Modulars vs traditional heads

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faisalbaig303

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Would love to hear from people who went totally modular.
I am trying to gauge if the choice of preamp modules, portability, ergonomics has a trade off tone-wise.

Is it too good to be true ?
Spent the last couple of days on youtube and found some good videos (testing in person is not an option for me) but not many "vs" videos. But the videos of folks playing traditional amps just seemed to have more tone. Perhaps i am hearing wrong due to youtube!

In some comments people do point out some differences between the real amps and the modules.

For someone like me who lives far far away, the option of buying small modules is a very practical and cost effective solution. In many cases the gear i buy is cheaper than the shipping and taxes i have to pay. But its always a one way purchase; i can't return, send for mods, and in most cases resell.

Just wanna get my homework done as much as i can.
I appreciate your advice.
Thanks
 
I don't know about being too good to be true, but I will say this...

I spent years collecting amps, buying here and there, trading for others, all in a quest for tone. I finally found 3 or 4 keepers for my own personal style but the cost can really add up, plus it was difficult lugging multiple amps to gigs when I was playing a wide style of music that I felt I couldn't effectively get with just one amp.

I sold it all and moved into modelers (Kemper, Fractal, etc) and while they sounded great to me, there was just that little something that was missing - mostly the feel I got while playing.

About a month and a half ago someone turned me on to Synergy. I'd heard of it in passing but never knew exactly what it was. Ads for the SLO module kept popping up in my web feeds and I'd look at it and think, hmm that's cool - wonder how that works. I had no idea of Egnater and Randall's previous products at the time.

Then I watched the Synergy videos and I had the same thought as you - "is this too good to be true?"

I took the plunge and sold all my modeling gear and bought Synergy, an RM50, an RM4 and a bunch of modules and I can honestly say I'm incredibly pleased so far.

Do they "nail the amp exactly" as Kemper claims to? No. Are they close? Close enough for me. It's taken me 30 years to really understand that 90% of tone is in the fingers. It's that other 10% that's eluded me for so long, and Synergy and Salvation/JF modules take care of most of that 10% - close enough that I don't care that I'm not playing through a real Orange Rockerverb. Sure it's someone's take on it, but when I close my eyes and play I don't think "that's not a real Rockerverb". I think "**** that sounds great and I don't miss that 60 pound 2x12 combo AT ALL!

I think a lot of people get hung up on if it's exactly the same as the amp or not. Meh, whatever. If it sounds good, it IS good. Synergy, Salvo, JF, SG, Egnater, hell even stock Randall - it all sounds good to me (or even better in some cases).

So it might not be for everyone, but I personally have NO regrets about selling my Kemper and jumping on board this train. Is it more expensive overall? Sure, when you're impulsive like me and want to buy every module in sight up front.

Right now I'm at the point where even if the novelty of MTS gear starts to recede for me a little, there's no question it's making my life easier and after a few years of being lost in the modeling gear woods I'm finding my tone again and the feel of playing is back.

Hopefully you didn't tl;dr this, but if you did, here's my one line synopsis.

I was an amp snob for years and I'm very happy with the convenience and the sounds I get from Synergy/MTS - so I have zero regrets and I don't for a moment think it's too good to be true.
 
I've got a MOD50 the Egnater forerunner of the Synergy SYN-50 amp head.

Great little amp, sounds amazing and has been very reliable for me at Gig’s and practice. I think the system over all is fantastic and Synergy has been a great step forward! I recently got a SYN-2 and I’m thinking about a SYN-30 as I rarely need the full 50 watts at a gig anymore 😊

I’ve got lots of other amps but those that get the most use are my MOD50 and my Diezel VH4!
 
I've got a ton of MTS gear and also quite a few really great amps, including a Friedman-modified BE-100 and a Vox AC30 among others....When I switch between the amps, MTS totally hangs....

I will say that I personally believe that to get the full experience of MTS, the gainy modules like a boost and a good gate in the loop is a must....Otherwise it can be a tad on the noisy side but all the tone is there if you have the right modules...
 
I've been using a Mod 50 with Egnater and Jaded Faith modded modules since whenever it was they were being built. Noise has never been an issue even in the metal bands I've played in. I never turn the gain past 1 or 2 o'clock (no need to) but they sound great and They make way less noise than the other guitar players (usually 5150s) and they clean up well too. Can use for any kind of music really.
 
I approach the mts vs “real” amp like this....I have an old twin and also an old deluxe. My JF mods don’t sound exactly like my twin or deluxe, but then I can get five “real” twins and deluxes and none of them will sound exactly like them either. I can tweak my mts mods and get then incredibly close to mine just like I could do the same with the five other amps, but they are all a little different. I have two RM50s.....one with 6L6’s nd one with EL34’s. My twin will not sound like a twin with EL34’s and the Marshall mods will not sound Marshall-y with 6L6’s. I sold most of my amps since going to mts and now have 20 or so mods all in a nice case that takes up almost no room.
 
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