Making Music

[Dr. Gonzo]

30 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

Sold more than i've bought lately lol, still not got into the plugins yet, just looks too daunting all the DAW stuff, i need an old 4 track mixer with a cassette deck    ..i could do with a guitar i can just change the tuning on too, just too much hassle on a floyd bridge, got an old Jackson Performer from the 90's but needs a re wire and some decent pups ..still not getting on with my 5150MH too, going to sell it i think

A lot of the plugins have standalone versions so you don't need a DAW. DAWs are pretty complicated, but for just doing simple stuff on guitar... it's really not so hard. But if you just wanted to play without one... the standalone apps will let you do it. If you ever go the plugin route, I'd suggest the Neural DSP stuff because it is... really good. You can always try out one of their trials to see how you'd like it and to see how quick it is with a DAW.

For getting decent pickups for that Jackson Performer (nice guitar btw) - I'd check out Reverb, I got a pair of used Seymour Duncans for less than 1/3 the price for both of them recently to chuck into that cheapo Ibanez I've modded. Significantly improved the hell out of the guitar.

And yeah... changing tunings on a Floyd style bridge is fucking miserable  - all that tuning, adjusting the claw, returning, readjusting the claw, etc. And if you want to get the intonation right, fuck me I hate doing the intonation on a Floyd. Takes absolute fucking ages. I've gotten good at restringing without needing to adjust anything on the guitar through lots of practice - but when I tune down I like to use thicker strings so the tension doesn't feel so weird, and that just makes everything significantly more annoying on a floating trem.

Having a hardtail bridge for different tunings is pretty great.

What'll you be replacing that 5150 with?

[Happy Blue]

9 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

A lot of the plugins have standalone versions so you don't need a DAW. DAWs are pretty complicated, but for just doing simple stuff on guitar... it's really not so hard. But if you just wanted to play without one... the standalone apps will let you do it. If you ever go the plugin route, I'd suggest the Neural DSP stuff because it is... really good. You can always try out one of their trials to see how you'd like it and to see how quick it is with a DAW.

For getting decent pickups for that Jackson Performer (nice guitar btw) - I'd check out Reverb, I got a pair of used Seymour Duncans for less than 1/3 the price for both of them recently to chuck into that cheapo Ibanez I've modded. Significantly improved the hell out of the guitar.

And yeah... changing tunings on a Floyd style bridge is fucking miserable  - all that tuning, adjusting the claw, returning, readjusting the claw, etc. And if you want to get the intonation right, fuck me I hate doing the intonation on a Floyd. Takes absolute fucking ages. I've gotten good at restringing without needing to adjust anything on the guitar through lots of practice - but when I tune down I like to use thicker strings so the tension doesn't feel so weird, and that just makes everything significantly more annoying on a floating trem.

Having a hardtail bridge for different tunings is pretty great.

What'll you be replacing that 5150 with?

Will have to look into them a bit more, my laptop's fucked so that's another problem  ..that's a good idea actually rather than buying new one's  that old guitar weighs a bastard ton too lol, they don't make them like they used too ..i could hardtail one of my floyd guitars but i'm using the bar more now. to tuned them i just block the bridge off with a pack of cards or something lol it seems to help then when it's somewhere near adjust the springs and fine tune

Should get around £400 for my 5150mh hopefully so something around that price point. would love a Mesa Boogie dual Rectifier but think that's bit overkill for a bedroom guitarist  ..i'm still keen on the Boss Katana head for all the on board effects it comes with and good sound at low sound levels. any suggestions at that price point? id be happy with a brutal tone and a few effects like delay, chorus 

Checkout a band call the Wildhearts, there songs need a few listens to fully get it but songs like Inglorious & Splitter are inspiring my playing right now, they do some awesome chord changes, it's just different and brutal in places 

[Dr. Gonzo]

47 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

Will have to look into them a bit more, my laptop's fucked so that's another problem  ..that's a good idea actually rather than buying new one's  that old guitar weighs a bastard ton too lol, they don't make them like they used too ..i could hardtail one of my floyd guitars but i'm using the bar more now. to tuned them i just block the bridge off with a pack of cards or something lol it seems to help then when it's somewhere near adjust the springs and fine tune

