Again w/ the 63-year-old ears ….
Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I ran a rig w/ a MESA Mk II C+ and a Marshall 2203 Combo ….
I ran a few pedals in front of a Whirlwind Selector A / B / C pedal and then an SPX 90 in the loop of the MESA and a SDE-3000 in the loop of the Marshall ….
From what I remember …, there were nights when the Boogie would just “Sing” and the Marshall could only “Fart” …. On other nights it would be the other way around, the Marshall would just “Crush” and the Boogie would sound thin & shrill ….
It was only on rare occasions when all was right with both amps at the same time ….
And I hate to admit it, but it did affect my playing. It didn’t matter if it was a solo that was worked out and rehearsed, or it was during a song where we improvised. It did matter ….
I always chalked it up to …. Humidity, Barometric Pressure, Weather Fronts, the Crowd in the Room ( was it empty or full ), were they into it ( or not ) …, hell was my stomach empty or full …, etc; etc; etc; etc; ….
Could that be the “randomness” that Petrucci is referring to ? I don’t know, but it does kinda make sense to me ….
All that said, that’s exactly WHY I bought into the concept of the Axe-Fx way back in the Ultra days. I don’t need to have my pant legs flapping from the sound pressure of a 4 x 12 barking behind me. I’m perfectly happy with a couple of wedges by my vocal mic pointing back up at me !
My hope is that my sound WOULD be more consistent night over night and TAKE OUT all the variables I mentioned above ! Give me a reliable platform to draw my inspiration from without having to worry about any of that minutia ….
THANKS Cliff for doing what you do ! I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without you and your creative genius !
BTW – I’ve been looking for the rumble and sizzle you mentioned for a long time. I’d use a PEQ to try and add it back with limited success from time to time …. This update is one that I guess I’ve been waiting for, but didn’t really know I needed !