The problem with amp emulations is, they don't make the floor shake, unless your studio monitors are a whole lot better than mine.

As a Bass player who’s been beaten viciously by Glenn for years this masochistic relationship is really paying off !!!!! Keep calling us lazy cunts and dumbasses as long as you keep coming up with sweet gear and tips on how to get MONSTER mixes.😊

I downloaded Reaper 3 days ago, figured out how to hook up my Scarlett, got sound, added a amp sim and recorded a track for the very first time. As a tube amp tech I am blown away at how good they sound and it's inspired me to play everyday now as a quick plug and play amp option. I have a lot to learn but I had to start somewhere, thanks Glenn.

Glenn, I don’t listen to metal a lot (like .1% of my music on my phone), but I really dig your channel. I finally subscribed. I appreciate all the tips and tricks for recording and really enjoy your features of various budget, but awesome guitars. Hope to see you feature a lot more. Keep being awesome, brother

In 23 years of guitar playing its pretty mind blowing how simple things have become not just to record guitars, but also the easy of having great tone is crazy. i can remember having to buy 1000 or 2000 dollar amp heads,cabs and pedels to have some what of a good sound. What a tIme to be a guitar player it is.

The bass tone and riff in this video is exactly what we need to contain the 'Loomis Riff Singularity'. Because when the Riff Of Singularity (ROS) is played .... there is no returning ... no "un-hearing". The eternal Mosh Pit will be released into this realm and then things will get very sassy ... very rapidly!

I became a believer in amp sims when I HAD to use Garageband to record for a short period of time, and the amp sim in Garageband gave me some great tones. I didn't want it to be true. But sometimes shit is just true. Real amps are more fun FOR ME, but amp sims have become a really legit tool for creating music.

I don't want anyone taking credit for my own tone. Back in the day, we used to throw pedals, amps, gear, and mics together to see what it would sound like. Who even does that now? Creating an original tone requires this old-school technique. I'm tired of hearing the same tone for most mixes. Creating your own tone is half the fun for someone like myself.

Soldano in a trash can is pure heresy, not to mention sacrilegious! Come and take it! ….from my cold dead hand! 🤣🤣🤣

I still use tube amps and analog equipment. It's the only way to establish a unique sound. Software and modelers, in my opinion, are the culprit for the fact everybody sounds the same now and just are derivatives of each other. The software all sounds so good now that they just throw on a factory preset and they don't have to further tweak it. It's just an instant, convenient good tone. Tube amps you need to spend a lot more time with. You may need to buy extra pedals like an EQ or boost to dial it in further and really narrow down a good tone. Once you find a good tone, then you set of on the mission to find an even better one. It's a never-ending thing, chasing tones but you don't really have to do that anymore with software. Great tones are just loaded right in it. Nothing beats a good tube amp tone though and nothing could change my mind on that. There's something highly organic about it that still cannot be replicated by software and I don't think ever will be replicated 100%. Tube amps and their analog equipment is what made players of the past sound so unique from each other. You could tell players apart just from their guitar tone alone, instantly recognizable tones. Now it's like everybody sounds the same, very few can you tell apart with their tones and even then, it's very small. That's what modelers and software has killed off and that's one of the things I really miss with modern music. No longer sounds organic, it sounds completely computerized and digital and overproduced and then because mixes are far too loud now, it gets compressed and squashed down even further to nothing and the instruments just sound flat and lifeless. I would love nothing more than if we went back to how we recorded music back in the 90's and early 00's. That was the peak of organic guitar tones and recording music.

Hey Glenn. Regarding throwing away amps and whatnot...I could never do it. I play VSTs and plugins every, single , day. Love em. What a time to be alive. Tonally, it's all the same. In fact, plugins are wayyyy more convenient for recording and whatnot. But the joy I feel when standing in front of my tube amps and cab, in person, is a sensation I absolutely cherish. That's a matter of preference and I keep tube amps like my Engl and Marshall or Orange just for those moments. Love how they respond to pedals and to the touch. But once again, tonally, the listener, will likely not know the difference. And I'm terms of feasibility and versatility, the big tube amps pale in comparison to Axe FX or QC and whatnot. End of the day if I'm recording, it'll be the VSTs anyday 😅

I've avoided guitar software mostly. I use one for bass but still mix it with my amp. I enjoy the process of trying to get a good sound with a mic. I feel like I'm missing learning something if I take the easy route. I'd rather get a feeling of accomplishment with a guitar sound even if it's not as perfect as it could be. I want the guitars to be me, flaws and all.

