Les, I went to NAMM in January as an endorsing artist for Fryette, mainly on account of my use of their Aether amplifier which is a whole 'nother piece of kit entirely, easily my favorite guitar amplifier I've ever played.
The video was a cool thing to watch, Kingsley! Thanks for posting it.
I'm not surprised that the Aether is cool, it looks like a complete winner, and the clips I've heard have been really sweet. Oddly enough, the separate amp section (that sits by the cab and controls on the floor in the pics I've seen) is styled to look just like an old tube mic power supply:
That's just so damn sexy.
But as you say, in the clip the preamp DI thing just doesn't sound like a real amp. Now that you've mentioned that it's a preamp, more or less for that purpose, I get it better.
That said, if my main gig was recording, I'd probably rather have a good full-function modeler or something like the Kemper.
I dunno, Kingsley. Would you use a Kemper model of the Aether on your album, or would you use the real amp?
As you know, my main gig
is recording and I would use the real amp. Just today I re-cut tracks that I had roughly laid out with a modeler with one of my real amps, and the difference made me grin from ear to ear.
Yes, there was a superficial similarity. But when I mixed the tracks the difference in the effect of the guitar part I replaced with the real amp was huge!
I get that people have a hard time getting themselves to mic up an amp, but really, we are literally talking about putting something as simple as an SM57 on a stand, plugging in one cable, and hitting "record."
It is as simple to do that as it is to plug in a modeler and do the same thing. Every bit as simple. It's just louder in the room. If that's a big deal, I get it, but people who are in the business of recording have studios that are designed for that very purpose.
So my conclusion is the exact opposite. If you're
not in the business of recording, and don't have a room where you can do that, then these gadgets and modelers come in handy.
However if you're in the business of recording, you have a studio serving the purpose of recording in the best way you know how to, in order to achieve the best results you're capable of.
Such an approach is either "you're there or you're not." And for me, whether I am very good at what I do, or not, what I'm striving to achieve when I record is the best sound I can. With the fewest compromises possible.
That, most emphatically, does not mean a guitar amplifier modeler. It means a real amplifier and a microphone.
