Home guitar rig without a cab?

Read the whole post if you are kinda bored. If not, skip to the TL-DR below.

I've been going down the route of the OP, in a similar fashion. I'm a new (old) player. I started with a Fender GTX100 modeler. It was really pretty darned good, and for my uses, I should have just stuck with it, but that's another story (as in - I wanted a tube amp, no, a Mesa Boogie tube amp, 'cause Santana...).

So, I got a Mkv25 combo and a wide body open 1x12 for bedroom use. Yeah, it's freakin' loud! I had the Bugera PS-1 or 2 or whatever passive attenuator, but that sounded kinda flat at the low volumes I was squeezing it down to, so then I got a Fryette PS2. That helped - now it is pretty much whatever volume I want, and sounds anywhere from decent to excellent, depending on how quiet I'm trying to ahem, play.

Sometimes, I don't want volume. Well, the Mkv25 has an internal load box, a speaker on-off switch, and headphone and direct out (with a passably decent speaker sim). Yup, a tube amp with HP out. Pretty freakin' cool! Then I wanted monitors, so I bought an inexpensive but decent pair. Then I needed to control the monitors, so I got a decent but inexpensive mixer. I run the line out of the amp into the mixer.

Then... I wanted a pedalboard only rig, since I was learning about pedals, and thought I'd cart my pedalboard downstairs (I don't...). After much waffling around, I ended up with a UAFX Dream because I stumbled on a decent deal, and it checked a bunch of my boxes - people that know more than I do like it, it has direct out, and a workaround for headphones that works for me, stereo (should that ever sound like a good idea), takes other pedals well, and I like the sound. It works into my mixer/monitor set up, into the Fryette (used as the power amp), into my Mesa either direct or 4CM, and via headphones.

Why the long story? I'm bored, and this is fresh territory for me. I like the OP's option of the Captor X. I didn't go this route, because I wanted a more variable volume - hence the Bugera and then the PS2. In retrospect, I use the monitors most of the time, so the Captor X would have worked well, and covered the same ground as the Fryette PS2 AND the Dream. I had resisted getting a mixer. It has become the traffic cop of my little studio-ette. I recommend one for this type of stuff. I went with a Behringer Flow8, inexpensive, actually pretty decent quality, and also works with one of my other fledgling hobbies - video editing and content creation with my daughter.

TL-DR - OP, I think the CaptorX, monitors and headphones are a good way to go. I'd add in a mixer if you don't have one. Yamaha makes a nice 6 channel one for pretty cheap, and the Behringer that I have is pretty decent.
 
Wait until you find out about third and…home plate.
Oh no!!! Please tell me you didn't just do that...

Do you have any idea the eggshells we've walked on, lo these many years, to keep Alan from finding out about third base and home plate? :eek:

Look, every team needs a "designated walk" guy... heck, we thought Alan's versatility factor for the team more than doubled when we also used him as our designated "bean ball" guy. And he seemed perfectly happy to stay in his lane, despite a few bruises from ill intended fastballs to the back. And now you go and open a can of worms the size of Texas!

All I'm saying is, when he starts asking questions, they are all going to YOU, buddy. You deal with the monster you just created. Good luck!
 
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Can’t win unless you score!
C’mon DTR! You KNOW that.
Come on... don't make me say it out loud...

(he "bats" at the bottom of the lineup... right before the pitcher...).

Great! Now he'll be asking even more questions... but that could be a good thing if we get his mind off 3rd and home. Ain't NOBODY wants his mind going there... ;)

Oh, and don't say anything about him "scoring" either. He'll ask even more questions! But hey, he's your baby now. When he starts asking things, just answer publicly so we can all be on the same page with our stories.

"Designated bean ball guy, valuable member of the team."

"Third base and home plate are for power hitters and fast guys."

"It's ok not to swing." (oops, I probably shouldn't have said that one either :eek:)
 
Wait until you find out about third and…home plate.
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Come on... don't make me say it out loud...

(he "bats" at the bottom of the lineup... right before the pitcher...).

Great! Now he'll be asking even more questions... but that could be a good thing if we get his mind off 3rd and home. Ain't NOBODY wants his mind going there... ;)

Oh, and don't say anything about him "scoring" either. He'll ask even more questions! But hey, he's your baby now. When he starts asking things, just answer publicly so we can all be on the same page with our stories.

"Designated bean ball guy, valuable member of the team."

"Third base and home plate are for power hitters and fast guys."

"It's ok not to swing." (oops, I probably shouldn't have said that one either :eek:)
I’m not a baseball fan at all and I know Al is a big hockey fan.
It’s all about the goals and assists.
 
I used to answer much quicker, but now I think about baseball first.

Get your questions in quickly, boys and girls. The baseball season starts in just over 30 days.
I actually live very close to a stadium where a couple of teams do spring training. They have games there every year. I unfortunately am not a baseball fan and never go to the games.