I haven't gotten totally away from amps, but I have modernized. My rig now consist of a Helix board going into a Thomas Blug Amp 1 Iridium with the foot controller. It's a 100w tube powered amp the size of an EHX multi-effects pedal. 4 channels, effects loop, full tone sections, the works. Fits right on the board. That all goes into a EVH 2x12 cab. Wireless into the Helix, one patch cable between the Helix and the amp, one speaker cable. The cab is on air filled castors so it becomes the cart when moving. With Reaper on my PC and going into the Helix, I have basically a studio setup wherever I want. And it's not just amp plug-ins. There are some fantastic drum programs. I am using the ujam virtual drummer and it is so easy to use and sound great. No, not as good as having a real drummer. But for song writing and demo, it's perfect. It's how I present an idea to my bandmates. And it doesn't argue and get drunk like a real drummer does!

I just started a livestreaming improvised looping music project where we're using amp sims on two guitars and a bass for two main reasons. First reason is the wide range of sounds and tones we can get without having to physically switch out amps. The second reason is having a direct signal which, combined with other factors, allows us to have zero stage volume as far as any practical purposes are concerned. There's still some people who talk smack on amp sims, but I converted a 60 year old tube amp snob when he did a livestream with me. He said, "You can even feel the cabinet!" Amp sims these days are so badass. Literally limitless options with a great sound

The best thing about amp sims is that they allow you to effortlessly sound exactly like everyone else.

For years, I was chasing the amp in the room sound... But when I thought about my favorite music, I didn't hear the amp in the room... The iconic rifts that made me pick up a guitar, well those I discovered while listening to the radio or through my headphones or at the bar through a PA system and they were amps and cabinets captured by a microphone running thru a pre amp into a mixing board and heavily eq'd... I've recently sold most of my actual amps and invested in some modeling hardware and powered fr cabinets that allow me to have adequate stage volume in contrast with the bass and drums, etc. I've never been happier! My work flow is simple and I can either clone someone else's tone to a T or create my own.... what a time to be playing instruments

Sometimes it is not the sound, it is also the feeling - as you've told us many many times. I play with board-ai-headphones/monitors, but real amp is real amp. It might even sound worse, huge hum and screech, but that 100w blowing air is just something that I miss (no amps now).

Damn Glenn, you have really gotten much better at guitar.

Someone has been practicing. When the engineer practices more than most his clients 🤦

I wonder how it would cut against older sims, say Amplitube 3 or so. I had bandmates mistake it for my plexi. I admit I used an own preset. And no, I'm not going to test it. I'm not even sure Amplitube 3 would run on Sonoma. The worst thing to happen to amplifiers, happened a long time ago already. And even then I think tube amplifiers will not go away. The psychology of having a half- or full stack behind you is quite powerful. But so is having your studio sound in the rehearsalroom or on stage. 😇 In fact, I think the worst thing to happen to amplifiers was ToneX. This plugin sounds great btw. No complaints there. And I love to see how your playing progresses!

Hey Glenn, your content is golden. I really appreciate that. On the subject, the stupid-proof presets world is a double edged weapon as instead of trying to figure out how things work, the great majority of players just want presets, and not the knowledge of how to set it right. At the end of the day, it has its toll like everyone is sounding like everyone else. Also, if the fundamental knowledge of setting a tone is missing, then a serious chunk of the knowledge of sounding good is missing. Especially in live environment, that can make quite a difference. On amps, the modelling vs real gear paradigm has shifted long ago. But no modelling would exist without the real stuff. I think it is a balanced solution to discover a favourite digital amp model and use it whenever it is practical, and after a time get that particular real amp to support companies that are still making them. There are wonderful solutions now'days, for example a 20W JCM800 mini and a suitable 1x12" cab would even fit in a bedroom.

Glenn, love your channel! I am not a metal player but I have the utmost respect for the genre and the incredible players it has produced. I find that with software modelers/profilers there are a plethora of models for the metal player. Not as many models that accurately produce vintage Fenders, AC30's. Matchless, and Dumble. I can appreciate not having to worry about miking an amp and even better not having to haul to it to a gig. But perhaps because I am nostalgic or because my ear is still telling me, for a classic blues rock player my amp sounds significantly better. I bought my first guitar amp in 1976 - Old guy.

