Andertons modelling amp shoot-out

Voxman

 This Anderton's vid is actually quite interesting.  Whilst this is based on tones created by them, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the amps but disappointed in others.  Be interested to learn your thoughts based on the vid. 



To skip to the amp you want to hear go to these times in the video

Vox VT100X - 2:16 https://goo.gl/wywaFd
Marshall Code 50 - 7:50 https://goo.gl/HKA8ff
Fender Mustang III v2 - 14:11 https://goo.gl/ccUSjS
Boss Katana 100 - 21:06 https://goo.gl/JwGyPQ
Blackstar ID60 TVP - 26:59 https://goo.gl/eigPOy
Blackstar ID Core 100 - 32:11 https://goo.gl/QpnmSK
Line 6 Spider V 60 - 37:18 https://goo.gl/t9Kocu

hywelg

Never mind misread the text......

ICBM

Vox - good clean, muddy first overdrive sound and too mushy/broken-up sounding (not in a good way) second one. 6/10

Marshall - excellent clean, good first overdrive but slightly 'choked' sounding, oddly hollow/harsh second one. 7/10

Fender - dull clean, horrible muddy/grainy first overdrive, good second one, especially with the PRS. 4/10

Boss - good clean (although the PRS was not clean), excellent first overdrive, slightly splashy second one (better with the PRS). 8/10

Blackstar ID60 - muddy clean, slightly muddy first overdrive… muddy second one. Not positively terrible but dull. 5/10

Blackstar Core - same, except that it has an odd and irritating hollowness to its muddiness. (Probably due to the stereo.) 3/10

Line 6 - dull clean (again PRS not truly clean), broken-up/honky first overdrive, horrible muddy second one.

OK, that's with the sounds they chose so not necessarily a true reflection, but on that basis I would say the Marshall and the Boss sound the best.

The surprises were how poor the Fender sounded clean and how good for high-gain, and how muddy and dull the Line 6 sounded - I really wasn't expecting that. And that the Marshall had the best clean sound by far. Given that I use clean and semi-clean sounds far more than high-gain, I'd probably pick the Marshall.

monquixote

I broadly agree with that though I think I liked the Blackstar more than you did and the Marshall less. 

I'd definitely have the Katana given that it's one of the cheapest and the simplest. 

ICBM

monquixote said:

I broadly agree with that though I think I liked the Blackstar more than you did and the Marshall less. 

I'd definitely have the Katana given that it's one of the cheapest and the simplest. 

I'm quite tempted by the Katana head, in fact. I like the concept of the built-in practice speaker.

The problem for me with all three of them is that I really dislike top-mounted controls. Only the Line 6 and the Blackstar ID have front-mounted ones, and I didn't like either amp.

I still don't like the sound of any of them as much as the Yamaha THR100, but that's a much simpler concept and a much more expensive amp, to be fair. On the other hand it does make you think about where the money might have been spent for the best results.

steamabacus

ICBM said:

I'm quite tempted by the Katana head, in fact. I like the concept of the built-in practice speaker.

The problem for me with all three of them is that I really dislike top-mounted controls

For live use into a bigger cabinet you could always just sit it on its front face (the internal speaker being disconnected). For practice use, top-mounted is surely more convenient when it's sat on a desk top?

ICBM

steamabacus said:

For live use into a bigger cabinet you could always just sit it on its front face (the internal speaker being disconnected). For practice use, top-mounted is surely more convenient when it's sat on a desk top?

No. Front-mounted with the controls facing you is always more convenient unless it's on the floor next to you - which is usually the wrong position to hear it properly.

I really don't understand why the fashion has gone back to top-mounting, it must be some kind of 'retro' idea based on Fender Tweeds and AC30s or something…

It's bad news for a gigging amp from the point of view of spilled drinks getting into the insides too. (As would be putting the Katana on its front, unfortunately.)

monquixote

I think it's because most people don't put amps on stands.

Voxman

ICBM said:

steamabacus said:

For live use into a bigger cabinet you could always just sit it on its front face (the internal speaker being disconnected). For practice use, top-mounted is surely more convenient when it's sat on a desk top?

No. Front-mounted with the controls facing you is always more convenient unless it's on the floor next to you - which is usually the wrong position to hear it properly.

I really don't understand why the fashion has gone back to top-mounting, it must be some kind of 'retro' idea based on Fender Tweeds and AC30s or something…

It's bad news for a gigging amp from the point of view of spilled drinks getting into the insides too. (As would be putting the Katana on its front, unfortunately.)