Should get around £400 for my 5150mh hopefully so something around that price point. would love a Mesa Boogie dual Rectifier but think that's bit overkill for a bedroom guitarist  ..i'm still keen on the Boss Katana head for all the on board effects it comes with and good sound at low sound levels. any suggestions at that price point? id be happy with a brutal tone and a few effects like delay, chorus 

Checkout a band call the Wildhearts, there songs need a few listens to fully get it but songs like Inglorious & Splitter are inspiring my playing right now, they do some awesome chord changes, it's just different and brutal in places 

For a bedroom amp, the Katana’s probably one of the best around. I had one… I wasn’t too keen on he high gain tones tbh but it’s personal preference isn’t it?

If you can try one before buying, that’s always ideal. Also the software in those amps hooked up to a computer is where you can really get the most out of that thing.

For bedroom guitarists going digital there’s lots of great options from the little practice amps like the Katana/Spark/the little yellow Yamahas I can’t remember the name of. There’s those digital modelers you can hook up to speakers or headphones like my Mooer, also with amps & effects. And then there’s plug-ins, which imo the best ones of those are the best digital tones I’ve heard.

Thanks for the band recommendation, I’ll check them out!

[Happy Blue]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

For a bedroom amp, the Katana’s probably one of the best around. I had one… I wasn’t too keen on he high gain tones tbh but it’s personal preference isn’t it?

If you can try one before buying, that’s always ideal. Also the software in those amps hooked up to a computer is where you can really get the most out of that thing.

For bedroom guitarists going digital there’s lots of great options from the little practice amps like the Katana/Spark/the little yellow Yamahas I can’t remember the name of. There’s those digital modelers you can hook up to speakers or headphones like my Mooer, also with amps & effects. And then there’s plug-ins, which imo the best ones of those are the best digital tones I’ve heard.

Thanks for the band recommendation, I’ll check them out!

 

Might just get a mini head with a good clean channel and build a pedal board  maybe get some Hesus Demon speakers for my cab or vintage 30's and go that route ..that mooer sounds interesting, will have a look at that cheers

 

From how it starts you wont expect the change, it's one of them you can bounce around playing and kick the door off  it slams!!!

[Dr. Gonzo]

11 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

 

Might just get a mini head with a good clean channel and build a pedal board  maybe get some Hesus Demon speakers for my cab or vintage 30's and go that route ..that mooer sounds interesting, will have a look at that cheers

 

From how it starts you wont expect the change, it's one of them you can bounce around playing and kick the door off  it slams!!!

What cab do you have right now? Is it the Peavey one?

If so, that thing's well made... just those Sheffield speakers are not that great. Putting some vintage 30s in that will go a long way to making it sound good - I think that's probably a much cheaper option than the Hesu cabs. Having said that... Hesu cabs are fucking nice.

If you go with a pedalboard or modelers, rather than a full on clean amp... maybe look into getting yourself a decent power-amp. For bedroom playing I'd probably go with some sort of Class D solid state (cos valves are great... but they sound best when things are fucking loud) - with a pedalboard you'd probably want one or two preamp pedals. With a modeler, you'd just go straight into the power amp, then have that go to your cab... just make sure you turn the modeler's cab sim off! You could also just get a modeler going into studio monitor speakers or headphones too - but with that you'd want the cab sim turned on (and if you go that route, the PreSonus Eris are some good cheap speakers that'll sound great).

If it were me, I'd go the modeler route because modern day modelers are pretty incredible in terms of sounding good and having convenience. I do love valve amps and there's something about playing through them that is just... nice. But they sound best at volumes that are going to piss people off if you're at home 

If you do look into modelers, there's a lot to consider - I've owned a few so I can give you my thoughts on some.

