is it worth the "upgrade"?

[drossfile]

i have a crate G130C XL combo amp that i've been using for jamming purposes for several years, but have always recorded direct.

now i'm looking at miking the amp, and i've never been impressed with the sound of this thing.

so i've been looking at the fender 212R, as it gets good reviews, and is within my current budget. but i'm wondering just how much of an upgrade it would be, since i'm only using the effects loop for my podxt live anyway.

i would probably use the clean channel for my folk and fusion stuff, but i'm primarily concerned with the hard rock/metal end of things through the loop.

and i know that ideally i'd just test out several amps, but without bringing one home, i wouldn't get an accurate representation of what it would sound like in my specific application, so it becomes a bit impractical.

opinions?

[drossfile]

aw, c'mon! the guitar area is hoppin' and no one can offer me any advice??? not even a token "well, it depends..." ???

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by drossfile

aw, c'mon! the guitar area is hoppin' and no one can offer me any advice??? not even a token "well, it depends..." ???

I'd love to man--but I don't know anything about either of those amps. I do know about a PODxt Live in the effects loop, though. That's how I do it as well. But only for 'verbs & delays, etc. I don't use any models or gains as I love my amp's sound.

So, it depends...

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. Good luck though...)

[Fusioninspace]

I guess a question I might ask is - why worry about micing an amp? If you've got a POD and you don't like the sound of the Crate, then just go through the POD for recording.

Is there something missing in your current setup for recording that you don't like?

For me, I have a Trademark 10 and find that to give me all the flexibility I need - I personally seem to like the sound of modeling amps over a real, live tube amp... But that's just me. On the other hand, everything I grew up listening to was tube and it sounded incredible to me at the time.

You might play with different pickup types, reverb, effects, etc. and see if those sorts of things get you closer to what you're looking for. Amps are so expensive. Plus most tube amps are one or two trick ponies for recording in my book. If you've got several guitars in the mix, then you probably want to hit several amp sounds anyway so it doesn't just sound like your over dubbing yourself with the same set up each time.

[drossfile]

Originally Posted by Fusioninspace

I guess a question I might ask is - why worry about micing an amp? If you've got a POD and you don't like the sound of the Crate, then just go through the POD for recording.

Is there something missing in your current setup for recording that you don't like?

For me, I have a Trademark 10 and find that to give me all the flexibility I need - I personally seem to like the sound of modeling amps over a real, live tube amp... But that's just me. On the other hand, everything I grew up listening to was tube and it sounded incredible to me at the time.

You might play with different pickup types, reverb, effects, etc. and see if those sorts of things get you closer to what you're looking for. Amps are so expensive. Plus most tube amps are one or two trick ponies for recording in my book. If you've got several guitars in the mix, then you probably want to hit several amp sounds anyway so it doesn't just sound like your over dubbing yourself with the same set up each time.

well, i've been recording direct all along, and while the line6 definitely sounds better than most direct recording, it still doesn't have that live sound. basically, i want to mic the amp for crunchy rhythms, and the leads would still be direct-recorded, panned stereo tracks.

the fender frontman i'm looking at is $330 new, so it's not that expensive (tube amps are right out of the question). that was kinda why i was wondering if it'd really be a worthwhile "upgrade." the reviews on the fender are really good, and the "specially designed speakers" i thought would be useful since i'm only looking at using the poweramp/speaker section of the amp.

basically my default position on the topic is, i'm not gonna buy a new amp until someone gives me a really good reason to, and so far the input hasn't moved me out of the default.

thanks for the reply.

[UnityRecordings]

I would say stay away from the frontman series. Personally, I didn't like the sound. Then again, that's me. I'd say go with a VOX or search around for a decent used tube amp ( it's possible you know since most of my amps are used)