It’s a great time to be alive. Started playing less then a year ago and so many tools to sound good, which is so encouraging and really keeps you interested. I mean you can sound like any of your hero’s right away

Hi glenn your videos are amazing and reliable! I wanted to request if you could do a blind A/B comparison between a real tube amp and an amp sim of that amp or the modelled version of it on modellers like axefx or quad cortex. These days most reviewers don't make accurate comparisons but I have seen you give the realest advice so it would be awesome for guitarists who are looking for a good rig without wasting money

Glennnnn.... (or anyone else)! In my opinion nearly all of your demos of different amp sims and amps sound good when put "into the mix", which makes it kind of hard to make "objective" decisions on what would be the best amp solution for me. I am not sure if Glenn has showed the "setup" for his guitar mixes in some video, but it would be REALLY interesting to know some basics: 1. How many guitar tracks are there? 2. How are the tracks panned? 3. What is the EQ setup for each guitar track/guitar bus? 4. Is there some other processing going on for the tracks (or some pre-processing before the signal hits the DAW)? Obviously there is at least mastering processing, but is there anything that has been "added" to the guitar tracks/bus.

I thought I was the only guy who learned how to play the tracks on the Spinal Tap soundtrack. Living in a Hell Hole; nicely done, sir.

It's pretty impressive that you can get amp Sims that sound very, very good. The only real drawback with an amp sim, is that in terms of digital accessibility, they're just not their. As a blind guitar player, the advantage you have with a physical amplifier is that everything you can feel and adjust. On the software side of things, not every developer takes the time to make their stuff accessible. I've tried playing around with stuff like the torpedo cab clone and that was not accessible whatsoever. Maybe as time goes on, developers will work on their digital accessibility to make them inclusive.

Here's the thing about VST amps though...and I absolutely love them... Without dragging your laptop and a bunch of MIDI gear to the gig, how do you replicate the sound live? I spend a lot of time in the studio with my clients dialing in their live sound, and then setting up a VST setup that will replicate THAT. But when I'm working on my own stuff, I'm balls deep in Neural and ML Sound Lab stuff, then I have to try to cobble together something that sounds like it out of amps and pedals (mostly pedals, let's be honest). What do you think is a good work flow for a band sound that puts time into constructing a massive recorded sound then has to replicate that tone on stage?

As much as I love your videos, I just have to say, there's one message I wish you pushed more but it goes against all of these amp Sims you talk about. That message is, instrument players should do what they can to get better at their instrument. Every amp Sim you've featured, including your own IR, only allows the novice to get great recording tone instantly. What these simulations don't do is emulate the nuances that a real amp has, which showcase how badly one plays their instrument. Some context: I used to play through an original 5150. It was a gain monster, and covered up some of my sloppy playing. I currently play through a boutique Splawn Quickrod that handles more like a hot rod Marshall. It clearly picks up every move I make on the strings. Even with high gain, it will tell you when you are playing sloppy. That made me a better player by having to be more controlled on the fretboard. This is a key ingredient the current metal players lack. I know I'm being a gripe about new technology here, but I'd rather listen to Rickie Blackmore shred on an old amp, knowing he's just that good, over any new metal guitar player chugging on a high gain amp or amp Sim. Thinking like a producer, I'd rather the guitarist actually be an accurate guitar player.

The question that won't let me go recently: Some old productions like "Urban discipline", "When the storm comes down", "Powerslave", "Energetic disassembly" - whatever you might think of the style, they really appear to feature the instrument "bass" very prominently and clearly without even being that loud in the acoustic "bass" frequency range. Why is that rarely done in modern mixes? "Back then, the bass players practiced" and "it messes with compression expectations of radio stations" seem to be just too easy and convenient explanations, so what is the real difference there? And... why does "And justice for all", featuring no bass at all, still sound more akin to these productions than modern ones?

“Folks lend a hand in a HELL HOLE!!! Know where you stand in a HELL HOLE!!” Yeah Glenn! Not too many knew what that was, nice Nigel licks! 👏🎸🔥🥒

4:45 I saw that tiny skip in the video where you changed out your pickups, tubes, strings, AND went from mahogany to poplar body. Don't bullshit us! /s ✌💗🤘

I don't mic amps anymore, I either use Two Notes Torpedo digital loadbox or use Two Notes Revolt analog amp sim with their CAB M+ IR pedal, and go direct. Also easier for live, can't deal with lugging heavy amps up or down stairs and through the back hall and past the kitchen...

