Leaderboard

As opposed to the old-fashioned process of buy amp -> fiddle with sound -> get frustrated at gigs -> sell amp to fund purchase of a new one which you're sure will sound better, I see a few companies now have a line in preamp and/or amp simulator pedals. Certainly, I remember being impressed by the sounds that a friend achieved years ago by turning up with just a Boss FDR-1 and plugging that into the PA, but I see the various models from Donner, Joyo, etc are at a price point where I could take a punt on one or two and not feel like it was too much wasted investment if they were a disappointment. So: who else has tried these? Any particularly good or terrible models to watch out for? Do they play nicely with other pedals* ? And are they a good option for going amp-free, and/or silent recording at home? *I play a lot of Blues, and Blues-Rock, so of course I already have a Tubescreamer clone and Tremolo pedal...

That would be even better if they plugged together and did away with the need for patch cables.... Ah. I just spotted the connector on the side. Genius

Thank you! I've been in two minds about Line6, as I was quite impressed with the POD Farm amp sim package...but fairly horrified by some of the Spider amps I've played through on "toilet circuit" gigs. I decided to plump for simplicity and try one of the Joyo preamps, so now I'm sporting an American Sound pedal, which I must admit is giving my real amp a run for its money!