The Amp Sim thread !!

[bigbluebarry]

Oh MAN! The Gibson sounds SO much better! Maybe I'm a guitar fanatic (I own a '63 Stratocaster), but the sound of the Gibson, to my ears, is MILES beyond the Epiphone! Great comparo, though, Big Blue!)

I'm right there with you Ern! The first time I saw that, I was like "man, that epiphone sounds nice..." and then he played the Gibson, or the "real" Les Paul as he called it, and I was like 'HOLY CRAP!##@?$#@$?#?!"

Prior to watching that video, my next guitar purchase was going to be an Epiphone Les Paul. That plan has since been nixed and I'm going to be holding out for a Gibson. Though, I don't think there's anything wrong with that Epiphone. It sounded really good too! But after watching that video, I think I'd feel like I was settling by buying an Epiphone. Darn it!!

- Big Blue

[fullbirdmusic]

I think it may have already been mentioned but I also wanted to add that just like a great sounding vocal starts at the source, a great vocalist... a great sounding guitar tone starts at the source as well. Check out this comparison of an Epiphone Les Paul versus a Gibson Les Paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrZpxgz7Dwk

hth,
- Big Blue

Here's a trick I learned in a music store: When buying an electric guitar, listen to it UNPLUGGED! Feel the fretboard, listen to the intonation, and especially listen to the sound of the guitar. If it sounds good unplugged, it'll sound better through an amp!

M

Funny, that's my first quality control too! If it sounds like shit unplugged (like most Epiphones do), you might as well set it back down!

[Kolstad]

I think it may have already been mentioned but I also wanted to add that just like a great sounding vocal starts at the source, a great vocalist... a great sounding guitar tone starts at the source as well. Check out this comparison of an Epiphone Les Paul versus a Gibson Les Paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrZpxgz7Dwk

hth,
- Big Blue

Here's a trick I learned in a music store: When buying an electric guitar, listen to it UNPLUGGED! Feel the fretboard, listen to the intonation, and especially listen to the sound of the guitar. If it sounds good unplugged, it'll sound better through an amp!

M

Funny, that's my first quality control too! If it sounds like shit unplugged (like most Epiphones do), you might as well set it back down!

+1 on that. Absolutely!

[rnrmachine]

I have notice a fair amount, in the past, that a number of folks don't realize that most inputs unless designed specifically for guitar will not work for guitar. People plug their guitar into a line input, then load up a amp sim and think it sounds poor. It's less that it is a sim and more that you are going through a line input. A line input is 10k ohms. A modern guitar input is 1meg ohms. The line input will chop your sound immensely and unless you are using active pickups your sound is most definately going to be dead. Even with active pickups the sound will be very poor just not as bad as passive into a line, for obvious reasons.

... it depends on what kind of guitar we use with which pick up etc.. i only have one electric with one pick up so i gotta work extra hard to cover what i dont have. i will get a neck pick up later though, make my life easier.

just installed Guitar Rig 4 demo version, it looks little more complex than Eleven. lets see what i can do with this little friend. just done quick drum work, now im onto writng guitar parts with only Guitar Rig 4 demo version used !! fun fun !!

i gotta hurry up before it becomes 30 minutes in one session. ha ha. well i can deal with it easily. just bouncing takes after each session and keep original takes in playlist plus setting memo so i can tweak later.

Hi Taeko,

With only one pickup on the bridge you may be limited by it as to the amount of different sounds you can do but this isn't that bad of a thing. Most of my stuff is done with just that pickup selected. Granted it is usually hard rock but still. I wouldn't be down about having only one pickup. What pickup it is.. that means a lot more then how many you have.

So did you like GTR4?

Rob

[crs7string]

Regarding the Epiphone vs. the Gibson Les Paul, could it possibly be a variation on:

"You get what you pay for."

However, sometimes the "cheaper" guitar will do the job better. I find this to be true more frequently with acoustic guitars that I slap a microphone on to record a track. My Takamine nylon sometimes works better than my Lowden, my Yamaha acoustic steel string sometimes sounds better than my old Martin.

