amp simulators

[Lopp]

I was just reading in the new Guitar World and Rivers from Weezer said they don't use amps on tour. They use POD pros. He still uses marshalls in the studio, but thinks the POD Pro is the best way to go live. Less gear. Less change in tone from venue to venue. In arenas, most people can't hear the difference between a real amp and a emulator anyhow, and how many care. Good article.

I agree.

I prefer using my PSA-1 live while using my Mesa/Boogie TriAxis and Quad (and sometimes GT2) in the studio. The PSA-1 is very consistent live and reduces wrestling with stage volume vs. PA mix. Also, the PSA-1 can be kept in the PA rack. No amps to lug around and minimal setup time.

Whereas, my Boogies stay set up in my studio where I can tweak them and mic them to heart's content.


beaverbiscuit:
Good luck with the pricing and auditions of the units. Let us know what you ultimately pick up.

 

[Jim Soloway]

I have a SansAmp Tri-A.C. and it does a great job. The choices are limited: Fender, Marshall, Boogie. The Marshall sound sucks. but the other two are very good. It has a three ban active EQ that works incredibly well as well as a drive control that is very precise. You can program three channels or presets. My sound tends to be VERY clean, but the Tri-A.C. does a terrific job of warming things up. The other advantage is a 100 hour battery life for those of us who like to play without a lot of wall warts.

 

[Bighand]

> $.02 = consider the Boss GT-6, as well = Digital outs

S/PDIF outs? Great! Now there's another option besides J-Station for recording. What are the specs?

Here are the features.

Effects
= Preamp/Speaker
= OD/DS
= Delay
= Chorus
= Reverb
= Wah
= EQ
= FX1 Group (one effect per patch)
Compressor, Limiter, Acoustic Guitar Simulator, Pickup Simulator, Tremolo, Slow Gear, Feedbacker, Anti-Feedbacker
Defretter
= FX2 Group (one effect per patch)
Phaser, Flanger, Harmonist, Pitch Shifter, Pedal Bend, 2 X 2 Chorus, Pan, Vibrato, Uni-V, Short Delay, Humanizer
Ring Mod, Slicer, Auto Riff, Guitar Synth, Sub Equalizer
= Noise Suppressor
= Foot Volume
= Master Patch Level
= Master BPM

COSM Preamp Types
= JC Clean
JC-120: Roland JC-120
Jazz Combo: Roland JC-120
Full Range: Flat response amp (e.g., a keyboard amp)
= TW Clean
Clean TWIN: Fender Twin Reverb
Pro Crunch: Fender Pro Reverb
Tweed: Fender Bassman 4x10" combo
= Crunch
Crunch: Crunch sound with natural distortion
Blues
Stack Crunch: Crunch sound with high gain
= VO Combo
VO Drive: Vox AC-30TB drive sound
VO Lead: Vox AC-30TB lead sound
VO Clean): Vox AC-30TB clean sound
= Match Drv
MATCH Drive: Matchless D/C-30 left input channel
MATCH Lead: Matchless D/C-30 right input channel
Fat MATCH: Matchless D/C-30 with modified high gain
= BG Lead
BG Lead: MESA/Boogie combo amp
BG Drive: MESA/Boogie with Treble Shift Switch on
BG Rhythm: MESA/Boogie rhythm channel
= MS Stack
MS1959(I): Marshall 1959 input I
MS1959(I+II): Marshall 1959 inputs I and II connected in parallel
MS HiGain: Marshall with modified midrange boost
= R-Fier
R-Fier Red: MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier lead channel
R-Fier Orang: MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier rhythm channel
R-Fier Vint: MESA/Boogie Rectifier with Vintage Switch on
= Hi Gain
SLDN: Soldano SLO-100
Drive Stack: Drive sound with high gain
Lead Stack: Lead sound with high gain
= Metal
5150 Drive: Peavey EVH 5150
Metal Stack: Drive sound for metal
Metal Lead: Lead sound for metal
= Custom
Custom1: Slot for saving a user-specified custom preamp setting
Custom2: Slot for saving a user-specified custom preamp setting
Custom3: Slot for saving a user-specified custom preamp setting

