13 Reasons why Real Amps DESTROY Amp Sims!
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- Опубліковано 1 тра 2024
- Think your pathetic amp sim is super-neato? Here's 13 reasons why YOU'RE WRONG!
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0:00 Commence Butthurt
0:58 Sims don't sound as good.
1:49 Endless Choices
2:30 Unit Variation
3:54 Latency & Dynamic Playing
4:40 Real Amps Won't Go Out Of Date
5:51 Even Cheap Ones Sound Great
7:13 Look Cool + Great Client Bait
7:48 Offer Something Most Don't Have
8:34 It Shows You Mean Business
9:44 Limitless Mic Options
11:12 You Won't Sound Like Everybody Else
12:03 They'll Retain Their Value
13:17 Hybrid System
13:55 Spectre Digital On The Horizon
14:02 Outro & Bloopers
Reaper skin is "Fusion Beta"
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I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
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"Even the cheap ones sound great." As demonstrated by Josh Homme recently when he revealed that the secret behind his unique tone was....a 100 dollar Peavey Decade practice amp! Of course, people lost their shit and now those things go for over 1000 dollars. So, not so cheap anymore.
they going for about 250 now it seems
there’s a few amps in the lineup that have the same preamp, so save your money and buy the audition 20.
I still love my freeware amp sims, don't even care how close they come to the real thing - making music comes first
I love your channel name haha
Good enough for you is good enough. I wonder if this might fall under playing for an audience as opposed to playing to impress other musicians.
Great point
I'm using bias fx 2 (positive grid) for live with a behringer fsb 1010 pedal going straight to the mixer from the scarlotte. So my amps and cabs travel on my laptop in a backpack.
@@BeauJames59 I've been busking in the street for two years with an electric into a zoom into a JBL go bluetooth speaker and the only comments I got from other guitarists about my tone was they couldn't believe it was coming out of a one inch speaker. Common people? As long as the tone is not horrible they just listen to the song
Part of the appeal with real gear for me is that I spend most of my time for work, my own projects, and recreation sitting at my computer. The guitar is something I can do to get away from that for a bit. There's something about the physicality and weight of real gear that I don't think computers will ever replicate, no matter how good they can sound (at least not until we have that SAO full dive VR technology).
I went through middle and highschool almost exclusively making music with VSTs then realized just how fun using real gear is when I bought some Roland rack stuff. Same with amp heads and cabs.
I was gonna joke about SAO being "Sword Art Online" but I think that's what you really meant lol
I mean, there are physical amp Sims. Kemper being the closest one to using a real amp, Helix and quad cortex being fine if you don't mind the pedal board format.
Does that do the trick for you? Or it's not about being physical, but rather having no digital components?
For me, a real amp is just inspiring. I like turning real knobs and getting the immediate feedback. And I like committing to a tone when I record. I don't want to endlessly screw around with the plugin settings etc.
I hope you do the Glenn thing too and always take a clean DI ? ;)
I can do it on the HX Stomp (for bass) and I'm making a mini Direct box soz I can do it on the main rig ***SO PLEASE DONT YELL AT ME GLEEENNN*** !!!!!
@@petegaslondon No, I don't. I know exactly what I want and mix my own music. If I were to send it off to somebody else to mix, I'd do that of course.
So you just turn knobs and never find a sound? Come on.... I've had so many high end amps... and the neural dsp shit literally just made recording so easy... and sounded balls to the wall after dialing.... opened my mind for sure to sims now.
@@timvolital where did I say I don't get the sounds I want?
Lol
I love how you make arguments based on any point of view. I love that these videos contradict each other. Just kinda goes to show, different strokes for different folks because at the end of the day, the best thing is just simply what works best for you… the end user.
I think that the word “perspective” few right over your head. Reviewing different kinds of recording hardware/software from different perspectives is a great way to to choose what’s better for you. Maybe try watching or listening and you might just pick that up.
@@frags4679 ….what?
@@smeemusic you heard him, it few right over…we all saw it!
Ha ha yes. I remember his rave review of the Quid Corset. 😁
Had 6 different tube amps throughout my life.
Now just a Helix.
Both worlds chugg and have ripping leads.
Pros and cons for both worlds.
Do what sounds best for you and your music and stop worrying about the music industry snobs that only care if you're using a tube amp or IR sims.
Ridiculous debates about two different worlds that both sound great.
I'm just going to tell people I recorded my guitar parts using an ENGLE powerball.
And after about 12 months I'll tell the truth and say it was all Helix.
$5000 says nobody will be able to tell the difference and they'll all say it sounds badass.
It's the writing that makes your music sound different from other bands.
Using a good sounding piece of gear that's been used by a million other people makes absolutely no difference.
It's all in the writing, not the gear.
If you think a 5150 sounds great through vintage 30's, then do it.
It's whether or not the writing is unique and original, that will determine things sounding differently from other bands.
Don't get lost in the hyped up UA-cam battles of the engineers saying "blah blah it's already been done blah blah"
The sales numbers, subscribers and views of all the newer music of today is obliterating all that old stuff anyways.
If you use an 57 mic and 5150 amp and vintage 30s speakers, you will get great tones.
