alex1fly
Well-known member
This is pretty long. I'm just getting some thoughts out of my head on whether I should get another tube amp or a multieffects pedal/modeler and a full frequency/flat response speaker for revamping my main rig. Feel free to comment, but this is more to ease my neurosis, GAS, and help me figure out what my gear needs really are.
If I get a tube amp, I'm getting a B-52 AT-112 or AT-212 because I fell in love with the AT-212 I played at GC. If I get an MFX, it'll most likely be a Boss GT-8. A Tonelab SE would be more tube-like, but the GT-8 has the dual amp capabilities, and that would be the best. Keyboard amps can be had anywhere from 100 bucks to 400 bucks, though I'll probably stay at the lower end.
Boss GT-8 or other MFX 300
Monitor/keyboard amp 150 = 450 total
B-52 at-112 500
pod XT 200
Monitor/keyboard amp 150 = 700 or 850 total
if i get a tube amp, i'll still need a POD of some kind for recording, because garageband's amp models are horrible. that will make me want a footswitch for it, and a speaker for it too.
if i get a multieffects, i may still want a tube amp, but there will be so many tones in the MFX that i may not feel the need to buy one. but nothing can replace the warmth and rich harmonic spread of a tube amp. its so genuine!
but tube amps have qualities that i dislike, because i've owned and sold two, both a low gain (hot rod) and a high gain (roadster). they are so loud, heavy, breakable, sometimes unreliable, and sometimes just don't sound good. sometimes when playing with a group or playing live you have to turn it up a certain amount to be heard at all, but then you're louder than everyone else. plus they're heavy (bad excuse, i know). i would need at least one pedal, a boost or EQ pedal, which means more cables and adapters (again, bad excuse).
the old Digitech MFX pedal that I ran through my first amp, a little peavey solid state, was a lot of fun. i had a great time playing with settings, effects, all that. it sounded crappy but i had a good time with it. isn't that what matters?
but a tube amp is that pure guitar tone. its authentic. its what everything tries to sound like.
with a MFX and a full frequency speaker, it would be easier to tailor my sound to what the audience is hearing because my speaker would be the same style as the PA speaker. i would run into my speaker and run into the PA and just make it sound good. less raw, i just want the audience to hear what i'm playing.
a MFX may sound a little more flat and digital than a tube amp, but many of the tones i like are high gain so there's not as much of a difference. but having that nice tube breakup would be awesome, though there's the volume issue again. a bonus of the MFX is that, like solid state amps, i can have the tone i want at any volume. i can always add a tube preamp with a GT-8 if i want, but there are so many settings that hopefully i'd just find a way to dial in warmth, even if its digital warmth.
it seems like a MFX and speaker is the way to go. i can always get a tube amp at another time. but a MFX will give me the recording capabilities as well as the ability to play with lots of different kinds of tones, pedals, and effects. and the GT-8 lets you run two amp patches at the same time, which is righteous, considering i prefer being the sole guitarist in a band and that would help tremendously in making my sound huge, or having one distorted amp for a rhythm tone and kicking in the second for the big chorus, stuff like that. pretty much all CDs that i listen to, even ones where the band has only one guitarist, has multiple amps going on, especially for the distorted tones. it just sounds so huge! i think benjy said something like "brutality and clarity" when describing his GT-8. that sounds perfect.
though the simplicity of a tube amp with just a boost pedal (i'd use my MXR 7 band EQ) is so sexy. simplicity rules. a MFX has so many settings, knobs, etc that it may bog me down.
I'm moving to portland, OR soon and starting graduate school, so I'm not even sure if i'll be playing live. that's why i want a tool that's useful for me as a guitarist, jamming on my own, recording, but can also translate over to live use if/when i want to.
Whew!
If I get a tube amp, I'm getting a B-52 AT-112 or AT-212 because I fell in love with the AT-212 I played at GC. If I get an MFX, it'll most likely be a Boss GT-8. A Tonelab SE would be more tube-like, but the GT-8 has the dual amp capabilities, and that would be the best. Keyboard amps can be had anywhere from 100 bucks to 400 bucks, though I'll probably stay at the lower end.
Boss GT-8 or other MFX 300
Monitor/keyboard amp 150 = 450 total
B-52 at-112 500
pod XT 200
Monitor/keyboard amp 150 = 700 or 850 total
if i get a tube amp, i'll still need a POD of some kind for recording, because garageband's amp models are horrible. that will make me want a footswitch for it, and a speaker for it too.
if i get a multieffects, i may still want a tube amp, but there will be so many tones in the MFX that i may not feel the need to buy one. but nothing can replace the warmth and rich harmonic spread of a tube amp. its so genuine!
but tube amps have qualities that i dislike, because i've owned and sold two, both a low gain (hot rod) and a high gain (roadster). they are so loud, heavy, breakable, sometimes unreliable, and sometimes just don't sound good. sometimes when playing with a group or playing live you have to turn it up a certain amount to be heard at all, but then you're louder than everyone else. plus they're heavy (bad excuse, i know). i would need at least one pedal, a boost or EQ pedal, which means more cables and adapters (again, bad excuse).
the old Digitech MFX pedal that I ran through my first amp, a little peavey solid state, was a lot of fun. i had a great time playing with settings, effects, all that. it sounded crappy but i had a good time with it. isn't that what matters?
but a tube amp is that pure guitar tone. its authentic. its what everything tries to sound like.
with a MFX and a full frequency speaker, it would be easier to tailor my sound to what the audience is hearing because my speaker would be the same style as the PA speaker. i would run into my speaker and run into the PA and just make it sound good. less raw, i just want the audience to hear what i'm playing.
a MFX may sound a little more flat and digital than a tube amp, but many of the tones i like are high gain so there's not as much of a difference. but having that nice tube breakup would be awesome, though there's the volume issue again. a bonus of the MFX is that, like solid state amps, i can have the tone i want at any volume. i can always add a tube preamp with a GT-8 if i want, but there are so many settings that hopefully i'd just find a way to dial in warmth, even if its digital warmth.
it seems like a MFX and speaker is the way to go. i can always get a tube amp at another time. but a MFX will give me the recording capabilities as well as the ability to play with lots of different kinds of tones, pedals, and effects. and the GT-8 lets you run two amp patches at the same time, which is righteous, considering i prefer being the sole guitarist in a band and that would help tremendously in making my sound huge, or having one distorted amp for a rhythm tone and kicking in the second for the big chorus, stuff like that. pretty much all CDs that i listen to, even ones where the band has only one guitarist, has multiple amps going on, especially for the distorted tones. it just sounds so huge! i think benjy said something like "brutality and clarity" when describing his GT-8. that sounds perfect.
though the simplicity of a tube amp with just a boost pedal (i'd use my MXR 7 band EQ) is so sexy. simplicity rules. a MFX has so many settings, knobs, etc that it may bog me down.
I'm moving to portland, OR soon and starting graduate school, so I'm not even sure if i'll be playing live. that's why i want a tool that's useful for me as a guitarist, jamming on my own, recording, but can also translate over to live use if/when i want to.
Whew!