Fully agree ... Top mounted controls are a nuisance not just with regards easy control access but because you can't stack another amp on it.  I have five amps, three top mount controls (Vox and two Laneys) and two side mount (Marshalls) so I can just about house them all at home in my small den, with the Marshalls at the bottom. 

And re spilled drinks, don't remind me. I had an original 2x10 Marshall 1954 18w amp that had drink spilled down it.  If that had never happened I'd still have it instead of taking it for repair and accepting an offer to sell it by a rogue at Vintage & Rare - before I knew what I had and what it was worth years later !  
  

digitalscream

ICBM said:

I really don't understand why the fashion has gone back to top-mounting, it must be some kind of 'retro' idea based on Fender Tweeds and AC30s or something…

It's bad news for a gigging amp from the point of view of spilled drinks getting into the insides too. (As would be putting the Katana on its front, unfortunately.)

It's even worse in multi-band lineups - generally, you end up with one cab shared between a guitarist in each band, with the heads stacked on each other in reverse order (top to bottom). Top-mounted controls make that impossible.

EricTheWeary

Top mounted controls on amps were , I seem to remember reading somewhere, put there on the basis that the combo would be in front of the band. This explains the reverse set up on an AC30, for example.

nick_s

It's this review that has made me look at the Boss Katana to replace my ageing VT30 practice amp.  It sounds great, more so for just £249 (+which ever footswitch I choose).

nick_s

ICBM said:

Vox - good clean, muddy first overdrive sound and too mushy/broken-up sounding (not in a good way) second one. 6/10

Marshall - excellent clean, good first overdrive but slightly 'choked' sounding, oddly hollow/harsh second one. 7/10

Fender - dull clean, horrible muddy/grainy first overdrive, good second one, especially with the PRS. 4/10

Boss - good clean (although the PRS was not clean), excellent first overdrive, slightly splashy second one (better with the PRS). 8/10

Blackstar ID60 - muddy clean, slightly muddy first overdrive… muddy second one. Not positively terrible but dull. 5/10

Blackstar Core - same, except that it has an odd and irritating hollowness to its muddiness. (Probably due to the stereo.) 3/10

Line 6 - dull clean (again PRS not truly clean), broken-up/honky first overdrive, horrible muddy second one.

OK, that's with the sounds they chose so not necessarily a true reflection, but on that basis I would say the Marshall and the Boss sound the best.

The surprises were how poor the Fender sounded clean and how good for high-gain, and how muddy and dull the Line 6 sounded - I really wasn't expecting that. And that the Marshall had the best clean sound by far. Given that I use clean and semi-clean sounds far more than high-gain, I'd probably pick the Marshall.

I agree with almost all of your thoughts there  That said about the Katana, the PRS started on the crunch channel so had no hope of achieving a clean tone I was mighty impressed by the Code series, more so after seeing the official Marshall videos, which really did it a disservice.

TTBZ

Marshall Code sounded best to me for the mid gain rock tone. Better than most other Code demos I've heard!

ThePrettyDamned

That katana sure does tick some boxes. Boss may have, finally, done some good modelling. 

ICBM

TTBZ said:

Marshall Code sounded best to me for the mid gain rock tone. Better than most other Code demos I've heard!

What puzzled me was the difference between the good mid-gain overdrive and the odd and not good high-gain one. If the second overdrive had been better it would have been the clear winner - which I think it is on features too.

To be shallow I also think they need to offer a nicer cosmetic model - even if it was more expensive. If they did one that looked like their little Bluetooth speakers I could easily see myself buying one, top-mounted controls or not.

John_A

I really like the cosmetics on the Katana, simple and elegant

EricTheWeary

Welcome to my sad Sunday lunch.

Notes: 

- I like that strat, yum.

- watching through the TV so not Hi fi quality sound 

- Vox, I like that. There is some darkness/ mush as others said but maybe that's how they've dialled it in. Not sure I'm getting an obvious Vox flavour which would be a selling point for me.

- Marshall Code. Just back to the top mounted controls a second. I like it on these, this Marshall for example at the back of the stage looks like a black box with Marshall on it which is a classic kind of look whereas the control panels say Robbie the Robot.
Anyway, I'm not enjoying this much, no clean clean and very generic rawk distortion.

- Fender. As a Mustang owner there are sounds I love and ones I hate. Unless the video was eight hours long it's not really possible to do enough comparisons. Anyway, Bassman here my favourite overdriven sound so far, although the more driven tone not working so well ( looks up, am saying opposite to ICBM so far, suspect this is me losing any remaining credibility...).