But if all you're playing is riffs that sound like every other band out there for the last 30 years, then that's what will make you sound like regurgitated music.
It's always mostly been the player and what they're writing that sucks.
Funny how everyone blames the gear.
audio speakers with IRs are a joke compared to a real cabinet....It s night and day dude
Wish i could agree 100% but theres a reason people chase certain pieces of gear. Won't get cannibal corpse tones with a fender single coil guitar straight to an ac30. But yes you will absolutely get a huge chugs through a helix. Who even cares what gear is being simulated, i dont select amp, mic etc plugins because they say mesa or sm57 or anything, i just want them to sound good. Badonk is great.
@@fredriksvard2603 Software amp sims sound better than helix and GT1000
@@gibson2623 those are software amps... just run on a deeicated device. if plugins are better, that's subjective. There's a lot of digital noise in neural dsp plugins, i think its because theyre optimized to be less cpu hungry than helix.
@@fredriksvard2603 I have both . i use gt1000 with power amp and real cabinet, and software plugins for recording.... I bener liked the GT1000 into a soundcard for recording ;)
The best analogy I've heard was from Javier Reyes. It's like comparing the highest-end sim racing setup, full cockpit+wheel and pedals to simply driving a 911 or Corvette out on a track. The real thing will always be the goal.
That's the worst analogy. If the average person saw you in a very high-end sim racing setup, full cockpit+wheel and pedals, they would 100% know it was fake by looking at you and the setup verses you in a real car. 90% of people cannot distinguish between real amps and sim amps. Musicians can (particularly guitarists), but avg people cannot and actually like it. I am currently using Garritan orchestra, people cannot distinguish my flute and guitar concertos from the real thing. This is where we are.
@@SWATTECHNOLOGIES Correct. The only limit really is our imagination. Most guitarists in today's age have access to or can have access to amazing gear for a very low cost, the only thing stopping them is skill, talent and hard work.
@@tanvarma4169 skill, talent and hard work...yes, yes, and yes
Holy shit, Music production and sim racing?! Haha I flipped when I saw Javier mentioned. I don't know anyone else personally that likes music production OR sim racing, let alone both!
I've always preferred real amps because the amp being actually present in the room is so much more engaging for me.
Glenn is knocking out of the damn park! I've never seen any channel up their video output like you have and still pump out quality stuff at the same rates. Awesome work!
Choice paralysis - is something that disturbs me as well and not only for amp sims, but even more for post processing as there are galore of plugins available. It's like having inner voice telling you it's not enough and next one is something we need yes! Especially for IRs, damn. On the other hand, I'd gladly invest into mid tier amp, if miking it up was not such a fucking pain in the ass.
BIG agree. Real amps to me are kind of like when you were a kid and you only had a handful of video games, so you played the shit out of them and learned everything you could about them. Whereas nowadays I've got a Steam library full of hundreds of games, some of which I've never even touched. I can sit down with my Marshall and some real pedals, and I have to figure out how to get as close to the sound I want with what I have. Whereas with sims, I can sit there for literal days just trying out every conceivable option and never actually settling on one thing long enough to enjoy it.
I had this problem a long time ago of tweaking over playing and finally decided to shift things up and I set up a basic writing session Reaper template. At the same time I am a cheap bastard and don't have/didn't want to use too many external plugins so I've set up all my channel strips with stock Reaper plugins. The only 3rd party stuff are the drums and the ampsims (clean and distorted 'generic' sounds) but I don't touch them before I have something bigger recorded, to avoid distraction.
Boy oh boy, is it liberating, really saves me and my two remaining brain cells time and energy to actually experiment with writing rather than endless tweaking.
Just as a cherry on top - stock Reaper plugins are fantastic, as most of you already know, but it really can't be stressed enough.
This is where setting rules/boundaries can help. I go into each project saying “I’m only going to use these plugins” or even “I’m *not* using these” can minimise that choice paralysis and pushes you forward. Similarly, if you also find yourself using the same thing over and over, maybe this is a chance to reevaluate somethings and try something else.
Everybody wants to run an amp until it’s time to buy or build an iso cab and be dedicated about it
Just find a decent tone and play the hell out of it…. The more you stick with a few tones the better you’ll be able to play em…. Use your hands to change the tone is what I’m sayin…
"Choice Paralysis" is effectively what I felt when I got a Kemper. Amazing piece of gear, but ended up selling it for a couple real amps solely because of this. I think a good compromise would be having a powered Kemper with a handful of cabs with different speakers/mics.
The Kabinet comes to mind
Choice Paralysis is real. Collecting vst's instead of just playing can become exhausting.
If you had GAS, you'd want the Kemper back.
@@orlock20 Not gonna lie, I do sometimes wish I still had the Kemper. And then I remind myself of why I sold it lol. If anything, the Kemper made my GAS worse, hearing all these excellent amps I'll never have the full control of is for a person with greater will power or money than I.
@@phonomorgue.1372 That's why i never got one. i'm pretty sure not really being able to adjust settings would drive me mad. i have to tweak.