There also is the element of better materials and craftmenship with a more expensive guitar and a more expensive guitar, generally speaking will hold more value AND possibly increase in value over time.

BBB, I think holding out for the Gibson is a good strategy. Your talent and ability deserves to be served by the best tools you can secure.


Chuck

[fullbirdmusic]

Regarding the Epiphone vs. the Gibson Les Paul, could it possibly be a variation on:

"You get what you pay for."

However, sometimes the "cheaper" guitar will do the job better. I find this to be true more frequently with acoustic guitars that I slap a microphone on to record a track. My Takamine nylon sometimes works better than my Lowden, my Yamaha acoustic steel string sometimes sounds better than my old Martin.

There also is the element of better materials and craftmenship with a more expensive guitar and a more expensive guitar, generally speaking will hold more value AND possibly increase in value over time.

BBB, I think holding out for the Gibson is a good strategy. Your talent and ability deserves to be served by the best tools you can secure.


Chuck

I think the "get what you pay for" is a function of the materials and workmanship, 100%. Granted, cheap materials and cheap workmanship can produce some outstanding instruments and recordings, by far with guitars we get what we pay for and are pleasantly surprised when we can find a deal

[t4mh]

Gibson vs whatever... I am and always have been a Gibson fan, I own 2 Les Pauls. I have also played on a whole pile of Gibson dawgs. As far as Epiphones go, I also have an early 60s Epiphone Olymipic, sort of a Les Paul Jr copy thing that plays and sounds good. I haven't ever found another Epiphone of any model that I liked or "fit my hand". Thats just me. I also have a really cheap pawn shop strat copy that cost me next to nothing. Everyone has their price but for me, that copy would leave my possession only by way of a truck load of money.

I agree in general with Ern's thing about sounding good unplugged. But then again, I'm not going to play it unplugged and so I want to hear it cranked. My cheap strat copy sounds like crap unplugged but has the greatest huffy tone plugged in. It SO works for me, and, that is something that I can't quite explain, but I've always known it when I've heard it, for lack of a better description.

To my way of thinking, guitars all have different sounds. Picking one is more like asking yourself what you're looking for rather than a quality control sort of thing.

HTH
Keith

[rnrmachine]

Imho... a $200 guitar going into a $3000 amp will sound a ton better then a $3000 guitar going into a $200 amp. So it depends.. imho.

BUT going into the same amp or sim the $3000 one would win hands down.. unless the $200 gtr was exactly the sound you wanted.

Rob

[jdhogg]

6 months ago I bought a gibson and not a epiphone! Gary Moore BFG les paul.
So I am pro getting the good stuff.

But...that video just showed how great the gibson WITH the fishman sounded.
I thought it was very unfair to the epihone considering a lot of people buy it knowing they will change the pickups.
If they compared the epiphone against a stock les paul then yes...but they didnt.

What they should of done is replace the epiphone pickups with seymour duncan alnico pro 2 (the pickups that made the slash sound) and compared that to the slash one with the fishman out.

Also the guy put a lot more effort into playing the gibson.

re epihones
I have heard lots of average ones but I have heard a few that sound as good as some gibsons.
Just saying dont discount the epiphone based on that....I reckon if you went into a store and you cold try out 5 epihones and pick the best it would not be very far off the real thing.

[billg1]

Playing live I'd want the "real" thing and wouldn't settle at all on my axe. But for recording I think it's important to be versatile and have a lot of choices. I sold some pretty expensive (vintage etc.) guitars and basses in order to finance a more diverse collection. I have an epiphone that I like just as much as the Gibson I sold for almost 10 times the money and a couple of the basses I purchased after selling a vintage P-bass are miles better.

I like the option of a P-bass, J-bass, hollowbody, roundwound, flat wound, fretless etc., P-90s, humbuckers, strat sounds, tele sounds, holowbody archtop and so on. It would be impossible for me to afford the most expensive instruments so I buy instruments with a good return policy & check out a lot of them.

I think for recording you should check out an Agile les paul copy-

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/ar ... 31246.html

It would probably make a bigger difference if I were actually a guitar player!