came to watch this as the opening riff is something i play all the time. Love funk and the trio groove, got the video. I can say that's an impressive direct tone. I'm still too old to go try something too out of the ordinary now, i love the smell of burning valves. But, there's so many options for people like me that make sense, no programming, pure amp tone in a box. The simplifier has impressed me in a big way. also the IRX Friedman idea. Imaging that through a 4x12 and valve power amp. But, i'm looking for this type of thing for small cafe gigs and mostly for practice, as i practice daily from 4am acoustically to not disturb family. I'd love to have a good tone and having youtube video's i can jam along to. the simplifier is incredible.
I’m team Strat every day. However, Strats are in no way better. Just a different tone that I prefer for how I play. 4th and 5th position Strat tone is enough for me to pick the Strat over anything.
Fantastic video - your sound quality and playing are fantastic. And the answer is yes. I have the mk1 and it was such a huge upgrade to my guitar life. The number of compliments on my tone after I switched to the simplifier as my regular amp in a live setting was significant. It sounds amazing, takes pedals well, and is stupid convenient, and it's just so reliable and consistent, and every sound engineer loves it. There is no need for me to ever go back to traditional amps again. I got tired of having to fix things breaking on my tube amp, or carrying them around, so mine has been sitting unused for years now. Let me start by saying - I love tube amps. There is nothing in the world like playing plugged right into an amp and being next to it in the room, and FEELING it in the room like you said. BUT yeah, they are insanely impractical. And I will go as far as to say, they are more of a burden than they are an actual useful tool for me as a professional musician. I can say with full certainty that anyone that says pedals and sims can't replace a real tube amp, they're talking out of their ass. They can only say they knew your stuff sounded like it wasn't a real amp, because they knew in advance. The argument has been pretty well put to bed on whether or not people can actually hear the difference of the *SOUND* in a blind and isolated comparison. Comparing a sim to, an amp next to you in the room, is almost an apples to oranges comparison. If you compared it with your amp isolated in another room, the differences are slim to none. A real tube amp and speaker cabinet only really shines when you can be next to it and *feel* the vibrations and the air moving. And that's great. When you're just playing for fun at home, it's fantastic. But in a live setting? A major pain in the butt. The sound engineer will hate you. You're adding tons of noise to the stage. You're screwing with the acoustics of the whole room. You're competing with the PA system. You might get mic'd up, but probably won't be turned up because you''re already too loud. You can barely hear or feel the amp anyway through the combination of the drums, the PA, the subwoofers, all of the reflections of the room, and the audience noise. If you're some place more high end, your amp might just get shoved into an iso box or a back closet and mic'd up - in which case you aren't feeling it one bit - and by that point, you're essentially listening to a direct guitar tone. Oh, and the best part of all - the part that will shatter your gear ego - no one in the audience gives one crap about your precious guitar tone anyway. No one is going to hear the difference if you're using a tube amp or a sim pedal or a modeller. All they care about is if you hit the right notes, if you're playing the parts they know, and if you're a good performer. They might notice that your amp just hurts their ears because it's too loud, or it's turned down so much that they can't hear you enough... Not to mention you having to lug the thing all the way to the gig... I could go on. In a recording environment? A tube amp makes a bit more sense there, I'll admit. If it's your home studio, and you have the space to keep them in, you know how to mic it correctly and have a good isolated place to get a clean recording of them, and you aren't going to be a major annoyance to anyone living with you, and you have a good time frame of the day to record where you're not gonna get noise complaints from your neighbors.... etc. Then go for it. But same thing as before - after it's recorded - you aren't FEELING THE AMP anymore. You're just hearing the mic'd sound. If that sound is what you want out of your recording - then perfect. But don't delude yourself into thinking it really matters, or that it's somehow "better" than what you would have gotten out of a pedal. Because again, no one who listens to your recording is going to be able to tell the difference. And most people who listen to music, know nothing about guitars, and aren't gear snobs. No one *knows or cares* that Slow Dancing in a Burning Room was recorded on a fender deluxe and overdubbed with 2 Two-rocks in stereo, or that the solo was through a dumble and marshall together. If John had recorded it with a two rock capture on a kemper and a couple overdrive pedals - No one would care or know the difference. It wouldn't have ruined the song, or made it not be legendary. It's about the personality of the player coming through the notes at the end of the day. There are probably equal, if not *more*, legendary guitar recordings and songs made where the guitar was just plugged straight into the console or desk anyway. Anyway, I didn't plan on going off on a rant like that, but gear snobs get on my nerves sometimes and seeing a couple in these comments triggered me.
I'm 21 I've been playing since I was 4 I started off on acoustic and then I built my electric with my grandpa in his garage when I was 12 and as someone with big hands I understand the struggle of light gauge strings the lightest I can play is 9.5s I usually play 13s here's the crazy part of the my bottom strings are usually in the 30s so my own custom sets would be 13-32/38 sometimes 38 I customize my own sets I prefer flatwounds I like my tops heavy and bottoms light my hands are weird
Great playing man! I do loads of ‘acoustic’ gigs straight into an EV evolve 50 for voice and my acoustic’s pickups. I’ve been looking at these to maybe be able to take an electric along for a few songs, getting that fender clean sound - this about sells it, because you were nailing the thing I’d be chasing with the Hendrix-y stuff you played on the strat. Great presentation. Much appreciated 🙏🏻
Good review. I’m quite interested in a Humboldt. I think your comment on the feeling of a proper amp moving air in the room is spot on. Yes, it’s not practical, but the experience is on a different level, for sure. And that can be important for the RU-vid guitarist generation to understand (and to try).
