Amplitube 2 Jimi Hendrix RELEASED this month!!!

[daGuru]

I wanted to start with something easy Then I'll hit 'im with the Rammstein

[Sascha Franck]

Hi Sascha,

how is the ABBA musical tour going?

Hi Fritz,

Pretty good in a way... as long as something being 100% identical each evening could be good at all.
But, I'll tell you one thing: Those VOX Valvetronix amps suck ass! Forget about their DI outs, forget about the internal power amp and speakers! DI sounds like no speaker simulation being there at all and the actual amp sounds like behind 100 curtains. all of the 4 guitarists (there's 3 casts touring parallely) have their main crunch sounds with the basses at f**king ZERO! I know it because I copied the sounds from one amp to the others (which is why I also know this is a general fault, rather than one bad model).

Cheers from Toulouse,
Sascha

[spuddle]

A tone challenge for Squids is silly. Half the tone (if not more) comes straight from the way the guitar is played by the player. Its the fingaz mate, if you haven't got the fingaz, don't bitch about the tone you can't get!

That's not strictly true. If you are given a well crafted guitar made out of good materials and a well engineer guitar amp then you will essentially have THE 'tone' of that set-up. Thus tone refers to the physical properties of the sound being generated from the equipment.

What you refer to is more about articulation. This is what happens when you play something and then hand it over the guitar to someone else and they play something and it sounds completely different. It's the same tone but different phrasing, pick attacks and subtle nuances that give the appearance that the 'tone' has changed.

Hmm sorry to be nit-picky there.

[Cosmic Bandito]

Jeff is spot on when he talks about Rhythm guitar parts, these sims fall down right on their faces! I also think there was nothing exciting relesed at NAMM for the guitarist with a bedroom DAW except for this H&K "Switchblade" amp. If the 50W had some kind of DI output that would be killer for me but alas out of my price range . I hope the list prices are highly exaggerated. But I think for bedroom DAW's who still want uncompromising sound and want to get off this sorry-go-round, maybe this concept is the way forward. http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM06 ... -Amps.html

I hate the word "tone", so I'll just say I need something that feels and sounds real for deep driving rhythm parts - THEN add the bells and whistles. Not something that can do 20,000 combinations is sooooo, sooooo great but can't make two barre chords played together sound real.

[Amberience]

Hi Sascha,

how is the ABBA musical tour going?

Hi Fritz,

Pretty good in a way... as long as something being 100% identical each evening could be good at all.
But, I'll tell you one thing: Those VOX Valvetronix amps suck ass! Forget about their DI outs, forget about the internal power amp and speakers! DI sounds like no speaker simulation being there at all and the actual amp sounds like behind 100 curtains. all of the 4 guitarists (there's 3 casts touring parallely) have their main crunch sounds with the basses at f**king ZERO! I know it because I copied the sounds from one amp to the others (which is why I also know this is a general fault, rather than one bad model).

Cheers from Toulouse,
Sascha

The VOX isn't all that bad. I have a 30watt and I get some nice tones from it and my Pod.

[Beardedone]

Len wrote:
A tone challenge for Squids is silly. Half the tone (if not more) comes straight from the way the guitar is played by the player. Its the fingaz mate, if you haven't got the fingaz, don't bitch about the tone you can't get!


That's not strictly true. If you are given a well crafted guitar made out of good materials and a well engineer guitar amp then you will essentially have THE 'tone' of that set-up. Thus tone refers to the physical properties of the sound being generated from the equipment.

What you refer to is more about articulation. This is what happens when you play something and then hand it over the guitar to someone else and they play something and it sounds completely different. It's the same tone but different phrasing, pick attacks and subtle nuances that give the appearance that the 'tone' has changed.

Hmm sorry to be nit-picky there.

Right,

It can be a challenge to get "that sound" - some days the same setup with exact same rig can sound quite differnt depending on how I'm able to play. Hell it even depend on what pick I have on hand. I always seem to run out of brand new Dunlops 0.73 yellows. My experience with AT1 so far has provem that I can get close to the tone I'm after as long as I make sure the dishwasher and all laudry appliances are all off .

[MickGael]

Mick: I believe the most recent word is "probably late in February rather than early."

Thanks, Meffy.

Wonder how long after the ship date it will take for copies to make it to esoundz... I'm guessing it's not nanoseconds.

[SJ_Digriz]

Wonder how long after the ship date it will take for copies to make it to esoundz... I'm guessing it's not nanoseconds.

Shipping notificiation is the 2 months to go indicator. Between the notice and actual receipt will be all of the

Week 1:
"HMmmmm.....we sent copies to distro last week. We'll check into it."..........