• There's the TOP TIER shit: Kemper, AxeFx, Neural DSP Cortex
  • I can't comment on any of these because I've never owned or tried them. But Kemper and AxeFX are used by touring artists for even big bands now... so my guess would be they're really good. And they better be, because the price for them is absolutely outrageous 
• Line6 Helix Line: I had a Helix LT before some dickhead stole it. Fantastic sounds and it had a wonderful UI compared to a lot of other modelers.
  • The LT is something like 500 quid cheaper than the full one, which is why I went with that
  • There's the HX Stomp and HX Stomp XL - these are much smaller units with almost as much functionality and processing power as the full sized one and 
• Line6 PodGo: This is like a very stripped down Helix - it's got a lot less processing power, but it's a lot cheaper - and with more switches (which is nice imo - I'd use switches more with my Mooer if I had more than 3 ) than the full sized and a bit cheaper than the HX Stomp
  • If you don't use too many effects - which I don't, most of the time... I think this could be a good option.
• Mooer's GE line
  • The 300/300 Lite are really good competitors to the Helix line - a lot of processing power and a lot of features
  • All the models from 150-300 have EXCELLENT amp modeling and a good number of amps.
  • Most of the EFX sims are really good... some of them are a bit shit
  • Cab models are the same - some are brilliant, some aren't
    • This doesn't matter so much if you're planning on using it mostly with an actual cabinet cos you'll have the cab sim turned off
  • Mooer does after-market updates, but not as often (or as well) as Line6 does
  • The editting software is ugly... but it's also really easy to use
  • These things are just generally easy as fuck to use - software or no software
• Headrush Series
  • I like that all of these models have the same processing power and software
  • No computer editing - it's all done with the touchscreen or with your feet
    • If you don't like fucking around tweaking parameters on a computer, this can be a plus - I know some people don't
    • For me, I'm in the camp that believes it's a lot quicker to make the edits on the computer
  • Excellent amp models (limited selection, but they do a great job) - I don't like the way the EFX sound on it though
• Boss GT-1000 Series
  • These have the best EFX modeling of all the models - which isn't surprising cos... it's Boss
  • Limited amp choice, but some of them are really good
    • The biggest con though is they all sound best with Boss's cab sims & they don't play that nicely with 3rd party IR (cab sim) files - whereas other modelers generally sound much better when you load in other cab sims... I thought it was weird and that's why I ended up returning it

There's other brands out there like Zoom, Joyo, Hotone that all have their own modelers out - I hear they're close to Mooers in terms of sound/quality... and the Hotone ones look pretty interesting to me. I'd probably never get a Zoom product because I've had some bad experiences with them.

For bedroom playing, I'd probably be looking at the Helix stuff or the Mooers. They're easy to use and sound good. The top of the line stuff is probably the best, but it's also insanely expensive and it all looks very complicated... too complicated for me 

One cool thing about modelers is you can have them run into your computer as an interface, or use them with headphones and speakers & get that mic'd up recorded amp sort of tone... or you can have them run into a power amp or your amp's FX loop's return to have them go through a cabinet to give you that in the room with the amp tone.

[Happy Blue]

19 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

What cab do you have right now? Is it the Peavey one?

If so, that thing's well made... just those Sheffield speakers are not that great. Putting some vintage 30s in that will go a long way to making it sound good - I think that's probably a much cheaper option than the Hesu cabs. Having said that... Hesu cabs are fucking nice.

If you go with a pedalboard or modelers, rather than a full on clean amp... maybe look into getting yourself a decent power-amp. For bedroom playing I'd probably go with some sort of Class D solid state (cos valves are great... but they sound best when things are fucking loud) - with a pedalboard you'd probably want one or two preamp pedals. With a modeler, you'd just go straight into the power amp, then have that go to your cab... just make sure you turn the modeler's cab sim off! You could also just get a modeler going into studio monitor speakers or headphones too - but with that you'd want the cab sim turned on (and if you go that route, the PreSonus Eris are some good cheap speakers that'll sound great).

If it were me, I'd go the modeler route because modern day modelers are pretty incredible in terms of sounding good and having convenience. I do love valve amps and there's something about playing through them that is just... nice. But they sound best at volumes that are going to piss people off if you're at home 

If you do look into modelers, there's a lot to consider - I've owned a few so I can give you my thoughts on some.

