Yesterday I went out looking for a small domestic guitar amplifier with amp modeling technology and crucially, USB connectivity. My youngest nephew had a Line 6, Spider IV, amp which had impressed me and I tried one of those but it doesn’t have a USB line out.
I also tried the Fender Mustang 1 which initially gave the impression of being less versatile.
However, at the second shop I got the guy to show me how to work all the pre-sets and the MOD and DLY/REV knobs on the Mustang and realised it’s probably a better amp than the Line 6 but the controls are not labeled up so clearly.
It’s a little less intuitive but does more I think.
Happily, it has USB connectivity. My long term reader will know of my trials and tribulations with Cubase LE and the Zoom G2.1u guitar footpedal/processor!
I am really pleased with the Fender Mustang amp. “It’s all in one box man!”, to steal a phrase from Line 6 and it comes with free Ableton multi-track DAW software AND Amplitube Fender LE for PC which I already have on my iPhone.
Putting all this together with the Blue Yeti, USB microphone that I purchased quite recently and the KNS6400 closed back professional headphones I that bought with the amp I think I’m well placed to start home recording again.
A pocket digital recorder would be nice to add found sounds into the mix but, hey, lets work with what we have. You’d be surprised at the ambient sounds you can get out of an over-driven guitar amp with crockery rocking on the strings of a guitar layed flat on it’s back.
That’s a spin off. The amp provides some beautiful tones. It has re-inspired me.
I’ll post some audio once I’ve registered all the software and got to grips with it all.
A final thought: This is the first amp I’ve owned where you have to update the firmware!
As the man in the first shop said, “Guitars are guitars and computers are computers and ne’er the twain shall meet”.
I know exactly where he’s coming from. I laughed with him but I’m afraid he’s wrong!
Here are some grainy Hipstamatic pics of the kit…