And...for an alternative view of the hybrid system - what about running a modeller into a power amp (neutral or not, your choice), into a cab and then sticking a mic on it? As has been said before on this channel, the majority of interesting things happening in a guitar tone actually happen in the speaker, and that's where modellers have always fallen down IMO. It's one of the reasons my gigging rig is exactly this - all the flexibility of a modeller, all the feel of a real cab, and none of the backache.
Mostly I satisfied running my Helix into return of tube power stack, bypassing IRs. Response of a cab is very nice and "real".
I have a old Behringer modelling amp and turning off Cab simulation have me much better tone and I am looking at getting a cab to mic up the speaker is a game changer.
That's what the band Vader does, they use Kemper as preamp into 5150 effects loop into a real cab, and they say it sound like a real amp, not a digital simulation.
Yeah for sure. The tones you can pull out of the current best modelers are virtually limitless. Stick those behind whatever cabs you have and mic that up FOR SURE. Nice call.
I was looking for this comment. I run amp sims/pedal rig into my power amp, then into 1 x 12" cab. Sounds amazing compared to any IR i've ever used.
Praise be to the Crate GFX-212 and 1200H half-stack. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Hey man, its the Crate GFX 212 and the 1200H the same thing? i mean one is a combo of head plus cab, and the other is just the head, right?
Ok i checked and yes, its the same thing. Same with the GT212 and GT1200H....
Hey Glen!!!
Great episode. I was hoping you would mention the hybrid setup. I love the tone of my H&K tube amp, but I've always struggled with getting a real cab to sound good. My amp running through the Wall of sound is my general go to. Keep up the good work. 🤘🤘
Awesome video Glen! That drum and guitar tone was 👌🏻👌🏻I love the blooper clips at the end, nice touch!
I remember a Kerry King interview about his Marshall head (not the signature, his original) he asked Marshall just why it sounded so good. They tested the components and they were _all_ bang on the spec, in the middle of the tolerences. Pretty cool.
As a bassist I would NEVER get rid of my Mesa Boogie rig. I will record with and lug around that heavy ass gear to my grave. Hybrid is the way to go but sims and plugins do not match the real thing despite what the marketing teams and paid shills tell you.
Might be a big difference between guitar and bass, though. It took quite a bit of adjusting to tame the low end for me as a guitar player. For guitar, it's definitely matches the real thing and I will never carry another head again.
Have you tried parallax sim through some powered speakers tho..sounds sic.
Punctuation and complete sentences? You're no bassist.
@@isomatic Also, notice the distinct lack of drool and urine free pants.
@@NelsonBlakeII That was my biggest hurdle with the my axefx 2, low end was just weird and woofy all the time but eventually figured it all out.
Haha our Tyrant Spectre Logo!!!! Happy to see it in the video! Thx and greetings to Canada from all at Atlas Amplification.
dude I love your channel! I'm not sure if this would be considered a "hybrid" system, but one thing I always do is record a di in addition to real amps. I will then sometimes use an amp sim on that di track and then blend that into my mix. Side note, I definitely agree that having real tube amps in your studio is a giant benefit. Whether, you let a client use them, or you use them for re amping purposes. They WILL help your recordings stand out from everyone else and at least in my case, they only gain in value. I've been lucky with my tube amp purchases as I was able to buy mine from musicians who really needed money for the same price that a music store would buy them for. So, don't go out and just blow a bunch of money on vintage tube amps, keep your eyes open and when the time is right invest. Thanks for another great video dude!
Another great one Glenn! I know some people don't really take advantage of using guitar room tracks but with a real amp, the choice to mic a room is there if you wanna be creative!
Thanks for this, Glenn. Sold a 72 JMP 50 I used live and in studio for almost 30 years and ventured into sims. Never found the dynamics, pick attack and feel of a real tube amp. The Kemper was fun, but still unfulfilling. Just can't get the inspiration and joy from a sim. I do keep testing out of curiosity, but have since had 3 handwired clones of my favorite amps built to use on stage and in studio. Yes, it is a daunting task to set and mic them for recording - but it is a labor of love. Cheers
Hi Glenn !
You should make a video comparing plugins & analog units, explaining which are best & why
Thanks ! Love your videos
A short story: I work since 2 years with amps- sims from waves , amplitude etc., was happy about the phantastic quality and now just before mixing my new album I did the "mistake" to try an "Ampwerk"- Head (small Company from Germany) and have to record so much again. It IS a difference, real tubes are unbeatable!
Link,
Or
It
Never
Happened ;)
Why rerecord? Just use the tracks without ampsims and reamp them.....
