Recommend amp-in-a-box

[alex1fly]

With my looper setup I'm running a bass guitar, guitar/pedalboard, and microphone into the looper and then into a full frequency powered speaker. Cleans are great, but sometimes dirt tones can get a little fizzy. My dirt tones are all from a BOSS ME-50 multi-fx, and at higher volume it sounds pretty good but in my headphones its just a fizz festival. And I do a fair bit of writing with headphones, so it's a bummer to have only fizzy high gain tones to play with when doing this. So I was thinking it'd be nice to have some kind of amp emulator at the end of my pedal chain, so I could have a little more control over what my dirt settings feed into. Like a cranked tube amp rather than just a clean one.

1. Is this the right approach? Or should I consider a different route, like a pedal emulator or a versatile overdrive/distortion pedal?
2. Would a Sansamp or Sansamp clone be a good option for this? Sansamp is right where my brain goes.

 

[Mincer]

I do this by running everything into a mixer, with the looper on one of the aux sends. I use a box that has preamp, power amp, and cab emulations. Through the years, I've used PODs, a Roland GP-100, GT-Pro, Sansamp PSA-1 and a Blonde pedal for the amp emulations, and it has worked well.

 

[ErikH]

A Sansamp would work. Another option is the D&M Humboldt Simplifier. It has a pre-amp, power amp and cab emulations all in one. In addition, there are a few different options available for amps, cabs, power tube, and even mic placement emulation. It's the size of a pedal. I've got one on my board now and used it direct to the PA Saturday night at a gig. It sounds like a mic'd up amp. My favorite setting is the Marshall w/ EL34's through a 4x12 and the mic slightly closer to center but not dead on. The Fender and Vox AC30 settings are sweet too. Can't leave out the effects loop, aux in, and headphones out. Check it out.

 

[Mincer]

A pedal like the Palladium would work as well. You can use that as your bass or guitar tone, and plug it directly into a mixer.

 

[Blille]

Or put a dedicated cab sim after it before the mixer.

I have to have a direct solution so I ordered a Two Notes Cab M as cab sim after my board. Sansamp was my next choice (many flavors). Also considered the Digitech CABDryVR and the Engl Cabloader.

If it's just fizz, a lo pass may be what you need. Some cab sims are glorified lo/hi pass.

 

[Open lane]

Joe Stumps teaching rig has a yjm od going into a pod into a solid state rig and it sounds better than my tube amp rig.

 

[alex1fly]

I really like the Sansamp GT2 for amp/cab/mic simulation. It does good, basic analog modeling of archetypal amplifier voicing that cover a lot of ground. I also use a Hughes & Kettner RedBox 5 hardware cabinet emulator that can run in parallel with a speaker output. (I use a dummy load with solid state amps. I do not know if I need it, but I enjoy the Rube Goldberg aspect.)

The HK looks interesting. I see the switches, are there two settings for each switch? How would you compare it to the GT2?

 

[Securb]

The Source Audio stuff might scratch your itch they have multiple amp and stomp models and super flexible EQ, there is a smaller version of this unit that goes for around 100 bucks.

TUBE DRIVE
An overdriven tube amp effect similar to a Marshall® sound. Try scaling back the drive knob for a nice mild overdrive.

SMOOTH TUBE
Based on Mesa-Boogie ® pre-amp distortion.

POWER STAGE
Inspired by the Fulltone Distortion Pro ®.

CRUNCH TUBE
Our own distortion, not based on any particular sound. It’s a more aggressive tube distortion.

TS9000 Based the Ibanez Tube Screamer® with a lot of mid boost.

BIG PI Based on an Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi. Don’t ask which exact model. That’s not the point.

EL RATON Based on the ProCo Rat ®

.FUZZ FAÇADE Our version of the classic Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face® sound.

BENDER The Tone Bender®. We specifically used an MK II, but don’t obsess over the exact model number.

METAL Our own metal distortion with plenty of highs and lows.

OCTAVE FUZZ A full wave rectifier, as everyone does, to mimic the classic Octavia® This tends to sound better with DRIVE 2 turned up much higher than DRIVE 1

 

[alex1fly]

Slick ideas. Thanks everyone! Good stuff to think on.

 

[LLL]

AMT Legends Amps 2 Series

https://amtelectronics.com/new/cat/guitar-preamps-legend-amps-ii/

 

[crguti]

I use at home the Ampli firebox. I don't need to use my Two Notes Cab M+ with it bcs it sounds very good how it is.

 

[Mincer]

I use at home the Ampli firebox. I don't need to use my Two Notes Cab M+ with it bcs it sounds very good how it is.

The Ampli-firebox really does sound great.

 

[devastone]

When I hear Amp-In-A-Box I think of something like the Bogner Red and Blue pedals, the 5150 overdrive, or the Catalinbread pedals like the Dirty Little Secret or RAH (or the many others they make). Sounds like you need a whole amp sim, that models the preamp/poweramp and a cab sim. Without some kind of cab sim, it's going to sound really harsh.

The AMT stuff is great, as is the Tech 21 stuff, the Mooer micro amp sims, the Amplifirebox, the Strymon Iridium, and all the digital modelers out there.

Does the Palladium have a cab sim? I didn't think it did, I know it can work as a preamp, but it probably needs some kind of sim after it unless you are going for harsh NIN-ish tones.

 

[Mincer]

Does the Palladium have a cab sim? I didn't think it did, I know it can work as a preamp, but it probably needs some kind of sim after it unless you are going for harsh NIN-ish tones.

I am not sure they advertise it as such, but I've heard it directly into a Power Stage, and it sounded amazing.

 

[devastone]

I am not sure they advertise it as such, but I've heard it directly into a Power Stage, and it sounded amazing.

The Power Stage was running through a guitar cab though, right? Or was it the 200 or 700 with the cab sim out? Just thinking it won't sound good direct or through a FRFR without some kind of cab sim.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, the one I heard was through a guitar cab. If it is going into a full range cab, I'd want some other kind of modeling in there. Maybe a Sansamp pedal or something.

 

[alex1fly]

When I hear Amp-In-A-Box I think of something like the Bogner Red and Blue pedals, the 5150 overdrive, or the Catalinbread pedals like the Dirty Little Secret or RAH (or the many others they make). Sounds like you need a whole amp sim, that models the preamp/poweramp and a cab sim. Without some kind of cab sim, it's going to sound really harsh.

The AMT stuff is great, as is the Tech 21 stuff, the Mooer micro amp sims, the Amplifirebox, the Strymon Iridium, and all the digital modelers out there.

Does the Palladium have a cab sim? I didn't think it did, I know it can work as a preamp, but it probably needs some kind of sim after it unless you are going for harsh NIN-ish tones.

Interesting thought. Definitely not going for harsh tones. I wonder if PODs hold up still. They're certainly cheap and plentiful.

 

[jeremy]

The Source Audio stuff might scratch your itch they have multiple amp and stomp models and super flexible EQ, there is a smaller version of this unit that goes for around 100 bucks.

a bass player i regularly gig with has one of thses on his board and it sounds great

 

[Mincer]

Interesting thought. Definitely not going for harsh tones. I wonder if PODs hold up still. They're certainly cheap and plentiful.

It isn't that PODs don't hold up. But they have a certain quality that is the same across all of their models. If I was considering that route, I'd look for an old Johnson J-Station.