Hello gents, I have kind of a dilemma - in my journey for silent playing solution I've went through small 1W tube into reactive load + IR loader, with ported 112 cab for occasional jamming, then in some weak minded moment I sold the gear and I went through the plugin route. Then GAS stroked again and I've built a pedal board to cover all the base tones I use - without amp, computer independent and also avoiding modellers. For amp like tones I now use KSR Ceres with Two notes Opus (Power amp sim + DynIR cabs), which sound and feel great through studio monitors, especially with a sub. Ceres delivers these boosted amp type of sounds bright/feel/mode switches offer lots of options to shape the sound. Other pedals on board - Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, TC Spark mini, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Dark World
Now, I have another strike of GAS and I think of getting real glass + cab again. Mostly because of the sentiment, for the "cool factor", for having a reference of good tone and option to be able to gig/jam with others if that happens. The thing is that I like the sound and portability of my current pedalboard setup (Pedaltrain Metro 16), but for the sake of silent/fly/quick practice rig I could live with the Opus only. Cab would be probably some kind of ported 112 or 212, but is not a priority at the moment, for silent situation I would use reactive load of some kind, but I can't decide what route to go for the amp, except for waiting till GAS passes and getting some kind of FRFR cab when I'll need to play live, I have couple of options in mind:
• KSR PA50/25 to pair with Ceres - hard to get new in EU, almost impossible to find on used market here, but seems to be the wisest option, when I'll have another week moment and I'll consider selling the gear again. But for sure it'll lack "the cool factor" of the amp head
• Sell Ceres + Dark World (since Opus has midi it can cover most of the basic reverb sounds of DW) to fund modded SloClone build - either complete DIY or using some kit - this would the most fun option indeed and kind of dream come true moment for me (Lego for musicians + I have a close friend who builds, mods and repairs tube amps, who would guide me and help me with the build). This type of circuit + 808 is my holy grail of tone, but this is the least wise option from the resale point of view, as well
• Sell Ceres + DW to fund some amp head purchase - kind of "but why?" option - preference would be compact size, 6L6, SLO based, built well (chassis mounted pots and tube sockets, as less ribbon cables as possible..), easy to repair - not many options left within the budget and just getting whatever affordable tube amp just for sake of glowing glass, when I'm pretty happy with what I have currently is not the way I think
• Don't sell anyting, or maybe just DW to fund DIY tube mono poweramp build in a head shell chassis, with similar features like KSR PA50/25..with potential to mod it to full amp, if I'll have a feeling that I miss something with Ceres into tube power amp
..no I don't want a modeler - I have amp sims covered via plugins and I don't see a point of getting one at the moment for my situation. There is no added benefit compared to my pedalboard thing as far as I see it and for the tones I use.
Now, I have another strike of GAS and I think of getting real glass + cab again. Mostly because of the sentiment, for the "cool factor", for having a reference of good tone and option to be able to gig/jam with others if that happens. The thing is that I like the sound and portability of my current pedalboard setup (Pedaltrain Metro 16), but for the sake of silent/fly/quick practice rig I could live with the Opus only. Cab would be probably some kind of ported 112 or 212, but is not a priority at the moment, for silent situation I would use reactive load of some kind, but I can't decide what route to go for the amp, except for waiting till GAS passes and getting some kind of FRFR cab when I'll need to play live, I have couple of options in mind:
• KSR PA50/25 to pair with Ceres - hard to get new in EU, almost impossible to find on used market here, but seems to be the wisest option, when I'll have another week moment and I'll consider selling the gear again. But for sure it'll lack "the cool factor" of the amp head
• Sell Ceres + Dark World (since Opus has midi it can cover most of the basic reverb sounds of DW) to fund modded SloClone build - either complete DIY or using some kit - this would the most fun option indeed and kind of dream come true moment for me (Lego for musicians + I have a close friend who builds, mods and repairs tube amps, who would guide me and help me with the build). This type of circuit + 808 is my holy grail of tone, but this is the least wise option from the resale point of view, as well
• Sell Ceres + DW to fund some amp head purchase - kind of "but why?" option - preference would be compact size, 6L6, SLO based, built well (chassis mounted pots and tube sockets, as less ribbon cables as possible..), easy to repair - not many options left within the budget and just getting whatever affordable tube amp just for sake of glowing glass, when I'm pretty happy with what I have currently is not the way I think
• Don't sell anyting, or maybe just DW to fund DIY tube mono poweramp build in a head shell chassis, with similar features like KSR PA50/25..with potential to mod it to full amp, if I'll have a feeling that I miss something with Ceres into tube power amp
..no I don't want a modeler - I have amp sims covered via plugins and I don't see a point of getting one at the moment for my situation. There is no added benefit compared to my pedalboard thing as far as I see it and for the tones I use.