I think I mentioned here a good while back getting a King of Tone clone pedal called King of Clone by 68 Pedals. It’s a two-sided pedal where both sides can be configured via internal dip switches to be a clean boost, an overdrive, or a distortion, and where each side can be used individually or both at the same time. I just pulled this out a couple of days ago and started using it again. It’s a good sounding pedal, very versatile, very well made, it didn’t cost much (looks like prices have went up some), and there was no waiting list as with the King of Tone. If I ever get a pedal board squared away, this one will be on there.
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Once in a while I think that I might be able to get along with a multi-effects unit to make life easier, and I go down the rabbit hole of listening to a bunch of demos for some hours. And then, nope. Drives aren’t there (damn near all around). Modulations (especially harmonic tremolo, univibe, phaser) aren’t there. Reverbs (particularly spring) aren’t there. Even eq isn’t there. …And then I’m reminded why it’s always a big NOPE. By the time I’m old and retired, things will have maybe finally arrived, and my hearing will be gone. What’s that you say, kid? You can control your delay feedback with your brain chip? But no one listens to rock n roll anymore? Well isn’t that special.
Idk, between all the dials on a 25 watt amp and all the dials on a $50 Chinese multi fx I seem to produce a sound worthy of any environment. All components in the chain matter obviously, maybe over powerful pickups can screw up a sound from the get go.
Idk, between all the dials on a 25 watt amp and all the dials on a $50 Chinese multi fx I seem to produce a sound worthy of any environment. All components in the chain matter obviously, maybe overly powerful pickups can screw up a sound from the get go.
Yea, it all depends on what you want to hear and what is acceptable. Even pedals are a step or 3 down from the real deal. For example, I have a reverb pedal that uses Lexicon reverbs and does a pretty good job of spring reverb, for a pedal. I haven’t heard a pedal that does spring reverb better. But it is lacking somewhat when compared to real spring reverb. So a really good pedal is already a compromise. And multi-effects processors spring reverb are lacking even more. Same goes for pretty much any pedal that I have heard, except for pedals for which there isn’t a ‘real deal’.
That and the pickup height adjustment being off.
But it’s kind of like what brain said, it all goes back to what you like to hear. I like to raise my pickups until things start warbling a bit then crank them down a tad. But some people like that warble and crank them up a bit higher.
Different strokes for different folks.
What about virtual amps like Guitaar Rig?they sound pretty good.
That’s something I was going to ask, are we talking recording, playing live, etc.
Amp sims are used quite often as live fx run on laptops.
Live I’m running relatively cheap stuff, about 5 or 6 hundred AU in total when not using bil’s PA
But that stuff although cheap was selected on merit. E.g the 25 watt amp was selected after playing through a students amp, [anytime a student was running an amp I wasn’t familiar with I’d try it out]same make/model. I was cranking out the intro to Hendrix version Johhny B Goode and the kid’s father came running in, insisting I teach the son that intro riff cos it sounded so good, and it did. Never sounded that good through the Fender Champ I was running around the same time so I did a straight trade at the guitar centre, the Champ for this cheaper amp.
Afaic a rig either has the capability to be dialled in for good sound or it doesn’t, in the old days some guys got a fine distortion using paper under the strings or punching holes in the speakers as Link Wray reportedly did.
I always preferred the sound of my actual amps over any piece of software.
But that might just all come down to speakers. I’m sure the speakers in my amps are much better than the monitor speakers hooked to my DAW.
But that’s hardly a fair comparison. Talking two different animals here.
I’m sure if I could route the output of my DAW to a speaker cabinet of some kind, it would sound pretty good.
My favorite setup is still the guitar to the pedal board, pedal board to the Bassbreaker amp, hit the Mute switch on the amp and connect the XLR line out to the DAW, cab emulator on the guitar track, then a little EQ and compression if needed.
But I’ve only played that setup through my monitor speakers. Again, if I could route that to some real amp cabinet speakers, I’m sure it would sound a lot better.
I don’t use software stuff in the chain either, but I saw on the Reaper forum lots of guys running fx on laptops into their amps. In other words running their usual rig but with laptop fx replacing stompboxes etc.
It’s amazing what you can get with a digital signal path followed by a real guitar cab and a real microphone.
Yeah, I remember a lot of those analog versus digital discussions.
I was always in the analog camp, but I think that’s because that’s what I grew up with.
And I’m sure the same applies to the younger crowd who grew up with digital.
It’s the things you experience early in life that sets your expectations and attitudes for the rest of your life.
I’m not discounting the quality or value of the software. I just think trying to mathematically duplicate something that happens naturally is never going to be the same as the real thing.
I agree.
I think in the end it always comes down to the speakers. After all, that’s what’s moving the air that your ears interpret as sound.
A good example was car radios. Cars always had really good radios because of all the electrical noise, vibration, and other conditions they were operating in.
Then the manufacturers take the quality signal generated by the radio and pump it into a cheap little speaker mounted in the dash board.
I’ve got a Les Paul and a Marshall 100 watt but I’m not using them in the current context of this solo gig, too much unnecessary lugging, I don’t need that much volume and I wanna avoid having to guard that much against theft.
I’d use that rig though if I couldn’t get a good sound out the el cheapo setup.
Gearhead: “You can’t gig with that setup”
Me: “Hold my beer” 
I got the Toneriders installed, I think they sound pretty good.
I recorded a quick mp3 but I can’t post it here.
For some reason, links to my Dropbox account still don’t work here, so I tried to upload it as a zip file but it was too large.
Could you give an example of a link that doesn’t work when posted that works at your end?
Just puts this player up but doesn’t play.