Y’all saying y’all can’t sound like him my momma was down in Texas in the 80’s always listens to Srv gown up with her listening nonstop every time I play it’s always Srv licks and my whole family says my hands are fat as thick as sausages
People say the X is really good in a live situation because is 2 amps in one or one amp of 2 channels where you have e footswitch and the option of change channels , but !!! Everybody say the mrk2 sounds better 💁🏻♂️
@@argentoennythere’s also a lot more options on the Xx- which isn’t what I’d be looking for with one of these devices - but it almost makes it a totally different proposition for a guy like me :)
After whatching few of these diy fretless projects, I just started to make this type of of guitar from old strat copy. I have now 11 frets left and filled those fret grooves with some 2k putty. Some people have put also 2k PU finish to the fretboard. I tried that. Its now hardening and drying. Need to find also find a way properly file down remaining frets a bit. To be honest, i feel like have no idea what im doing. Lets see how it turns out. I think your project went pretty well. And wierd finishes are always cool!
Sorry for taking a little while to get back you! How’s is it going?! I had absolutely no idea what I was doing either, I guess that’s the fun of it😆 good luck!
Great review, but I missed something (or maybe just didn't pick up): can you plug the signal from the Simplifier straight into a speaker cabinet or do you still need an amp?
If you have to introduce your guitar teacher to John Mayer then you need a new teacher. To be that ignorant of one of the greatest guitarists ever is crazy.
Lol. And this is the vid you wanna introduce John Mayer? I hope this is a joke coz you'll have to throw him back to when he played Neon a decade ago in a small bar with an acoustic guitar. Not to mention the live arrangement of Covered In Rain. Dude find a new teacher.
I get that he popularised the guitar in times when the guitar seemed to be forgotten, and therefore we feel to read into his playing things that are simply not there, but there is nothing there. He is a very average guitar player, which just happens to be popular. What he is doing is realistically simple, and stuff that wouldn’t even be level 1 for an average jazz player. I get that people like him and his playing, but this is just pop, and therefore inherently average. Just my two cents.
Yeah he had a conversation with Steve Jordan. And he told him something like “why play 20 notes, when you only need the 3 right notes”. And to me that’s when he really started playing less when it was called for.
Another Guitar player that is very underrated is Keith Urban he's not just a singer his playing is non to Shabby ,ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NfvqVxoJIaE.html
Thanks for watching ! I was actually lucky enough to have a friend do it for me! It’s an acrylic painting which I then put a nitro lacquer over so to the touch it feels just like a normal guitar !
The answer is always no. The fact that people now bring modellers, tube power amps for their modellers, and FRFR speakers/cabinets to shows...It has gone full circle. A simple amp combo is much simpler. Not everyone venue has a decent PA system, by the way.
it depends on what problem you’re trying to solve, you’re assuming it’s only about weight snd size, but there are so many other pros on using modelers like consistency and variety to name a few
@@LEUNN_ Oh I agree. I'm just replying to the question "is it time to move on from amps?". On the whole, no. Amps will always have a place. Personally, I use both. I have a combo, and usually just use venues' backline amps when available. But I have a modeller (just an old hd500x, it gets the job done), for the other occasions.
I’m with you about that “ NO “ . I go with my amp every where -BUT- let me explain my situation .Im in Florida , and I have a tributo band , we play every 5 months ( Friday in NJ - Saturday NY ) coming back home Sunday !! My main amp is a JC 120 ( a thank ) , how I move my amp just for 2/3 days to NY every 5 months ? .So my solution was “ buy a neural QC !!! Why this ? Because is so small and easy to put in a backpack and go . I only needed one experience to realize that it would not work for me and the reason is in one of your points: "not all places have a good PA". After this I understood that I did not accept to leave my pedalboard ( pedaltrain jr ) with my analog pedals , and I had to look for another option . I think this is a great option for me , it's like having an amp but without the need to carry it all the way to NY .I'm buying it this week and will let you know how it went at the shows coming up by the end of August .💪🏻👍🏻
I agree with your conclusion here, my amps are not going anywhere, but it is a cool device and has its uses. This was the first video of yours I have seen and it was really well done. That said you do this thing where you're not saying anything funny or clever but you'll like chuckle while you're talking, and it doesn't fit the vibe of what you're saying and distracts me a bit from the content, but the content and production were great.
Hello! Thanks for watching and the feedback! I can understand what you mean lol. It’s quite difficult to strike a balance between being enthusiastic/energetic and going a bit too over the top lol. Talking to a camera as if it was a person is a very peculiar thing to do and it’s surprising difficult to come across naturally haha. I’ll bear that in mind in my future videos !