At the risk of setting off a chorus of boos and hisses, I wonder… have you considered a modeler? This is an application (limited space, limited volume allowed) where they shine particularly well. Amps, cabs, effects all included.

I love amps, own a bunch of them, along with an Ox Box to tame them or interface with my computers. I’ve got a music room that I can blast away in. I’ve also got two Fractal Audio modelers (Axe Fx IIIT, FM9T) that I use often, sometimes with the amps. Point being I love using both, and am not trying to proselytize… it just seems a good fit for you, your space, and budget.
Since you opened the door... I wasn't going there but will now.

I have a Kemper Stage and a Fractal FM9. These are fantastic units for silent playing as well as silent recording. If you have the funds to get into something like that, it will suite your situation well.

It is hard to replace an amp but if you take one of these modelers and run it into a power amp then a guitar cabinet, you will probably be very surprised how they sound.
 
I'm looking at getting a Soldano SLO-30. I play at home in my apartment, and I play really late at night before bed. I currently have 2 yamaha hs7 studio monitors that I play my dj gear through. I was considering pairing the soldano head with a matching 2x12 cab. However I'm starting to think it may be overkill. I was considering getting a two notes torpedo captor x and plugging the xlr outputs into my studio monitors. I could also utilize the headphone jack for late at night. Just curious if anyway has done this before as their primary setup. I don't record but maybe someday the captor x could be useful if I ever get a DAW. TIA
Without doubt, the finest device on the market for doing what you want is the Universal Audio OX.

But it's expensive.
 
Without doubt, the finest device on the market for doing what you want is the Universal Audio OX.

But it's expensive.
I think my question is in the same vein as the OP so hopefully not thread hijacking.

In the same situation, but with very little knowledge of what I was doing, I went with a Fryette PS2 thinking that a wanted a volume pot instead of discrete attention at preset levels as the OX has. This, because I was thinking only of making the speaker cab quiet. I find that I run line out of my amp (has a decent open or closed cab sim) or my UAFX Dream, into a mixer and then to desktop monitors or headphones a whole lot of the time.

Question 1 - how does one play through the OX with a cab only as output, live or in “quiet” as in while family is home practice? Does one pick a set attenuation level, and then do final volume adjustment with the master? Or does one set the amp master for desired tone, and live with whatever attention level is selected on the OX?

Question 2 - what’s out there, that has OX quality speaker simulation if I run amp > Fryette PS2 as attenuator, line out from PS2 > “OX quality analog (preferred) or IR (ugh, rabbit hole!?!?).” I’m not really ready for this step yet, but what is a reasonably priced good solution? I don’t want to just trade the PS2 for an OX Box, as the PS2 does some things I like, such as infinitely variable volume when attenuating, and works as a 50W power amp.
 
I think my question is in the same vein as the OP so hopefully not thread hijacking.

In the same situation, but with very little knowledge of what I was doing, I went with a Fryette PS2 thinking that a wanted a volume pot instead of discrete attention at preset levels as the OX has. This, because I was thinking only of making the speaker cab quiet. I find that I run line out of my amp (has a decent open or closed cab sim) or my UAFX Dream, into a mixer and then to desktop monitors or headphones a whole lot of the time.

Question 1 - how does one play through the OX with a cab only as output, live or in “quiet” as in while family is home practice? Does one pick a set attenuation level, and then do final volume adjustment with the master? Or does one set the amp master for desired tone, and live with whatever attention level is selected on the OX?

Question 2 - what’s out there, that has OX quality speaker simulation if I run amp > Fryette PS2 as attenuator, line out from PS2 > “OX quality analog (preferred) or IR (ugh, rabbit hole!?!?).” I’m not really ready for this step yet, but what is a reasonably priced good solution? I don’t want to just trade the PS2 for an OX Box, as the PS2 does some things I like, such as infinitely variable volume when attenuating, and works as a 50W power amp.
If you like what the PS2 does, why look elsewhere?
 
If you like what the PS2 does, why look elsewhere?
I do like what the PS2 does, and I don’t think the OX will do the one thing that is important to me - make the loud quiet to whatever volume I choose via a potentiometer. Well, that and be a power amp. What the Ox does do that the PS2 doesn’t do, is (by all reports) class leading speaker / mic modeling. In fact the PS2 does not have that ability at all. It does have line out though. This is not an issue with my Mesa, as it has a couple of decent speaker sims. When I eventually get another amp(s), they may not have the speaker sims, so I’m curious about recommended options. I know about the Suhr IR, and the TwoNotes cabm+ and a few others, all IR based. I’m just wondering what else might be out there more along the lines of the OX modeler? Note I’m not really thinking helix/axe/kemper type modeling at the moment. There may not be anything out there other than the ox. I’m just curious. An Ox without the load box functionality basically. I tend toward option paralysis with the whole modeling and IR side of the coin. I like asking these type questions here, as the answers tend to be more well thought out vs. one word “Kemper” or “Helix” posts.

Finally, if I’m thread jacking, someone please kindly let me know.
 
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