Why don't I like modeling amps?! What is wrong with me?

Then waste that electric guitar, fake echo and fake distortion pedal an go acoustic

 

Got a mahogany acoustic I enjoy so very much...spent a year searching for the right one for me in my budget...play both every day, would never wanna part with either. To me the electric gitty, echo, and overdrives are _not_ fake because they aren't digitalized...the sound, as with acoustic guitar and all analog sources...is literally infinite in detail...digital sources are not...the modelers can sound real real good...but certain presence and thickness of sound is what I get out of analog. Would MOST DEFINITELY lose out on an an entire universe of expression and possibilities without the ''lectric. My buddy!...you gotta get YOURself one! That...and a little tube amp....NOW yer set! The beautiful music you could make! lol

 

Modeling has come leaps and bounds in the last 5 years. Playback systems however are still lacking. I chuckle a little when someone spends nearly $2k on a modler, complain that it sounds nothing like the amp they have and then find out they're either playing through headphones or a $200 plastic PA speaker.

 

I don't know why you don't like modeling amps, but I wouldn't get down about it. I don't know you well enough to say that there is or isn't something wrong with you otherwise.

 

Who ... me ? I'm covered both ways.

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Electric guitar produce an electric current carrying a vibration through an artificial gizmo called an amp. Real is a string vibration projected through a hollow guitar that naturally amplifies the sound wave.

Echo pedal or call it delay if you want, is a pale imitation of echo through a valley or the slapback in a tiled bathroom. Electronic wizardry.

Distortion pedal is a circuit trying to copy your electric guitar signal going through an overheated tubes that spits it out full of distorted waves.

All make believe, or fake. But we do like it and its great.

 

I agree on the presets. I've never heard modeling presets that weren't ridiculous.

 

I am a weightlifter and wear cargo shorts, but I'm also very lazy, and tend to imbibe regularly...

I pick up my acoustic of cheap origin and don't bother with amplification...

This keeps the neighbors away, and the police ...

I prefer light weight and the low maintenance of SS modeling amps ...

 

I‘m pretty sure I couldn‘t detect 1 ms. Didn‘t know they came that far. Do you know the value for a Kemper?

 

...yes, but what I hear are three distinctions rather than two.

Acoustic guitar is natural and analog.

Electric guitar is manufactured and analog.

Electric guitar that uses modeling is manufactured and digitized.

For electric guitar, analog's what sounds better, more present, thick and real to me...modelers are fun but they'll always be "near beer" for me.

Nice gear btw

 

I got my first amp, a Danelectro Centurion when I was 12.
I got a tweed Champ shortly thereafter.
My Dad fixed amps.
I like tube amps, BUT about 12 years ago, I became a convert/devotee/fan of Roland Cube amps.
I’m am/was a moderately busy working player.
The Cubes sound great, never break, and have every bell and whistle this ol’ guy needs.
I haven’t used or missed tube amps.
I am shopping for one now.
I’ve forgotten what they’re like.

 

I think a lot of this thread is like comparing an iPhone to the big "brick" cell phone like Michael Douglas used in Wall Street. There are a lot of references to really old and or primitive and or "beginner" modeling devices. It is getting better all the time just like anything that uses technology (including tube amps).

An amp is a tool to make your electric guitar louder. It’s a box with circuitry in it. Whether or not a given box/circuit sounds good to you is subjective. I don’t believe that a tube circuit has some intangible "mojo" that can never be attainable through other means. If it’s not there yet, in your opinion, at some point it will be. And please, don’t compare "modeling" to some $200 beginner amp you heard at Guitar Center, or a Line 6 POD you tried in 2003.

p.s. I love tube amps and have owned several great ones. But I do have an open mind about modeling.

 

I AM LATE TO THIS PARTY! But when am I not...

Anywho, it is interesting to watch the discussion on the analog vs digital vs acoustic discussion between guitarists. I've played semi-professionally on guitar on and off since I was about 17 (so a period roughly about 15 years?) but piano is my main instrument (only one I've had lessons on). So I can definitely see all three sides of the "argument" on this. I think it really boils down to being a pandora's box when you really let your personal feelings go and look at it from all angles.