• There's the TOP TIER shit: Kemper, AxeFx, Neural DSP Cortex
  • I can't comment on any of these because I've never owned or tried them. But Kemper and AxeFX are used by touring artists for even big bands now... so my guess would be they're really good. And they better be, because the price for them is absolutely outrageous 
• Line6 Helix Line: I had a Helix LT before some dickhead stole it. Fantastic sounds and it had a wonderful UI compared to a lot of other modelers.
  • The LT is something like 500 quid cheaper than the full one, which is why I went with that
  • There's the HX Stomp and HX Stomp XL - these are much smaller units with almost as much functionality and processing power as the full sized one and 
• Line6 PodGo: This is like a very stripped down Helix - it's got a lot less processing power, but it's a lot cheaper - and with more switches (which is nice imo - I'd use switches more with my Mooer if I had more than 3 ) than the full sized and a bit cheaper than the HX Stomp
  • If you don't use too many effects - which I don't, most of the time... I think this could be a good option.
• Mooer's GE line
  • The 300/300 Lite are really good competitors to the Helix line - a lot of processing power and a lot of features
  • All the models from 150-300 have EXCELLENT amp modeling and a good number of amps.
  • Most of the EFX sims are really good... some of them are a bit shit
  • Cab models are the same - some are brilliant, some aren't
    • This doesn't matter so much if you're planning on using it mostly with an actual cabinet cos you'll have the cab sim turned off
  • Mooer does after-market updates, but not as often (or as well) as Line6 does
  • The editting software is ugly... but it's also really easy to use
  • These things are just generally easy as fuck to use - software or no software
• Headrush Series
  • I like that all of these models have the same processing power and software
  • No computer editing - it's all done with the touchscreen or with your feet
    • If you don't like fucking around tweaking parameters on a computer, this can be a plus - I know some people don't
    • For me, I'm in the camp that believes it's a lot quicker to make the edits on the computer
  • Excellent amp models (limited selection, but they do a great job) - I don't like the way the EFX sound on it though
• Boss GT-1000 Series
  • These have the best EFX modeling of all the models - which isn't surprising cos... it's Boss
  • Limited amp choice, but some of them are really good
    • The biggest con though is they all sound best with Boss's cab sims & they don't play that nicely with 3rd party IR (cab sim) files - whereas other modelers generally sound much better when you load in other cab sims... I thought it was weird and that's why I ended up returning it

There's other brands out there like Zoom, Joyo, Hotone that all have their own modelers out - I hear they're close to Mooers in terms of sound/quality... and the Hotone ones look pretty interesting to me. I'd probably never get a Zoom product because I've had some bad experiences with them.

For bedroom playing, I'd probably be looking at the Helix stuff or the Mooers. They're easy to use and sound good. The top of the line stuff is probably the best, but it's also insanely expensive and it all looks very complicated... too complicated for me 

One cool thing about modelers is you can have them run into your computer as an interface, or use them with headphones and speakers & get that mic'd up recorded amp sort of tone... or you can have them run into a power amp or your amp's FX loop's return to have them go through a cabinet to give you that in the room with the amp tone.

My cab is a Laney 2x12 with 2 eminence governor speakers here's a pic ..I do like the Helix and dont see why line 6 gets so much shit, think my 75watt line 6 amp sounds better than my 5150 think its just snobbery with some people

Cheers for all the info

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

My cab is a Laney 2x12 with 2 eminence governor speakers here's a pic ..I do like the Helix and dont see why line 6 gets so much shit, think my 75watt line 6 amp sounds better than my 5150 think its just snobbery with some people

Cheers for all the info

 

That’s a nice cab with nice speakers… I’d be inclined to keep that if it was me.

Yeah you really can’t go wrong with a Helix.

I think Line 6 gets a lot of shit because they sort of pioneered amp modeling and back in the day it was pretty shit. And the old Line 6 spiders didn’t use regular guitar speakers so some people really hated them too. Imo they always made great effects models though, even if the amps were not always the best.

I think it’s stupid though to hate them for trying to pioneer new tech in the guitar world… because they’ve very clearly come a long way. And they were always constantly improving (and they still are, the Helix gets updates all the time)

They make tons of great gear and the Helix stuff competes well against some of those top tier options like Kemper/AxeFx according to reviews.

And it’s so easy to use compared to every other modeler I’ve ever tried.

[Happy Blue]

40 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

That’s a nice cab with nice speakers… I’d be inclined to keep that if it was me.