Week 3:
"The word from distro is that there is a convayor belt out on the shipping dock"...........

Week 5: (the gold CD is finally sent for production)
"We hear that the local shipping 403rd has resolved their wage and earnings dispute and will begin delivering..."

Week 7: (The 15 copies they can afford to make are sent to Sweetwater and no-one else)

"Although we sent out our first wave, we have a backlog from the production plant who has assured us they will get out more copies ASAP!!"

Week 8:

15 People get their copy overnighted only to find out that their is nothing in the box but a CD that has a hyperlink to a web-site to download the program, but the link is dead because they have not posted it yet.

[beergeek]

Mick: I believe the most recent word is "probably late in February rather than early."

Thanks, Meffy.

Wonder how long after the ship date it will take for copies to make it to esoundz... I'm guessing it's not nanoseconds.

I don't know...on 12/23/05 IK announced on their site that they were shipping the boxed version of ST2.1 and esoundz shipped mine out on 12/23/05...

[A3ntar]

One of the things I may do when we come up for air at SR is have a little thing in the SR forum where you post a small clip from a tune and challenge me or other AT2 users to "get THAT sound".

Great idea Squids!

That's not strictly true. If you are given a well crafted guitar made out of good materials and a well engineer guitar amp then you will essentially have THE 'tone' of that set-up. Thus tone refers to the physical properties of the sound being generated from the equipment.

What you refer to is more about articulation. This is what happens when you play something and then hand it over the guitar to someone else and they play something and it sounds completely different. It's the same tone but different phrasing, pick attacks and subtle nuances that give the appearance that the 'tone' has changed.

Hmm sorry to be nit-picky there.

I like very much your explanation. Makes a lot of sens. What about the guitar and the pickups though? does the ampsim makes fully an abstraction of that? if not, to what extent?

[Squids]

Ok, I am back! My head is ready to explode from airplane compression (not a good effect ).

I like the response from GuitarJeff. Very reasonable and understandable. Puts a little more behind where he's coming from for me. Sorry if I sounded harsh, it wasn't intended that way but I also had no sleep and went to a funeral in freezing weather.

The tone challenge thing is fun (will have to be in another thread to be followed- this one you couldn't find anything!) and yes that IS a good point about the REST of the "tone" coming from you, your guitar etc. But, at least certain stomp/amp settings that get close to a sound... it'll still be fun I am sure!

Yes, Beardedone, I want that Synclav sound too. I have to see if I have it or if I can find a way to sample it.

As for AmpliTube 2 and "the hype", please understand that I don't want anyone to just take my word for it especially if they think that my loving/appreciating it means it will sound exactly like your favorite hardware amp!!! To some people it will and to others it won't. I can say that for me I would use it on a professional recording and I would not have used too many other amp sims before (well, maybe, it depends on the sound and if it is working or not in context... I don't care if it is a cheap pedal or a deluxe vintage amp rig- if it sounds right then good for me!).

I think there are people who just don't like amp sims. Even if they get closer with things like DSM or component modeling, mic modeling etc. there could still be other aspects of hardware that they'd miss. That is understandable. It is always a trade-off. If anybody undestands trade-offs it is someone who works with samples!!! For example, I LOVE a great sample of a violin or string section. However, I love a real acoustic violin or string section played live much more. But, the sampled version is useful and convenient (and I will end up using it more). So, from that POV, something like AmpliTube (or any amp sim) may not be as great as having all the stomps in a Bradshaw rig running into a Fender, Vox, Marshall, THD, Mesa etc. in hardware. But, it is less expensive, faster to use and try out combinations of the amp components (without ruining vintage gear as well), it is convenient, flexible for the mixing stages, writing stages, tracking reference, it allows you to store the sounds for recall later, it is fully controllable (hey, if I could hook up a pedal to control every parameter on my real stomps I'd be pretty happy!!!!) and many other things that you get for around three hundy.

So, it is a matter of perspective. To me it is a no-brainer "must-have" piece (as is Ampeg SVX). It certainly seems that way by the response from pro musicians I have seen. At Frankfurt John McGlaughlin came right up to us to tell us how much he loved it. You see enough of that type of thing and you get extra reassurance about a product (even if you knew you liked it yourself). But, I can see that it is not necessarily a "no-brainer" for everyone. Some want to be absolutely sure they love it and I totally agree. You should know for yourself and feel comfortable about it or at least comfortable about what you will get for the money. It may NOT get you the exact sound of this guitar player or that, this hardware amp or that... but will it be useful in your music creation? Enough to warrant the investment? Only you can answer that.

