Guitar Gear

The choice between the two is not as easy as you might think.

Tweaker – Someone who dives deep into the minutiae of the gear they have and learn every feature and nuance. The more features, the better.

Player – Someone who learns just enough about their gear to play it effectively. Learning nuances is through osmosis over time. Typically, they don’t like too many features in a product.

Let me say this: Neither is better than the other. In fact, over time, both types of people will arrive at roughly the same knowledge of their gear, though admittedly, for straight-up players, that may take years.

And there are no absolutes, no one is absolutely a Player or absolutely a Tweaker. And yes, most people have traits of both simultaneously, but I’ve found in my interactions with thousands of folks over the years that most folks are predominantly one over the other.

In any case, what inspired me to write this post is that I’m in a bit of a quandary right now: Do I get a Strymon Iridium or a Line 6 HX Stomp?

Though I’m probably much more of a Player rather than a Tweaker, one would think that with the limited features of the Iridium, I’d lean heavily towards that unit. But if you’ve read this blog with any regularity, versatility is a key component to many of my buying decisions.

The HX Stomp has so much versatility that there are very few amps and cab combinations – not to mention effect chains – that I couldn’t assemble, however virtually. This is definitely something worth considering because depending on the style of music I’m playing or recording, I could get the exact amp/cab combo that I need with the HX Stomp. It’s a tweaker’s wet dream!

On the other hand, the Iridium has just three amp models and three cab IRs per amp. Far less tweaking (though you can load your own IRs), BUT the amps represent the archetypes on which almost all amps are based. It doesn’t have effects, so if you want effects, you put existing effects in front of it, so no having to learn to tweak virtual effects as in the HX Stomp. For a straight-up Player, it’s very much like just setting up an amp; very plug and play and away we go!

As far as the physical footprint is concerned, with the HX Stomp, once I’ve got it set up, it’s all I’d really need to bring with me or plug into my audio interface as opposed to the Iridium where I’d have to hook up my pedalboard (the Iridium would sit on the board), which takes up real estate – and in a gigging situation, is a MUCH heavier option.

So you see how this could be conflicting?

For a Tweaker, you’d think that they’d immediately jump on the HX Stomp; most probably would, but I’ve also spoken with some guys whom I know who just love twiddling knobs and such who’d rather have the Iridium. And it’s vice-versa with some Players I’ve met and spoken with who look at the HX stomp as a BIG collection of amps and cabs.

So what does it boil down to? To be completely honest, I just don’t know at this point. At least for me, I’m going to have to audition these units. While I really dig all the features in the HX Stomp – including the looper – how much I gravitate towards it will be highly dependent on how easy it is to configure without a computer.

As for the Iridium, since it has a very limited set of features, that means that its sound quality and dynamics have to be absolutely stellar. And from what I’ve been able to surmise, it’s sound quality is pretty spot on. For me, I’m not so much interested in the AC30 sound, but I really like the Deluxe Reverb sounds I’ve heard.

Why Even Consider a Modeler?

I have a bunch of amps, mostly tube amps. I still gig with them, but in my home “studio,” I’ve got limited space. Not only that, even if I record in my man-cave (read: garage) where I don’t have an isolation booth or box, I pick up ambient noises, be they mechanical sounds or just the general activity of my family; not to mention that with the exception of my Katana Artist, I can’t record any other of my amps silently. So a modeler is a great solution to be able to not only eliminate ambient noises, it allows me to record in complete silence. A clean signal is a good signal.

Modeling technology has gotten so good over the years that frankly, it’s just hard to ignore. I’ve never been a purist, preferring instead to look at various types of gear merely as tools. If they get the job done – and especially if they do it well – then that’s pretty much all that matters to me. And with modelers like the Line 6 or Kemper or AxeFX gear and now the Iridium, I love what they bring to the table!