Any database to sort through amps, pedals, presets, …?

I know how you feel. I came to fractal land with very little experience with amps, I only ever owned a fender hot rod deluxe and that’s all I knew. I’d never owned a Marshall, never even played through a Vox! Looking at all these amps I felt like a babe on the woods (not the hot kind). Growing up in regional Australia, I just didn’t have access to a lot of amps.

What helped me was to just stick with one or two amps, and one IR. I think it was a bandmaster or a deluxe verb, and Leon’s LT TV Mix 7, which I still use. Just pretend it’s the only option, like if it was a physical amp, and really get to know it.

The good news is that this is a great forum and I feel totally confident asking ‘noob’ questions. Nobody will bite your head off for not knowing stuff, or I wouldn’t still have a head! I’m not embarrassed that I know so little about how amps work.

Suggestions above are spot-on: ask about a particular sound, or a particular song, and how to get close. That helps these good folks get an idea of what found you like, since tastes are so different.

Also I can’t recommend Leon’s five minute tones, or any of his videos, highly enough, and Cooper Carter’s master class. They were indispensable for me!
 
It’s also well worth the time reading through Yek’s amp list. I learned a lot about amps in general, and he often includes quotes from Cliff that illuminate things.

I discovered my new favouritest ever amp that way - the wrecker rocket. How did I not know about this? How is it that I can now just turn it on and have my very own? Honestly sometimes I think the amp list is like a zoo, where a bunch of rare and exotic specimens are captured for our enjoyment. Well that’s a bit dark but you get the drift.
 
tysonlt said:
It’s also well worth the time reading through Yek’s amp list. I learned a lot about amps in general, and he often includes quotes from Cliff that illuminate things.

I discovered my new favouritest ever amp that way - the wrecker rocket. How did I not know about this? How is it that I can now just turn it on and have my very own? Honestly sometimes I think the amp list is like a zoo, where a bunch of rare and exotic specimens are captured for our enjoyment. Well that’s a bit dark but you get the drift.
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If you like the Rocket, try the FAS Wreck. Cliff’s idealized Trainwreck. Killer model.
 
Dave Merrill said:
You're talking about quantifying the sound of amps? I doubt that's practical
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Maybe he is coming from kemper (?)
Because in the rig manager in the kemper, every profiles got a visual that represent the amount of gain of the preset. Then you know very quickly if it is a clean, a crunch, or a high gain tone
 
Buy the AustinBuddy Live Gold presets. He arranges them into families of amps (Fender style, Marshall style, etc.). Within those families each preset is generally ordered by amount of gain by amp model. And within each preset he provides scenes from low to high gain levels targeted at both humbucker and single coil pickups. Besides being dialed in very well, the presets are a highly useful Table of Contents for the amp models. Between this and Yek’s document you’d be well equipped.
 
Interesting that the on the wiki yek has pasted notes by Cliff describing the wreckers as nasty and spitty, which I personally hate. I don’t find it like that, perhaps because I have drive very low. I’ll try the FAS wrecker though!
 
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