Just bought a Yamaha THR10.
So for years my practice rig has been a Line6 X3Live through some studio monitors. Old tech now, but I got a decent range of tones for practice and I had all the effects, footswitches, wahs, etc that I could ever need. I was considering upgrading to a higher quality modeller, such as a Fractal AX8, and perhaps a speaker cab... but that would have been a £2000 upgrade. I don't gig any more, and barely record, so that seemed overkill for just practicing.
And practicing is something I want to get back to. Even with the Line6 X3, I spend more time tweaking it than I do playing. Not to get a good sound as such, just to experiment with the different amp models and effects and so on. I miss the days when I first started playing and all I had was one guitar and a 10w Peavey solid state practice amp. Maybe I didn't sound as good, but my technique was a lot better because I focused on the playing.
Besides, with the X3... just to practice I'd have to turn on both studio monitors and make sure the volumes were ok, then I'd fire up my PC and it'd want to update everything, then I'd turn on the audio interface that the PC & monitors were connected to, make sure the volume was ok on that, then I'd turn on the Line6 unit. Between my guitar and speakers I'd have 7 volume controls for god's sake!
So I bought this Yamaha THR10 to solve all this. I must say, I am impressed. First of all, the non-product specific stuff... it works like a normal practice amp. Just plug and play. No fussing around with computers or 1000 settings. Just plug in, turn it on, and turn the knobs.
As you can see, it is small. It has speakers much like a soundbar for a TV. The sound is good! It ranges from whisper quiet to a-little-too-loud-for-bedroom-playing volume. You ain't going to compete with a drummer at all, you couldn't gig even a coffee shop, but it's the ideal volume for practice.
It's digital. There are broadly 5 amp models.... Clean, Crunch, Lead, Brit Hi and Modern. If I had to guess by sound, I'd say these were modeled on Deluxe Reverb, AC30, Plexi, JCM800, Mesa Dual Rec. There is also one bass amp, one acoustic amp, and one 'flat' amp for I dunno what. All of the models sound as good as a Line6 HD... that is to say, not Fractal level modelling, not like a real tube amp, but pretty good for practice. Compared to the 10w Peavey TransTube I started on, this is much better. Controls are Gain, Master, Bass, Mid, Treble, Output.
There's also some effects. Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, Reverb. They sound good, but there's not much scope for adjusting them.
You can save presets to one of five channels. I've not messed with this yet, but it seems pretty straight forward. There is no channel footswitch which is annoying IMO (and you can get one for rival products).
It can also been connected to a computer via usb, edited and you can record from it, etc. It has aux in. It can also be powered by batteries. I've not used any of that stuff yet.
All in all, this is just what I need. It was a joy just to plug in and noodle for a while, getting a decent sound without tweaking. I could get all this with a basic tube combo, and better sound too, but it would just been too damn loud. This is the perfect solution for my volume restricted practicing needs.
So for years my practice rig has been a Line6 X3Live through some studio monitors. Old tech now, but I got a decent range of tones for practice and I had all the effects, footswitches, wahs, etc that I could ever need. I was considering upgrading to a higher quality modeller, such as a Fractal AX8, and perhaps a speaker cab... but that would have been a £2000 upgrade. I don't gig any more, and barely record, so that seemed overkill for just practicing.
And practicing is something I want to get back to. Even with the Line6 X3, I spend more time tweaking it than I do playing. Not to get a good sound as such, just to experiment with the different amp models and effects and so on. I miss the days when I first started playing and all I had was one guitar and a 10w Peavey solid state practice amp. Maybe I didn't sound as good, but my technique was a lot better because I focused on the playing.
Besides, with the X3... just to practice I'd have to turn on both studio monitors and make sure the volumes were ok, then I'd fire up my PC and it'd want to update everything, then I'd turn on the audio interface that the PC & monitors were connected to, make sure the volume was ok on that, then I'd turn on the Line6 unit. Between my guitar and speakers I'd have 7 volume controls for god's sake!
So I bought this Yamaha THR10 to solve all this. I must say, I am impressed. First of all, the non-product specific stuff... it works like a normal practice amp. Just plug and play. No fussing around with computers or 1000 settings. Just plug in, turn it on, and turn the knobs.
As you can see, it is small. It has speakers much like a soundbar for a TV. The sound is good! It ranges from whisper quiet to a-little-too-loud-for-bedroom-playing volume. You ain't going to compete with a drummer at all, you couldn't gig even a coffee shop, but it's the ideal volume for practice.
It's digital. There are broadly 5 amp models.... Clean, Crunch, Lead, Brit Hi and Modern. If I had to guess by sound, I'd say these were modeled on Deluxe Reverb, AC30, Plexi, JCM800, Mesa Dual Rec. There is also one bass amp, one acoustic amp, and one 'flat' amp for I dunno what. All of the models sound as good as a Line6 HD... that is to say, not Fractal level modelling, not like a real tube amp, but pretty good for practice. Compared to the 10w Peavey TransTube I started on, this is much better. Controls are Gain, Master, Bass, Mid, Treble, Output.
There's also some effects. Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, Reverb. They sound good, but there's not much scope for adjusting them.
You can save presets to one of five channels. I've not messed with this yet, but it seems pretty straight forward. There is no channel footswitch which is annoying IMO (and you can get one for rival products).
It can also been connected to a computer via usb, edited and you can record from it, etc. It has aux in. It can also be powered by batteries. I've not used any of that stuff yet.
All in all, this is just what I need. It was a joy just to plug in and noodle for a while, getting a decent sound without tweaking. I could get all this with a basic tube combo, and better sound too, but it would just been too damn loud. This is the perfect solution for my volume restricted practicing needs.
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