Here's WHY I'm getting one and it ended up being longer than I intended but I ain't editing it :
More and more I'm not using an amp on my single gigs.
I still use one for bands and for the duo, but two summers ago from June 1st to Sept. 15th I did 97 gigs ..... seriously.
And out of those 97 gigs exactly 3 were with bands and maybe 4 or 5 with the duo .... the rest of it is solo.
And on those solo gigs, for a long while I fought it and used one of my getting large collection of small amps.
But really, it just doesn't make any sense.
If I'm on the beach, for example ... I have to use 3 or even 4 speakers to spread the sound all around and get to everyone. Or in a small setting I'll use a single speaker .....
So what happens is everything that gets out to the crowd has to be coming from the PA and when you're a solo no one can go out front to mix it and no, I don't go early to do a soundcheck ..... please, 97 gigs remember?
So if I use an amp it can be VERY difficult to tell if enough or too much guitar is getting out front and to the sides. You're hearing your amp behind you and it's easy to mix the guitar too soft.
But if I use a modeler thru the PA then I hear
exactly how the guitar mixes in with the vox and sequences.
not only that, but then no changes need to be made regardless of volume level or number of PA speakers ...... it's always right and that means it's easy.
And it's really important that I get the guitar mixed just right ..... I use sequences (mostly bass and drumbs ) to allow me to do what I do but I always have my git a bit louder than the seq. 'cause that's what I want the audience to hear .... they need to notice I'm playing live shit up there so they don't think of it as karaoke.
But you also don't want it to be so loud it's irritating ..... it's a fine line and a modeler is just easier.
So though originally I'd use a modeler if there was simply no choice ...... it's kinda becoming my preferred thing for the solo gig.
I'm not using them as multifx .... I'm mainly using them as a substitute for an amp.
I will use the fx if I would have used a stompbox with an amp but otherwise they're just my amp.
I never did a solo 'till moving to Florida in 2006 so that's when I first needed something and since I had a POD I tried that ....... horrible ..... still have it though .... but it sucks.
Still, I didn't do that many modeler gigs so who cared?
Then I had some spare money so I got a Rocktron Utopia ..... really crappy switching system but decent sounds and easy to learn on ..... still kinda fizzy though.
But it stranded me in on a gig leaving me to play git direct into a PA channel ....... boooo!
I fixed it ....... did it again so that was it and I bought a little Vox Stomplab (80 bucks) and the little thing was acceptable. Was it as good as ANY of my amps? No .... well, a pretty good clean actually ... but still a bit fizzy in that digital way that sucks sooooooooo bad.
But not too much ..... acceptably decent to where I didn't get bummed out using it.
But it's cheap and lightweight and last week the button to scroll up thru the presets dies and it would only go down meaning I had to scroll down 20 times to get back around!
So during the break I programmed the 20 presets to dirthy/clean/dirty/clean etc so all I had to do was hit the down button.
But that means I need something new and the RP 360 is what I decided on ..... demos make me believe it'll be pretty damned good.
And it's small and fairly cheap ..... 150 bucks ...... this is a piece of gear that will sit in the cord box until it quits working and I throw it away!
So I don't want to spend too much.