When is enough Amps enough?

You know, getting the most out of any piece of gear doesn't necessarily mean using every feature available........in this case all the available amps........it's about getting what you need out of the gear. The more amp models (or effect choices) you have means there is a better chance that you will be able to find the right sound for your needs. You don't need 100 amps, but with 100 amps available the chances are a whole lot better that you'll always be able to get the sound that you need.........and to me that is what getting the most out of a piece of gear is about.
 
Never enough!
Heck the Diezel VH4 3 is my go to amp now, and that was just recently added.
The Silver Jubilee I believe will replace my current Marshall patch. That was just added at 9 beta.
It may be overwhelming at first. But after sometime with the unit, the Firmwares are like DLC presents.
Keep me coming I say!
 
From time to time - just try a preset or an amp that is a polar opposite from the stuff you normally play.

It's a guaranteed inspiration hit. I used to frequently start up Amplitube (before I got the Axe-FX) and pick out a preset randomly (usually from the Extreme FX list) and play. Came up with some crazy ideas and new ways of playing doing that...
 
Ill never use every amp available but having the option to create the perfect sound for whatever track I'm working with is a huge benefit. Do I use the super tweed live and for fun? No. Have I tracked with it when I needed that specific sound? Absolutely! A good engineer doesn't always use every tool at his disposal but always has the right one when he needs it.


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Some interesting takes and ideas here. Thanks guys. I'm still using firmware 6.02 but on recent firmwares they have gotten rid of the Brit 800 amp which I thought would have been a staple for rock guitar tones. I'm wondering what the next in line closest to that would be?
 
The Brit 800 in later firmware is a lot better than previously I think so it may be worth an upgrade.

I mainly use a small selection of the amps, and occasionally try others. Main ones I use are Vox, Plexi Treble, BE & HBE.
 
It has been at the "too much" level pretty much from the start. Whenever this topic comes up, I bring up the Yamaha DG amps. Those had a measly EIGHT amp models and they were not named after any specific amps, just generic "clean 1, crunch 1, lead 2, drive 2" etc. Basically covered the whole range of tones and gain levels with a variation of each. With just these I managed to cover all the tones I needed for several years.

IMO the whole flotilla of amp models could be condensed down to the "idealized" FAS models and with all the EQ options available people would still be able to churn out a tone that satisfies them. I'd even go as far as saying that the whole "model this and that specific amp" thing modeling amps are known for is flawed. Do people REALLY care if the amp they're using is Marshall X or Mesa Y if it sounds just the way they want it?

Adding more amp models is overall an easy way to have an impressive and continuously improving feature list. But it doesn't necessarily mean a better tool.
 
Yes, but for people who don't like (or don't have time/knowledge) to adjust advanced menus etc to make an amp sim work for them as they want it to, it's much easier to just pick an amp that is already very close to what you are looking for sound-wise and feel-wise and just adjust the basic params to bring it where you want it to.
For example, you can use the plexi treble and adjust many advanced params to make it sound like a hot-rod marshall, but why do so, if you can just pick up one model that is already very close to what you need (e.g. BE)?
More options is better for me... Means that more people will be able to find their sound easier.
 
I keep changing my "go to", actually changed a bunch around again last night. Options are always good.
 
laxu said:
I'd even go as far as saying that the whole "model this and that specific amp" thing modeling amps are known for is flawed. Do people REALLY care if the amp they're using is Marshall X or Mesa Y if it sounds just the way they want it?
Click to expand...

I've been wondering that myself. I wonder if people could really pick each amp just by listening. I'm sure some would be more obvious than others but realistically I'd be surprised if most could.
 
I think it's fantastic to have all these different amp models and to "complain" about it is a bit like going into a a guitar shop and complain that they sell too many different amps. one might as well write to all amp manufacturers and ask them to stop building amplifiers :)

the thing is, tastes and styles are so different, that I'm pretty sure not two people use exactly the same models. in all the time I've maybe played the Recifier models for less than a minute in total. would I suggest to have them removed ? certainly not. to someone else this may be the holy grail of tone...
just because someone's not familiar with the amps included or being added to the Axe doesn't mean they're not useful to someone else. Cliff is building up the coolest virtual boutique warehouse and I totally dig that. he might as well have gone down the L6 route and sell them as packs, but he chose to give them to his user base and gets complaints for that ? come on guys, this is getting kinda stupid...
 
laxu said:
It has been at the "too much" level pretty much from the start. Whenever this topic comes up, I bring up the Yamaha DG amps. Those had a measly EIGHT amp models and they were not named after any specific amps, just generic "clean 1, crunch 1, lead 2, drive 2" etc. Basically covered the whole range of tones and gain levels with a variation of each.
Click to expand...

Tastes and experience aside, this may have been true, but you have to keep in mind that those days' modeling/dsp'ing was far from being as detailed and accurate as what we have today. IOW: if you can't model the differences between amp 1, 2 and 3 in the first place, there's no reason in adding those three amps altogether.
Now the A-Fx II has at least five (?) Recto types (I'm counting in the FAS Modern), yet they sound and feel quite different to me. I much prefer one over the others, while there are people around whose choice is opposite to mine. IMHO this justifies the number - or better said - the diversity of the amps.

That said, I agree with all who wish for more development on the FX side :)
 
If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of amps (I do feel the same sometimes), there is nothing wrong with selecting your 3-5 favorites and never use something else. After all, that alone is more flexibility than you will ever have when playing real amps.

Also, due to the multiband EQ, you can almost always have your amp sound the way you want it even if a different amp might be the one you are looking for.
I, personally only need like 4 or 5 different sounds and reuse them on different songs. Note that it might be a good idea to create some "trademark" sounds for your band that people will recognize instead of using a totally new rig on every song!


PS: When talking about amps, remember how much the CABs contribute to the sound. If you got problems with that, theres a list of cab recommendations for each amp on the axe wiki.
 
I love having all the options we have. I hear distinct and new character in the models Cliff chooses to add , so I think keep going. Also can't wait for new effects updates also.
 
I`d like some more amps. Heck i love it!

But i`d like to see a ..
"auto Volum preset thing" Cliff did say he would see if this would work

some more bass (preamps) amps ;)
 
Sebastian said:
Tastes and experience aside, this may have been true, but you have to keep in mind that those days' modeling/dsp'ing was far from being as detailed and accurate as what we have today. IOW: if you can't model the differences between amp 1, 2 and 3 in the first place, there's no reason in adding those three amps altogether.
Now the A-Fx II has at least five (?) Recto types (I'm counting in the FAS Modern), yet they sound and feel quite different to me. I much prefer one over the others, while there are people around whose choice is opposite to mine. IMHO this justifies the number - or better said - the diversity of the amps.
Click to expand...

I still don't see that having several variations of the same amp is worthwhile. I'd rather they picked a good example of said amp and modeled that. Regarding the old modelers, it wasn't the modeling quality that was the issue but the fact that even back then that handful of amp models covered the tones a guitarist would need. Likewise the controls were much more limited but that wasn't a problem. With the Yamaha DG amps the general concensus was also that they sound good rather than "they don't sound exactly like tube amp X" as is the comparison when using named amp models.

Not to mention adding more and more amp models makes it more annoying to scroll thru them. They really should alter the UI to group the amp models that have different channels available.
 
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