As a pianist, I have gone through many phases as to what 'I' would call my favorite. In this specific regard, I went from loving non-weighted, digital synths to weighted and more traditional "modeling" keyboards. From there, I preferred baby grands and then switched to older uprights. Then on to the analog synths of yesteryear to more "modern" synths to what I now play: a non-weighted, digital modeling keyboard. What I've come to find is this: my personal tastes are my own and no one else's. There may be many "overlaps" with other's opinions, but ultimately it is a personal decision as to what tickles your ears.

To bring this back to the discussion at hand, I'd like to bring up something I remember from when I was just starting out on the guitar: I was home-schooled so, once I was finished with my day's itinerary (and, because my mom worked and didn't know I was gone lol), I would frequent a local mom and pop guitar shop. I got lots of wisdom from all walks of life that came through that store's door. But something that I never understood, even to this day, was the amount of distaste (one might even say loathing) that people seemed to have for ANYTHING with the word 'Squier' printed on it. Sure, it was the budget line of a big brand. Sure, they didn't have the same level of QC that the MIMs and MIAs had. But I'll be darned if I could ever understand what they had against them so much that, if they thought they could've got away with it, they would've spit on them anytime they saw them! Even the store would rather carry 'Indiana' brand guitars than carry Squiers. I was told by multitudes of people that they sounded awful. They played worse than bad. They were one step BELOW a cigarbox guitar. But you know what? I've played and owned some Squiers that felt and sounded better than most CS of the same models that I've played. I've played through solid state amps that some "vintage" tube amps couldn't have dreamed of holding a candle to. And in all of this? The opposite is also true: I've played on some CS models that felt more like they were built by the guitar luthier version of Stradivarius. I've played through some tube amps that honestly evoked such a strong emotional reaction from me just from their tone alone that I could've cried.

Long story short, there will never be a winner or a loser (except really bad equipment suffering from less than optimal workmanship) in SS vs Tube or electric guitar vs acoustic guitar. Not only is personal preference an unending pallet of infinite color, what you are doing at the time (either using a guitar personally or professionally) has a big impact. You wouldn't want to try and play acoustic on stage with Led Zeppelin (back in the 80s with the marshal walls) nor would you want to play a San Dimas Jackson with a Big Muff during the original recording of Denver's 'Country Roads.'

On a side note, I am really impressed that no one has gotten into an actual argument on here yet in this discussion. I've personally seen threads get locked and deleted over this exact issue on other sites!

This is just my two cents worth, so please just ignore if I'm rambling. haha

Happy strumming/picking!

Edit: I just realized after posting this that the ACTUAL post was about modeling amps and I never really got deep into that. I really like the 'Modified Vintage' line from Fender! lol

 

You are not alone. More like

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US.

Some of us just want simple options

 

I have no problems with modeling. The one I have can get some pretty good sounds. Lately I've been craving a tube amp of some sort "just because". Much of the rationale is just that it's a more direct experience. Turn the knob, there you go. No need to study or memorize anything. Also, friend comes over (eventually). You use this one (the one with the knobs).

 

+1. I've got 8 preset buttons on this one. I use 3. Clean, dirt and acoustic that I dial in manually at the panel just like any other amp. Initially I spent a whole lot of time messing with the software and online presets and finally came to the conclusion that just because I have a toy doesn't mean that I have to play with it. Having said all of that the sound that comes out of this thing does actually rival my tube amps and that's enough for me.

 

Definitely on one side of this... count as a pivotal point in my guitar enjoyment and fulfillment the point where I decided to ditch my mutlieffects unit (yah..it was a boss GT8..not the latest and greatest..but I hear new ones played at pro performances too..it always comes through the same to me..food few a few seconds then..then kind of thin and too perfect sounding..lacking in depth and thickness of tone.)
I haven't gotten a lot of gear to replace it..an analog delay..a mojomojo drive..a boss SD1 drive..both drives used the minimal drive..level to a neutral volume so the effect is to thicken and alter the tone..delay also used to thicken tone.. much happier with the sounds I make now... the multiefects was fun but it never loses its artificiality to my ears.
I know this opinion drives some people nuts...yet there it is. Love my tube amps, and my analog gear.