I have gone through quite a few amps and a shed load of pedals.

I could make some good noises but getting from one type of sound to another was taking time.....

I sold the lot and bought a Fractal Audio AX8 (the AX8 does amp, speaker and effects modelling) with a pair of Laney IRT-X full range powered speakers..........

I am very happy as I have loads of virtual amps and pedals available to play with - the amp models do react like real amps with good transitions from clean to dirt, reacting well to touch and use of volume control.

What are you using to make a noise?

Hmmmm.

This could get embarrassing.

My "main" amp is a Tech21 Trademark60, 1x12" (60w) combo.  Bought from a mate a good few years ago, I really like flexibility and range of sounds.  From cleany clean through to rocky rock.  And all sounds are available at indoors-friendly volume levels.

That lives in my main music room.

I then decided that I needed something in my office for occasional quiet noodling.  When the video conferences get boring, etc.

I bought a Blackstar ID:100 TVP.  That is, at 100w, slightly OTT for office noodling.  But it cost me £100 (with the multi-function footswitch), so it would have been "daft not to".

Also in the office, for occasional quiet noodling, I've got a jamjar amp - 4" speaker, 2w power - which is a simple plug-in and play.  No controls, so it's all done on the guitar.  I built that into a little wooden (ply) cabinet.

And then I built another little £20 amp circuit, into another little wooden box, but that's head-only.  I've got a few speakers out in the workshop, waiting to be made into cabs.

Whilst we're in the workshop, I've got my long-serving Ohm 30w combo.  Had this forever.  Gigged it (!) through Uni days (when I got fed up of lugging a Carlsbro 2x12" 100w combo everywhere, including up 3 flights of stairs to my student flat).  The Ohm just serves as my workshop test amp.

And then there's my recently-fixed Roland Cube40GX (loads of onboard amps/FX), which I need to find a home for.

Out in the garden, we've got a little log cabin, which is where I keep my Marshall valve-something-or-other 1x12" combo, with a 1x12" extension cabinet.  That was a freebie from someone who just wanted rid of it.  Not sure that the amp is 100% working (it's a bit noisy), but the £20 circuit amps sound fine though the cabinet!

And then I'm aiming to build a "proper" valve amp at some point in the not too distant future.

Plus a variety of software apps on PC, mac and iPad, for quiet playing

🙂

I’ve also got a Fender Frontman 15R combo - actually doesn’t sound bad - A Micro Cube with added speaker out socket that gets used, with an open backed cab with a 10” Jensen ceramic speaker, in the workshop.  Also a couple of the the amp-plug headphone amps........

And the AX84 valve head, still without a cab.....

I do hope to build a valve combo.....

I had planned to do a Princeton clone but they are too loud for a home amp.  Found a series of YouTube videos about building a clone of a Supro amp - single ended - about 5 Watts, tremolo and reverb - that build will hopefully start next year - sourcing parts already.

What are you using to make a noise?

@frocesterbill 

Yamaha TRH30II Wireless 

Oh yes, thanks for the reminder @johnnierox-boo

I've got a THR10 as well.  Had forgotten about that!!

Vox AC-30 and an 80’s Legend 100 combo

Shop amp. ZT Lunchbox. This little thing is loud! And it can power up your pedal board at the same time. 

I’m mainly using my Kemper through the Kemper Kab...it emulates different speaker IRs as well as being a FRFR speaker for the modelling. Or I through it through the DAW for recording.

When I feel more old school and want to go valves  I use my blackstar HT20 studio through a Victory 2x12 Closed cab (lovely and loud), I’ve biased the Mullard valves so they run hot and they sound awesome 😎 

I also have a vox AD120 in our rehearsal space and a carlsboro 100 watt solid state In the garage to test builds - that is a great amp for surfer sound playing.

I mainly use the kemper though as it does everything and the latest acoustic simulator is outstanding. 

Now  pedals...🤔too many. Especially when I was out live (I still have most ). The best are my strymon timeline and bigsky, but quite a few OD pedals like a Klone, Tubescreamer, king of tone, and my favourite Xotic SL drive...but again the Kemper has it all and can select all the effects with the click of one foot switch so most are redundant again unless I wan tot record..the strymon are studio quality.

