ZEN Amps
Well-known member
Thanks mate!Keeps getting better. Keep it up brother!
New video up, although I don't think it's really going to satisfy you gain freaks. Next up though is the Landry LS50G3, now that's a cool amp.
Thanks mate!Keeps getting better. Keep it up brother!
Thanks mate!
New video up, although I don't think it's really going to satisfy you gain freaks. Next up though is the Landry LS50G3, now that's a cool amp.
JMP 2203 from 1979. A particularly nice one, running NOS tubes and fresh filter caps. Beast.
Great to hear the amps this way. So much better than the fake sounding IRs that most use
Man, not to start shit, but having 8 4x12s myself micing them up constantly as well as using IR’s, I’d bet my last dollar you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between an IR of my actual cab and micing up my actual cab. You have to compare apples to apples. You can’t compare an IR of one cab mic’d by one person in a different room with different gear with different mics etc, to a REAL cab mic’d using different gear, different room, different cabinet completely ( with the same model speakers of course). That’s nowhere near apples to apples. They gotta be the signal chain, minus the only difference being one is an IR and the other is the actual cabinet. Any differences you are hearing are more likely attributed to all the different factors listed above, not because “ one is digital and one is analog”.
Great to hear the amps this way. So much better than the fake sounding IRs that most use
Nothing wrong with liking IR's, I just don't. They're a digital recreation of a mic'd speaker and it sounds that way to me. Something gets lost in the 1's and 0's. They also don't seem to react the same way to turning the amp up and down like a speaker does.Man, not to start shit, but having 8 4x12s myself micing them up constantly as well as using IR’s, I’d bet my last dollar you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between an IR of my actual cab and micing up my actual cab. You have to compare apples to apples. You can’t compare an IR of one cab mic’d by one person in a different room with different gear with different mics etc, to a REAL cab mic’d using different gear, different room, different cabinet completely ( with the same model speakers of course). That’s nowhere near apples to apples. They gotta be the exact same signal chain, minus the only difference being one is an IR and the other is the actual cabinet. Any differences you are hearing are more likely attributed to all the different factors listed above, not because “ one is digital and one is analog”.
True but the everyone sounds the same has been around in guitar land for decades.The problem as mentioned above, isn't that IRs are "bad" per se; its that everyone uses the same IRs, and everyone's tones sound the same.
You and I both know it's way, WAY worse now.True but the everyone sounds the same has been around in guitar land for decades.
In the 80's a lot of guys playing JCM800s and ADA preamps.
2000's all metal guys playing 5150s and Rectos.
Man, not to start shit, but having 8 4x12s myself micing them up constantly as well as using IR’s, I’d bet my last dollar you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between an IR of my actual cab and micing up my actual cab. You have to compare apples to apples. You can’t compare an IR of one cab mic’d by one person in a different room with different gear with different mics etc, to a REAL cab mic’d using different gear, different room, different cabinet completely ( with the same model speakers of course). That’s nowhere near apples to apples. They gotta be the exact same signal chain, minus the only difference being one is an IR and the other is the actual cabinet. Any differences you are hearing are more likely attributed to all the different factors listed above, not because “ one is digital and one is analog”.
Yep it is but i'd blame amp modelers and sharing of presets probably more than just IRs.You and I both know it's way, WAY worse now.
Amen to all this.
I'm a pretty old school player but IRs have been a game changer when made and used the right way.
Some guys seem to forget crap tone still existed before modelers and IRs.
It all goes back to an emotional experience. Just as playing and how we achieve a sound is really driven by our emotions, so can how we record. For e.g. Modellers vs. Amps. I think modellers and some sims sound pretty amazing but the difference in pleasure I get out of turning knobs, feeling air out of a cab, even smelling the amp vs. using a keyboard and mouse are light years apart. Same with recording. Unfortunately tape is no longer viable these days but I would much rather use mics on speakers, patchbays and outboard gear through a board if I could because emotionally its my happier place than working in the box. Plus I was always a lot more creative in achieving what was in my head using those outdated ways than trying to figure it out with software...lolThe great IR war will probably rage on for a bit, then it will become so common that no one can remember a time before them.
I agree the end result can be indistinguishable, but playing devil's advocate - the creative process is different, which usually leads to different outcomes.
Taking EQ out of the scenario, try this as an example. Say I have a 57 and 421 on a cab and I want to hear less high end - I can move 1 mike, or both, or angle either or both. I do that and the low end is a now touch thick - I can pull them both back an inch, or maybe engage the filter on the 421. Shit the 57 is still a bit gnarly, I'll swap in a 545. Bam - cool tone, let's rock.
Now I'm aware you can do similar things with IR's, but it's a very different process. If you've got 1000's of them (and who doesn't) then finding that 57 an inch left and an inch back could take secs or it could take hours, who knows. Does that IR pack have a 421... with a HPF option? Is there a slightly smoother 57 at hand? Are they phase aligned? Is the load messing the low end? Anyway the list goes on but I'm sure you can see my point.
An amazing artist can probably paint something beautiful with a tooth brush rather than his favourite brush, but how will it change the process? Maybe he'll be inspired to paint something quite different because the tools can drive the process too of course.
While I'm ranting, same with modellers. Comparing the two in a blind test is fine, but that's only telling part of the story. I mean an Axe FX can probably do pretty convincing Sad But True tone with enough experimenting - but would that tone even exist if they only had the Axe back then, and not the MkIII. That one's for you VES.
The great IR war will probably rage on for a bit, then it will become so common that no one can remember a time before them.
I agree the end result can be indistinguishable, but playing devil's advocate - the creative process is different, which usually leads to different outcomes.
Taking EQ out of the scenario, try this as an example. Say I have a 57 and 421 on a cab and I want to hear less high end - I can move 1 mike, or both, or angle either or both. I do that and the low end is a now touch thick - I can pull them both back an inch, or maybe engage the filter on the 421. Shit the 57 is still a bit gnarly, I'll swap in a 545. Bam - cool tone, let's rock.
Now I'm aware you can do similar things with IR's, but it's a very different process. If you've got 1000's of them (and who doesn't) then finding that 57 an inch left and an inch back could take secs or it could take hours, who knows. Does that IR pack have a 421... with a HPF option? Is there a slightly smoother 57 at hand? Are they phase aligned? Is the load messing the low end? Anyway the list goes on but I'm sure you can see my point.
An amazing artist can probably paint something beautiful with a tooth brush rather than his favourite brush, but how will it change the process? Maybe he'll be inspired to paint something quite different because the tools can drive the process too of course.
While I'm ranting, same with modellers. Comparing the two in a blind test is fine, but that's only telling part of the story. I mean an Axe FX can probably do pretty convincing Sad But True tone with enough experimenting - but would that tone even exist if they only had the Axe back then, and not the MkIII. That one's for you VES.