@@Herrierecordsinc Because he doesn't know the ua-cam.com/video/-xHxmveCUEQ/v-deo.html trick, I guess :P
(or he didn't listen to Glenn saying he should get a DI track, lol)
Great video as always, Glenn; however, there’s a part where I disagree a bit. Nowadays, I don’t think the top of the line digital stuff gets outdated that quickly. The kemper has been around for over a decade and it’s still one of the most used devices by musicians in all genres. The Helix also has been the same since 2016 and still receives updates. Regarding the fractal stuff, despite the AX FX III coming out and displacing the II, there’s still people using those and even the Ax8 or the Ax FX Ultra. And by analyzing the last products Fractal has released (AX FX III, FM3 and FM9), I believe right now the improvements (or variations) come from the processing power. Because the truth is, a lot of these digital devices already sound like (or at least similar enough to) real tube amps. Like I said, the improvements being done right now (not only by fractal) are in more technical matters. And, when the Quad Cortex came out, many people just kept their Ax Fx’s and Helix and stuff. It didn’t displace them, it just gave people more options and different user interfaces. In my opinion, at least in digital audio, the ceiling in sound quality is very close to be reached and I don’t think the next units will have “This one does sound like a real amp” as their marketing flag, because like I said, most units already do. The sale incentive will be things like more outputs, processing power and new capabilities of internal routing, sensibility, better AD/DA convention, more power in less space, much less latency, etc.
Of course, I could be wrong, but that’s what I think about the matter.
Also, I do believe that with digital things you can make your own sound. You just have to think outside of the box, stop being lazy (means no presets) and experiment. (I don’t mean you YOU, I mean like, In general). I know it’s too much to ask to some people, but it might be worth it. You can even combine plug ins, real pedals, etc. The possibilities are there, people just need to stop (like you said) wanting the same boring 5150 tube screamer vintage 30 sm57 sound that everyone has heard already. Seriously, with todays digital options, people could be creating new sounds every day, but no, of course, because that would require them to learn in depth how to use them and not just getting to “plug and play” with the new preset they purchased to sound like every other person in their neighborhood.
Anyway, great video, Glenn. Just wanted to share my opinion. Your content is great not only for metal musicians, but for everyone serious about improving their audio engineering skills.
that's the point, the power of digital is not to have a perfect "that amp" simulation but to allow endless option to find you sound. Just don't look what display say and judge only with your ears what sound ok.
The embarassing fact is that I have been waiting for the right statement that fits my opinion and then agree ;-)
Adding to the pros: real amps don't have expiring licenses, and all they need is AC power. And nothing beats the smell of warm tubes and transformers!
Preach! We use amp sims for demos, but used real amps to record our last couple releases. Each is a tool and useful in their own ways depending on what you're wanting to accomplish. Can't go wrong with a beefy tube half stack for live stuff though! Great vids!
Reason 14: You can have a real amp modded.
If you want something more that a stock amp sound, take it to a shop and have component values changed or add new features the stock amp doesn't come with. You can't get a more unique sound past modifying your gear and last time I checked, people aren't offering mods for amp sims.
You don’t need to mod it when you got pedals and different amp choices, usually people mod their amp when they want a different sound but don’t want to spend hundreds-thousands
I love my Fender Super Reverb. The 4x10 45 watt tube tone is just ungodly. It moves so much air and takes pedals like a boss.
I’m not much of a metalhead, but I really appreciate you always advocating for originality in music!
For as easy as plugins and IRs are supposed to be, I tried forever to get a recordable tone that way and couldn't get what I was looking for. Most amp sims don't seem to do "just past the edge of breakup" 70s hard rock/proto-metal tones very well at all. After finally getting a cheap tube amp and a 2x10 cab, I was immediately closer to the tone I was trying to get. Currently experimenting with mics and placement.
Well usually using the sim through a cab and recording with mics instead of directly fix that issue
That hybrid setup thing is what I love about my H&K GrandMeister Deluxe 40. It has the loadbox built right into it, I can completely operate it silent (or at varying wattages) and by disabling the built-in redbox I can easily go straight into the computer, use IRs and practice at every time of the day without annoying anybody while still having my own sounds. And thanks to some developer who wrote an app to remotely control the amp via MIDI I can dial in the sound either by hand on the physical knobs or through the software and even have backups of the settings should my amp needs to be replaced due to any defect. And while I still also own many VST amp sims and many do sound quite decent, it still always feels better when I turn on the amp. I found this to be especially true when trying to practice tricky parts. So there's also that dynamic/feel/latency thing there... it definitely makes a small difference. But when you practice stuff that's really fast even small differences add up and can lead to frustration when practicing.
It's too bad those H&K amps have some weird fizzy sound that is absolutely impossible to dial out because it's part of the amps character, I guess.
@@unleashthefury111 I got the Tubemeister + helix with the 4 cable method. I usually add nothing but tubescreamer or percision drive before the amp (And some delay/reverb stuff post amp) and I get some seriously amazing tones. Check your cab maybe... Or could be faulty parts...
I should clarify that I meant its on the ultra channel. But I've had two HK amps both did the same thing. Every review I read said same thing. The Hugh gain sound has a grainy fizzy texture that cannot be undone
@@unleashthefury111 I can't complain at all, I haven't yet noticed a "grainy fizzy texture" at all and I use the Ultra Channel a lot for lead sounds. Best thing I've bought in years... well apart from my RME interface, because holy cow RME really knows their shit and the software that accompanies it is mighty awesome. Maybe you have some electrical interference that affects it? I have issues with my PC generating electromagnetic interference (switching noise) from the VRMs on the mainboard with varying frequency depending on CPU load. If I position my guitar badly they absolutely pick that up and on high gain you then definitely get a "fizzy sound"... but I get that with amp sims too.
