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ultraman_cosmo

Kewlpack's Head To Head Modeler Shoot Out!

Gimme Your Nickels
If I had a nickel for each time someone asked the question, “Which modeler/multifx is ‘the best’ and why?” I’d have enough cash flow to pony up for a couple Dumble Super Overdrives… along with a few other GAS-related items. LOL. If you’re reading this then you’re either one of the folks looking for answers to that question – or you’ve been one of the cool cats who've taken time to answer that question - over and over… and over! I feel your pain! Wink

You know, the truth of the matter is: this is a fantastic question. I’m not sure if anyone noticed this or not yet, but when people begin asking questions like this (ad nauseum) it is an indication that the offerings from manufacturers have become viable, capable, feature-rich, and in many cases, professional level platforms for creating high quality music – both live and in the studio.

Now before I get too far into all of this let me say up front that I love the tone of a high quality tube amp through a great cabinet. For this article let’s call them “tube-based rigs”, or TBRs. There is a particular richness and harmonic content in traditional TBRs that give them a unique voice in the mix. That uniqueness is demonstrated even within the same product/model line. For example: you can have two of the same Head/Cab or Combo model yet each will have its own flavor (even if only subtle). Now go swap out some tubes and you can differentiate the voicing further. That’s part of the beauty of TBRs. If you care about your tone, you’ve probably considered getting a TBR a time or two. Maybe you currently have several as you read this (you GAS-freaks know who you are – heheh).

TBR Caveats
But (you knew there was a “but” coming), tube amps tend to be limited to a certain set of sonic chores. Granted, some are more versatile than others. The constraints are there by design. For instance, you buy a Marshall to get a Marshall tone; a Mesa for a Mesa tone; a Fender for Fender tone, etc. But if you need a variety of tones from a single rig, it can be a little tricky with just one amp. That isn’t a “bad” thing really… simple is nice and easy! You just have to understand what you want to do with your music and know which tools will get you to that tonal destination.

Other things that can be prohibitive with TBRs are: the cost, the maintenance, and the weight/bulk. Most of us out here can’t afford to diversify with several TBRs. Each one can be a substantial investment, and if you have mouths to feed…well, you can’t feed your family 12AX7’s very well (can you??)! As I said, TBRs can be very temperamental without a lot of TLC and attention. Accidental jiggles can result in a dead amp if you aren’t careful. In addtion to these issues: unless you have a large practice hall, a big house, or a storage unit, you probably don’t have the space to store, setup, or deal with multiple TBRs.

Oh yeah, one last thing: You have to crank a TBR to squeeze those amazing tones out of them properly… and we don’t always have the luxury of being able to push the volume that high (without severe fallout with neighbors, family, and even our audience). Still, if you love TBRs, you love ‘em unconditionally! You consider the above to merely be “the bonding process”.

But You Want A Modeler/MultiFX
So, now we need to talk about these Modeler/MultiFX thingies (I’ll call them MFX for this article). You won’t have to look very far before you see that the current mainstream offerings bring a virtual smorgasbord of amps, cabinets, microphones, and effects to the table in a compact, and usually affordable package. In addition to this they give us an incredibly handy way to make our own recordings without the expense of high end studio gear.

For around $150-$450 you can get setup with a wide array of popular preamp/cabinet models, tons of desirable effects, digital interfaces, stereo output, and lots of other stuff we’ll get into shortly. It’s amazing to discover just how many cool tones you can get out of one of these MFX units.

My fellow guitarists, it is a great time to be playing guitar! We have unprecedented flexibility and options to discover our own tones… without breaking the bank nor our backs.

Some enthusiasts are gonna argue, “MFXs don’t sound like real TBRs.” Frankly, I don’t believe it’s fair to make a blanket statement like this about MFXs. In part, because we don’t know what the real specimen sounded like (remember how I pointed out that two of the same model will sound different?), nor do we know exactly how the engineers studied/sampled the amp to come up with their MFX modeled version(s). I have some faith in these companies. They want to give us professional tools which produce authentic tones. The closer they can get to the real thing, the more folks around here will buy them up. It is in their best interest to produce a great product. Not to mention that I’ve heard some stinker TBRs too (so have you). So let’s not dive off into that debate. Use what sounds good to you and have fun with it!

Ah, but which MFX will work for you?
To answer that question; before you read any further… you have to sit back and decide exactly what you are looking for tonally. Heheh, you are probably thinking, “I want one product that does everything better than anything else but costs less than the other MFX!” Allow me to promptly, but gently, burst your little fantasy bubble right here and now. To be sure, MFX units from the various manufacturers can probably do everything you will need to do; but some MFX’s model of a particular preamp will (frankly) sound better than another MFX’s. It takes a little research to figure which sounds best to you, but it’s worth it.

With each MFX there are usually some trade offs. Need lots of flexibility? Well, that necessarily brings complexity of use (more or less). Need a simple, plug and play approach? Guess what, you are gonna give up some flexibility options. Need to come in at a specific price point? You probably won’t be able to have the latest and greatest. Keep in mind the axiom: you typically get what you pay for.

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