I just finished upgrading guitar processors after 20 years! I bought the original Line 6 POD back in the late 90’s. Things have come a long way since then with amp modeling and cabinet impulse responses that have really changed the game in guitar processors.
My first venture into guitar processors started with the legendary ADA MP2. It had a cabinet simulator so I could record direct. It could also had super high gain amp models, great clean sounds and was fully midi programmable so I could do all the fast switching on stage. I eventually ended up running it through a 600 watt solid state power amp into 2 Peavey 4×12 cabinets with Black Widow Speakers. It was a super sick and heavy sound. But that was all in a big rack and the eventually they started coming out with better processors and I decided to upgrade to a Digitech GNX2.
The Digitech GNX2 was really cool at the time. It had great effects and some really good models of a Dual Rectifier. The other big thing was that is was all in one pedal with a build in expression pedal. I had a lot of fun with that but eventually Line 6 came out with the POD.
The Line 6 POD was supposed to be the most high tech in amp modeling at the time. I think it remained the top in class for years and still is with the Helix. I bought it back in the lat 90’s while playing out in New Hampshire. That has pretty much been it for me besides some random pedals.
20 Years Later!
In the last few years things have really started to change with the Line 6 Helix and the Axe FX II. The models started getting much better and they started using impulse responses captured directly from real cabinets, amps and mics. It has really improved the playability of these systems and made the sound almost indistinguishable from the real thing when recording.
I’ve been doing a lot of recording with plugins and Amp Designer from Logic X Pro but have not been happy with them for years. The nice processors that sounded the best were thousands of dollars until recently. They just started coming out with miniature version of the big ones with super powerful processing engines so they sound pretty much the same but are much cheaper.
I finally went for it and got one of the newer ones on the market, the Hotone Ampero One. Right out of the box from the first patch it sounded great. I plugged it into my little Roland CM-30 Cube Monitor and it sounded thick and awesome. I was easily able to find many great distortions and was even able to program the wah pedal.
This is going to be a fun new adventure in guitar tones. My little Line 6 POD if feeling a little lonely right now. You will be hearing the new sounds in the coming weeks.
Here is a link to my latest track recorded with Logic X Pro and Amp Designer.
Enjoy!
Mark Bray
Cosmic Archeologist, Tone Seeker, Guitar player with a sore finger after playing too long through a new toy!
PS – Thanks to Sam Ash Music for quick delivery and a great price!