Amp Simulators

[Cabal]

I'm thinking of ditching conventional amps and cabs altogether. They're too big, too heavy, i don't drive, and i'm just too long in the tooth for all that humping. :-)

I know monitoring would inevitably be a problem when playing live, and i'd probably end up having to use an amp of some sort for that purpose anyway (which would defeat the object in the first place), but i won't be playing live for the time being, just rehearsing.

So then, an amp simulator straight into the desk, or at least as a pre-amp for whatever crappy amp i end up playing through in the rehearsal room, so i'll always get my sound, which would be Marshall or Hiwatt.

I already have a Behringer V-Amp, great for practising and home recording but a bit mickey mouse for actually playing live.

What do we reckon is the best amp simulator out there, pro standard and affordable?

Cheers,

Jake M

Edited October 11, 2008 by Jake_M

[dannybuoy]

I use a Tech 21 VT Bass and a Radial JDI, plugging into the fx loop return socket on whatever crappy amp I happen to be using. Highly recommended!

You're best off importing one from the US, but they can be hard to find as they're new and they can't keep up with demand! Also check out the Aguilar Tone Hammer and EBS Micro Bass.

[Cabal]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='301743' date='Oct 7 2008, 09:28 PM']I use a Tech 21 VT Bass and a Radial JDI, plugging into the fx loop return socket on whatever crappy amp I happen to be using. Highly recommended!

You're best off importing one from the US, but they can be hard to find as they're new and they can't keep up with demand! Also check out the Aguilar Tone Hammer and EBS Micro Bass.[/quote]
Cheers mate. I found it here: [url="http://www.dv247.com/invt/49207/product.htm?gdftrk=gdfV2356_a_7c416_a_7c1181_a_7c49207"]http://www.dv247.com/invt/49207/product.ht...c1181_a_7c49207[/url]

I reckon i might be better off with the british guitar amp modeler though, because i use Hiwatt/Marshall lead amps to get my sound.

So why do you use the DI instead of going straight in?

Edited October 7, 2008 by Jake_M

[dannybuoy]

I haven't heard from anyone using the other guitar oriented pedals in the character series on bass, but there's a good chance you'll lose some of your low frequencies. The DI is used for sending a balanced signal (which gives you better signal transmission and less noise ) to the PA when playing live, for practice I just plug the VT straight into a combo amp, bypassing the on-board pre by plugging into the fx return socket.

[Cabal]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='301770' date='Oct 7 2008, 10:13 PM']I haven't heard from anyone using the other guitar oriented pedals in the character series on bass, but there's a good chance you'll lose some of your low frequencies. The DI is used for sending a balanced signal (which gives you better signal transmission and less noise ) to the PA when playing live, for practice I just plug the VT straight into a combo amp, bypassing the on-board pre by plugging into the fx return socket.[/quote]
Now i see what you're using the DI for. Thought you meant you used it to plug straight into an amp. I'm pretty sure i'd lose some bottom end too, but i've been doing that for years playing through lead amps anyway. :-) Just can't get the grunt i need out of bass amps, at least not the ones i've tried.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Jake_M

[Dood]

Sorry for the really short answer, but I have been using both the MXR M80 and Sansamp BDDI mixed in parallel for my amp sim sounds. I use a mixture of dry bass, BDDI sim and MXR M80 to emulate a guitar amp. Mix all thre together with a few special settings and I have a great recording/FOH tone in 2 little boxes. I use compression and effects as well, but the main noise is just these two boxes going into amy ultra-clean MarkBass F1! - I think thats the lightest my rig has ever been! - I used to use an Ampeg SVT2 Pro and big cabs to get the same noise! lol lol

[yorick]

Have a look at the Line 6 Bass POD Pro XT Live. It's got amp simulators, cab configurations and of course, a bucket full of effects.

