Sans Amp GT2 ?

racman · 2010-09-01T16:07:21+00:00

As mentioned in my previous thread, I purchased the Crafter SAT with P90. I need a simple solution to the sound set-up and was thinking of the following: Ac...

Sans Amp GT2 ?

racman

Thx for the input all.

I am looking for clean and possibly crunch sound without a whole bunch of needless effects. But I do want a decent tone which is trhe criutical foundation that I can build on with my Ashton Audio TS808 and other effects etc. I

AlanRatcliffe

BMU wrote: I'm intrigued people still use these now that we have detailed simulation models like the Line6 & Roland COSM stuff.

The modellers had more tonal variety and effects. The Sansamps felt like a real amp. The rack ideal for me for years was the Sansamp PSA 1 in the loop of a Roland GP-100 - best of both worlds. ?

The Sansamps are also very handy in the studio - you can use 'em on anything. Also they can take a lot of punishment (like hitting the input hard and fast) that a POD or Boss unit won't without clipping.

racman

nd they are not a bad price too if they work well - current quotes I have are around R1900

aja

Out of interest, why would one prefer the GT2 over the Tri-AC?

I own the Tri-AC and I am pretty happy with it BTW ?

singemonkey

BMU wrote: I'm intrigued people still use these now that we have detailed simulation models like the Line6 & Roland COSM stuff.

I have a GT2 lying in a cupboard somewhere, haven't touched it in years. I regarded it as utterly unusable since I got the first Line 6 POD. (And we've come a long way since then with simulation.) Thin fizzy transistory tones EQ'd to "sort of vaguely" resemble a Marshall or Mesa - ugh. I'm talking heavy distortion here though, maybe they're ok for clean or slightly crunchy sounds.

Racman, why not make BMU an offer? ?

I've been intrigued by these devices and especially the recent ones that simulate a single amp type or line (and also benefit from perhaps a bit of refinement). Ultimately I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a Catalinbread pedal (which doesn't, unfortunately have a speaker sim, so it's only meant to ride in front of a tube amp). You can kind of make out the fizziness people refer to with the mosfet transistors, but it's very minor gripe compared to a honking amount of warm, analogue tube-alike sound. They do seem to sound warmer than most digital modellers.

racman

singemonkey wrote:
Racman, why not make BMU an offer? ?

I did but he (wisely) would like to hang on to it still. Clearly he hasn't experienced thrill of the dark side of GAS ..... GSS!!! (Gear Sell Syndrome) ? ?

BMU

racman wrote:
singemonkey wrote:
Racman, why not make BMU an offer? ?

I did but he (wisely) would like to hang on to it still. Clearly he hasn't experienced thrill of the dark side of GAS ..... GSS!!! (Gear Sell Syndrome) ? ?

True, I might one day be totally bored and decide to perform extensive tone testing of GT2 vs POD XT to determine if you lot are all insane... or if it's me. ?

racman

Trust me - you don't need to hang on to it to find out ....WE'RE ALL INSANE !!!!!!!! ? ?

BMU

racman wrote: Trust me - you don't need to hang on to it to find out ....WE'RE ALL INSANE !!!!!!!! ? ?

Bwaahaahaa!

Keira-WitherKay

BMU wrote:
racman wrote:
singemonkey wrote:
Racman, why not make BMU an offer? ?

I did but he (wisely) would like to hang on to it still. Clearly he hasn't experienced thrill of the dark side of GAS ..... GSS!!! (Gear Sell Syndrome) ? ?
True, I might one day be totally bored and decide to perform extensive tone testing of GT2 vs POD XT to determine if you lot are all insane... or if it's me. ?

yeah well BMU i think you mentioned it in a previous post .......... it depends on your needs........if you into massive overdive sounds maybe the sansamp won't be ideal ........... and i know a few people who use sansamp GT 2 's and use em just as amps........ in other words set up say a clean fender twin reverb sound........ (think they call it tweed on GT2 ) and then put Overdrive pedals before that .......when they want massive drive

but also i think you may have a point that technology is advancing at an awesome rate so something like the sansamp that 10 -15 years ago was cutting edge may still be good ........and i personally love em...and as even alan mentioned they used in pro studio's all over the world as an industry standard preamp .....but the new gear can thanks to the technological advancement can now offer the same plus more.......

but i'm be keen to hear the test........ maybe try record it and post it .......... remember tho the idea of the sansamp is to sound like the amps they emulate which in the sansamp case is - 1. for fender twin reverb type amp.. 2. for a marshall 3. a mesa boogie amp and it might be awesome to actually plug a twin reverb in and get a sound then plug a sans amp direct into the PA systenm then fiddle on the sansamp to try copy the fender twins tone and colour ...and in my mind if it can do that then it's doing it's job so yeah a 3 way test with the real amp then the sansamp model then the POD model of the twin reverb and see what happens one might even find one could get great sounds outa both ?

BMU

I don't think I'm going to be *that* bored anytime soon. ?

I'm thinking y'all might be right, the GT2 is probably ok for clean and slightly crunchy sounds. But for the high-tech, tight modern metal sound, (the only sound that counts for me) straight to disk, it doesn't cut it even nearly.

AlanRatcliffe

BMU wrote: I'm thinking y'all might be right, the GT2 is probably ok for clean and slightly crunchy sounds. But for the high-tech, tight modern metal sound, (the only sound that counts for me) straight to disk, it doesn't cut it even nearly.

You're probably right - the response and dynamics I love from the Sansmp are when it's on the verge of breakup. Higher gain stuff doesn't have or need that dynamics.

singemonkey

Keira WitherKay wrote: but also i think you may have a point that technology is advancing at an awesome rate so something like the sansamp that 10 -15 years ago was cutting edge may still be good ........and i personally love em...and as even alan mentioned they used in pro studio's all over the world as an industry standard preamp .....but the new gear can thanks to the technological advancement can now offer the same plus more.......

From the stuff I've checked out, it seems that the rate of advance has been slow for these analogue tube circuit emulators, while for digital it's been lightning speed. But digital started off appalling, cold, pixellated, and almost unlistenable and it's only now got to the stage that it's a viable technology. This analogue tech was pretty sweet even back then and it still seems to stack up now.

And even now it probably has the edge when it comes to warmth - even though it won't emulate existing amplifiers as closely as the digital tech.

BMU

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
BMU wrote: I'm thinking y'all might be right, the GT2 is probably ok for clean and slightly crunchy sounds. But for the high-tech, tight modern metal sound, (the only sound that counts for me) straight to disk, it doesn't cut it even nearly.
You're probably right - the response and dynamics I love from the Sansmp are when it's on the verge of breakup.

Ah yeah that explains a lot. I forget. Everyone else's "response and dynamics" is my "this thing feels spongy, I'm not trying to play frikkin' BLUES here!!!" LOL

evolucian

i haven't plugged mine in to go straight to disk... but i felt for live use in a valve amp... best sound i've ever heard... gets the feedback going on a very low volume even... like super low, 1 and 1. And it has plenty of drive imo... cos u dont really need much in the end anyway