Variable
Inspired
So, I've been eyeing a Bogner Goldfinger 45 SL as sort of a plug and play amp to compliment my Axe for those times when I just don't feel like dealing with that inner voice that says "Hey, have you tried XYZ model / effect yet?!"
That got me thinking about the psychology of patch construction in the Axe. There are some studies that show people can run into "choice overload" when presented with tons of options. That's certainly happened to me in the Axe... my most recent patches were built around an amp type, such as a Friedman patch with scenes for the different Friedman amps, and a Bogner patch with the Shiva and XTC. I would try to cram as many different amps as possible into the scenes in the patch.
The problem is, when I'm on those patches, I find myself switching between the scenes with sort of an ADD thing going on in my head. However, when I'm on an actual tube amp, I usually find myself sticking to a particular channel and going to town. When I have 8 scenes that can all be a totally different amp and signal chain, I often find myself thinking that the grass is greener on a different scene.
This certainly isn't a criticism of the Axe modeling as 3.01 takes me to a whole new level; rather, I offer this personal insight in the hope that maybe it will help others avoid some of the crazy that I've encountered when building patches and trying to "get everything in" like I have.
TL;DR: Sometimes creating a super simple patch without all the Axe bells and whistles is the way to go.
...and I may still buy the Goldfinger, because the Axe hasn't modeled it yet
That got me thinking about the psychology of patch construction in the Axe. There are some studies that show people can run into "choice overload" when presented with tons of options. That's certainly happened to me in the Axe... my most recent patches were built around an amp type, such as a Friedman patch with scenes for the different Friedman amps, and a Bogner patch with the Shiva and XTC. I would try to cram as many different amps as possible into the scenes in the patch.
The problem is, when I'm on those patches, I find myself switching between the scenes with sort of an ADD thing going on in my head. However, when I'm on an actual tube amp, I usually find myself sticking to a particular channel and going to town. When I have 8 scenes that can all be a totally different amp and signal chain, I often find myself thinking that the grass is greener on a different scene.
This certainly isn't a criticism of the Axe modeling as 3.01 takes me to a whole new level; rather, I offer this personal insight in the hope that maybe it will help others avoid some of the crazy that I've encountered when building patches and trying to "get everything in" like I have.
TL;DR: Sometimes creating a super simple patch without all the Axe bells and whistles is the way to go.
...and I may still buy the Goldfinger, because the Axe hasn't modeled it yet