Yeah you really can’t go wrong with a Helix.

I think Line 6 gets a lot of shit because they sort of pioneered amp modeling and back in the day it was pretty shit. And the old Line 6 spiders didn’t use regular guitar speakers so some people really hated them too. Imo they always made great effects models though, even if the amps were not always the best.

I think it’s stupid though to hate them for trying to pioneer new tech in the guitar world… because they’ve very clearly come a long way. And they were always constantly improving (and they still are, the Helix gets updates all the time)

They make tons of great gear and the Helix stuff competes well against some of those top tier options like Kemper/AxeFx according to reviews.

And it’s so easy to use compared to every other modeler I’ve ever tried.

Them Helix are still crazy expensive, just looked lol  ..but i found this  for a bedroom death metal guitarist, what do you think mate? 

 

[Happy Blue]

This is a better demo for metal with Ola, think i like it 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Them Helix are still crazy expensive, just looked lol  ..but i found this  for a bedroom death metal guitarist, what do you think mate? 

 

Yeah that was on my list too under the Line 6 stuff, wasn't it?

I think that's a good option. I've got the Mooer GE200 which is even more basic & I like it just fine. I think for most guitarists something like the PodGo would be fine, even outside the bedroom... I know people who gig with their PodGo.

If you wanted the more advanced routing and higher processing power of a Helix, there's also the HX stomp which is around the price of the PodGo I believe. I thought about getting one of them at some point in time during the pandemic... but I decided as long as my Mooer is working I'll keep using that when I want to use a modeler.

But between the two, I think I would personally lean towards the PodGo because I don't use all that many effects, I like that it has a full sized expression pedal (the one on my Mooer is an absolute fucking joke mate, it's meant for someone that's got the feet of a fucking baby) and lots of switches. So what it lacks in processing power compared to the PodGo... it does make up for in being more practicable and to make certain changes a lot quicker than the smallest Helix.

I think you'd be very happy with it. And if you end up getting one (or any modeler) - I'll send you some IR files so you've got some nice cab sims to play around with ; the ones that come with any modeler nowadays I think are all gonna be pretty decent... but they can require a lot of tweaking and messing around with to get right and if you're like me... you don't know all that much about micing up a cabinet that much, so the settings can be pretty fucking confusing. Loading in your own IR files takes a lot of that work out and gets you some high quality cab tones for you to mess about with the amp sims.

But if you're using that cabinet (and why wouldn't you), I think just plugging that into the FX return of your 5150 or into an amp powerhead and turning off the cab sim would also work out pretty fucking nicely for you.

I've just seen that the price of all of this shit has gone up so much since the last time I've looked 

[Happy Blue]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah that was on my list too under the Line 6 stuff, wasn't it?

I think that's a good option. I've got the Mooer GE200 which is even more basic & I like it just fine. I think for most guitarists something like the PodGo would be fine, even outside the bedroom... I know people who gig with their PodGo.

If you wanted the more advanced routing and higher processing power of a Helix, there's also the HX stomp which is around the price of the PodGo I believe. I thought about getting one of them at some point in time during the pandemic... but I decided as long as my Mooer is working I'll keep using that when I want to use a modeler.

But between the two, I think I would personally lean towards the PodGo because I don't use all that many effects, I like that it has a full sized expression pedal (the one on my Mooer is an absolute fucking joke mate, it's meant for someone that's got the feet of a fucking baby) and lots of switches. So what it lacks in processing power compared to the PodGo... it does make up for in being more practicable and to make certain changes a lot quicker than the smallest Helix.

I think you'd be very happy with it. And if you end up getting one (or any modeler) - I'll send you some IR files so you've got some nice cab sims to play around with ; the ones that come with any modeler nowadays I think are all gonna be pretty decent... but they can require a lot of tweaking and messing around with to get right and if you're like me... you don't know all that much about micing up a cabinet that much, so the settings can be pretty fucking confusing. Loading in your own IR files takes a lot of that work out and gets you some high quality cab tones for you to mess about with the amp sims.

But if you're using that cabinet (and why wouldn't you), I think just plugging that into the FX return of your 5150 or into an amp powerhead and turning off the cab sim would also work out pretty fucking nicely for you.

