Here's a pretty decent tone in a mix. Also, there are gazillions of others on here that have nice tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtVF9O3DJQk

Interesting. I see where you're going with that. Specific hardware and software for each stage. Trade connivence for quality. I'm not very far away from that set up myself, except instead of the Rock Block I'm using a Blackstar HT-5 Duel Distortion, but it's more of a bypass/crunch/high-gain deal. The Rock Block might cover clean and classic crunch areas better. I use the Blackstar in front of Amplitube or S-Gear. I thought it's own "cab emulated out" sounded horrible. I don't find either amp sim better than the other, though with S-Gear I seem to pretty much love everything included, where as with Amplitube... if it had been ala carte from day one I probably would have passed on some of the models.

That Rock Block video you posted sounds good, but it's clearly being used as a tube distortion in front of a preamp. I searched for a good example of it used on it's own and it was pretty hard to find any except for the two cover tunes on their site, which btw, become hilarious as soon as those vocals start. Sorry, I shouldn't be one to talk but I do know enough to not sing much.

Rock Block used as an Amp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03VeGvT75ws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqGqKpgnzAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bepYOGroumo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cPQ2MXHlJE

I am mostly with Hink on this point, and though I can see getting to a point where your gear becomes cumbersome, it's very inspiring to me to be able to mess with different gear and different combinations of gear. It's probably the main reason I ditched traditional amps for virtual a while ago. Something was lost though, I will admit that on some level I still remember the crunch of some cheap Peavey Triumph 60 combo amp. Possibly one of the best sounds I ever heard. Or the buzz of my cranked Ampeg SC130... or the sing of the Reverbrocket... Very simple devices with not much to monkey with, but tone galore and when you've got that it's true that it's easy to focus on making the notes and technique do the talking. Still, I know myself and I'm not the type that finds a signature tone and sticks with it.

It's one of the reasons that damn Kemper is so damn appealing to me. Like having a tonal shape shifter. One thing that's hard about this is I keep listening to different demos and each time I think, "Ah, yeah, that sound! Gotta have that!" Of course stomp boxes can make this less of a commitment. Right now I'm toying with the idea of doing the Engl e530 with a Hot Box and Blackstar in front of it an doing the rest in software.

That'll make me happy forever... won't it? WON'T IT?!!!?



Other things I'm considering are a Reason Amps Bambino or a Line6 Spider Valve. Both seem to have speaker simulated outs that could be the thing that gives me the power amp crunch and the preamp distortion as well. Anyone have experience with these?

DT25

I'm just bumping this again because I didn't state the obvious the first time.

Question: I wonder what these guys are using to get the guitar tone?

I agree, it's a pretty fantastic tone. I posted a question on the youtube page... maybe someone will reply.

I think its inversely proportional with how many times he makes a "guitar face" and the number of buttons he has unbuttoned on his shirt

I see some kind of rack box that says speaker simulator, so I am guessing it is a hardware preamp or amp head of sorts going into that thing and then the computer. I thought one of the rack units back there looked similar to the Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-Studio-Preamp-/300711761 349?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4603d155c5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYzGIGLtihY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpCc7_0Cmuc

Has an additional output with an speaker sim ("record compensated" output) but I think it would sound awesome with some good IRs.

My friend had one of these with a power amp and 4x12 cab. He regrets selling it still (11 years later). It was great at recording direct into his cassette four track at that time. It's basically the preamp section of a Mesa Mark II or III.
Last edited by metalifuxx on Wed May 16, 2012 7:36 pm; edited 2 times in total

Very cool..... but I believe it's the player not the rig
that makes this clip cool.
Same setup probably won't sound good in my hands.
It's like Dimi's clips, he can make anything sound good.

I know you're really digging the DT25. At $900 it's outside my price range... but as I said I can be flexible. If it's worth it I can push my computer upgrade out a few months.

I don't totally buy into that. It's true that a good guitar player is a joy to listen to regardless of the rig, and Demi and this guy in the clip are good examples of that, but when Demi does his product commercials I never think, "Wow, that doesn't sound like an amp sim." Of course I'm full in as a believer that amp sims can sound great, but I also view them like I few virtual analog synths. There's a bit o' magic in those hardware instruments and even the most modest ones have a quality that I can hear pretty clearly. Of course, not all VAs are created equal, and not all guitar amps are either. I've had some clunkers in my day as well as some jems. One of my favorites was an all transistor Marshall... some "Valvestate" it was borderline practice amp but it sang. I remember auditioning for a band and having them ask, "You do have a real amp for live shows, right?" When I cranked that baby up I remember they all were amazed. Not a tube in sight.

I replaced that with another all transistor Ampeg. SC130 I think. Fantastic sound as well and loud as can be. Too loud and heavy for the thing I morphed into. Should have kept it anyway. I ran it's mono effects loop into a Digitech 2120 and took one side of the stereo out and sent it back to the amp, and the other side into a Peavey KB 60 and it was an amazing sound. I got great sound out of my Johnson JT60 which was all tube sim and digital effects.

Then there were the clunkers. I mentioned a Peavey Triumph 60. Great high gain and crunch, but a dead sounding clean that no knob tweaking could fix. I had a Vox Buckingham that did some nice tricks but wasn't for me. I had a Line6 Spider that was very mediocre to crappy. I think it soured me to Line6 as I never warmed up to it, or the Pod line. I've been known to be wrong though, and companies change. I'll see if my local Guitar Center has a DT25 for me to check out.

So all the time those good and bad amps were forced to have me putting a signal into them. The good ones may have inspired better playing... who knows? I don't think any upgrade in my skills would have gotten better sounds out of that Spider.

I also think of all the Jimi Hendrix recordings. Some sound great, but there are plenty that sound pretty horrible to me. I still enjoy the playing because he was a genius, but I've often thought he could have benefited from a better set up from time to time.

Those clips have that "crude speaker simulation" sound all over them. That dead mud sound. I know Mesas are awesome amps, my brother used to have a little Bullet combo that I coveted, but I bet those would have sounded a lot better with the direct outs run though a good software package like Torpedo.