COSM OD/DS Types
= OD/Boost
Blues OD: BOSS BD-2 pedal
Turbo OD: BOSS OD-2 pedal
Booster: New booster that works well with COSM amps
= Dist
Distortion: Basic, traditional distortion sound
American DS: Proco RAT pedal
GUV DS: Marshall Guv’nor distortion pedal
= Classic
OD-1: BOSS OD-1 pedal
T-Scream: Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer pedal
DST+: MXR Distortion+ pedal
= Fuzz
'60s Fuzz: Fuzzface pedal
Oct Fuzz: Acetone Fuzz pedal
Muff Fuzz: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi pedal
= Metal
Metal Zone: Boss MT-2 pedal
R-MAN: Rockman distortion sound
Heavy Metal: Heavy distortion sound
= Custom/External
Custom1: Slot for saving a user-specified custom OD/DS setting
Custom2: Slot for saving a user-specified custom OD/DS setting
External: Slot for connecting an external effects pedal

COSM Wah Types
= CRY Wah: 1970s Crybaby wah
= VO Wah: 1970s Vox V846 wah
= Fat Wah: Bold wah
= Light Wah: Refined, "no unusual characteristics"
= 7String Wah: Broad range of variations for 7-string guitar
= Custom1: Slot for saving a user-specified custom wah setting
= Custom2: Slot for saving a user-specified custom wah setting
= Custom3: Slot for saving a user-specified custom wah setting




Sorry for the long list.
[]

 

[xalien]

J-Station

I just bought a J-Station and so far I'm impressed. I played with the JStation and the POD side-by-side at the store. The POD had some nice sounds, but it wasn't a clear winner. Given that the POD was twice the price and lacked a digital output I opted for the the J-Station. I got it home, plugged it in and started jamming. Now I've got to figure out the software interface so I can start creating my own sounds!

-Steve

 

[bongolation]

Yeah, you'll like J-Edit a lot.

Be sure you've downloaded all the latest models, too.

 

[xalien]

For anyone that's interested, here's the result of my first few hours fiddling around with my new J-Station. I think it sounds pretty good for a first try!

You can check out a thirty second snippet here:

-Steve

 

[WEBCYAN]

did you pan or is that one mono track?

 

[The Garage]

i'm really interested in the tech 21 trademark 60. from what i've read it's great. any experiences?

 

[Lopp]

i'm really interested in the tech 21 trademark 60. from what i've read it's great. any experiences?

I've never personally used it, but it looks like it borrowed its knobs from the PSA-1. Thus, I'm sure it can give a killer variety of great tones. I personally prefer the PSA-1 because I like cranking the "Punch" knob on some of my lead tones. It gives a great mid-boosted-wah tone. The Trademark 60 only uses the Punch knob on the clean channel.

Matt

 

[cellardweller]

Blast from the past!

Sorry about that.
But, can anyone tell me what the difference are between the Tri-A.C./GT2/Sansamp classic/PSA-1???

Are they varying levels of diversity, or totally different animals?

 

[StudioMxpx]

i got some pretty kick ass results with this http://www.amplitube.com/Main.html?prod_ATLive

 

[cellardweller]

{carries on conversation with self}

Anyone know where a new PSA-1 can be had for less than $595?

 

[cellardweller]

i got some pretty kick ass results with this http://www.amplitube.com/Main.html?prod_ATLive

Call me gay, but I just can't get used to the concept of playing directly to the puter...that and I have no soundcard to speak of...

 

[StudioMxpx]

yeah im not really down for playing direct intot the computer but it beats going out and buying a Messa Boogie when you can't afford it..i like the sounds i got from my v-amp 2 heres some samples http://www.myspace.com/studioprojects

 

[Lopp]

{carries on conversation with self}

Anyone know where a new PSA-1 can be had for less than $595?

FWIW, I got mine used for $250. Lucky deal.

Here... Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23792&item=7323327046&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

[cellardweller]

Thanks Lopp.

Damn, apparently their reserve is higher that $250...

Does "reserve is not yet met", in any way mean I am obligated to buy (were the seller to decide to sell at a lower price)?
I don't want to bid on two, if such is the case...

 

[Lopp]

I don't think a seller can retract their reserve price, so you're probably not obligated to buy. Not completely sure. Check the eBay rules.

Also, I wouldn't recommend trying to get the $250 price. It was a lucky unadvertised find for me. The PSA-1 is definitely worth the new price.