I've just seen that the price of all of this shit has gone up so much since the last time I've looked 

Yeah if i go for one of them id just use it like a pedal board in my amps effect loop on the cleanish channel but id be able to down load, change and make my own tones with it so it's more versatile than buying separate pedals and works out cheaper and i can use it with my pc speakers too, kind of best of both worlds. you are right, the Helix is like £1200 now  just too much for a bedroom player

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

Yeah if i go for one of them id just use it like a pedal board in my amps effect loop on the cleanish channel but id be able to down load, change and make my own tones with it so it's more versatile than buying separate pedals and works out cheaper and i can use it with my pc speakers too, kind of best of both worlds. you are right, the Helix is like £1200 now  just too much for a bedroom player

Yeah just make sure when you run it through the fx return, you've got the cab sim turned off because otherwise it sounds really shite (first time I encountered that I actually laughed at how shit it sounded).

But yeah, I really like modelers - even though some valve purists really fucking hate them because "they're not real amps, it's not the same!" Yeah, it's not the same... but they've come really close. And they allow people to have shitloads of amps, effects, and cabinets... but it all fits in one unit. It's just so convenient - from messing around with it on your bedroom to actually gigging, which is why so many artists nowadays don't even tour with a traditional full rig (although many do).

Fucking hell that's like twice the price of a Helix here 

Honestly, for a bedroom player that PodGo is pretty ideal. It's got limitations, but they're not really serious limitations that someone just wanting good tone around their house is really going to need to worry about. And it's not like my Mooer GE200, or the GE150, or the other Helix Stomp, or the smaller Headrush boards... where they sound great, but you don't have the flexibility of having more than 3 switches. And the expression pedal on the PodGo is actually usable unlike the one I've got on my Mooer which just feels like they put it there to say "look, it comes with an expression pedal too."

[Happy Blue]

It looks like a good option doesn't it?  ..i might even like my 5150 with the distortion coming from the pod lol, think it's £375 here from Anderton's. when you think my maxon overdrive pedal was about £170 on it's own it looks a decent deal ha. defo something to think about and like you say, plenty for what i want it for

[Dr. Gonzo]

If you end up getting one I might get one just so we can share presets 

[Mel81x+]

13 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

This is a better demo for metal with Ola, think i like it 

 

This man really puts gear through its pace. Nice that you're getting a modeller, its going to really give you so many options.

[Mel81x+]

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

If you end up getting one I might get one just so we can share presets 

Put an AirTag in it so if you lose it you can track the bastard that stole it.

[Mel81x+]

14 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Them Helix are still crazy expensive, just looked lol  ..but i found this  for a bedroom death metal guitarist, what do you think mate? 

 

I know someone that has this and its really quite the piece of kit. I think its a little too much for me personally but where Line 6 has been better than the BOSS I have is that interface and easy of use. My personal favorite is still the Neural (Quad Cortex) just because it literally copies pedals if you need it to but even the older Boss pedals with the small pedals (i cant remember their names) are superb and give you some classic boss tones like Metal (not a fan favorite I know) and the distortion DS-1 or the overdrive (OD-3).

[Happy Blue]

7 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

If you end up getting one I might get one just so we can share presets 

We both like a brutal tone so that's not a bad idea  

[Happy Blue]

2 hours ago, Mel81x said:

I know someone that has this and its really quite the piece of kit. I think its a little too much for me personally but where Line 6 has been better than the BOSS I have is that interface and easy of use. My personal favorite is still the Neural (Quad Cortex) just because it literally copies pedals if you need it to but even the older Boss pedals with the small pedals (i cant remember their names) are superb and give you some classic boss tones like Metal (not a fan favorite I know) and the distortion DS-1 or the overdrive (OD-3).

I'm leaning towards one of these, thanks for your input ..yeah, I used the boss pedals back in the day, the orange distortion pedal was my favourite. got a few pedals now, I have a doubler pedal which is cool, it doubles your signal upto 3 times so its like 4 guitars playing and you can link amps with it to play in stereo 

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Put an AirTag in it so if you lose it you can track the bastard that stole it.

