Guitar Gear

Ever since I got my BOSS Katana 50, I’ve gotten a sudden, renewed interest in modeling amps. My first modeling amp was a Line 6 Flextone III. That was a great amp, but modeling technology was still a bit immature at the time. The sound was actually great, but the feel just seemed a bit off. So I sold the amp believing that eventually, digital technology would improve.

Well, digital technology has improved, and in a big way. Even with software. For instance, the following Soundcloud track was recorded entirely with GarageBand amp models for the electric guitars.

When I recorded the song, I was all set to mic a couple of different amps. But to prep for the song, I just used some amp models. After listening to a couple of takes, I thought that the guitars sounded great, so I just went with the models.

Now, that said, if the song was much more focused on guitar, I would have used a regular amp, but since I was just adding little highlights, the digital models worked just fine. But this is where I started thinking that there are modelers out there that are now so super-high-quality, you’d be hard-pressed to tell whether or not an amp sound is digital or natural.

That damn Pete Thorn! 🙂 He’s a real Line 6 Helix lover, and I made the mistake of watching his videos of the Helix and HX Stomp, and I’m seriously gassing. Check out the Helix demo:

When I saw that video, and more importantly, listened to the sound, I was blown away. And I can attest to the dynamics of digital models: They respond much as you’d expect. Hit your string harder or turn up your volume knob on your guitar, and the amp responds to the gain. Years ago, that wasn’t the case, but manufacturers of digital models have totally figured it out.

Other notable amps are the Kemper Profiling Amp and the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx lines. These are apparently even better-sounding than the Helix, BUT I love that Line 6 made the Helix line as floorboard units (there is a 3U rack version as well). The other two are also more expensive than the Helix, and none of the others have floor models, though they have remote floor switches.

You can probably tell I’m leaning towards the Helix line. I was VERY close to pulling the trigger on an HX Stomp, but I’ve learned to hold back my GAS. It is so very tempting. However, because I’m still doing a lot of recording, I’m very interested in the Helix Native plug-in. It has all the models and cabs and effects as the physical units but in a convenient plug-in that I can use in GarageBand.

But who knows, maybe I’ll break down… GAS sucks…