The reason I'm working exclusively with plugins: money. For 700 bucks I get one amp by a decent brand, for 200 one that produces sound. Throw in another 200 for a harley b cab and not counting the mics and stuff. With this money, I get a decent guitar and more plugins than I'll ever need to produce something of true value. (plus the flexibility: it's taking me one click to change the effects order. Try that hassle with a pedal board...)

Im surprised Glenn hasn't been jumped in public for talking about how software is good, and how tonewood means nothing. personally i dont use software because i enjoy amps, but the ones i have are all less than 120 bucks used. and i still get the sound i want with a few work arounds. if gearsnobs would leave the house once and awhile and interact with others who arent the delivery drivers for amazon or sweetwater, they might realize no one can tell the difference, or even cares in the first place. there are a lot more listeners who listen at low bitrates with no care for how high quality or amazing your tone is, they just want it to be palatable. Thanks Glenn.

I use amps for performance and personal enjoyment. I record everything using amp sims. They’ll never recreate the thrill of playing a loud tube amp through a 4x12. Won’t ever happen. But they make recording much more convenient and get a better tone than I’m likely to get with micing and amp. Also, I can record without disturbing anyone. I only crank the amps when no one is home or at band practice. I’ve gone down the modeler rabbit hole and they are fine and very convenient for gigging, but to me, it’s just missing the X factor and the thrill I get from playing though a real amp and a cabinet with decent volume.

Everyone who plays guitar or bass needs a small practice amp or 2 for taking to play with friends or when friends are over. The orange crush 12, the mono price 5w tube amp, the 20 amp joyo heads, or the 50w bass head, and a 1x12 for if you got a drummer friend too. Nothing too expensive. Nothing louder than you need for playing with friends.

My (hopefully near) future live rig will be tuner -> favourite distorsion pedals -> ToneX pedal loaded with the same IRs as I use when recording -> An FRFR-speaker as a monitor. I will line the output from the ToneX to the PA in parallel. So what's not to like about that? It saves my back as well. I'm older than Glenn for fucks sake so cut me some slack will ya! So I guess tube amps will be more and more like museum artefacts in the future. I mean who DOES NOT want to have the same tone as gotten in studio and have it all the time? WITHOUT EFFORT? What's not to love? This IS a fantastic time to play guitar! :)

I have to say that the sounds are pretty awesome here, both tone wise and control wise. Goota love that, right? For recording, this is awesome. For live, it is even more awesome, mostly because this can be like hauling a whole music store of amps and pedals with you and being able to switch between them on the fly (even mid song). The potential here is great. I was thinking that the AMP companies would be smart to start producing what I think of as "stage blocks", which are amps and cabinets intended to add or take away as little as possible from the actual sound. You know, loud but not distorted, with a wide, flat response curve, and modular, basically something to make your modeled sound loud enough for others to hear. I know in ear monitors are the way to go for the most part, but some people still like to have a loud stage where they can "feel" the music. For them, a powerful and flat response system will be an important part of maintaining the sound. Oh yeah, that and armored computers. You know people be dropping their laptops all the time. Rack mount computers to keep gear heads from slam dunking their PC every couple of shows would be good.

The problem I have with amps sims is actually with my DAW. I am using Cubase 5 and it is a long drawn-out process to print the amp sims to an audio track. Cubase 5 has the best midi roll screen setup of all of the DAWs I've ever used. I program right onto the roll screen instead of tapping in from a keyboard or a pad, that's why I need a good roll screen. I have Cubase 10 but I don't ever use it because they added an extra step to accessing the roll screen. On another note, I use ML Sound lab drums. ML drums are easy to install on 32 or 64-bit and, they sound great. I wasted 50 bucks on your drum set and never could get it to work. So I assigned it to the trash heap.

Sounds great Glenn! I can totally understand using the plug-in when recording. But, live I still prefer having my amps behind me. I guess I'm too old school to change. I miss seeing your stack of heads behind you. Maybe get a full sized poster of them to hang behind you😂 Keep up the great wotk!

