UPDATE: Amps vs. Models Contest

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UPDATE, Friday Sept. 23: The contest is now closed! Read the results here.

hardtest — Yet another thing you could be doing instead of practicing.

I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t think it would be that hard!

The Amps vs. Models Contest is still very much in progress. Yes, yes, yes—you still have a chance to win fabulous prizes and even more fabulous bragging rights.

One of two things must occur to conclude this thing: Either a) three contestants need to get perfect scores to claim the three instant prizes, which hasn’t happened yet, or b) we wait another six weeks till Halloween, when the prizes simply go to the three best scores.

No one wants to wait six weeks to wrap this up—least of all me. I’m dying to spill the beans, and I’m so tempted to blab when people write asking for details. But dropping hints wouldn’t be fair to the plucky contestants who dove right in with no hints whatsoever. But I will make one seemingly obvious suggestion: Consider a bit of research about what the amps are supposed to sound like. You Tube clips may help here. 🙂

Comments

19 responses to “UPDATE: Amps vs. Models Contest”

September 12, 2011

David Baerwald

I sort of stopped enjoying recording electric guitars, and finally realized it was because I was too lazy to record actual amps, instead relying on the quick n easy plug-ins. I also sort of can’t stand sitting next to a blaring amp next to me and was remoting cabinets all over the house, which didnt seem to win the approval of any guests I may have. “Sigh”, I said until I discovered the Silent Sister from Paul Rivera. Unlike all other isolation cabinets I’ve ever used, this one has a sort of sound-dampening pressure vent that he calls The Labrynth. What this does is release the air pressure that is built up in an enclosed space, In prior isolation cabinets, both the speaker and the mic diaphragm would almost immediately compress, creating both a horrible sound and ultimately busted speaker and mic. Now the Silent Sister is on a permanent input to my DAW, and is as easy to use as any plug-in. So there’s my two cents on the topic.

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September 12, 2011

David Baerwald

Wow, that sounds like a commercial!

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1. September 12, 2011
  
  joe.gore
  
  You’re allowed to talk that way when you’re a famous and important musician: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-baerwald-p3615/credits
  
  Reply
September 13, 2011

blake

can we enter more than once?

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1. September 13, 2011
  
  joe
  
  Only if you make up a fake name and use another email address. In other words: CHEAT! 😉
  
  Reply
September 14, 2011

el reclusa

How long is the contest going to run? I’m away from the computer most of the day, and my phone doesn’t do the audio enough justice to listen that critically. I’m gonna try to take the Pepsi challenge tonight…really looking forward to finding out just how far off my answers end up being!

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1. September 14, 2011
  
  joe
  
  The contest runs until either: a) I receive three perfect eight-out-of-eight scores, or b) Halloween, when the prizes are awarded to the top three scorers. I’d be shocked indeed if things wrapped up before you had a chance to leisurely mull over your answers. 🙂
  
  Reply
September 17, 2011

Dan

I’d like to experiment with virtual amps. But I downloaded the free Guitar Rig demo from NI and of course can get no sound. I appear to be getting input to the program but no go. This is why computers lose out to amps. Now I’m in soundcard configuration hell. Or maybe not, I don’t know what’s wrong, really.

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1. September 18, 2011
  
  Robert
  
  You’re probably using the wrong sound driver go to file -> audio input settings or whatever it’s called and make sure the input is your sound card or whatever and the driver’s you’re using are the correct ones. AND don’t forget to make it go out your speakers. If you’re using just your mic jack, the driver you select should probably be the “low -latency ASIO driver.” Hope you get it to work, and if you aren’t satisfied with the tone, I suggest going on youtube and searching “how to use impulses,” as the guy who does those videos gives you some really nice free amp modeling software.
  
  Reply
  1. September 18, 2011
    
    Dan
    
    Thanks for the advice Robert! I’ll give it a shot.
    
    Reply
    1. September 18, 2011
      
      Dan
      
      Ok, I set the driver to match my little maudio Fasttrack. And the inputs and outputs are matched to it as well. I have headphones plugged into the fasttrack and I hear a very dry signal coming through the phones when I play. When I turn up the Preset Volume on the program, the volume level of the static goes up, so there’s SOME connection there. I’m still stumped!
      
      Reply
      1. September 18, 2011
        
        Dan
        
        Whoo-hoo! I have sound! I’m not really sure how! I kept clicking on different buttons! Who cares, it’s working! For now….!
2. September 18, 2011
  
  joe
  
  Do you have a link, Robert?
  
  Reply
  1. September 18, 2011
    
    Robert
    
    It took me a while to find it again, but this guy is pretty freaking good at getting a believable tone out of freeware. He also has a useful tutorial on impulses, not to mention he has some download links of some impulses on his videos.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0nVsmoiEUk&feature=channel_video_title
    
    Reply
    1. September 19, 2011
      
      Dan
      
      Cool stuff, Robert. Now that I finally got the program working, I’ve been messing around, seeing how it works. Watching the guy’s video, the larger lesson seems to be, as always, that using things in a non-standard way sometimes works best. Looks like I have a steep learning curve ahead, but the possibilities are exciting.
      
      Reply
      1. September 19, 2011
        
        Robert
        
        My opinion on the modeling versus tube amp debate is that they both sound great, but it takes a bit longer to find a tone you truly want out of an amp sim than an expensive amp.
September 18, 2011

Biffoz

So, I’m stoked about your response to my picks, and thinking it through, there’s really no way to get 7/8 cause if one’s wrong, another one is also. So can we make second attempts? *-?

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1. September 18, 2011
  
  joe
  
  Sadly, only one entry per contestant. You can certainly try again just for fun, but no ~~cookie~~ prizes for you! 🙂
  
  Reply
September 19, 2011

Kyle Alm

This contest is taking way too long, the suspense is literally killing me. Wait, that’s just life that is killing me. Tough to tell the difference.

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