Most efficient practice setup? Amp vs modeller?

[Screamingdaisy]

My guitar rig and bass rig sit beside each other.

I plug my iPad into the bass rig and practice, jam, improv, etc along with it.

I don’t like practicing through headphones. Tried it, wasn’t for me.

Beyond that, a good tube amp is a musical instrument unto itself. While I’m playing guitar I also like to practice playing my amplifier.

Finally, if you want to learn fast, play with others. It’ll force you out of your comfort zone. It’ll also help prevent you from turning into a bedroom wanker than can play a bajillion notes per second but can’t keep in time with or play along with other musicians.

 

[trem licking]

This is my main concern, that playing through a modeller or my current setup won’t expose nearly as many bad tendencies as playing at volume. Though I assume playing through headphones will also reveal a lot about someone’s playing.

If you REALLY want to know how your playing is, record yourself. Listen back to it and you can listen with full concentration. Can be simple video or audio recording. The amp sim vs amp vs feel thing is VERY negligible in the grand scheme

 

[pazuzuya]

Wassup!

First thing, I always avoid practicing unplugged.
You see, alternate picking and tremolo picking have been a problem for me ever since I started (14+ years). Recently I found out that I needed to apply less pressure on the pick, which makes building up speed a lot easier.
Which brings me to my initial point. When I practice unplugged, I unconsciously apply more pressure on the pick than necessary (so that I can hear what I'm doing), which messes up my picking. On the other hand, if I apply the correct pressure, I can't hear what the hell I'm doing.
So I always try to play plugged in. Even at extremely low volumes I can properly hear what I'm doing and adjust my picking hand.

So, to answer your question: Modeller, because you can achieve ideal gain levels, boost natural amp drive etc. without cranking up the volume at 2 a.m.