My old Fender G-Dec 30 was the best practice amp I ever owned.

Drum & song backing presets from Skynyrd, Stones, AC/DC, blues & country.....yeeehaw !
More is Good !
Explore those features...

 

[ASATKat]

My old Fender G-Dec 30 was the best practice amp I ever owned.

Drum & song backing presets from Skynyrd, Stones, AC/DC, blues & country.....yeeehaw !
More is Good !
Explore those features...

You like your rig
play it as you please

 

[Red Ryder]

I've owned so many guitar amps. Everything from a 2-12 Silverton to an all original 1965 BF Princeton Reverb - with a number of VOX and Fender amps big and little packed in there along the way. Over the past 5-years I've scaled back as my playing has also scaled back. I sold so much stuff and that's fine because I truly had too much really good (expensive) gear yet my playing was really bad to non-existent.

I'm left now, with one partscaster Tele and a Fender Mustang III (Version 1, no less). I've been working on my playing and spending time on the amp every day.

But here's the take away. I don't need the 100 Pre-Sets and wonder who does? Every time I turn on the amp I get pre-set 0 and it's some horrible, loud, distortion fest with a bad echo and I work as fast as I can to get to #22 which is just a simple Fender with reverb. So, I found an old manual and learned to make pre-set 0 into a nice '65 Deluxe Reverb with a little reverb and got it saved with a new name. Of course, that's the only "model" I use. Everyday. Just that one.

Who's idea was it that an amp needs 100 pre-sets, and crazy names and crazy sounds? I guess I just need one decent small amp like a Princeton Reverb Reissue - I'd even go for a Tonemaster version if one existed.

I guess I'm just too old to get it. Do you guys value many of the 100 pre-sets on Fender's modeling amps?

I don't have any modeling amps, but the amps I have sound exactly like what they are.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

I've be into pre amp pedals Selecting pedals that have unique sound. EVH 5150, Bogner Blue, Bogner Uberschall Pedal, Earth Quake Devices Acapulco Gold.
It's like making a good omelet, any three complementary ingredients is all it takes , Jack Cheese, Scallions, sautéed Mushrooms, or Chedder Cheese bacon and scallions.

finding the right combinations of tones that compliment each other it's just like an orchestra.

 

[archetype]

As others have said, most presets are over the top nonsense and, no, you don't need 100. That many presets are there to sell the amp.

I dialed in maybe 5 amp voices on my MIII v1 and they sounded good. The MIII is a worthy amp with a room-filling sound. From memory:

'57 Deluxe
'59 Bassman
'65 Deluxe
'65 Twin
'65 Twin, tweaked a lot to get close to the black panel, mid-60s Tremolux I had.

No complaints. Nice amp. I sold it because I was moving out of state and had an overpopulation of amps at my place.

 

[Hodgo88]

Not to sound like a shill, but we're all here to spend each others money right? But here's what my LT25 experience entailed: plugged it in, spun through all 30 presets and tried to figure out what famous tone it was supposed to be, then promptly set up a twin / 65 spring reverb preset that I play 99.9% of the time. If I want something, I throw pedals in front. Catalinbread RAH = Awesome. That's my practice tone, I've recorded it, it's a great Fender clean base tone you can build on.

So yeah, the 1-trick pony Tonemaster Princeton Reverb will be my next amp, and maybe the last one I buy for a while. It's probably a me problem, but Ive been plugging pedalboards into clean amps since forever, never been one to go fuss with em, and any aspiration to get a Helix or similar modeling rig is DOA. If I can get 90% of the way to a legit Princeton Reverb tone in a lightweight package, well why not?

 

[Old Verle Miller]

Call me old school, but I'm not into playing around down in the weeds with hundreds of possible variables. It's fun but you can spend hours and hours and eventually your ears and brain are mush. At some point it becomes pointless mental masturbation.