Practically speaking, Amp, Modellers or? A POLL

[KentNZ]

So, curious to see how many people are now using what...

What are you actually using? Just that its starting to sound like people are using modellers a lot more in the past year or so. Perhaps the tech is catching up?

Comment away.

[StratMatt]

I haven't tried the AX8 yet obviously, but going on past experience with the Kemper, having sold that and gone through few amps/pedals setups its all pretty damn close. Theres nothing quite like a hot amp humming away behind you, the modellers don't replace that feeling, but I also found Ive never practised quite as much now as when I had the Kemper. It just gave such an awesome consistent tone at a house friendly level. Especially since the tones get so close to whatever song your trying to play, it really makes you want to pick the guitar up. I never got round to gigging with it so can't comment there, but I want to give it a real go with the AX8.

Amp, modellers, its all awesome and its a great time to be a guitarist

[slash-ed]

Lols the tech caught up quite awhile ago, it's only you old cavemen who are behind the curve...

[The Scarecrow]

Amp for me, though it's mostly because:

a. I'm average with tech, so setting up patches etc seems like a lot of work.
b. I have a cool amp that does all the stuff I need within about 90% of what is required.
c. I don't trust a lot of venues to have a decent enough PA or sound tech to actually make a modelling rig sound decent.

[HackSaw]

I voted for all of it.

Love my amp, love the sound and feel. Neighbours, missus, dog etc don't love it as much. Hence it's much loved, seldom used.

Love the 11r & S-Gear, Amplitube, Bias etc because of the variety, flexibility and fun of just being able to mess around, without annoying the people above.

[shafter]

I Love tube amps and pedals.. but I also enjoy mixing in modellers with my tube amp and pedal board, ideally id love all the best amps but i cant afford or justify any of it. as i'm just a bedroom player at this point anyway.. I think a good mix of the two often works ok it may not sound exact but in some cases really close. you dont even need to spend a lot anymore, im getting what i want from Bias fx and an irig, istomp etc.. just my thoughts.

[sirvill]

No option for "I use amps because I can't afford the good modellers"

[Zaulkin]

Modeling for practicality, especially when gigging. They're light, versatile and easy to set up.

Real amps sound better for clean though.

[jeremyb]

Home practice == Little Modelling Amp
Band practice == Bigger Modeller and Powered Speaker
Gig == same as above

Personally to get a modeller as good as a (decent) tube amp you need to spend (decent) tube amp money, but the bonuses are practicality, portability, and consistency, your back will thank you

[TmcB]

I haven't used a good modeller so I don't know - I've only used laptop, amplug, or pandora things.

I think the billions of options/patches is too much for my 2-bit brain but I'd say I'd enjoy it if it sounded great for quiet practice and would love it if I were doing covers gigs.

I enjoy the experience of pedal into amp into speakers the most.

[JHorner]

Amps for now, but I can see myself getting a marshall code in a few years when they start showing up secondhand.

[calling card]

I like my box of valves for the shelf it offers to place picks, capo, slide, ashtray etc..

[Vince]

I play bass, but my style is rather guitarlike.

I use a Vox 20W modelling guitar amp set to a clean sound. If I need more volume, well, that's what PAs are for.

The amp is nice and I like that I can access more high gain sounds, but I never really use them. But it was cool that I didn't have to agonise over what the amp's tone would be like, I knew that there'd be something I could use in there.

I like something that Eno said in an interview, that you can never become intimate with something whose boundaries are unknown, because it's always changing. If you have something with 999 patches, you'll probably never finish exploring them. He added that people's favourite tools are usually quite "limited". You have an instrument, it makes THAT sound, you learn to work with that sound. I have a few FX pedals, but I never really change the settings on them either, I like them to make that ONE sound. I can get on with making music rather than endlessly exploring options.

So yes, I like modelling but only as far as finding the sound I want. After that, I don't bother changing.

[jeremyb]

Another aspect is with kids I can plug in headphones and have my gigging toan whenever I want, amps I've had over the years have had basically zero use at home due to the only time I get to practice is when the kids are in bed!

[cholera]

I use amps live and at home, but only because I have very little experience with any modellers. I did use a Kemper in a studio once and I thought it was sounding pretty awesome (I think it had a Dave Mustaine patch which is the last thing Id ever imagine using) but I do still like the idea of seeing all parameters, its the same reason I still use pedals and avoided rack mount effects even though one of my amps is a rack set up. If I ever had any type of modelling thing, it would have to be used in conjunction with a power amp, I cant imagine going direct to a PA. It would be sweet if you knew EXACTLY what was going to be waiting for you at any given venue but there's always some surprise in store in my experience. So amps for me, but mostly because its what I'm used to. Im not completely avers to the idea of modelling but the fact is Im always playing live or jamming, I dont really record or anything. If I was into that more Id probably be much more interested in some type of modelling.