One amp in your studio...which one?

[Delitzsch]

Limiting yourself to one amp in your studio, which one would it be? Something that covers a bit of everything (cleans, crunch and leads) or one that excels in a certain area?

(My situation is is that I'm thinking of buying an amp head and a load box to record silently in my home studio with Redwirez IRs. Currently I'm using AmpliTube 3 with Redwirez IRs, but I feel like having an actual amp would be a bigger improvement.)

 

[Jaymz]

5150/6505

 

[K Odell]

Mesa Boogie Mark IV

 

[JeffTD]

A Kemper or AxeFX would be infinitely more useful to you than a single head, loadbox, and IRs IMO, and the results would be better.

 

[Manicompression]

Kemper or AxeFX is definitely the right call for direct recording. If your dead set on an actual head I vote for a Mesa Boogie product, I have the 3 channel Dual Rectifier and the amount of very different and very good tones I can get out of it is amazing. Im sure the Mark IV is similar in that regard. The 6505 is not what I would call versatile in any way but then amp sims do clean sounds pretty well so...

Have you considered the Laney IRT studio ? Seems like its designed for the kind of setup your looking for and is a cheaper alternative than the Axe/Kemper albeit with a different approach.

 

[Delitzsch]

A Kemper or AxeFX would be infinitely more useful to you than a single head, loadbox, and IRs IMO, and the results would be better.

Dang, I just sold my old AxeFX Standard

The thing I like about AmpliTube is that if I need to tweak the amp settings after already recording, I can do that on the fly without having to reamp the guitar performance. I'm not familiar with the new AxeFX II and Kemper, is this an option?

 

[Delitzsch]

Have you considered the Laney IRT studio ? Seems like its designed for the kind of setup your looking for and is a cheaper alternative than the Axe/Kemper albeit with a different approach.

Ah, I like this feature of the Laney. From their website: "means that you can alter the guitar tone of your original recording – without having to re-track anything!"

And it's a 2U rackmountable, that's the only room I have left in my rack.

 

[cobhc]

Without retracking doesn't mean you won't have to reamp it...

 

[Slicklickz]

If it has to be a head I would say a Mesa Road King 1 or 2.

 

[Delitzsch]

Without retracking doesn't mean you won't have to reamp it...

Oh okay. Well, looks like the Kemper and AxeFX do the same thing then.

As far as tones go, I sold my AxeFX standard because I was getting the same good tones out of the AmpliTube. Is the new AxeFX II and Kemper that much better? I figured a real amp would be top dog, but if the AxeFX II and Kemper are the same tonewise as my old standard, then I'll stick with AmpliTube then. What you guys opinions?

 

[The-Zeronaut]

5153

 

[Trevoire520]

If it's got to be an amp then the 5153 mini would get my vote, Kemper would be a good option too.

 

[JeffTD]

AxeFX Standard should be getting way better tones than Amplitube, but the Axe II and Kemper are a step above that, too.

 

[Delitzsch]

AxeFX Standard should be getting way better tones than Amplitube, but the Axe II and Kemper are a step above that, too.

Yeah, I would've thought so too. When I bought AmpliTube at first I was going to use it here and there along side my AxeFX, but after a while I thought they were both pretty equal with the advantage going to AmpliTube because of how convenient it was. I know you may have better trained ears than me, but for me (been playing guitar for 20 years) it works. However, I know if I had a well treated room and proper micing techniques with a 5150 stack, it'd blow AmpliTube out of the water.

 

[Delitzsch]

All that being said, I may give the Kemper a shot since I've never heard it before and see how it stacks up. Seems like a lot of producers like it compared to the Axe's musician catalog.

 

[cfh11]

kemper BUT there is a certain satisfaction to making your own profiles. if you have access to other real amps that you can profile it will be much more enjoyable than relying on other people's tones. dont get me wrong there are some great profiles out there (for both guitar and bass, mostly free) but making your own is half the fun.

 

[Flow Of Time]

Don't get a Head - Loadbox combi for your homestudio if you like ampsims. You'll be to lazy to hook it up everytime you want to record something..

 

[Old Man Doom]

JCM 800 or Blackstar with a Torpedo Live.

 

[Gujukal]

Orange Micro Terror \../

 

[Delitzsch]

Don't get a Head - Loadbox combi for your homestudio if you like ampsims. You'll be to lazy to hook it up everytime you want to record something..

Yeah, from this thread I've pretty much been swayed from going that route now. May try the Kemper.