Some Updated Thoughts on Amp Modelers and Cab Sims

[Spook410]

Just some quick notes that might matter to someone looking into this or interested in providing their own thoughts. Lots of activity in this area right now.

- Thought I wanted a Fender Tonemaster. In a way I still do. But a few simple updates have gotten the sound to a place I really like.

- Choosing a higher quality Cabinet IR (edit: using York Fender Deluxe cab IR's) makes a big difference. The IR's that came my Strymon Iridium sounded a little sterile. Good.. but somehow not quite. Switching to a different IR made a notable difference. Warmer. More complex. Had to flip through different choices in mic's and positioning, but when I found a couple that I liked, a better overall sound resulted.

- Cheap isn't bad. I recently set out to build a compact and cheap pedalboard. I already had a JOYO American which is a very inexpensive and basic analog Fender blackface amp modeler. Decided to get a cabinet sim pedal to go with. JOYO had a sale and their fancy cab sim pedal with an array of IR's was $150. Not cheap but also included a balanced line out to drive my powered speaker. That and it supports cabinet IR mic choices, position, and EQ with an easy to use interface as well as what power stage (EL34, 6L6, etc) you want to model. You might not think you want to muck with such things until it's easy to do and you hear the difference it can make. I find myself choosing to use this setup over everything else though the JOYO gear is not as quiet or well made as Strymon (as you would expect). It's nice to have some things to play with without investing in higher end electronics.

- If I didn't already have an array of pedals (reverb, EQ, compression, et al), it would make sense to get a $700 Line 6 HX Stomp. Wouldn't love the learning curve, but does all the things.

- I keep finding that, it it's good for flat top acoustic, it's good for amp modelers. I'm running an old Schertler ext. speaker at the moment. Sounds quite good for a 20 pound speaker designed for the rigors gigging with protected front and inset controls. A Yamaha DZR10 also sounds pretty good though not quite. Weighs around 30 pounds, but has 2000W. Take that to your local blues jam with earplugs and your solid body and you can easily be part of the volume problem.

[jorgemg1984]

Good points, Spook. If you can, try the York Audio Twin Reverb JBL IRs, they're really good - the 121 57 mixes, mainly.

[Litterick]

Not for me; too much going on.

[Spook410]

Good points, Spook. If you can, try the York Audio Twin Reverb JBL IRs, they're really good - the 121 57 mixes, mainly.

Actually, even though I used Ownhammer as an example, I should have used York Audio so I went back and did an edit. Their DXVB (Deluxe Reverb) is what I'm currently running that sounds so good. In addition to the Twin IR you suggested, I would like to try the Princeton 10". $30 for a couple more IR's.. but it's like a couple more usable amps at the flip of the switch if you already know you want the Fender amp model and just like different speakers.