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

[quote name='Jake_M' post='301759' date='Oct 7 2008, 09:56 PM']I reckon i might be better off with the british guitar amp modeler though, because i use Hiwatt/Marshall lead amps to get my sound.[/quote]

Well, Tech 21 also make the Sansamp GT2, the guitar version of the Bass Driver, which seems to have a bass setting, it doesnt hold that much low end in my experience, but its used by alot of bass players for overdrive, it has popular models of guitar amps. (behringer also do a cheap version of this if it grabs your attention, then once you've tried it and if you like it, you can grab the real thing)

[url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/gt2.html"]http://www.tech21nyc.com/gt2.html[/url]

Tech 21 also sort of split that pedal into 5 separate pedals (kinda) and have the Character Series pedals: Liverpool (VOX), California(mesa-boogie), Blonde (Fender), British(Marshall) and VTBass (Ampeg)

[url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html#"]http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html#[/url]

if the same is true of the other Character series pedals as the VTBass, they dont just emulate one amp, you can actually go through a range of tones with the VTbass.

I know you said you go through Marshall and HiWatt heads usually, but if you can give me an example of your ideal tone, i dont mind mocking up a VTbass clip, just so you can make a better decision if its not for you, the VTbass will do so much its almost unfair to call it just an Ampeg modeller. I reckon you can get a good hi-gain guitar amp tone, but with enough lowend to make any bass player happy.

otherwise id suggest using one of the other Character series pedals (the British possibly) and using a clean blend for some low end.

the Line6 stuff is a good call too

[url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html"]http://www.tech21nyc.com/character_series.html[/url]

[tempo]

Few good suggestions so far. Don't think it's been mentioned yet, but the Line6 Pod x3 (or x3 live) have the ability to combine 2 types of amp modeling, ie. a marshall stack with an ampeg etc. Maybe that way you could get the guitar amp grunt without losing lows?

[Cabal]

[quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' post='303217' date='Oct 9 2008, 06:06 PM']I know you said you go through Marshall and HiWatt heads usually, but if you can give me an example of your ideal tone, i dont mind mocking up a VTbass clip, just so you can make a better decision if its not for you, the VTbass will do so much its almost unfair to call it just an Ampeg modeller. I reckon you can get a good hi-gain guitar amp tone, but with enough lowend to make any bass player happy.[/quote]
That would be great. Thanks for the help, much appreciated. :-)

The sound i (try to) get thru a real amp would be JJ Burnel circa Black & White, John Entwistle, Lemmy. Clear, clean overdive rather that actual distortion. I play either a Fender Precision or a Rickenbacker.

Hope that's enough to go on.

Cheers, Jake M

Edited October 10, 2008 by Jake_M

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

[quote name='Jake_M' post='303482' date='Oct 10 2008, 12:58 AM']That would be great. Thanks for the help, much appreciated. :-)

The sound i (try to) get thru a real amp would be JJ Burnel circa Black & White, John Entwistle, Lemmy. Clear, clean overdive rather that actual distortion. I play either a Fender Precision or a Rickenbacker.

Hope that's enough to go on.

Cheers, Jake M[/quote]

well heres a clip:

[url="http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6961826"]http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6961826[/url]

didnt come out quite how i expected, im not really sure if its what you're looking for, the clip was like 20mins, but i edited it down to 5, got rid of most of the 'too-distorted' tones, im playing with my Yamaha Attitude Special with just the p-bass pickup (which is a DiMarzio that i got off ebay), also i switch between playing with a Pick and playing with fingers (I prefer fingers, but i wasnt sure about you and thought you might like a pick, so theres more pick-style stuff)
I was recording through my Line6 TonePort GX on the 'no-amp' model, but i dont actually know how realistic it is for me to use the line6 stuff at all, however you can be the judge, the first second or two of the clip is just clean p-bass pickup, the tone is all the way up (its always up, theres no tone control).
Hope this helps

ps - if you've got a spare £20-£30 pick up the behringer GTI21 (i think thats what its called) apparently the Bass one is very similar sonically to the Sansamp Bassdriver, so i assume the guitar one is similar to the GT2


oh yeah sorry for the sloppy playing, it was like 2.30 in the morning and i was tired

Edited October 10, 2008 by Dosi Y'Anarchy

[Cabal]

[quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' post='303785' date='Oct 10 2008, 12:46 PM']well heres a clip:

[url="http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6961826"]http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6961826[/url]

didnt come out quite how i expected, im not really sure if its what you're looking for, the clip was like 20mins, but i edited it down to 5, got rid of most of the 'too-distorted' tones, im playing with my Yamaha Attitude Special with just the p-bass pickup (which is a DiMarzio that i got off ebay), also i switch between playing with a Pick and playing with fingers (I prefer fingers, but i wasnt sure about you and thought you might like a pick, so theres more pick-style stuff)
I was recording through my Line6 TonePort GX on the 'no-amp' model, but i dont actually know how realistic it is for me to use the line6 stuff at all, however you can be the judge, the first second or two of the clip is just clean p-bass pickup, the tone is all the way up (its always up, theres no tone control).
Hope this helps

ps - if you've got a spare £20-£30 pick up the behringer GTI21 (i think thats what its called) apparently the Bass one is very similar sonically to the Sansamp Bassdriver, so i assume the guitar one is similar to the GT2


oh yeah sorry for the sloppy playing, it was like 2.30 in the morning and i was tired[/quote]
Nice one, thanks for going to all the trouble. I'll have a listen and post a proper reply later.

Just to clarify, this is the VT Bass i'm hearing, and not the Line 6 Toneport?

Cheers,

Jake M

Edited October 10, 2008 by Jake_M

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

yes, it should just be the VTbass, however it does sound alot better comming out of an amp/speaker, and im not entirely trusting of the TonePort for recording clean - its designed to be used with the models provided, but i tried to get a flat response and thats the best i could get.

heres a few (better) clips i found that show more of what the VTbass is about:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8kdWpB3U4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8kdWpB3U4[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot6jQTYdSCY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot6jQTYdSCY[/url]

[bassmachine2112]

hi try out a behringer bass driver ,you,ll pick one up cheap on fleabay.i use mine through a mb450 marshall n play a ricky n a musicman through it n the driver will give you the ricky sound we all love at the drop of a hat.it,s a sansamp clone but mega cheaper.

[Cabal]

[quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' post='303961' date='Oct 10 2008, 03:40 PM']yes, it should just be the VTbass, however it does sound alot better comming out of an amp/speaker, and im not entirely trusting of the TonePort for recording clean - its designed to be used with the models provided, but i tried to get a flat response and thats the best i could get.

heres a few (better) clips i found that show more of what the VTbass is about:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8kdWpB3U4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8kdWpB3U4[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot6jQTYdSCY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot6jQTYdSCY[/url][/quote]
Sounds good. I'm quite impressed by the range of different sounds, and it doesn't sound too synthetic. Its a bit dry as it is, so i'd need to use other effects to liven it up. The distortion doesn't have the clarity of loud valve overdrive, but i'm not expecting miracles from a relatively inexpensive stomp box. :-) All in all, its a definite maybe.

Thanks again for doing that for me mate. :-)

I'm pretty sure i'm going to need to go for a lead amp simulator with onboard effects to get the sound i'm used to. I need the responsiveness of a cranked up valve sound. As i said, i already own a Behringer V-Amp, and i can get some damn fine sounds out of it at home through a mixer or headphones, but i was seriously disappointed when i tried it out as a pre-amp in the rehearsal room.

Anyone got an opinion on the Pod XT Pro, either lead or bass version, as compared to the Behringer V-Amp?

Cheers,

Jake M

Edited October 11, 2008 by Jake_M

[BassBod]

The Award-Session JD10 is a good preamp/DI box - very "old fashioned" in that it uses circuit design to get the sound rather than clever digi stuff. Pretty much simulates a "fender" pre-amp (just like the Alembic preamps, but no valves...runs on a battery).

Worth thinking about

BB

[Cabal]

[quote name='BassBod' post='305244' date='Oct 13 2008, 09:44 AM']The Award-Session JD10 is a good preamp/DI box - very "old fashioned" in that it uses circuit design to get the sound rather than clever digi stuff. Pretty much simulates a "fender" pre-amp (just like the Alembic preamps, but no valves...runs on a battery).

Worth thinking about

BB[/quote]
I'm liking the look of this one, cheers. :-)

I'm hoping to get close to the classic overdriven Marshall/Hiwatt sound.

I've seen a few mentions of the EBS MicroBass II on the board. Anyone care to comment?

Edited October 13, 2008 by Jake_M