Help Me Go Ampless : Amp Sim Pedals Discussion

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Embenny
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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by Embenny » Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:16 am

echoplex wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:57 am
Neural DSP Quad Cortex is mind-boggling
But also a totally different price bracket and user experience from the UA pedals.

The quad cortex is in the Fractal/Helix price and quality tier. Also seems to be most popular with metal and prog folks. I don't see a ton of people who use it for low gain or as a pedal platform. Not sure if that's because it's better at high gain, because a higher proportion of the models are high gain, or if it's just a community/word of mouth thing (like how Strymon largely proliferated across church worship pedalboards).
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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by eggwheat » Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:19 pm

That’s why I mention the helix HX stomp, it has virtually all of the sounds of the top of line Helix floor for a fraction of the costs. It cuts functionality, flexibility and the amount of fX you can run at once
In a chain..but all the sounds of the Helix are there. If you want to get into a modeler that’s the one to get.

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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:29 pm

so this is something i've weirdly been curious about lately. last year for practice and recording bass, i moved over to using a preamp pedal (walrus audio badwater) and i've found it way better than i expected to the point where i've been considering making it a part of my grab and go bass rig (i still get asked to play bass for friends a lot)

for practice, my guitar rig has been a vox pathfinder with the line out going into my sound card but my pathfinder is about to die and it doesn't really sound like my practice rig anyway. so i've been looking for a similar thing but with guitar and i'm not really sure what's out there. when i think of emulation/plugins, my brain sadly goes to djent kids with their 8 strings OR those really bad line 6 software of the 00's and early 10's. i still wanna use some pedals with it but have it react like a normal amp, which i find is easier said than done. so i'm wondering if there's any options like the badwater but that can do a twin.
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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by JSett » Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:56 am

Embenny wrote:
Fri Jan 27, 2023 3:44 pm
sal paradise wrote:
Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:07 am
This is useful!

Also, any Andertons video that doesn’t feature Chappers automatically makes it better than it might have been.
Hasn't he been gone from that channel for multiple years now?
Thankfully, I believe so, but all of them are in the same vein of 'plummy British bellend'.

Chappers always seemed like he was the kind of loser who gave himself his own nickname :D
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:44 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:56 am


Thankfully, I believe so, but all of them are in the same vein of 'plummy British bellend'.

Chappers always seemed like he was the kind of loser who gave himself his own nickname :D
someone once described chappers to me as "the jeremy clarkson of the guitar world" and i've never been able to think of him as anything else.
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Re: Can we talk about amp sim pedals?

Post by sal paradise » Sun Jan 29, 2023 7:49 am

s_mcsleazy wrote:
Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:44 am
johnnysomersett wrote:
Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:56 am


Thankfully, I believe so, but all of them are in the same vein of 'plummy British bellend'.

Chappers always seemed like he was the kind of loser who gave himself his own nickname :D
someone once described chappers to me as "the jeremy clarkson of the guitar world" and i've never been able to think of him as anything else.
Actually, Andertons literally is like Top Gear. Clearly scripted, poorly executed jokes delivered by strangely annoying men.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by MrShake » Tue Feb 07, 2023 8:17 am

Circumstances necessitating a move to "headphones and eDrums" for the time being. The "home setup" is pretty solid, but there's a weak spot:

Image

I've kept that Behringer Tube Amp Simulator in my gig bag in case of emergencies, but have no particular attachment to it. It was $14 and seemed like a smart buy. With digital tech having gotten better and cheaper since the days of the SansAmp, who can help me find a box that will give my setup a little of that "fake real amp" flavor?

Fender-styled, clean all day, and some kind of cab sim, I guess. I'm really undereducated about this class of pedals but trying to learn. And budget is a serious concern. Joyo and NUX are about the class I'm aiming for, but at this point, more than just a preamp pedal.

And is part of the flatness of my sound an impedance issue? I've seen people in my situation using a Behringer bass DI thing, so I'm wondering if an XLR send or something is also a part of the problem. I realize I'm not using a DI box between the pedal and the board, but if I was gonna buy a DI box, I may as well get something just a bit more advanced at this point.

Ideally, I want something I can also bring to gigs that will sound better in a pinch.

Y'all know me, you're my people, so hit me up with suggestions and questions.

I was gonna post this at TGP initially, but decided I didn't wanna hear $400 options right off the bat.

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by sal paradise » Tue Feb 07, 2023 8:29 am

Joyo American Sound into Nux Solid Studio?

$200 ish new for both.

And maybe EHX Magnum 44 in the bag if there’s a cab there?
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by doctor_capleson » Tue Feb 07, 2023 8:44 am

AMT Electronics F1(or V1, M1, or anything from the "2" series but they didn't make a clean Fender-based model in that line)

https://reverb.com/p/amt-electronics-le ... -f1-preamp

These are JFET-based pedal preamps. All analog, with cab sim. They're price competitive with the Joyo and N'ux options, but much higher on the quality scale in terms of sounds and build/durability.

I use a couple of these for recording song ideas at home when I'm too lazy to boot up all the plugins, and I have gigged with these as preamps into a power amp. I've never used them direct into FOH sound though, but I think they would work as well as anything from Tech 21 or Joyo.

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by sal paradise » Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:09 am

Was thinking about vox mini head or something like that, which has speaker & headphone out. But most of the mini $180-$200 heads don’t have emulated outs.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by OffYourFace » Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:27 pm

I want that Strymon thing... Iridium? Seems cool to me.

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by Embenny » Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:10 am

With budget constraints in mind, see if you can find a used Fender Mustang Floor. It's the guts of the V2-era Mustang modeling amp in a floor board with expression pedal.

I had one as a gigging backup for my Kemper years ago, the Fender clean/low gain tones in it were really, really nice. They're not expensive on the used market. I think I paid $100-$150 for mine. Should tick all of your boxes.
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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by Telliot » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:19 am

I've combined these two threads since they're so similar in subject.
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by MrShake » Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:04 pm

Telliot wrote:
Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:19 am
I've combined these two threads since they're so similar in subject.
Good call, thanks! I don't know why I didn't spot this one in the first place!

So, I appreciate the advice. I've decided Attempt One at a budget solution is going to be a Horse American Sound (the clone of the Joyo clone of the Tech21), and a Sonicake IR.

I've gotten things set up pretty good with what I have, it's perfectly acceptable for "let's do band practice" jam, but the "fizzy/boomy" thing sounds like "guitar into the board" tones to me. So I'm hoping a "better" preamp pedal, along with a cab sim will make what I hear in my headphones more like something recorded in a room, instead of a pipeline of electricity to my ears. I'm really not looking for much better than "'80's alt rock basement studio demos", not super-perfect recording magic. But with enough slight of hand to sound like a passable approximation of a mic'd amp.

Someone suggested the NUX Amp Academy, and I'd mistook what that was initially, with the styling making me thing it was another MIAB. The computer app stuff might be good to set up to my Ultimate Preferences eventually, and I'd missed that it has a built in cab sim and an XLR output -- making it the all-in-one I'm ultimately looking for. But at $200ish, it's more than I want to spend right now.

So, I'm eager to try the Horse+Sonicake combo for about $60, and if I need more or start gigging ampless, I'll definitely consider stepping up to the NUX, I've loved the stuff of theirs I've played so far.

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Re: Help Me Go Ampless / Budget Amp-In-A-Box Options

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Fri Feb 17, 2023 1:48 am

Looks like there's a brand new (medium budget) kid on the block - TONEX Pedal by IK Multimedia

A bit on the dear side, but plenty will be familiar with their amp models already and can attest to their quality.

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