Should Mesa Have Called it Something Else?

[Eevil]

There's absolutely no way it's coming back round, though. The tipping point has been reached, you don't have to make meaningful tonal compromises anymore when going digital and digital QoL is just so much better. (Also, anybody on this board under 40? Anybody?)

Pandemic was the final straw, man. People who actually want to make music all discovered that digital was just better for that. Tube guitar amps are already like tube hifi amps or project cars, this niche money pit thing for men that's more about the object itself than the use of it. I'm in a sunk cost situation with the tube amps I own, I've built a physical space and digital workflow around them that I like but that's because I already had the amps. If my space burned down I wouldn't buy new tube amps with the insurance money.

Yep.. popular music -scene doesn’t need guitar anymore

Just a hobby for old farts.

 

[Snicksound]

There's absolutely no way it's coming back round, though. The tipping point has been reached, you don't have to make meaningful tonal compromises anymore when going digital and digital QoL is just so much better. (Also, anybody on this board under 40? Anybody?)

Pandemic was the final straw, man. People who actually want to make music all discovered that digital was just better for that. Tube guitar amps are already like tube hifi amps or project cars, this niche money pit thing for men that's more about the object itself than the use of it. I'm in a sunk cost situation with the tube amps I own, I've built a physical space and digital workflow around them that I like but that's because I already had the amps. If my space burned down I wouldn't buy new tube amps with the insurance money.

Well, I mean, this is the Boogie forum, not the Fractal forum.

Speaking for myself, yes I'm in my mid-40's. But I'm lucky enough that I still get paid to play out around 50 times a year. I've went the digital road a few times (actually started there back in 2000). But I always come back to tube amps. I like the simplicity, and it always sounds great. Heck, so far I haven't even bothered with the CabClone IR on the Badlander except for playing at home with headphones.

Sure, I'll admit, I don't bring 4x12 cabs and 100W heads anymore, but I won't go under 50W (EL84 and high gain just ain't right IME, was really disappointed in the Badlander 25W). The volume on the Badlander has a nice taper, I'd rather have the option of more volume and not use it, than run out of headroom faster.

That's me though. I see other people playing Kempers and Fractals, I always find their tone generic and boring. Best sound I heard last year when sharing the stage was a guy in his 30s with a Single Rectifier, a Mesa OS 412 cab and a Gibson Explorer. He wasn't playing traditional Recto music either, but he made it work and it sounded killer. And it's not cause I saw the amp on stage and then liked the sound, we were hanging back stage then the band started playing and we were all like "**** that sounds good" so we went to see what it was.

Haven't seen anyone using a Badlander on stage yet, but the sound guy sure loved the sound I was getting out of mine last Saturday.

 

[rarebitusa]

you don't have to make meaningful tonal compromises anymore when going digital and digital QoL is just so much better.

Just one man's opinion

Agree the digital stuff has come a long way. Have gone back and forth a few times over the years between digital vs tube amps but alas for me there was something still missing, especially live. What I hear and feel is an underlying similarity of the amp models. No question they sound good. I often use digital models in recording pre-production tracks or scratch ideas. They are very convenient and you can dabble with different models and not have to fork for the real thing. Now I like that. However the overall dynamics between different tubes amps is not recreated to the same level between say different digital amp models. The pick dynamics and overall feel between, say, my IIC+ and Stiletto or the BAD are all very different. I dunno the real amps just sound and feel a bit more organic to me.

For me it's not an either or, they are tools to use to achieve a tonal goal. Both have their place.

 

[bandit2013]

All I can say is the BAD just works well in the mix. Rythm or lead. No need for the solo boost. I personally never used that feature on the amps that have it.

 

[spawnofthesith]

There's absolutely no way it's coming back round, though. The tipping point has been reached, you don't have to make meaningful tonal compromises anymore when going digital and digital QoL is just so much better. (Also, anybody on this board under 40? Anybody?)

Pandemic was the final straw, man. People who actually want to make music all discovered that digital was just better for that. Tube guitar amps are already like tube hifi amps or project cars, this niche money pit thing for men that's more about the object itself than the use of it. I'm in a sunk cost situation with the tube amps I own, I've built a physical space and digital workflow around them that I like but that's because I already had the amps. If my space burned down I wouldn't buy new tube amps with the insurance money.

Disagree completely

I'm 31. Next to no one in any of the original music scenes around here is using digital. A larger percentage in the djent/prog metal world but it's still a minority. All of this scales up to beyond the local level too


Most of the gen Z kids are playing fender tube combos with pedals

 

[domct203]

Digital has its place, but in over 20 years of gigging I could count the number of live modeler rigs I’ve seen on stage on one hand.

Granted, that was ‘99-‘19, and the technology really has come a long way in the last 5 years or so.

I’m not a digital hater, I love my Iridium, either by itself or in the preamp loop of my Boss GT-6, through a mixer and in headphones. Man I could noodle with that all day. Same goes for my Eleven Rack. I’ve got an old Behringer V-Amp Pro that sounds surprising good too and is a lot of fun to play.

The live experience just isn’t the same for me. The dynamics and nuances that you hear in headphones gets lost on a loud stage. That wide stereo landscape is gone.

You lose that ‘feel’ of a good tube amp too, even when the stage mix is terrible. Digital doesn’t give that same tactile feedback as a 100W head on a 4X12 that’s for sure.

Dom

 

[spawnofthesith]

I’m not anti modeling by any means, but the comments of it taking over and tubes going the way of the dodo have been around for decades and it’s still just as silly as they ever were


A lot of the cleans on my bands recordings are axe fx 3