Dave Friedman on modelling

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boyedav

Inspired
I don't think I have enough postings on here to post a URL, but the video is on the guitarguitaruk page on Facebook titled "Dave Friedman Live", with Dave and Sammy Boller. It was fun to watch.

Towards the end of the video Dave (and Sammy) makes a couple statements about modelling that I'm not sure are true any long, at least in the newest generation of modellers. Granted, tube amps are Dave's bread-and-butter, so I take it with a grain of salt (and I'm a huge fan of his). Specifically, he talks about how they don't respond to the guitar's volume control the way tube amps do. Now, I don't (yet) own an Axe III or a Helix, but from everything I've heard/read, the (similarly dialed in) models clean up with the volume control much the way their "real" counterparts do.

I wanted to see what real Axe III owners have experienced themselves. Do the amp models in the Axe clean up with the guitar's volume control the way the real ones do? I'm thinking specifically about the '60s-80s Marshalls, but others are of interest too.

Thanks!
 
Dave is selling amps...

IMO, yes, the models clean up every bit as well as amps. Particularly models based on non-master volume amps (which are my personal favorites).

I have never been a Marshall guy. A couple years ago, I was visiting a friend who is into early Allman Brothers tones and he had just picked up a vintage Plexi and 4x12 cab. I was floored by how he was able to get really good clean and gain tones by setting up his LP with the volume full up on the bridge pickup and the volume rolled off on the neck pickup, and them switch between them and go from screaming Plexi leads to a really nice clear clean tone with minimal volume drop. All this from a single channel amp. When I got home, I dialed up the 59SLP Plexi model on the Axe II and got out my LP. Low and behold, the AxeFx II exhibit the same ability to go from "clean to mean" as his amp. That experiment ended any debate for me.

Touch responsiveness was always good with the AxeFX II and the AX8, but the Axe III takes everything to a new level. The dynamics and responsiveness are even better with the Axe III and that was immediately noticeable the very first time I plugged into the Axe III after receiving it.

Having said that, I still own two amps; a RedPlate Blues Machine 66 and a Tungsten Crema Wheat. There's something about plugging into amps with open-backed cabs that I really enjoy that modeling does not replicate. I love modeling for going direct at Church, for recording, and for practicing at low volumes, but I still use amps when I get together with friends to jam (I no longer gig).
 
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