There's something to be said for shit that actually moves air.

It just depends on the band, modelers and small amps are nothing new at this point. I also have a 50 watt Selmer head that sounds as good or better with a pedal through a 1x12 cab at house volume than 15 watt sound guy approved amps, so I don’t really buy a lot of the conventional wisdom that’s been propped up as gospel over the last 10+ years.

Compared to guitars and effects, amps were always the hardest things to sell for me anyways, especially since I’ve never owned a RI Fender or Guitar Center Orange. I’ve also watched stuff I very much wanted to buy sit for a long time, too. Not saying an economic slowdown isn’t imminent, but we’ve been through 2020 and the resulting craziness.

I didn’t particularly care how normie 20 year olds were making music when I was that age, and I’m definitely not going to start now. Also, we’ve already seem boomers trade in their priceless Fenders for fucking Peaveys, and then trade in their fucking Peaveys for Fender modeling amps, so if they’re plugging whatever bullshit they’ve got now straight into the PA who cares.

Have got a Class D bass head that, in conjunction with the cabinet below it, pushes more air than any amp or stereo I've ever owned. It does not sound like a "wet fart." Maybe it's the tinnitus talking, but I couldn't imagine needing something louder/with more muscle unless playing at Budokan or Madison Square Garden or something.

I think rock music and adjacent genres definitely sound most interesting on recordings when an amp is mic'd, though. Something about the sound of speakers in a room, with the added real-time particularities/aberrations/feedback just sits better as a thing worth documenting.

I personally still prefer the old amp route, but I won't sit here and pretend that modelers haven't gotten very very good. As far as class D goes, most PA, Studio Monitors, and other amplifiers made today are Class D and can sound really good. Problem is often what you are hearing are the cheapest little Guitar Center versions of these amps like A TC BAM or Trace ELF... shit like that. They actually sound fine too, just not as good as like, a V4B and a 2 15 cab. Our old bass player had a little Genz single 12 bass amp and it sounded great and weighed like 5 pounds or something. I moved away from huge amps long ago and now only have small wattage tube amps for guitar and bass. Closest thing I have to high wattage is a 50 watt tube power amp I use with my Rusty Box... and re-amping fake computer amps. They can be a lot of fun.

Class D can be deceptively underpowered and sound like dog shit. A powerful, clean class D can also sound fine. I wouldn't say great, because it kind of doesn't have a personality to it, which makes it ideal for things like PAs... and modelers that have virtual power amps that do coloring.

Honestly, I want to see powered guitar cabs become a thing. Not FRFR, but a class D powered cab with real Celestions or Eminence speakers in them. I kinda hate lugging around my tiny ass pedalboard amp when it can easily live inside a cabinet.

cakes wrote: Wed Apr 23, 2025 10:42 pm I kinda hate lugging around my tiny ass pedalboard amp

I don't even know what to say to this.

Nate Dort wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 6:29 am

cakes wrote: Wed Apr 23, 2025 10:42 pm I kinda hate lugging around my tiny ass pedalboard amp

I don't even know what to say to this.

You know, they have acoustic guitars now - no amp required!

Nate Dort wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 6:29 am

cakes wrote: Wed Apr 23, 2025 10:42 pm I kinda hate lugging around my tiny ass pedalboard amp

I don't even know what to say to this.

It's more like, I have to carry around this one thing that doesn't actually fit on my board, just to power the cabinet. A powered cabinet would make more sense for a modeler, as an alternative to an FRFR cab, which are most often powered cabs. The power supply doesn't matter, it's not like a tube power amp. It's just clean power, colored by the modeler.

Yes, I am lazy.

Maybe I'm too DIY-pilled, but couldn't you just screw/glue/double-sided-tape the power amp into the bottom of your existing cabinet, and add power & input connections?

W.L.Weller wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 9:57 am Maybe I'm too DIY-pilled, but couldn't you just screw/glue/double-sided-tape the power amp into the bottom of your existing cabinet, and add power & input connections?

Yes, I've thought about that. But it would require significant modification of my closed-back cab that I just don't feel like would be worth it. I have considered getting an open back cab and just having a simple mount or lay the power supply down inside. I'm not ready to go that far yet.