The title is a bit misleading. Fun fact about amps: you don't have to log in, load software use external stuff to play. Just turn it on, plug in (maybe wait a sec for tubes to warm up) and play. I do like my plugins and amp sims but I love to play my micro tube amps. Maybe because I don't have vintage 30 loaded cabs but who knows.

Gleen, you just made me save a LOT of money since I started watching your project with SpectreSoundStudios channel. Thank you buddy

I got my first tube amp and could not get it dialed in. I learned that I would need more expensive pedals to get it to sound how I want. Looking at the cost of getting one single tone, I started looking at alternatives such as a Line 6 Helix or a software based solution. You can get a few tones for thousands of dollars, or all the tones for a thousand or less, without the struggle.

Man…Thank you for featuring this plugin!!! Now, pardon me while I go remove a couple dozen sims from my PC and see which licenses can be resold.

Why did this just pop up in my recommended? I don’t watch any content of this kind so it’s a bit weird but damn I’m happy that it did pop up cause this looks pretty sweet and this dude is an OG! This just gave me the motivation to dig up the old Stratocaster and make some sound for the first time in years - thanks for reminding me how awesome it is to play on this godly instrument.

I hate playing through sims, I don't like leaving my computer on while doing other things, so I just find my own tone through the amps and gear I own. I'd rather learn how to mic my rig when I rarely want to share something than have a sim I can always record all hours of the day that takes nothing to set up. It's completely preference here.

G’day Glenn. Sims are great for moving quickly when recording and getting a great sound that can sit straight into a mix. For playing live, there’s something about plugging into a tube amp that gets the blood pumping.

That edge of breakup sound didn't cut it. You need a low gain & less LP filtered preamp section for a good EOB sound. S-Gear is a great amp sim suite if you like more vintage sounds for not much more money.

I have a Fractal FXIII. It's not overselling it to say it's the single greatest invention for guitarists ever. We A/B it at my friend's music shop all the time, and either you can't tell or you pick the Fractal over the real amp, more likely. And it's actually FUN to play with, like a game, and NOT like the midi-related nightmares of real amps and pedals.

Saw Candlebox open for 3DD for their final 30 year anniversary goodbye shows. They had real amps and cabs on stage and they sounded legit, unbelievable! 3DD used Kemper Modelers through the PA and they sounded like crap.

I'm using only Amplitubes free guitar amps and got some Ampeg plugins for bass guitar. The results I'm getting are phenomenal. My recording setup is just an audio interface and my PC. that's it. I remember when we first tried amp sims with my first band 12 years ago. They sounded pretty crappy and the latency was horrible. In the last 3 years the amp sims became so good, that recording a real amp became obsolete. I'm just using my amps for practice and for gigs now.

As for me, I'll keep one Marshall, one Fender and one Vox. But as for recording I'll be using models or profiles and plugins for the most part. It's just quicker and easier than setting up and amp and mic. Will I go back and redo it with an amp? Maybe, if I'm not entirely happy with the sound. That will happen slightly more than recording on tape. So, not that often. The sims are pretty good, especially with a band and or in the context of a mix.

I'm biased toward tube amps simply because I have almost no experience with amp sim software. When almost none of my playing time goes into actual recording, I haven't yet had the need to take the plunge. I'm just a casual player who likes to jam out with enough power to make my guitar sustain a note forever, and tube amps excel for that. These days people complain about the volume of tube amps but I remember when rocking out meant playing above conversation volume levels. Also, the argument of having a bunch of tones doesn't appeal to me because after decades of tone-chasing I finally have the tone that I absolutely love and whatever I play is going to be with that tone. The downfall of it is when I do record, the tone I get during playback isn't even close to how the amp sounds to my ears. Adding a 2nd mic vastly improved my results but I'm still not there. I could drop a lot of loot on better mics, but then comes the issue of diminished returns - drop that much money on mics or use it to plunge into the amp sim pool... Hmmm. It's a good thing I don't record a lot at this point. That's a problem for another day, I guess.

The thu Marty Friedman plug-ins are KILLER. I use the mobile version through a Blackstar fly 3 with my i rig for jamming and recording on the go. It works really well. The actual software is even better

I've sold all my large amps with the last a Mesa MK V 90W. Have a couple of practice amps, but for the punch I'm going SIM/SolidState/Cab. I'm done with God awful heavy amps, expensive tubes, and outrageous repair costs (disgusting repair prices).