- Boss. Bit more straightforward which I like, aesthetics meh. No clean on the PRS? Heavy drive has horrible noise on it. I'm not getting the excitement.

- Blackstar TVP. Bigger sounding than the last couple. Having used one they've done better than me, I don't think it's an interesting sounding amp but that's not the point of it. 

- Blackstar ID. Bit farty in places. Heavy drive sounds horrible.

- Line 6, God I thought we had finished. Sigh. Pretty sure  the GU10 doesn't come with it as the demo might suggest. Aesthetic nightmare, who knew you could make a black box look this ugly. I'm enjoying how it sounds with the strat, although I've enjoyed everything by Pete on here and very little by Rabea

They are all that 'use at home but could use at a gig' type of design which always seemed like a good idea but I'm not keen in practice. Nothing pushing me to get the credit card out.

Voxman

ICBM said:

TTBZ said:

Marshall Code sounded best to me for the mid gain rock tone. Better than most other Code demos I've heard!

What puzzled me was the difference between the good mid-gain overdrive and the odd and not good high-gain one. If the second overdrive had been better it would have been the clear winner - which I think it is on features too.

To be shallow I also think they need to offer a nicer cosmetic model - even if it was more expensive. If they did one that looked like their little Bluetooth speakers I could easily see myself buying one, top-mounted controls or not.

I guarantee you it was just their settings. Prompted by the video I went and tried a Code yesterday (the 50w 1x12).  This thing is just stonking and if you like Marshall amps but want some variety, the vintage and modern tones it captures are just breathtaking - it did a better JCM2000 than my real JCM2000!  But do set the EQ - as often is the case, some of the pesets are 'overdone'. And I was just gobsmacked at the cleans - on that vid the cleans sounded really good but in person it's even better!  And the JTM45 and bigger Plexi tones (which are really hard for any modelling amp to really nail that harmonic warm crunch) are just fabulous! 

I wasn't looking to buy a new amp - and I have no room.  But I was seriously thinking of getting the code and putting my JCM2000 DSL401 in the garage - only problem is that damned top control panel and being unable to stack my Cub 12R on it (currently it sits on my DSL401).

Guys, I shit you not, this is one blindingly good amp, at a great price.  I'd love to hear the 100w through a 4x12 - I think that would blow a ton of very expensive gear out the water! 

Of course reliability will have to be seen especially as these things are made to a budget - but tonally, it knocked my socks off - and that doesn't happen often.  Unfortunately they didn't have a Katana for me to try, but I'm eager to try one of those too - but it will have to go some to come anywhere close to the Code. 

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

- Marshall Code. Just back to the top mounted controls a second. I like it on these, this Marshall for example at the back of the stage looks like a black box with Marshall on it which is a classic kind of look whereas the control panels say Robbie the Robot.

Anyway, I'm not enjoying this much, no clean clean and very generic rawk distortion.

- Fender. As a Mustang owner there are sounds I love and ones I hate. Unless the video was eight hours long it's not really possible to do enough comparisons. Anyway, Bassman here my favourite overdriven sound so far, although the more driven tone not working so well ( looks up, am saying opposite to ICBM so far, suspect this is me losing any remaining credibility...).

Not at all - but genuinely surprised by what you said about the Marshall clean sound. Yes OK there's the very slightest bit of clipping (although not much), but the clean tone is by far the best of any amp there, it's the only one that has any real sparkle and 'valveness' to it. The Fender's is just dull and lifeless - but the even bigger shock is how good its high-gain sound is! Possibly the best of any of them. I do know a lot of it will come down to their settings though.

I really don't think the Marshall looks great though - not the control panel, which has a really nice "70s hi-fi receiver" vibe to it - the cabinet doesn't by any means look terrible, but it's just *boring*... a plain black box with a Marshall logo. Just imagine how great it would look with basketweave grille cloth and/or a white or gold piping around it, and then wonder how they had the lack of imagination of offer that… given that at the factory it would barely cost any more.

On the exact opposite hand I do actually like the Line 6 - it looks purposely modern and *not* like a classic guitar amp, but Line 6 are not a 'heritage' company so that also makes sense. It just sounded really disappointing.

EricTheWeary

I don't know if the Marshall looks great, I think what it would do is pass as a Marshall in the dark at the back of a stage ( especially because you can't see the hi fi receiver control panel) and that's quite often what people want. I've mentioned before how the rehearsal studio I go to has mostly Marshalls because the owner says his customers always ask for them, they'd rather play through the worst Marshall than the best Peavey. If I was 16 again and wanted to be in a band it's the one I'd choose out of this lot.