GLEEEEENNNNNN! I just wanted to say that I’ve been watching your channel for years and I think I just got my first clear good sounding mix out of my new project and I owe it all to you and your amazing channel. thank you for everything you do. The feeling of getting in my car and hearing my mix at full volume with no distortion and no rattling of car parts is as close to heaven as I ever care to get. Fuck you very, very much!
You feel a real amp in your guts.
Headphones will never replace that.
The video quality here is unnecessarily good, nicely done. As for the actual question itself from a player's point of view, I'm going the helix route for now - it's lightweight and easy to use. Would definitely prefer the real thing, but the weight and cost aren't worth it for the level of player I am
I really like your content Glenn. I have been thinking about the lessons learned from your speaker test and how micing a real amp enables the potential for a more unique sound. It seems like one would want a versatile head and a cabinet with different types of speakers in it to offer the greatest palette of sounds possible. Are there any thoughts on gear recommendations (head and cabinet) to give the greatest diversity of rock/metal sounds at an economical price point?
I've always said this and i always will!
Something magical happens when air is allowed to be moved and the actual real soundwaves are picked up by a Mic.
Something that truly can't be emulated no matter how hard you try.
You know how long that list can go with what and how it feels to actually have something ''live'' going on.
Hey Glenn! Thank you for sharing all this info! I have a 6505+ combo amp... And it's weird because it sounds great one day, then the next day sounds not-so-great lol. I've found that, giving it enough time to warm up helps, but that time frame is often the same I use to get all my practice and additional fool around. I live in Ecuador, a cold weather area. You think this is the issue? The amp needs to warm up more than usual? Fist bump from a Venezuelan lost in Ecuador... Thank you!
dude, anamorphic lenses on a youtube video is exactly the kind of extra effort i'd expect from you
More lense flares gdi!
Love the widescreen aspect ratio. Looking forward to seeing you in theaters soon.
Love the bloopers at the end! It always reminds us that however succesfull you are, we still all make mistakes!
“Even the cheap ones sound great.” YES! My Orange OR15 through an Orange 4x12 is awesome. Plus it only has 5 knobs and one channel. So simple even a bass player can figure it out. Lol
OR15 owner here... massively underrated amp
In reality, sound quality is subjective. Each person “hears” a particular “sound” differently…what you hear is not exactly what I hear. Therefore, the question should not be “do I use a physical amp” or, “do I use an amp sim” but what tools will allow me to produce the sounds I want to produce. Then it’s up to your listeners to determine if the sounds you produced please them as well or not. In the end, the listener does not care how you achieve your tones…they only like them or they don’t. This applies to not only guitar tones, but everything associated with recording music.
Great Vid Glen ; ) I have a Peavey Windsor for lead and the Sheffield Bandit 112 for Rythm. Best money ever spent .
Nice video, especially alongside to the last one! I am very interested in your opinion about neural dsp products. They've got amazing advertising campaign for sure, and I personally like how they sound, but really wanna know what you think as more experienced and with ability to compare their products to real thing.
The B&W clips with goofy voices really makes an impact :) Definitely keep them rolling.
I do a lot of electronic and orchestral music. There is nothing like re-amping a synth (even a VST) through a real amp and recording it with a mic instead of using the pure line-out signal. It is fun to experiment. Especially running synths through guitar or bass amps.
Thanks for your videos. I'm on the free BandLab with dollar general headphones mic but people will complain about my mixing, not my amp sound. And I use a transistor, want to say solid state $25 used 20 watt bass amp with a danelectro distortion pedal and it doesn't sound bad at all on UA-cam. I do more rock mixed with pop, hip hop and Funk/R&B but love my guitar sounds
Two traps which I fell into when I had the kemper. 1) swapping between thousand simulations for amps and cabinets but not really playing. 2) when recording, I noticed falling into same patterns; this is what others use and so it must be good. Ended up playing way too little and sounding just like everyone else. But it is still an awesome machine. It has good impulses and I do not regret owning one. If you record in an apartment, it is awesome. Some time ago I bought a house so bye bye kemper, hello tube amps. Are they expensive? Yes. Was it worth it (money and tone -wise)? I don't know. Do I have regrets? None.
We've been using one of the Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb amps for the last two years. LOVE IT! It's great for jamming. Being able to adjust the wattage is gold. When it comes time to record, the ability to record directly from an XLR out and mute the internal speaker is exactly what we need. Lots of cool stuff out there these days! Cool times! Surf's up!
I have an Ibanez TB15, which is pretty much the practice amp version of the TB100H you mentioned. I modified it so I can get a feed straight out of the preamp section of it and I can connect that to an external power amp that can deliver more juice. It sounds pretty interesting, it has a very unique sound to it and when cranked up on the power, it really sounds great! Hell, even when connecting the pre to my interface and using the Ignite TPA-1 as a power, you can get it to sound wicked! Sometimes the most interesting sounds lay on the gear you expect the least, and people should explore these hidden gems a lot more than they actually do.
Loved this episode glen and agree with everything. Making all your gear uniquely paired is something rare, which is why I modded my guitar and am building my own cab.
that's nice🤘I just don't think that unique equals better or even good...