Hey Glenn could you do a video on recording with the Quad Cortex as an interface in Reaper?

I suck at short answers, but here goes. Every kind of preamp I try through different power sections ends up the same. Whether class A/B, straight class D, and EL84. whether digital, analog, or even tube preamp, the tube section wins. I say get a tube based power amp. KSR PA50, Mooer 20w Tube Engine, Mesa 2:90, whatevs. Then you can preamp it how you want, and it's like getting another cheap amp. I'm getting a Tonex eventually.

Oh wow Glenn, You've certainly advanced a LOT as a guitar player, the last couple of years. The stuff You are able to play now, is far more complicated than " The Eagle has landed ". I got My first amp in 1977. It was a second hand 20W Dynacord Amigo. The speaker(s) was whatever I could get My hands on......- sooooo I got to know the smell of burning coilcoating very well. In case You don't know : Speakers are powered by smoke, and when the smoke comes out, the speaker doesn't work anymore ! Back when the COCKBLOCKER came out You were talking about getting a Cockblocker tattoo. Have You forgotten all about that, or did You just decide that it wasn't a good idea after all ? In all fairness tattooes are not for everybody

These things are amazing. I can't quite work software because too much options gives me a brain freeze, so I still use my analogs, but once I'm done writing me and my guitarrist usually record strings in like 2 or 3 hours. It's SO practical.

Huh, this might get me to try recording/production again. 15 years ago I was the best and most creative I'd ever been as a guitarist and ready to get it all down, but I *hated* the whole recording and production process. It felt so slow and cumbersome and took all the fun out of making music for me. But just plugging into a computer and fiddling around is so much less involved than lugging around gear and recording amps. INTERESTED.

I prefer sims. I remember we used to hassle for half a day to get a good guitar tone and that was using really nice and expensive gear. If you told me I had to go back and find the exact same tone again using the same method I'm picturing myself scratching my eyeballs out of my skull in the desperation that would follow. Just the idea that I can change the speakers in a second, move the mic around with a mouse cursor and save the damn setting to be replicated at any time feels like magic. The only thing I miss is the more unorthodox trial and error that happened in the studio before sims. On one of my first records we actually ended up blending an SM57 on the cap edge with an AKG D112 we put behind the open back cabinet (we may have even tried putting it inside the cabinet). Blending them we got a way beefier sound. I havn't looked into it that much, but out of the five amp sims I currently own none of them let me do experiments like that.

Weird take that I've been hearing is, for studio go with plugins or whatever works, for live use real amps with real drums so no one gets lost in the mix. I've heard more and more people say that modelers live don't move air like a real amp.

As much as I love the technology, I still like plugging into a high wattage 2x12 or 4x12 and making the air around me move. The biggest advantage? The buy in. You don’t have to drop a couple grand just to “ find your sound”. You click a button and if it isn’t what you want, just click another.

here’s the thing, square waves all sound alike, that is all a heavily distorted guitar is, is a squared off wave. once you square them off all the subtle harmonics disappear

GLENN!!!!!!!!! Kick ass playing BTW. I just ordered Blobnarok. The time it takes me to get the tone I am looking for with AlpliTube 5. Two clicks on Blodnarok and I have what I'm looking for. Outstanding Glenn!!!!!

I have a ToneX and just bought a Marshall DSL20H. My problem with digital is my friends sounding the same.. there is no happy mistakes. I'm having a much better time with the Marshall head. But sure... I use IR for recording.

The amp sims are great these days, especially for recording, but I don't think the amp is going away anytime soon. Look at Tosin Abasi who's suddenly back to playing tube amps and even has a signature model out now. I directly chalk that up to touring with John Petrucci and Devon Townsend and rediscovering that certain, pantleg-flapping, something that only amps have. There's a tactile thing about an amp and a pedalboard; and as an audience member seeing a band without amps on stage has an "American Bandstand", playing to a track, damn near air guitar fakeness to it.

Putting a bass amp in a guitar plugin is a great move. Somebody diving into the plugin domain really only needs this to start writing metal.

After many years playing real amps, I decided to give a chance to IR and plug ins. They sound really good and they are easy to set up, but I feel that they don’t respond the same way as a real amp does when recording. Either they have less dynamic or a bit a of latency (even though a fairly decent M1 Mac). May way to go nowadays is recording on a real amp (monitoring in real time on my audio interface) with a DI (clean signal) channel. I can later reamp it with plugins, IR, my POD Go, real amps, and blend them to my like in the context of the mix.

