Are there people here who still just mainly want all analog guitar stuff?

[VonBonfire]

It seems like everyone who plays guitar now has at least some small digital abomination somewhere in their collection or chain. Fortunately I don't have the brains to operate that sort of equipment so this is mostly a thread for guys who like all analog best. Please don't waste the reader's time waxing poetic about the reasons you still keep tampax I mean modeling gear in your stash, just tell me about your killer all analog rig.

 

[Bon Darzini]

 

[Floyd Eye]

Yes.

 

[PDC]

We are all a product of our must influential era. That's why car guys always have a soft spot for the car their older brother had growing up or the car the coolest senior in HS had when they were a freshman. I grew up in the era of 'Master Volume' amps - JCM-800 / Laney / Carvin X-100 and Boost Pedals.

By the time I finally made it out to LA, it was the very beginning of the Refrigerator Sized Bradshaw Rack Systems. 2-Space Rack Mounted Reverb / 2-Space Rack Mounted Delay / 2-Space Rack Mounted Chorus... I did not have the dough to play that game. My 'rig' was a Mesa Simul Mark-III Long Chassis Head and a Mesa 4x12. But I could show up at any club on the strip with my guitar and Tube Screamer and play house backline without a second thought.

Since I don't play out anymore and have zero concerns about portability, load-in/load-out, or consistency at FOH, all of my current gear is Old-School Analog Heads and Pedalboards. My biggest foolish indulgence is a stack of custom length patch cables and power cables to make my pedal boards look as clean and pro as humanly possible.

If I played - even locally - every weekend, I am betting I would ultimately succumb to that new Tone-X Pedal or the Fractal floor model with a powered FRFR cab.

 

[LPMojoGL]

I have 4 high wattage tube amps, a smaller ss amp, and 1 digital modeler coffee table amp.
I prefer the feel of the tube amps thru real cabs. I often use an ear plug in my left ear and position myself so it's closest to the amp, because I lost much of my hearing in that ear.
That's still better than a reactive load and IRs, or any modeling BS.
Getting lost in my playing at home, is almost cathartic. A big amp making loud noise thru a big cab is an essential part of that.

I will say, this lil Positive Grid Spark Mini is a great coffee table amp. Comes in handy when restringing and setting up guitars, plugging straight into my laptop via USB to capture ideas, and just nodding at low volumes with the TV on.

But may fav, and what I'll do until I don't play anymore, is plugging into a big ol tube amp, getting lost in the loud noise.
And I'll keep posting shitty clips so my family knows I'm still alive and you guys can hear what some gear sounds like.

 

[rsm]

I have both. I like both. For awhile I played my computer plugins 90%+ of the time, or my hardware digital modeler (Currently a Helix Stadium XL).

I also got away from pedals, preferring MFX, currently a VP4 ,which I use in 4CM with my JP-2C tube amp. Now I'm also using pedals, and even ordered a custom analog pedal from Griff, based on two Cornish dirt circuits.

These days I playing tube amps more, with and without effects. I'm also playing my tube preamp pedal, a Tone King Royalist which gets JTM, Plexi, JMP from early 60s to early 70s at low volumes using the powered PA cabs I use with my digital modelers.

The amps I'm using most are also my cheapest: my DSL40CR for heavier tones, and my Origin 50C for more classic rock jtm / plexi tones. Occasionally, I'll fire up my 1959 full stack or JTM-45 half stack.

My challenge is I have more gear/rigs than room, so I have to pack up gear to make room to unpack other gear - great problem to have but it creates some inertia on my part

TL;DR; I prefer my tube amps / analog gear for my favorite guitar tones; I've also recreated those tones in computer plugins and my Helix. I use my digital gear for convenience or for sounds I don't use often enough to have dedicated analog gear.

 

[Jimty]

All analogue here. Considered getting an Axe FX 3 Turbo recently but then the Hellion III came out so I got that instead

 

[Simon Dorn]

It seems like everyone who plays guitar now has at least some small digital abomination somewhere in their collection or chain. Fortunately I don't have the brains to operate that sort of equipment so this is mostly a thread for guys who like all analog best. Please don't waste the reader's time waxing poetic about the reasons you still keep tampax I mean modeling gear in your stash, just tell me about your killer all analog rig.

I used to use Digital-Stuff. Now i just use Guitar - TS808HWV2 - Marshall 2203. Unbeatable.