I also love my Boss Katana that I run direct into my DAW. It sounds way better than any Amp sim software for demos/songwriting.
Hi Glen, great video. I have recently moved to an hybrid system and it works great for me -as a hobbyist-. I am curious about your perspective as a professional. Even though you recommend the hybrid system, at some point you mention that using IRs could potentially make a recording artist sounding like everybody else -boring-. Also, since going through A/D conversion and some kind of software processing is needed as well, some of the issues of usin amp sims may happen (even though to a lesser extent).
Do you have any tips on how to best integrate a real amp through a loadbox going into a computer with IRs in the most effective and realistic way?
Thanks!
Just poppin' by to say I'm loving the aspect ratio you've been using since your "13 reasons why amps sims destroy real amps video" (different aperture, less high exposition, color grading... different camera altogether?). Looks mighty fine and much more cinematic!
I have been using a hybrid recording system for a while and its is amazing!
The best of both worlds.
I couldn't make up my mind about my sound, I started chasing that Zakk Wylde sound and it evolved from that. I run 3 amps simultaneously, A Carvin X50B with 4x12 cab and a Marshall jcm800 4010 combe with a Eminence DV-77 speaker and a Peavey stereo chorus 212. Yeah it's fucking loud at unity volume, but so amazing! The frequency spread is unbelievable, however trying to figure out how to record it is a challenge lol. I only run a variety of overdrives, MXR Zakk Wylde overdrive, Ibanez Nu-tube screamer and a 40th Anniversary SD1. And wah , MXR stereo chorus. And the Earthquaker Swissthings pedal to split up the amps.
Great video Glenn, cheers!
Hi Glenn, awesome video as always. I notice that you (almost) always have two channels of audio recording displaying on the monitor in the background. I'd love a video on how you record your vlog audio! Maybe you've already got it but I'm a pretty new subscriber and I'm also a lazy sack and can't be arsed to look through hundreds of your videos to see if you've already got one. If that's the case can you point me in the right direction, please? Cheers from the UK.
P.s. regarding the value of real amps. I bought a second hand JCM800 Bass head and 4x12 bass cab for £100 about 20 years ago. It still sounds great, especially with a bass overdrive or fuzz pedal. It's also worth a hell of a lot more than what I bought it for now.
Such a great video !! Real amp and two notes is a great combo but I still want a wall of speakers to stare at. Maybe put the two notes behind the wall shhhh
Best option for new guitar players. 5150 iconic/80watt. Built in OD, reverb, and noise gate with a 1/4 power switch to play in bed/apartment. I have two high end tube amps and but I plug into my puter for the convenience factor.
It’s really hard to beat a turned up JCM800 from the 80’s, into a 1960 cabinet. Just the movement of air alone gives you a chub….
I couldn’t agree more! Marshall just has that special tone in the upper mids most amp companies forget about.
One of the biggest problems with micing a cab of any kind is the room it's in. Speaker age and condition makes a difference too. If the room isn't that good, what do you expect from the tracks? A properly placed room mic in a properly treated room can make for a unique sound. Unfortunately, very few are interested in unique.
The standard for micing guitar cabs goes back farther than a couple of decades. It's amazing to me how many clients want to sound like everyone else. I mentioned before, when I asked one famous producer what his favorite guitar cab mics were on air and he responded "I like mics that end in 7." SM 57 close and U 87 for a room mic has been a standard since at least the 70's.
I had to send out for a pair of 57's on a lunch break back in the 80's due to the famous guitarist that I was recording at the time thought what I was using "didn't sound right." I was using a Sennheiser 441 in close. I had used that mic for years with no complaints. The owner HATED Shure mics so we didn't have any in the locker. I put an SM 57 on the amp and when the client listened to the track "That sounds great!" I was using a pretty standard U 87 in the room, thought on some sessions I swap the room mic for a C 414.
Since you've already observed that speakers make the biggest difference in timbre, why not collect speaker IR's for variance? Problem is with a lot of IR's is that there is no room mic used. There may be an assortment of close mics used but very few have a selection of room mics available or a way to blend them with the close mic. Kazrog used to have a multiple IR cabinet loader and Ignite Amps has the NadIR that is capable of 2 IR's. I've seen one quad IR loader but can't remember where...
The hanging the mic technique is always a classic. I once had a "sound engineer" at a live show hang the mic in between the speakers in the middle of my 2x12 combo so it was just getting dat sweet baffle sound 🤦♂. Obviously I had to re-adjust on the sly. Tbh, I don't mind hanging a mic if you just want a quick and dirty scratch demo reocrding for song writing or small time gigs etc but I wouldn't apply it in a studio situation.
I was back and forth for years with amps, Zoom guitar processors, Amplitube, Guitar Rig, etc until 2 1/2 years ago, I got a Two Notes Cab M, and later a Captor 8 for load box. TA-DA.
I document every amp, settings and Cab M patch I created, in Excel. I am all over the place musically, and for clients. Impulse Response I found for Axis and Off Axis as the two IR on the Cab M. ... Fredman. Yeah.
