Warp versus really having two Amps

web surf

I read at a competitor's web page :

One of the revolutionary features of xxxxxxx is its ability to provide two totally independent amp models at the same time. You have complete control over where they’re placed in the stereo field. You can pick any two amps and pan them hard left and hard right, send one amp to a xxxxxxxx external cab, or layer them right on top of each other. Just about anything you can think up, xxxxxxxxx can do it. For an even bigger sound, kick on the Double Tracker and now it sounds like you’re in the studio “double tracking” your guitar part. Once you experience two amps at once, you may have a hard time going back to just one. We did. Now, take a look at the over 70 amps you can double-up and party with.


One of the biggest benefits of xxxxxxxxxxx is its ability to run two completely different amp rigs at once. Players like Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, The Edge, and Brian May all have relied on multiple amps and effects paths to get their signature tones


Keith Richards has one of the most powerful “dirty rhythm” sounds known to man. The fact that his sound is clean and punchy, as well as being slightly distorted, gives songs like “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up” their classic tone. The secret to Richards’ sound isn’t a pedal or a studio effect. It’s as simple as taking two amps and running one of them clean, and the other one just a little dirty. Stevie Ray Vaughan also used this same type of setup to cut songs like “Pride and Joy.”

Sample of Layered Rythm MP3

My Question : What's the difference between Warp and really having two Amps/Cab channels ?

agelessrocker

There are benefits to both. For example, in a live situation, sometimes you don't always have the time/resources to haul two amps, two mics, and have two open channels on your mixer. Warping two amp models allows you to acheive the same sound without all the mucky muck onstage. In a recording environment, however, I could see running two amps instead, for the mere reason that each one could be treated seperately on it's own track. Just my two cents worth

iliace

Mixing multiple amps is similar to the studio technique, where multiple takes and reamps are layered to achieve a particular tone. Warp does not benefit from this multi-dimensionality: it sounds like just one amp.

guitar3456

No different than how we do Boogies in studio for the massive growl. One gets tweaked Sccop and the other gets trimmed on the Treb and Mids. Recording the amps on sep tracks and shifting the track by 2-3 msec. Then you don't get the fights for eq in the soundscape. Results are much heavier and full of pump!

Live..same thing with a triggered delay in between heads. An Adam Jones trick... guitar to sig processors> stereo delay (efx on 1ch) > Marshall head A and Deizel Head B with 2 Boogie cabs.

web surf

Thanks for your comments G3456,

I value your experience in old tube amps, studio recording techniques etc

The same site did have a sample MP3 of two amps, both with delays set at different settings. The sound began with a clean attack and progressively showed more delay as the chord was held. I suppose that effect could be possible on a single channel MFX by a delay that is triggered by input signal and also driven by a LFO.

guitar3456

You could but LFO's introduce more artifacts. I'm waiting for that to be perfected. Till then we use what we have. You can mimic the effect by damping one channel's reverb or assigning the pan in the efx. Without independent stages throughout, it can get close, but never there.

Most people don'l like to drag two amps live, even for a stereo (independent) rig.

If you have more than one guitarist in a band, like I have, you can learn to play out of sync for power rythyms. Megadeth, Metallica and all...are not so tight on purpose. Listen to Avenged Sevenfold....the guitarists learned to play just a hair out of sync and it's a very powerful effective way of delivering the guitar sound.

When we record live bands, we demosntrate this to a single guitarist by delaying his monitor mix 2 msec. The results are very full! Even moreso after you pan the tracks 5-10% L/R