 

[Music&Chaos]

It seems like everyone who plays guitar now has at least some small digital abomination somewhere in their collection or chain. Fortunately I don't have the brains to operate that sort of equipment so this is mostly a thread for guys who like all analog best. Please don't waste the reader's time waxing poetic about the reasons you still keep tampax I mean modeling gear in your stash, just tell me about your killer all analog rig.

Went from all digital to as far away from it as possible over the years. Just kinda happened that way as I followed my ear. No joke, 99.9% of the time, I am just going straight in.

Whether it is the little pro Jr, the Tweed, Rivera, Marshall - I just plug it in and rip.

Had a tube amp w digital fx mixed throughout and it sucked and was glad to be rid of it. (HK Grandmeister 40).

That being said, I appreciate solid analog pedals and have most of my collection from Griffin Analog, even if they rarely get the playing time they deserve.


Analog gear has certain sweet spots (among many other advantages) that digital does not.

Kind of like turning the gain on the amp up/down until you hear it 'breathe'. Digital doesn't do that. It can't.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I wish they would pick from more than just a few of their symbols to display, it gets tiresome. Yes, yes, you covered the right eye, we get it Joe. Been watching the live Hotel California video on YT and man is it so good - Joe looks so damn young. I always think of Joe as having a face like Gordon Ramsey kinda. Like a wrinkled paper bag.

 

[Rackman]

There's some stuff where digital is just better. Wireless obviously. Try doing a detune effect using a tape deck vari-speed and you'll remember why Eventide and the zero-crossing algorithm took over the world.

There's lots of digital out there, including AFAIK all available modeling amps, that cheaps out on the analog front/back end and as a result doesn't sound very good though. Digital built with an uncapped budget for those blocks (e.g. TC 2290, Eventide H8000) can sound really good.

 

[Racerxrated]

All analog as well. Nothing digital except 'partial' digital/analog 80s rack stuff. 8 4x12s, 3 100w Marshalls(all vintage), a newer Mesa Triple, Orange OR60, 71 Twin, and some older USA Charvels and Jacksons.
Still play out a few times a year. That may increase after January...maybe once a month. Not sure yet about that commitment.

 

[CrystalSky]

Well, for practice digital is easy. If we speak perfect conditions and lotta money, analog is the way.

 

[BeZo]

I feel like the EHX Freeze and a long modulated reverb is a core part of playing live for me. The ability to capture a note and manipulate it while I tune is infinitely more interesting than "Uhh, how 'bout them Browns?"

At rehearsal yesterday, a conversation broke out between songs and I kicked on my EQD Transmisser and just started swelling notes into it under their conversation. The vocalist was enamored with it, and now demands I do that all the time. He's been learning to play keys so that he can contribute to ambient noise. When he left, he said, "I need to go home now and practice my keytar."

That is my new favorite sentence.

 

[Bon Darzini]

I wish they would pick from more than just a few of their symbols to display, it gets tiresome. Yes, yes, you covered the right eye, we get it Joe. Been watching the live Hotel California video on YT and man is it so good - Joe looks so damn young. I always think of Joe as having a face like Gordon Ramsey kinda. Like a wrinkled paper bag.

If it aint broke, no need to fix it

Dudes a national treasure imo

 

[Nigel]

Went from all digital to as far away from it as possible over the years. Just kinda happened that way as I followed my ear. No joke, 99.9% of the time, I am just going straight in.

Whether it is the little pro Jr, the Tweed, Rivera, Marshall - I just plug it in and rip.

Had a tube amp w digital fx mixed throughout and it sucked and was glad to be rid of it. (HK Grandmeister 40).

That being said, I appreciate solid analog pedals and have most of my collection from Griffin Analog, even if they rarely get the playing time they deserve.


Analog gear has certain sweet spots (among many other advantages) that digital does not.

Kind of like turning the gain on the amp up/down until you hear it 'breathe'. Digital doesn't do that. It can't.

Well, for practice digital is easy. If we speak perfect conditions and lotta money, analog is the way.

King Edward pioneered low volume practice vibes with the variac.

Paul Rivera went steps closer with half B+ switch, Pentode/Triode, Slavemaster, etc.

Ade Emsly of Orange’s coup de grace was the Headroom/Bedroom switch.

Still too loud?

Rivera Silent Sister and a mic.

Plug-ins are now free, easy and incredible and that’s great since most people are broke and struggling. Close enough for literally rock n roll.

Vinyl vs CD.

Both get the job done, one is closer to the truth. And we here can and do hear that truth and value it highly.

 

[cobrahead1030]

I’ve got both.

Probably half the time, I’m running strictly analog. That can be plugging right into the amp, or using one of the all analog pedal setups I have.