Hi Glen, what s your opinion about BiasFX2 as a amp sim?....is the one i personally use in my home studio...and to my ears sounds woooooow. Thx in advance, you are the best👍
I have a related question. If I mic a cab should the EQ be flat and changed in post or be how I like it and left alone in post?
Any budget 100w amp and box you would recommend Glenn? Peavey 6505 prices went through the roof and the only ok option now i see is marshall DSL. Would use it for recording/home playing only.
what about the Yamaha THR5? not for the studio, but thats a small practice amp that has alot of modeling options. ive not used one, but ive seen alot of sick guitarists using them at home, and im curious. just wondering your take on that specific amp, but i am planning to pull the trigger on a 50 watt EVH 6l6 head to pair with my '92 5150 cab lol slowly getting to my best amp ever. cheers dude
Love it When YOU NAIL THIS TOPIC ! Thanks Glenn .
there is nothing more i can add or disagree on. love the videos. love the channel, the honesty, love Glenn. Greetings from Lithuania
Hi Glenn, would you consider doing a video on the new fad that is the vocal/amp encapsulated isolation devices? It would be cool if you could do a shootout of the various products including the Kaotica eyeball. Thoughts?
I recently purchased rhino on iOS! As I mentioned in the chat yesterday it’s cheap as fuck and an excellent app for guitars. Plus it doesn’t take up the space in the house of an amp so , win win! Thanks for playing my track and thank you for the critique! All the best Glenn 🤘
Your commentary is so refreshing.
I pride my self on my tone and take great care of my equipment because like u said no 2 are the same. Took years to find it and dail it in. IR's have their place, but nothing can replace years of trying and hunting for a tone that is yours, the amp i settled on is the under rated blue voodoo from crate but the one i got sounds different than others ive played on.
I absolutely love my kemper for sheer versatility and ease of use, but I still have a nice tube amp that I just haven't been able to part with
Been trying to downsize everything over the last couple of years so that I can live more nomadically. I can't get rid of my Vox AC15c1, or my Joyo JaCkMan/v30 2x12 though. It's just too much godly tone and I know that amp sims simply don't give me that tingly feeling. I love experimenting with mic choice/placement and get some really unique tones. Thank you for keeping me snobby Glenn 😂
GLENNNN!!! As a bedroom/kitchen table musician I have no option, its amp sims only for me at the moment. I hope to graduate to getting a few amp heads and using a load box and IRs. However knowing now the importance of the cab, speaker room sound etc. If I cant mic a loud cab is it worth it to even considering the hybrid set up? If the amp is a not the most important element? Thanks for what you do and best wishes from Ireland.
I always was against amp sims at first... but channels like yours, Jason Frankhousers and a few others have changed my mind, especially now that I am in a condo, my 4x12 wouldn't be appreciated. And there really is a lot of stuff, some free some aren't, that are incredible... the Neural stuff comes to mind, is pretty damn impressive... just like the Ignite Amps that you often recommend. Thanks Glenn, have a great week!
5:07
I would. Hands down, but on one condition. It has to be the POD XT/XT Live, or X3 used by Vildhjarta.
Hey, u have a question, Is there anyway to make a cheaper amp, say like a Marshall MG15CFR sound good?
I think some of these software companies like Amplitube have come very far in the way of amp simulations, however they still lack the character & power of a real amp. I am totally in love with the idea of having a physical representation of my guitar tone and honestly having something that doesn't have to boot up and won't ever freeze up due to a software update or license gripe. I love the idea that if I plug into this thing that it has its own unique voice (not 1000 voices I'll never use), something thats simple and fast to dial in a sound.
The amplifiers I use are the 100 watt Marshall 2555x Silver Jubilee and the 100 watt Marshall 2466 Vintage Modern, both of these amps are fast and easy to get a great tone on, you simply fuck with only a few settings: Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain and volume on both of these and you're ready to go, much easier to setup and much harder to fuck up when you're at a gig!. As much I like amplitube, its not replacing my real amps anytime soon, it likes to frequently crash.
Loved the outtakes as well!
I was real close to buying the new Amplitube thing, as it's just impossible for me to record at any significant volume for any decent length of time. But then I saw Johan Segeborn demo the Scuffham S gear Plexi and pretty much rave about it. This is from a guy who has access to more real vintage plexi's than most so if he says it's nearly the same I'll listen. Went to the website, listened to a few demos and bought it straight out. Didn't even bother demoing it.
My god is it ever amazing. 5 different amps and they ALL have the feel. The dynamic control and pick feel are pretty much bang on. Of course it's not moving the air like a real amp so of course it's not perfect but my Mesa has been pretty much collecting dust since I downloaded it a few months back. It's just so fun to play. Like a real amp.
It's mostly classic/hard rock focused so it might not be the best option for those of you who are only looking for metal amps but they do sim a Soldano and it gets pretty heavy sounding with other features.
Anyway, this one is an example of a SIM done right in my opinion. Does it replace what you get out of a real amp? Of course not, but wow did they ever get close.
00:14 Glenn, you've really outdone yourself. This was your best scream ever. I can't tell you how hard I laughed at this.
cannot stop playing it back its so hilarious
The bloopers at the end remind me of reason 8 out of 13 as to why I haven't jumped into the UA-cam game.
