Looking for a decent amp modeler

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skunizzi

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Hi,

I want to buy a decent amp modeler for my home recording. I'm going into my omni studio and using Adobe audition software wise. Since I live in an appartment I can't mic the amp for recording so I am forced to use a amp modeler such as a J-station.


Here is the question. What do you recommend for this? I play rock, blues, alternative and even a little jazz so I need something flexable and clean. Like I said, I've already tried the J-station and found that it was too processed sounding. I would rather use something that lets the charateristics of the guitar come threw.


Any suggestions on this?


Thanks

Tony
 
A cheap solution would be the V-amp pro. I use it and find that it sounds very good as a modeler. I, in some cases, have produced better results in direct recording situations then by micing my amp.
 
I really like the Amplitube plug-in for recording. There's a great deal going so you buy Mic Modeler and get Amplitube for free. These are both great plug-ins, IMHO.
 
I know a lot of people talk about the Line 6 pod, and these are very cool, but if you're going to use it for recording purposes, in my experience the Pod Pro rackmountable version is much better sounding than the little kidney bean thing. It has more output options, and I think it sounds better.
 
Hey, skunizzi.

I used a Digitech RP50 as an amp modeler to record the song in my signature line. I had to work with it some to create patches I like. I think it sounds pretty good. The tuner feature is worth the $60 price!
 
skunizzi said:
H I play rock, blues, alternative and even a little jazz so I need something flexable and clean. Like I said, I've already tried the J-station and found that it was too processed sounding. I would rather use something that lets the charateristics of the guitar come threw.
Click to expand...

Well the reason this and the Pod and all the other amp modelers sound too processed is that the modelers actually sound awful and they drench them in reverb and delay etc to try and mask how bad the actual guitar sound is. The idea that people find amp modelers even remotely acceptable still blows my mind!! They totally obliterate the sound of the actual guitar and they do not work well in final mixes.

If you need to record direct and actually care at all about tone (wihich it seems you do) then I would first look at either a Sans Amp (the real one not the plug it) or better yet one of the Mesa Boogie recording pre amps. The new one is pretty pricey, but you can find one of the older models for about the price of a Pod etc and wil sound WAY better. You can also hook these pre amps up to a power amp for live use.
 
Unfortunately, the only answer to this question is that no one can answer it for you. Some people claim to hate modeling, some prefer one over another, but all you can really do in the end is get yourself to a music store and play with them and decide for yourself.

Personally, I think the Line6 stuff blows the rest of them out of the water. But to get the most out of it, you have to go past the presets and really learn to use the thing.

I think it's possible to get a good guitar sound out of anything - a squire amp, a crappy digitech modeler, a pignose - if you have good ears and put in the time. I've also heard amazingly bad sounds from people with loads of good gear and no ears. It just comes down to what you prefer and how much time you're willing to put in (obviously some gear requires a hellofa lot more time than others.:))

But really, there is no such thing as "best", no matter what it is is you're talking about.

Chris
 
Anyone had experience with the Yamaha DG stomp. I bought it when it was the latest thing and used it for a while, but I'm back to my amp and pedalboard. I'm going to dust it off and use it in a church gig. How does it compare to the others out there, if anyone has an opinion? (BTW, the presets suck but that's been true with every digital device I've ever owned).
 
I've used a J-Station in the past, and I must say that its clean "Fender" sounds are as good as any modeler out there. Having said that, for my liking the best all round and most realistic amp modeler available on the market today is the Vox ToneLab. It seems to handle those slghtly overdriven, just breaking up tones better than any other and lets more of the actual guitar tone through.
 
EleKtriKaz said:
I know a lot of people talk about the Line 6 pod, and these are very cool, but if you're going to use it for recording purposes, in my experience the Pod Pro rackmountable version is much better sounding than the little kidney bean thing. It has more output options, and I think it sounds better.
Click to expand...

I've used the POD XT and it's very good. It may be better then the PRO. It not only emulates the amp but the cabinet and the mic on the cabinet.
 
I disagree respectfully with Ronan. It depends on the sound you need, and how the unit is used. My experience has been that you can get much better sound out of a modeler if you send the signal to an amp and a speaker, and mic it up. Often, I use the Pod Pro or VAMP-2 and jack it into one or more powered monitors and mic them. That's a lot quieter than a cranked up combo amp. For serious DI, consider using a wicked DI box and re-amping. Best I've heard- Avalon U5. What the hell? $500 for an Avalon, it rocks on bass, and you could pull a clean guitar signal off of it, then take it on the road, and run it through some amps where you *can* make noise. Basically , I think modeling is a tool which is on the verge of achieving its dream. But, I partially agree with Ronan and others that there are shortcomings to the current technology. I find Pod Pro very useful, and it does *not* sound like shit, thank you very much.-Richie
 
My fav combo is to use an ART MP tube preamp and then take that through a Sansamp GT-2 for recording. I've also used digitech and J-station - but neither of those sounded all that good to me.

Just my 2 cents - I'm sure others have gotten excellent results with the digi and j-station (among others).
 
I run my POD Pro into the line in (not digital in) of an ART DPSII Tube pre, and digital out of the ART into my recording gear. It adds a little tube "roundness" to the tone, and sounds quite decent. It's still not the real deal - but pretty good for demos.
 
Try a GT-3 or GT-6

The BOSS GT-3 and GT-6 have jazz and blues settings. Just about everything is configurable. You get a pedal for volume, wah, you name it - you can control up to 8 parameters at once with the pedal. Great for morphing from one sound to another in the same patch.

It gets good reviews on harmony-central and there's plenty of online support. Worth checking out.
 
I know an excellent musician with great taste in tone that says Roland makes a phenominal modeler.

You should look into it.
 
I'll second the GT-6. I got one recently and have been quite surprised. I don't know if the original poster is interested in something that is exclusively an amp modeler, or if he would be interested in the effects as well. Either way, it would be worth checking into. I actually use it live direct into the board. I know that sounds sinful to a lot of folks, but I've been happy with it. Can it truly give me the feeling of standing in front of a Blackface Twin? No. But it's pretty close. We went the direct route at about the time we switched to an IEM rig. Had problems with stage volume in a lot of the places we were playing. Haven't looked back (at least not too much :) ) since. The GT-6 is fairly accurate-sounding IMO, with very few "digital artifacts", and the interface is fairly intuitive...lotsa knobs. You can program with menus/buttons/jogwheel, but it has a fair amount of knobs that are dedicated to specific parameters, so it can be very much like twisting knobs on an amp and some pedals. The presets aren't terrible, but I don't really use them. All in all, I'd say it's worth investigating if you're looking for amp and/or effect modeling.
 
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