is a guitar amp modeler useful in the studio?

[minofifa]

i was just wondering if anybody has used an amp modeler like the POD or Vamp from behringer, or the j-station, or the boss GT-8 etc. to record a nice sounding guitar track WITHOUT using a microphone at all. in other words, having the electric guitar > POD > soundcard line in.

In my band, i've used a line-6 flextone II and got some decent sounds out of it, nothing i was completely happy with. I would never ever consider using the line out of the flextone to record with, as the tone sounds like digital-ass.

I'm just wondering if anybody as used the POD or any rackmountable gear to record a good sound with a guitar DI'ed right into the soundcard. i could see maybe a clean tone but overdriven??? do you have any samples to back up your claims?

 

[beezelbubba]

I've gone one step further and started using a plugin(guitarsuites JCM900) for my main guitar sound.I love it!
Other than that I use a Digitech RP300A,which I also like!

 

[PapillonIrl]

It's essential for the way I record alot of sessions. I Let everyone (minus the drummer) play/sing in the control room, with no amps used, just DI's and amp modelers going to the main monitors, and also to the drummers headphone mix.

Nathan

 

[therage!]

Neal Schon just did his latest record entirely with a GT-6. Modellers are just another tool for us to choose from. They will not give you the exact results of a tube amp and probably never will.

You've been here for awhile, haven't you heard stuff guys have done with modellers? Hang out in the MP3 forum and maybe check out RP.

Check out this thread...http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=148309&page=2

 

[minofifa]

Neal Schon just did his latest record entirely with a GT-6. Modellers are just another tool for us to choose from. They will not give you the exact results of a tube amp and probably never will.

You've been here for awhile, haven't you heard stuff guys have done with modellers? Hang out in the MP3 forum and maybe check out RP.

Check out this thread...http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=148309&page=2

for that album he didn't patch the gt-6 right into the soundcard did he? i thought it was the gt-6 to an amp and the amp was then recorded with a dynamic mic.

and yes i have been 'round here for a while and have critiqued many pieces. Usually people don't right out and say that they have recorded track x with a POD 2.0 or a GT-8.

It's essential for the way I record alot of sessions. I Let everyone (minus the drummer) play/sing in the control room, with no amps used, just DI's and amp modelers going to the main monitors, and also to the drummers headphone mix.

yes, i could see a definate use for one here. that is how we recorded our album in the studio as well. we never actually used them as recorded tracks though, just as monitoring for the drums and bass.

 

[therage!]

for that album he didn't patch the gt-6 right into the soundcard did he? i thought it was the gt-6 to an amp and the amp was then recorded with a dynamic mic.

In the May 2005 Vintage Guitar mag he say's he went fron the GT6 into a Demeter preamp, then into an Apogee converter, then into Pro Tools. He said he didn't use any amps.

 

[apl]

That technology is going to continue to improve. I've heard some killer good tones and been surprised to find out it was done with a Vamp or Pod. I've also heard good sounds from these guys.

For me it's a no brainer. I can't afford a bunch of real amps, and I'm not trying to get one perfect tone. I want to have a bunch of tones available. I'll give up perfect for versatile "good enoughs".

I did most of the songs at my link with a Digitech RP50, and I got a Line 6 Spider II 15 for Christmas that does some neat sounds, too.

 

[Be Loveless]

Cheap and convienient access to a large variety of different tones. Exact duplicate of what they say that they are modelling? No. Useful? Yes.

 

[Enzo Polotso]

i have a v-amp pro, and it's easier to track drums with, because the guitarist is playing along but only in the headphones. its great if you've only got one room to record in and cant stick a halfstack in there while you're tracking drums. i just use the v-amp as a scratch track, sometimes ill mix it in with the real amp sound

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Well, I doubt they are particularly common in BIG studio sessions, but they are certainly useful. I use Amplitube and Guitar Rig plugs, not hardware, FWIW.

I use them pretty extensively for preproduction and arranging, but tend to go for a miced amp when I get down to the real business of making a song for a CD. Maybe its psychosomatic, but it sounds better to me. Putting a 57 on the speaker is quite different sounding than the "dynamic" and "close micing" options in Amplitube. The modeler sounds good, but not at all the same. Not as many subtle options, either: mic placement can go a long way towards getting a sound just right even if its just moving the 57 around a little on the speaker cone. SOOOO different from the limited options in a modeler, no matter how many options they have.

I use a SansAmp for recording bass, though, and it rocks. Its more of a DI box wth character than a modeling device, though. And bass is frequenyly DI'd anyway. I dunno, the modelers are REALLY useful and sometime the only things around that can give you what you are looking for without taking out a second mortgage, but I still prefer the sound of a real miced amp when it comes down to it.

Take care,
Chris