I use different approaches. Savage into captor and then cab ir‘s, i use kemper and plugins too. I‘d say that neural dsp plugins are so good that i don‘t have to use kemper or the savage in order to get better Tone. Plus it is ofcourse much easier and faster with if you want to switch sounds for 2 or 4 guitar tracks. Still i am not selling my savage or kemper anytime soon.
I blend a Joyo Zombie with a peavey 1x12 with some plugins and it gives me a real great sound, I wish I caould affored a 6505 or jm9000 but its complecated, at the end we play with HM-2 so for us it works, its Death Metal so at the end it sound brutal
Glenn….I just picked up a brand new set of Kali LP6s. Should I turn them off when I’m not using them?
I'm considering a Badlander. I'm not sure what cab to go with. I'm just an amateur playing at home. Perhaps I should just go with the combo. Any suggestions?
hey glen. im just wondering if you know any good classes that teach song structure?
Every tool for its application!
I love playing a rock/metal show through a half stack. It's not just about sound but also inspiration.
I like to record with amp sims. They allow me to just recall a preset I know and like and get on with recording. With a real amp sometimes the technical part of the process can get in the way
AXE FX III. There's probably enough features and tweakability packed into it to NOT sound the same as everyone else. And if any modeling system does a good job at exciting the player and sounding damn good, it's the Axe FX, (Neural DSP Quad Cortex too). It also allows you to blend up to 4 cab IRs, across stereo field if you choose. At 20+ years of playing guitar, it's the next closest thing to a real amp in my opinion. Prior to the Axe III, I had a Mark 2C+. But the hybrid system you described really didn't do it justice. The cab IRs at the time were indeed limiting, and finding a program to load and tweak the IRs was difficult at the time, but it was my preferred way to play. This way only the amp breaks my back, not the cab too. Now I'm running a synergy rig through a powerstage into a 1x12 mesa recto cab, and it's the coolest fucking thing ever. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hey Glenn got to be honest, I haven't touch my bass or guitar much in the past few months, I plugged in my guitar into my Marshall amp lately an noticed my knobs and my amp input is crackling.
I was just wondering if you ever did any episode that talks about things you can do keep your equipment safe, when your not using them, issues like humidity, dryness, cold and hot temperatures, sunlit or dark rooms, position of guitars and basses on walls or cases as to not have neck warps or in microphones excess moisture etc etc?
Regarding variability options, as you point out there are new sims every day. Not just “sims”, but features that allow for combining multiple IRs (Overloud’s Supercabinet), tweaking tube response, power sag, etc. With all of these opportunities for customizing a digital signal chain, I think there’s a case to be had for crafting a unique tone. Yes, there will be a finite number of possibilities available to each user, but that set of possibilities is a very large range, provided we take advantage of the tweakable parameters.
If we all just downloaded the very same sim and all chose only from the default presets and did not change a single parameter, yes then we’d all sound the same. But I don’t think that’s how it’s happening, at least not on the forums I visit where modeling nerds are hanging out.
I started my career as a gigging bassist with silverface bassman's, the biggest was 135watt with a 2 x 15 cab. At this stage size wasn't an issue because i was playing theater shows so my amp stayed at the theater for the duration of the run. As soon as my original band started touring I got myself an Avid Eleven Rack, that orange box traveled the country with me going straight into the fx return on the house amps. After I stopped touring I sold it because my plugins had surpassed the eleven rack. At the moment i'm using an Orange Terror for gigs and plugins for most recording. Best of both worlds I think.
Fellow Eleven rack bassist shout out! I just can't seem to replace it, man. I've tried.
My prefered amp is never simulated, and many are *close*, simulating the amp it’s based off of. But getting a load box and an IR loader (if only i can IR my own cabs) brings me closer to my live tone. And that helps.
I like my hybrid approach.
Amp sim with no cab sim>reamp into power amp (or amp fx return)>cab mic (sm57)
I used a dual rectifier sim into my orange rocker 15 terror power amp and then captured it on Celestion 7080s. And it sounded magnificent. Better than the actual cab sim and has a different flavor than the actual Orange Amp.
At home, I love recording through tube rack preamps and a ENGL Cabloader (and a DI signal for reamping purposes) . Plain awesome for my taste and I can record whenever I want and still be friends with my neighbors 😉
That’s why I like things that can help streamline what you’re looking for, default settings are super useful when talking choice paralysis.
An ocean of stuff is great, but which part of the ocean do you go to?
Do you stay near or far from land, do you look for massive ridges, ravines, underwater lakes and rivers and anything else that is unique or standard to help navigate the ocean of features?
When I was in college I used a Behringer Xenyx mixer as an interface and used amp sims to practice. All through headphones. Fast forward a year or so I went to play with a drummer and realized I had unconsciously learned to play with latency. I was in time in my headphones but way ahead in real time. Finally using an amp made me realize it and it took a long time to get my playing back in time. Seems so obvious now. Don’t make that mistake too kids!
We run a two amp two vst setup currently with a mesa bogner amp combo and Rhino and Grindstein vst. Sounds killer. We are avoiding amp sims for now but irs are awesome.