Almost no one in the listening audience can tell and amp/cab sim from the real thing. I ditched mic'ing my cabs to record my amps straight in then I add the cab simulator from Two Notes Torpedo Wall of Sound softward. The set up sounds fantastic.

I stopped mic'ing amps a couple of years ago. Before that I went through a brief phrase of mixing mic'ed amps and plugins, then it realized I was just slowly phasing out the real amps, so I went straight plugins. For the hobbyist, it's not even a question as far a quality. However, I've never been all that particular about amps. I'm not much of a tone chaser. If it sounds great, I don't mess with it.

When I saved a bit of disposable income I am still getting a mesa mark V just to have one. Do I need it? heck no I am a bedroom guitarist and my Axe FX does everything I need, but its more of a collection thing.

I have many conversations with guitar friends about Amp sims, some were reluctant at first but the ears don’t lie! As a new guitarist it’s awesome to have all this at your fingertips as amps, pedals etc can be expensive experiments to find out that you just don’t like them! Long live amp sims! (Great channel by the way!)

I go the other way and build me different real 4x12s for getting metal sounds with my 6505+. For quick demos I use toontrack EZMix presets and Line 6 amp sims.

Amp Sims are convenient. If you are like me, living out of a hotel room for work most of the year, amp sims are great. I can record without disturbing the neighbors. That being said, I don't see tube amps going away any time soon. If I could, I would use one every time I record. There are things I can do with a real amps, like get feedback, that I just can't do with an amp sim.

VST, Amazing for us Amateurs, but It kills the Humanity in Music... Dynamics / Timbre.... Beauty is in Imperfection. Its not a struggle miking anything if you get it right at the source. VST for Guitar is like MIDI Drums SOULLESS. I love how ALL 🐐Artist loathe there Overproduced Albums...🍻🤘

There is no doubt that software is coming a long way. I find it very useful when it comes to recording quick song demos, videos, lessons and stuff. But I would never put a VST guitar amp on a record, not because it doesn't sound good, but because it will sound exactly like everybody else. We all ask ourselves why a lot of modern metal sounds so stale and boring, then we realise they are all using the same 8-string guitars, the same amp VSTs and the same drum machines. I'll take a cranked amp over a VST every time. The same exact amp recorded two times will sound entirely different because the variables are so many. That's how you get personality and uniqueness with the sound, and speaking for mysef, cranking a live amp is a lot more fun than plugging into a PC. You have often pointed out the fact that a lot of stuff these days is sounding exactly the same, so I'm sure you see what I mean. I'd love to hear your take on this. Cheers!

I have a Marshall DSL20 and 2x12 that sounds amazing, every OD and boost pedal known to man....but.......It hasnt been turned on in months because I don't gig and Im hooked on the Josh Middleton STL tones Rectifier and Lasse Lammert Diezel Herbert

I have tube amp with 4x12 Greenbacks for live shows and rehearsals, but I am not going to mic up the speaker for recording ever again.

Father - Marshall/Orange Son - Peavy/Mesa Adopted Son - Bass Amp Sounds about right

Definitely does not sound like an actual tube amp. I think it has a 'plastic' sound to it, a bit like early Amplitude or T-Rax stuff.

OK, today's challenges - 1) a decent AC30 sound from a plugin. Metal? No. Actually, recording an AC30 or maybe any open-back amp. 2) writing songs that aren't based on the drummers right foot. That said, I like Glenn's channel.

I had the Gorilla 110W version, as you said loud enough. Wife uses it as a table in her office now 30 years later. Got a Marshall Valvestate 100 combo about 27 years ago and have had no reason to change that since. I just want to plug in a go without having to turn on computer etc. I sound like me, not like everyone else who uses the same amp sim. Maybe I should change my pickups 😆

Hearing you run through an old spinal tap song put a smile on my face

I was on the fence on getting any amp sims for a very long time until I picked up the trials for the Neural DSP Parallax bass plugin and the Archetype: Nolly. It only took one day of tracking to make me buy them. Phenomenal plug ins if you can’t track live amps.

