I think it’s about Time RT evaluated the future of Guitar Rigs

[RaceU4her]

My thing when I was gigging was band practice and tiny vfw halls were the time for full stacks and nut shaking volume, the bigger clubs we would play though I thought it was best to do as the sound guy wanted, and that was usually low stage volume and whatever i wanted in the monitors. This was fine with me as I wanted to hear my drummers properly mic’d kit more than I needed to hear my guitar. A tube amp with a load/ir out like some amps are now doing seems like the best compromise, you can go silent or go nut shaking

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

 

[Exo-metal]

FUCK YES

 

[reilly]

Ive gone from tube to digital and back to tube. There is a convenience with digital and running in ears and mixes As well as the fact a touring band can cut way back on gear. However i have played and gigged with lots of bands doing the direct thing (as well as seen many touring bands) and the ampless stage is definitely a let down 90% of the time, all you can here as a bystandard is vocals and drums and the guitars are always buried or non existent in the mix.

i have had lots of compliments on my tube amps tone from house sound guys and touring acts sound guys alike. Most of the sound guys i have come across prefer the real amps as its less work to make the mix sound good.

were also talking medium to larger style venues with stages and lighting not a corner in a bar

 

[Sneerim]

My $0.02 as someone who owns and enjoys both tube amps and modelers: tube amps, especially the high-wattage stacks, will increasingly become a niche market, but they aren't going away.

Modelers are good enough now that I highly doubt most people would be able to tell the two apart in a blind listening test. The feel isn't quite there in every case, but it's good enough to be very usable. You can now get a top-flight modeling rig that will give you a different high-quality flavor every day of the week and twice on Sunday for less than the cost of one high-end tube rig. Combine that with the trends in live music and just the ease of use in gigging with a modeling rig vs a tube rig and there you go.

That said, as long as someone is still making tubes, I don't see the market for tube amps disappearing. Guitarists are an old-school bunch as a whole, and anyone who thinks tube amps are going to drop off the face of the earth just needs to look at the market for relic guitars and how obsessed many players are with 55-70 year old designs to see how wrong they are.

 

[Flavatrocious]

Not all of us want to sell our VH4s, Ultra Leads and SLOs for transistor amps !

???

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Tube amps are like escorts...there will always be a market for them and they will always be there if you want them. So no, not too worried.

 

[Philhouse]

Tube amps are quite popular in Hifi these days, there will be a market for new tubes to be made for many boomer years yet to come.

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

The digital stuff is a tool just like tube amps and solid state amps. They all have a place and purpose. For me , especially live I can't imagine not having my real stuff behind me.

That being said. It isn't beneath me to cooperate when needed for tough logistic and acoustic situations to go direct and ampless and use in ears.

I'm loving the axe fx 3 for studio stuff and writing / rehearsal. I mean hell if it's good enough for metallica to tour the world with it's Def good enough for me! Lol

That being said though my tube amps will never leave me and I always prefer them when possible.

 

[chumbucket]

The future of "my" rig are the Synergy Modules thru a SS (Boss TAE) power section. I sound/ play as-good or better w/ this type of setup.
I just dumped the Suhr SL68 half stack and the Soldano SLO half stack is going next week.
Moving to Florida and I'm traveling light. I'll get a Synergy cab when I get there.

Which modules are you digging Carl?

 

[Meeotch]

I mean hell if it's good enough for metallica to tour the world with it's Def good enough for me! Lol

Except Metallica's live tone fucking sucks, and they're a bunch of lazy, whiney ass bitches these days. Pass me a beer and I'll tell you how I really feel

 

[CarlF]

Which modules are you digging Carl?

I got the Steve Vai, Bogner Ecstasy and Plexi. Hope to add quite a few more. I took a chance w/ the Synergy gear and really like them as much or more than the many 100 watt heads I've had thru the years.
Had I known they were that good I would never have got the Suhr SL68 and SLO 100. The Suhr is gone, the SLO is going.

 

[chumbucket]

I got the Steve Vai, Bogner Ecstasy and Plexi. Hope to add quite a few more. I took a chance w/ the Synergy gear and really like them as much or more than the many 100 watt heads I've had thru the years.
Had I known they were that good I would never have got the Suhr SL68 and SLO 100. The Suhr is gone, the SLO is going.

It would be cool if they had a JTM 45/100 type module (maybe the Bman?) for cleans and then I'd use an 800 for the other module to cover all of my Marshall bases. I might look into scoring a rack unit since I already have power amps to use.

 

[panhead]

Ive played with alot schooled musicians in the past and made them think I knew what i was doing.

 

[jinch0]

I have a fm3 and trust moddelers aren't replacing tube amps.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Except Metallica's live tone fucking sucks, and they're a bunch of lazy, whiney ass bitches these days. Pass me a beer and I'll tell you how I really feel

That’s exactly what I thought when he used them as an example for their live tone with modelers. Their live tone in current years sucks big time. Nowhere as good as back in the day.

 

[ghosty999]

To be contrarian.... why does it matter what folks use? If you close your eyes and it sounds good, why would you then "disslike" that sound suddenly because of what you saw with your eyes? That's essentially listening with your eyes.

The future will most likely be modeller to FOH, with power amps and cabs for stage volume.

 

[Monkey Man]

To be contrarian.... why does it matter what folks use? If you close your eyes and it sounds good, why would you then "disslike" that sound suddenly because of what you saw with your eyes? That's essentially listening with your eyes.

Good point mate.

There's only one contrarian analogy I can think of, and it ain't pretty:

You're in China enjoying an awesome dish with Wifey. Right after you swallow your last mouthful she tells you that it was dog stew. You wouldn't be pondering the question whilst throwing up afterwards; it'd be a clear-cut judgement that the dish was not good.

That said, I do agree with you. Heck, I haven't a clue what most of my favourite rock and fusion players used over the decades I've enjoyed listening to them.

 

[ghosty999]

Good point mate.

There's only one contrarian analogy I can think of, and it ain't pretty:

You're in China enjoying an awesome dish with Wifey. Right after you swallow your last mouthful she tells you that it was dog stew. You wouldn't be pondering the question whilst throwing up afterwards; it'd be a clear-cut judgement that the dish was not good.

That said, I do agree with you. Heck, I haven't a clue what most of my favourite rock and fusion players used over the decades I've enjoyed listening to them.

Dog stew is only disgusting from a Western perspective. If you vomit because it's dog rather than pig, that's because your culture has dictated what animals are acceptable to eat. You only threw up becaues you where told to.

So if throwing up after finding out your favourite album was recorded with an AxeFX, just shows your opinion is based on what other people tell you to think.

If it sounds good, it probably does. Fuck what your eyes tell you.

 

[legend71]

No not at all, some killer players doing live gigs with FM3s and FM9s. Just the large majority of us don’t see the purpose of modeling a tube amp when we can just use a tube amp. I don’t need a billion features and captures when I know I like 2203 circuits. I’m done with amps - I don’t need a library of 2000 digital impersonations of them.

I agree with this and all the modelers I ever had - I pretty much gravitated to one sound on there. Played in many cover bands but I never got the whole "different tone for each song" thing. I get some of that but it seems like too much work for me. That being said, I have done corp gigs and Casinos where a direct in solution is the only way. Was not as fun, but I got used to it and tear down was a breeze ha.