I have always had GAS but it’s getting less and less...but guitars, you can never have enough of those 😃

Now  pedals...

Now pedals ... I've never managed to get into pedals that much @deej.

I've got a few overdrive/bluesy pedals, but they mostly stay in the cupboard, and I'll just change guitars if I want a different sound.

I've tried some of the multi-fx / amp sim boxes through the years too - but generally cast them aside before I got to about page 20 in the user-guide.  They were just too complex to get my head around.

I recently bought an ME-80, which seems a lot more intuitive.  It has knobs to twiddle rather than menus to navigate, with all of the main effects (and more besides).  

Now pedals ... I've never managed to get into pedals that much

I used to experiment a lot back then but I don’t use them much but I still get them out every now and again....I won’t sell them 

ive heard the ME-80 is great but I’ve never had the chance to try it

ive heard the ME-80 is great but I’ve never had the chance to try it

The attraction to me @deej is that it is - as I said above - intuitive.

Most effects are controlled by knobs that you can see.  And twiddle.  And understand. You don't have to get into the depths of menus and buttons and options and other complicated stuff.  Read the description, printed on the pedal, twiddle a knob, job done.

Some people seem to like Boss stuff.  Others don't.  But they've got some track record in building pedals, and this is like a lot of their little pedals in one big pedal.

Ease of Use?  Tick

VFM?  Tick

Quality?  Tick

Sounds?  Tick

I've used it more than pretty much any of my other (and more expensive) experiments with multi FX.

You need to have a go on a kemper....easy twiddly knobs and computer Live adjustment/editing as well. The sounds are exceptional.

I do love boss stuff though so I’m sure it’s great

My old OD1 pedal was build like a tank and sounded great..I miss that pedal and I bet they sell pretty well for the original these days.....and I have it to a mate...take that Marcel 🤣🤣

 I tried some simple modellers - some of the Zoom stuff - they sounded brill on full on distortion or lovely clean but couldn’t do the bits between - the bit where an amp just starts to break up and the to go on smoothly and creamily on.......

I hadn’t come across the Fractal stuff until I found my current guitar teacher - he uses his to play live in a prog band and a covers band - was impressed by the the sounds - when I did the sums my stash of amps and pedals more than paid for my nice neat rig that was very popular with the boss - my guitar stuff is the corner of our dining room....

Yup OD-1s do go for a decent amount - work really well in front of some amps - Fender Twin for example.

The Kemper/Fractal thing - does work - loads of brill sounds - easy to tweak sounds once you have got your head around stuff....

I’ve been in a friends Fractal III and it’s amazing..I really think the modeller/profiler sounds are damn good compared to the traditional amps these days. Some people say it’s piracy but I’ve actually bought a valve amp I’d never heard of but loved the profile (driftwood mini nightmare) awesome amp but had to sell as in the end it was an indulgence I didn’t need as the kemper sounded exactly the same and it was just another item in the music room.

In the end the modellers are just so damn convenient live and for recording IMHO. You have to blow out your windows at home to record a great sound on a valve amp even a 20w.

I also have over 15000 different profiles with 1000’s of amp sounds to choose from that are editable and some real expensive amps such as dumbles, trainwreks  or 50’s tweeds which I couldn’t afford to buy.

It’s all a matter of choice and taste. Some people like one thing others another and at the end of the day if it sounds right to you then anything goes.

I look forward to other people’s posts to see what they like as you can always learn a thing or two?

I also have over 15000 different profiles with 1000’s of amp sounds

That’s about 15,000 rabbit holes that I just wouldn’t want to go down!  By the time I’d found a profile/sound that I liked, or found the one that I liked last week/month, I’ve spent an hour twiddling and have lost the urge to play anything!

Simple is better for me.

Just found another amp (it was hiding on a windowsill).

Blackstar ID COre 20.

It was donated as another not-working amp.  But after a bit of soldering, it now works.

I might have too many amps.