Is that some Spinal Tap I hear at the 9:40 mark?! Plugin sounds killer btw and it seems like more and more of them coming out do as well. Talking about good sounding plugins I picked up the Element and Singularity bundle, and I'm very much enjoying dialing in heavy bass tones again as I have always struggled in that regard. Thanks Glenn!!

Honest question from a very-old-school engineer who grew up on 2" tape and loves to mix live. My goal was always to get a track to sound like what the band would/will sound like on stage...the best album should sound like the best live show, and vice-versa. If I'm recording a band using VST's, how can that same band get that same sound on stage? route floor rigs through to a laptop for each guitarist, then straight to the PA, with players' only feedback coming through "ears" or monitors? If using this tech, how does one get the "faithful sound of the band" close between stage and track?

I'd love to see what you think of the new Boss IR-2

Modeling is a great thing for writing and getting solid ideas down very quickly and easily. It has also helped in certain aspects like hauling around gear while touring the entire world for some bands. I get it, and I’m adjusting to this also. I’ve got plugins and I’m working on a smaller travel rig too. However, nothing will ever come close to standing/sitting in a room with a high gain all tube beast either while writing with a band or in a studio recording. I’m not saying the new technology isn’t as good because it damn sure is but it’s just something about that live 4x12 cab pushing some air. I’ve been chasing that since the mid 90’s and now that I’m grown and can afford it, the industry is trying to make it obsolete. It would probably help if the good amps didn’t cost $2500-$4000 though, in my opinion….

While VSTs are fantastic and ive used em for my own stuff, I tended to enjoy using them in conjunction with a mic'd amp. Neither are ultimately "better" than the other but should both be seen as tools that work well independently and with each other.

Ok guys. Stop worring about the gear. I played through many amps live, and every guitarist showed up after and came and asked questions to gate keep. " Oh, the prs mt 15? A mesa would sound better. " And other times, " Hey, you sound awesome." I even just had my amp on stage and just ran my helix, and people say it sounded good. Stop with the you are not good unless you play (insert your gear here). The people you really want to play for have no idea about guitar.....because they use their ears...not eyes. As soon as you pick up a guitar, your hearing moves to your eyes. I was guilty of it. But i moved on. At the end of the day. If it sounds good, its good.

I remember back in 2009 when my friend recorded my bands demo using a 1/4” to 1/8” converter straight into the mic jack ($2 worth of hardware) with free VSTs and it sounded better than most of the local scene using real recording gear. Of course, at that time you COULD get a better sound with real amps if you knew what you were doing, but the average musician wasn’t capable of achieving it. Most musicians aren’t going to see the benefits of “real” gear unless they have a professional engineer reamp their recordings properly. There are just way too many moving parts and most of us have to decide whether we want to spend more time songwriting or engineering.

Mate, my first amp in 1997 was a used Gorilla 85w with a DS1 Distortion pedal...still have the pedal. It sounded arse(or I did) but was hella loud.

would love to see your take on bass pickups

Me too!! Gorilla was my first amp along with a white Kramer Striker.

I have to say something, now a lot of guitar players will not like it. With Amp/Cab Sim VSTs and their stand-alones you should never practice without using one or a real amp. Some VSTs are even free! I have a feeling that's why a lot of players say "my guitars sounds different" as they are playing them acoustically and not through distortion or they can hear their playing and the amp.

I have a 2002 Bogner Ecstasy 101B. Incredible amp. Haven’t powered it on even once since buying McRocklin’s Polychrome DSP back in March. So easy and convenient to get amazing tones, and don’t need to run through a hot plate to do it without hearing loss lol

My opinion; I love amp and cab sims, they've come VERRRY far. It comes down to preference, I prefer to mic up equipment and do things abit more analog. It's incredibly rewarding to find "THAT"- sound. I get a sick brutal death metal mid scooped tone by boosting my MXR Fullbore Metal with a Metal Zone as the boost, going in to a early 90's Fender HOT combo amp. When I found that combination of gear, it just fell in place. The tone sounds like it'll cut off your face and feed it to you.

I hate these discussions because everybody forgets there is no "should" or "must," generally. There is only "like," "prefer," and "want." If I want a real tube amp and I can afford it, I should be able to get it without taking crap from strangers. If I prefer a sim, I should be able to get one without taking crap from strangers. The only time this "must" be a discussion is if I should happen to want to work with a producer who prefers one over the other. Then I must have that discussion, both internally and with that other person, to see whether I am able to compromise.