When I first started playing guitar, I thought all I needed based on the posters at Guitar Center was a Les Paul and a Marshall stack. So I preceded to get a Les Paul and started eyeing down a solid-state Marshall stack. At the time, I didn't even know that solid-state was something to be concerned with but I eventually learned about the legendary tone and dynamics of Tube Amps.
I tried out my first tube amp and surprisingly h,ated it! That's because I didn't understand that guitar FX and amps were different things. I just assumed that every guitar amp was supposed to be a Line 6 Spider, in that, every effect I needed should come from the amp. Wrong.
As time passed, I started to get involved with my church worship team where I learned a ton about guitar tone and guitar pedals. I fell in love with guitar FX and collected a wide variety of pedals and a boutique tube amplifier. If I could sum up everything I learned about guitar gear in my first 7 years of playing it was: Digital = bad. Analog = good. It must be a tube amp. Pedals are always better than multi-fx. End of story.
I went on my first tour in 2017 and everything I knew about guitar tone was flipped on it's head. In the world of touring, amps and pedals were definitely not preferred. And at that time, tons of sidemen were switching to an all in one unit called the "Kemper." While I was highly reluctant at first, I eventually tried amp pedals like the Strymon Iridium and Walrus Audio ACS1. I loved it but still had the usual pedalboard issues with cables breaking as a result of checking my pedalboard on several flights.
I finally took the big plunge and bought a Quad Cortex in 2023 and have grown to love it. While I bought the QC for live use, it's become an integral part of my at home setup. In many ways, it feels like my guitar rig has come full circle. I've gone back to wanting everything in the amp, or in this case the modeler. While many will point to digital as the future, I call it the present. What do you think is next?
Connect With Me, and INQUIRE about Ableton Lessons, Guitar, Music Directing, etc:
IG: / justinmuncy
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Website: justinmuncy.com
Grab some Quad Cortex Presets
- Grab the "JM Worship Preset" here: justinmuncy.etsy.com/listing/...
- Grab the "JM Pedalboard Preset" here: justinmuncy.etsy.com/listing/...
- Grab the "JM Pop Punk Preset" here: justinmuncy.etsy.com/listing/...
- Grab the JM Preset BUNDLE 2 here: justinmuncy.etsy.com/listing/...
**GEAR I USE**
As A Sweetwater Affiliate I earn a small commission from the links in this post. I only advertise products I use and/or believe in! This is a cool way to support the channel and get gear that you were looking to buy anyway-
Line6 HX ONE: sweetwater.sjv.io/rQK5B5
Guitar Modeling
Neural DSP Quad Cortex - sweetwater.sjv.io/4PY0yZ
SKB Quad Cortex Case - sweetwater.sjv.io/PyZEmY
Walrus Audio ACS1 - sweetwater.sjv.io/nLzxAX
Line 6 HX Stomp - sweetwater.sjv.io/3eK4zK
Line 6 HX Stomp XL - sweetwater.sjv.io/daW6rM
*They do make worship bundle versions for the Stomp as well!
Amp Load Box / DI
Two Notes Torpedo Captor - sweetwater.sjv.io/757qDQ
Amps
Orange Micro Terror Head - sweetwater.sjv.io/jrg050
Orange Terror Stamp - sweetwater.sjv.io/KjLEgz
Orange Micro Dark - sweetwater.sjv.io/m531NZ
Vox AC30 - sweetwater.sjv.io/xk3oOO
Vox AC15 - sweetwater.sjv.io/rQ3WRB
Guitar Pedals
Walrus Audio Deep Six - sweetwater.sjv.io/Mm1zgK
Jackson Audio Belle Starr - sweetwater.sjv.io/5g3EKL
JHS Bender Fuzz - sweetwater.sjv.io/DKrGBn
JHS Moonshine - sweetwater.sjv.io/QygL03
JHS Notaklön - jhspedals.info/collections/al...
Strymon Mobius - sweetwater.sjv.io/eKGXaz
Strymon Timeline - sweetwater.sjv.io/JzaXBE
Strymon BigSky - sweetwater.sjv.io/B0QaBq
Guitars
Fender Stratocaster - sweetwater.sjv.io/R5jE2y
Gibson Les Paul Standard - sweetwater.sjv.io/eKGXJO
Gretsch White Falcon CBDC - sweetwater.sjv.io/6eKLDq
Martin Custom X Series - sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqERO
Martin 000CJr-10E - sweetwater.sjv.io/rQ3WJB
#quadcortex #neuraldsp #pedalboard #virtualamp #guitartone #guitarpedals #kemper #line6 #line6helix #neuralquadcortex #pedalcapture #worshipguitar