Genius

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 hours ago, Mel81x said:

I know someone that has this and its really quite the piece of kit. I think its a little too much for me personally but where Line 6 has been better than the BOSS I have is that interface and easy of use. My personal favorite is still the Neural (Quad Cortex) just because it literally copies pedals if you need it to but even the older Boss pedals with the small pedals (i cant remember their names) are superb and give you some classic boss tones like Metal (not a fan favorite I know) and the distortion DS-1 or the overdrive (OD-3).

The Quad Cortex is so cool. I think the Kemper can also make profiles from amps and pedals you also hook up to it.

I don’t really need anything like that… but I think it’s so cool

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Happy Blue if you did want to go with something cheaper than the PodGo... here's what I've got, with a demo by Ola too:

 

[Happy Blue]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Happy Blue if you did want to go with something cheaper than the PodGo... here's what I've got, with a demo by Ola too:

 

Cool  will watch that now, cheers 

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Happy Blue after we started talking about modelers I've been messing around with mine more and more over the weekend and the past few days and I'm sorry to say... even if you get the PodGo, I'll probably be sticking with my GE200 until it craps out on me.

I think there's a lot of things I like about the PodGo more - the UI is better for sure (although the Mooer is fantastically simple as well), but probably the biggest thing for me is you get the Helix's snapshot mode... and that's just very useful. Plus the extra switches making it more practical.

... but I don't really need those things for what I use my Mooer for - I've got 3 tones I use for jamming (clean, crunchy rhythm, lead) with the CTRL button assigned to add one or more effects to each of those patches. And all my other patches are me trying to copy tones of songs I'm learning mostly, or me experimenting making new sounds with different amps and pedals to what I normally use in my 3 main patches. So while the PodGo definitely has more flexibility... I've found a way to make the GE200 usable for me in situations where I'd be relying on the footswitch.

Although I will say having the tuner just be one of the footswitches on the PodGo is something I wish Mooer used - pushing 2 buttons to activate the tuner with your feet at the same time is hard as fuck and I almost always just bend down and use my hand 

I've also had the thing for a while and it's received some serious updates that have made the thing way better (for example, I think the tone in that Ola video is quite good - but they've actually improved the sound quality of the amp models since then pretty substantially). And they've added the Mooer studio community that lets people upload their patches.

Also @Mel81x... did you know Mooer has it's own way of making profiles of amps/effects (and even instruments, somehow ) similar to the QuadCortex & Kemper profilers! It's called "Tone Capture" - my modeler doesn't have this feature unfortunately (it's on the GE250, 300, and 300 Lite - plus a few of their other pedals, including one that's just a "tone capture" pedal)... but the latest update does allow me to download amps/effects people have captured and upload them onto my unit. So I tried a few of them out and... gotta say... it is pretty cool benig able to download amps I would never be able to afford and have them on my cheapo little modeler!

So I think I've successfully managed to fight off the itch to buy new gear and I've got a sort of new appreciation for my GE200. Really great piece of kit for the money.

[Mel81x+]

11 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

nd they've added the Mooer studio community that lets people upload their patches.

Also @Mel81x... did you know Mooer has it's own way of making profiles of amps/effects (and even instruments, somehow ) similar to the QuadCortex & Kemper profilers! It's called "Tone Capture" - my modeler doesn't have this feature unfortunately (it's on the GE250, 300, and 300 Lite - plus a few of their other pedals, including one that's just a "tone capture" pedal)... but the latest update does allow me to download amps/effects people have captured and upload them onto my unit. So I tried a few of them out and... gotta say... it is pretty cool benig able to download amps I would never be able to afford and have them on my cheapo little modeler!

So I think I've successfully managed to fight off the itch to buy new gear and I've got a sort of new appreciation for my GE200. Really great piece of kit for the money.

Nice. The fact that more builders are putting these in their tools is a good thing. The only question now is how good the quality is although if you get close to whatever peddle you're mimicking who really cares. I have started learning how to pedal shift a lot these days. It's quite hard when you have to go from one tone to the other and you get no way to actually decrease the volume of what you're playing. I have new found respect for folks who can switch and change the mode settings in real-time on stage what a skill.