Side note here, I just heard an interesting story. There is an artist who won a Latin Grammy that played here last night named Juanes. They apparently said that they used AmpliTube 1 on the record (the one that won the grammy) and this is how it happened. They were tracking the guitar with the intention of re-amping it later. So, they used AmpliTube for reference. Then when they re-amped it later they actually liked the way it sounded with AmpliTube better so they just kept it. Hey, whatever works. It is good to just have the tools. Even if it WAS only use for reference it would be still worth having. But, for the fact that it ended up being the better sound for the track (which CAN happen, even if the amp "technically" is more "like an amp") then it is that much more worth having I think.

Good sound is subjective but if it "works" in your music then to me that is really the MAIN thing that matters. Does it fit within the context of the song??? Because that is what the listener is hearing and not your hardware amp solo for all the nuances.

My thoughts for the day.

[Beardedone]

Yes, Beardedone, I want that Synclav sound too. I have to see if I have it or if I can find a way to sample it.

Great Squids! I will then have to learn how to assign a foot pedal to LFO controlling pitch. Still haven't got there with ST2 yet.

[Hink]

am I the only one that thinks this "I want this sound" is absurd...@guitar Jeff, dude you can play, you're in front of a Marshall in your pic...I know you know how to get a Sykes sound, if you don't????But I think you're making a point, like me you didn't get your first guitar yesterday..

The very fact that people are requesting tones somewhat amuses me and it somewhat bothers me. I have spent hours in front of different amps trying them out and seeing which was best for my needs. When I was a kid we all had little crap amps and hung out at the music stores driving em nuts trying out amps.

Today it seems everyone wants pre-sets...why? Jeff why do you want Sykes sounds, there's nothing wrong with your sound.

Greg, Sascha, Fritz, Jeff, Andrew(s), Gordon, myself and others get it, even CR...why do we do we get it, because we know how to get it (our sound that is).

Really I truly believe that if you have to ask someone else to get that tone for you, you aren't ready for it yet. You need to learn how to walk before you can run. I think in some senses all these amp sims are killing the guitarist as we know it..maybe it's good, maybe it's bad...I guess it depends on what side of the fence you're on I guess.

Frankly you don't buy your sound, someone else doesn't design your sound, your sound comes from your style, your discovery and your growth. It becomes a part of who you are as a guitarist, no matter what others think of it. If you are worried that people are going to think your sound or tone is "right" or good enough, then imho you're barking up the wrong tree.

None of us were born with a magic tone creator in our heads, we developed it. Like I say you buy an amp, you don't buy a sound...you develop a sound..if you don't imo you miss out on a very important stage of growth as a guitarist.

This may seem like a rant, but it isn't, it's just a wake up call. These companies are going to get rich off your ignorance (ignorance being used not as a dig, but lack of knowledge). Listen to what you're saying here...I want, I want, I want...while some of us say I can, I can, I can.

If you're waiting for a great amp sim to make you sound great, you're going to be sadly disappointed when you still don't sound like your idol..practice, practice, practice...and that includes learning how to get "your" sound...not pick a preset.

I would love to see a thread about this, maybe I will start one at my artist page @ the auditorium. A place to explain how to get an amp to perform the way you want. Instead of presets being exchanged how about how us old coots learned. talking up people who knew, sharing concepts and good ol fashion trial and error.

Greg, Jeff, everyone else...would you contribute suggestions if I did? I'm not trying to dig at the amp sims, but I think one needs a certain level of understanding as well...you just don't get that from premade tones...but boy when you can get that sound you want with the amp you choose, by yourself? The world is yours folks, all yours...even if you use a sim to get it...

[Hink]

actually one correction, I haven't spent hours in front of amps learning...I've spent decades doing so..

[Cosmic Bandito]

Side note here, I just heard an interesting story. There is an artist who won a Latin Grammy that played here last night named Juanes. They apparently said that they used AmpliTube 1 on the record (the one that won the grammy) and this is how it happened. They were tracking the guitar with the intention of re-amping it later. So, they used AmpliTube for reference. Then when they re-amped it later they actually liked the way it sounded with AmpliTube better so they just kept it. Hey, whatever works.

Do you know what tracks they used it on? My wife is peruvian...she loves Juanes. She made me appreciate many of these rock en espanol artists - Mana, Juanes, Cafe Te Cuba, even Shakira. Of course most of their older stuff is better before they were lured to the "crossover" market. The guitar is very basic, but they put a lot heart into their songwriting, something most American pop artisits lost long ago IMO.