odibrom
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Top dollar Multi FX units with lots of processing power on tap are generally thought as tools for 1000s of different tones and shit and that those tones have to be used or the investment is not worth it... this by the common young guitar player. IMO, these Multi FX are primarily designed for studio work where there is the real need for experiment, and by studio I mean REAL STUDIOS, not our average home office/studio/whatever rig one might have. For the common musician a MultiFX tool has the possibility to teach the user what are these or that tones, but not the knowledge of how or when to use them. That comes from experience, either in studio, home or band practice or giging around... and reading SS.org for references obviously.
This to say that, as everybody else have already said in some way, most of the amps can deliver the same type of sound with slightly different approaches to EQ and grain (which can mean a way big difference), but to the audience, that will be peanuts, a nothing that will completely pass by the regular folk. Most high gain amps will sound similar through the PA.
It is fun, really fun, however, to "waste" (I prefer to say "invest") time tweaking around with MultiFX, for that does takes us to soundscapes and tone places impossible to replicate other way, and that's where one's tone might be (the rabbit hole dilema). The problem is getting focused to decide when to do so, when to experiment with tones. Some band practices are cool for that, jams specially, others not so much and GIGs are a big no-no.
Another thing I found is that most users do not use the easiness of changing tones within a patch with controllers, and create several different patches for 1 song (it used to be like this about 10/15 years ago with the Boss GTs and Line6 look-a-likes, even though these already supported control change messages from MIDI boards). Most (all?) contemporary MultiFX units have the possibility to use foot controllers (if rack mounted, embedded foot switches if floor mounted) to change parameters without changing the patch (including turning FXs ON or OFF), therefore replicating a common pedal board. Versatility is not only the number of different amps, cabs or FXs a piece of gear has, but also and more important (imo) how one can use, link and configure it in order to make it his own tone forge. For me, I'm not that much interested in the highest number of amps I can dial in, I'm interested in having one decent enough for my tastes AND ways to tweak it and use it without my hands, they have better things to do like... playing the guitar...
On guitars, I have a different approach. I think I couldn't do much with a one pickup guitar. Changing guitar every 1 or 2 songs is also not my thing. Carrying more than one guitar to a rehearsal is something that has yet to come for me... in the future... maybe the fretless.
This to say that, as everybody else have already said in some way, most of the amps can deliver the same type of sound with slightly different approaches to EQ and grain (which can mean a way big difference), but to the audience, that will be peanuts, a nothing that will completely pass by the regular folk. Most high gain amps will sound similar through the PA.
It is fun, really fun, however, to "waste" (I prefer to say "invest") time tweaking around with MultiFX, for that does takes us to soundscapes and tone places impossible to replicate other way, and that's where one's tone might be (the rabbit hole dilema). The problem is getting focused to decide when to do so, when to experiment with tones. Some band practices are cool for that, jams specially, others not so much and GIGs are a big no-no.
Another thing I found is that most users do not use the easiness of changing tones within a patch with controllers, and create several different patches for 1 song (it used to be like this about 10/15 years ago with the Boss GTs and Line6 look-a-likes, even though these already supported control change messages from MIDI boards). Most (all?) contemporary MultiFX units have the possibility to use foot controllers (if rack mounted, embedded foot switches if floor mounted) to change parameters without changing the patch (including turning FXs ON or OFF), therefore replicating a common pedal board. Versatility is not only the number of different amps, cabs or FXs a piece of gear has, but also and more important (imo) how one can use, link and configure it in order to make it his own tone forge. For me, I'm not that much interested in the highest number of amps I can dial in, I'm interested in having one decent enough for my tastes AND ways to tweak it and use it without my hands, they have better things to do like... playing the guitar...
On guitars, I have a different approach. I think I couldn't do much with a one pickup guitar. Changing guitar every 1 or 2 songs is also not my thing. Carrying more than one guitar to a rehearsal is something that has yet to come for me... in the future... maybe the fretless.
