Lesson of the day: Modeling Has Arrived

aleclee

Power User
After Cliff's little trick with the Ojai clip, it's increasingly clear to me that modeling has arrived. While some people still spout off about "digital fizz" or "hash", the reality is that folks can no longer use such artifacts to identify modelers in recordings. Now, given an A/B comparison, they're more likely to listen for compression or, just as likely, which one they like better, to differentiate modelers from tube amps.

Good times, IMO.
 
IMHO, modeling arrived even years ago when it comes to recorded tones.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating... uh, I meant, playing - the feel, how it responds.
Some were satisfied with a Vox Tonelab, for some the Axe-Fx first gen. made the deal, and for some it took the A-Fx II to come out.

My personal result of this is: different strokes for different folks ;) Nah, seriously, there are good and bad tube amps, there are good and bad SS amps and there are good and bad modelers. You have to find which one you like, what inspires you.
After that, move on, make music. This is the end those gadgets are the means to.
 
IMHO, modeling arrived even years ago when it comes to recorded tones.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating... uh, I meant, playing - the feel, how it responds.
Some were satisfied with a Vox Tonelab, for some the Axe-Fx first gen. made the deal, and for some it took the A-Fx II to come out.

My personal result of this is: different strokes for different folks ;) Nah, seriously, there are good and bad tube amps, there are good and bad SS amps and there are good and bad modelers. You have to find which one you like, what inspires you.
After that, move on, make music. This is the end those gadgets are the means to.

For a long time I thought modeling sucked. Then I thought it was OK sometimes for recording. When I got my ultra, and it sounded sweet, round and warm, and RESPONDED to my playing unlike the (to me, anyway) terrible, static, 'effecty' sounding PODs, i decided it had arrived! I have a few patches (ironically, trying to emulate a couple of Sansamp PSA-1 sounds) that are not as responsive - maybe 6.0 profiling will fix that.

To me, my Ultra was the game-changer between an 'effect' and a true modeler. I got mine in... 2007? 2008? Long time ago by DSP standards - and yet no one seems to have caught up, let alone surpassed it - except Cliff!
 
Hello Funny-Polymath,
I live not too far from you in Chichester N.Y. up by Phoenicia, and I own an AXE-FX II which I love! Don't know of anyone else around here who own's these magnificent tools of guitar tone. Perhaps we could share notes or something. Peace!
 
Hello Funny-Polymath,
I live not too far from you in Chichester N.Y. up by Phoenicia, and I own an AXE-FX II which I love! Don't know of anyone else around here who own's these magnificent tools of guitar tone. Perhaps we could share notes or something. Peace!
Howdy neighbor! What kinda music do you play? Ted Orr, from Woodstock, who plays in Blue Food and others, is going to buy one soon (he and I were in Clear Light Ensemble together - I am still in it - and he liked what my rig could do). Don't know anyone else. Peter Head, of Pitchfork Militia, and also the my co-conspirator in B.B. Rebozo loves it - he just might buy my Ultra, we'll see.
 
Hi! I play alittle of this and that, southern rock, blues, classic rock some country, and right now a bunch of my own stuff! Names Carl Steen perhaps we could meet.
 
some comparison clips are getting close to indistinguishable, imho.
does that mean that *all recorded valve amp sounds can be recreated accurately by modeller.... don't know. shall wait and see.
 
some comparison clips are getting close to indistinguishable, imho.
does that mean that *all recorded valve amp sounds can be recreated accurately by modeller.... don't know. shall wait and see.

I think the more germane criticisms I've hear involve feel rather than tone - the tone is there, at least for me! Actually, for me, the feel is 90-96% there, maybe more, the thing DOES respond like a tube amp (and I'me talking my Ultra here - haven't played my II enough to say how much improved it is in that department.

But some posters opine that the 'feel' just isn't there for them. I think that's probably more for the high-gain types (recto etc.) than for Fenderish guys like me, but it's a valid criticism: all the clip comparisons in the world will NOT tell you if the thing satisfies like an amp in terms of cranking it up in a room (through a cab, or FRFR, as I prefer). For me, it does. For some, it doesn't. I respect their responses, though they differ from mine, but they do kind of make the 'compare this clip to this clip' focus seem nearsighted.
 
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