I'm Confused - Discontinued Amps?
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RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
That was the other PRS... Paul’s Robot Store. It’s just in beta right now.
To Les’ point, tube amps will always be easier to dial in a tone with, and this is coming from someone gigging Fractal gear for a decade now. The bazillion options the Axe Fx give you are incredible, but it can also take you away from being certain that the fix to an errant tone is “turn that knob to here,” which is something that comes from years spent with those same 7 knobs and three switches. Too much variety really is a thing.
It is interesting that my success with the Axe Fx came from scaling down from hundreds of amps and thousands of cabinets to just a couple that I’ve gotten to know well. Even so, a tone fix on the job is always faster with a physical amp. Not too long ago, a musician in France (IIRC) made a rack device that was, essentially, an amp interface for the Axe Fx. This allowed you to adjust the selected amp just like it’s analog counterpart. It was a splendid idea, but the technology keeps changing... too fast for the interface to keep up with, so it faded. A shame, as it addressed the most glaring weakness left in digital: immediacy. Maybe this will be a future focus for FAS.
Even so, tube amps (and guitarists, for that matter) have been “on their way out of music” and “a dying breed” in the words of some at least since the 80s. Neither are going anywhere as far as I can see.
To Les’ point, tube amps will always be easier to dial in a tone with, and this is coming from someone gigging Fractal gear for a decade now. The bazillion options the Axe Fx give you are incredible, but it can also take you away from being certain that the fix to an errant tone is “turn that knob to here,” which is something that comes from years spent with those same 7 knobs and three switches. Too much variety really is a thing.
It is interesting that my success with the Axe Fx came from scaling down from hundreds of amps and thousands of cabinets to just a couple that I’ve gotten to know well. Even so, a tone fix on the job is always faster with a physical amp. Not too long ago, a musician in France (IIRC) made a rack device that was, essentially, an amp interface for the Axe Fx. This allowed you to adjust the selected amp just like it’s analog counterpart. It was a splendid idea, but the technology keeps changing... too fast for the interface to keep up with, so it faded. A shame, as it addressed the most glaring weakness left in digital: immediacy. Maybe this will be a future focus for FAS.
Even so, tube amps (and guitarists, for that matter) have been “on their way out of music” and “a dying breed” in the words of some at least since the 80s. Neither are going anywhere as far as I can see.
D
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elvis
Hamfisted String Banger
To Les’s point, the Ox, as well as the Captor, are popular. That means people are using amps.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
It’s always the rum!Yeah, it was the rum.
elvis
Hamfisted String Banger
I drink scotch and bourbon. My dreams are... open to interpretation.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
I don’t do rum very often. I’m a bourbon and scotch guy, too. Toss in an occasional tequila, neat, or on the rocks.
As for bourbon, if you haven’t come across Uncle Nearest......find some.
elvis
Hamfisted String Banger
Thanks for the advice!
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
My pleasure. Cool back story, too.
elvis
Hamfisted String Banger
I think I vaguely remember the back story here.
Tone-y
New Member
I think those (and the promise of future similar tech) are a reason why amps have become a possibility again. People can use their high power amps again instead of keeping them in storage
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
I had the “NF3 dream”. I was on a bit of a Narrowfield yearn, well I still am actually.
I was at a roadside cafe and the hostess had her living quarters attached.
I wandered into a living room and there was a veritable plethora of NF3s on guitar stands all over the room. One in seafoam green particularly took my fancy.
That was a happy dream.
Yeah, it was the rum.
and the cheese!
That's a HECKUVA dream!
^^^ This is so true!
I had this very discussion with my son last year. He's very active in music production, playing, and scoring in LA, and has earned gold records. Fender endorser. Knows his stuff.
People predicted the death of guitar-based music in the '80s, and then Nirvana happened. Truth is, guitar music never really went away during the interim, it was just outshined for a while by the then-new synth stuff. Music goes in cycles.
And it's not going away now. I just did a national truck ad, and what the clients wanted was a laid-back, entirely guitar-based track. No synths, no pop/R&B. And it was all about getting the right guitar tone, because what they also wanted was simplicity, mood, and vibe.
Guitar music isn't dead, and it's not going away. It's going strong.
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
I remember discussing the tune “Cars” by Gary Numan, a recording with no guitar at all, by a band with no guitar at all. It was among those “this is the future” songs coming into the 80s that heralded the death of guitar. I listen to it now and, while I still appreciate the quirkiness it had at the time, it sounds absolutely archaic and dated. That style is long dead and guitar just keeps chugging along.
I’m no scientist, but there seems to be something about human flesh directly connected to an analog instrument creating the nuance, inflection, or emotion of the notes is the most effective connection to the listener. It’s not that other things don’t add, they do, but it’s the humanity of the creation that never loses its attraction.
Or maybe it’s just me.
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
I remember discussing the tune “Cars” by Gary Numan, a recording with no guitar at all, by a band with no guitar at all. It was among those “this is the future” songs coming into the 80s that heralded the death of guitar. I listen to it now and, while I still appreciate the quirkiness it had at the time, it sounds absolutely archaic and dated. That style is long dead and guitar just keeps chugging along.
I’m no scientist, but there seems to be something about human flesh directly connected to an analog instrument that creates the nuance, inflection, or emotion of the notes is the most effective connection to the listener. It’s not that other things don’t add, they do, but it’s the humanity of the creation that never loses its attraction.
Or maybe it’s just me.
One of my favourite artists in the 80’s was David Sylvian. His album Brilliant Trees, from memory, is completely keyboard based. Sometimes music doesn’t need guitars.
Horses for courses and all that jazz.
veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
PRS amps are so dependant on Doug, that I worry about him when things go quiet. I hope he’s just playing made scientist and it’s taking a while.
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
I completely agree with that. In the scheme of things, I see the music created without that interaction as the condiment of the meal. It makes it better, it has a place. But fewer by far are the people who’d want to make their total sustenance of it alone.
Hip Hop has shown the viability of music by machines. There’s room for lots on the table. I’m just saying that hands on strings, breath through metal and wood, fingers throwing hammers to strings, sticks or hands striking drum heads, etc, is the lifeblood of music. I love the diversity we have, but the tired old line of guitars dying out in favor of electronica is overstated, at best... that’s all I’m getting at here.
And, in that vein, tube amps are going to be a primary means of amplifying guitar for many years to come. At least for my lifetime!
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
Absolutely.
Couldn't agree more. In fact, you just reminded me of something said by one of my musical influences.
In the '90s I decided I'd better learn some bass, because I was playing on my own ad tracks, and felt I needed to know something about the instrument. Understand, I was brought up and trained on piano, not other stringed instruments (yes, pianos have strings, but you basically have at them with little hammers).
So I studied with one of the profs in the jazz department at a university in Detroit, who had also played on a ton of Motown sessions after James Jamerson passed. Great guy.
He said there's something intensely personal about an instrument where the player lays his hands on the strings. I'd have to agree. I think it gets me closer to my true melodic voice. In fact, I'm certain that I became a more melodic composer by working out ideas for guitar parts. It shows up in my orchestral work as well.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing piano, and am somewhat embarrassed by my guitar playing (it's why I hire great players to bring their vision to certain ads I write and produce, when I'm not satisfied with my own playing). Programming synths is also a passion.
But controlling strings directly with my hands really connects me with the instrument.
The other thing is, I don't know about you, but I feel that I don't much care for synths as solo instruments. If you have a great performance by a great singer, cool, no solo is even necessary, but a nicely constructed, short solo does help relieve the ear in the middle of a song, and make me excited about the build back into the vocal. In pop music, I connect with the guitar to do that.
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