This video is a straight up shootout between an all tube FJA Modded Peavey 6505, the 6505+ model in the Fractal Audio Systems: Axe-FX II, and 5150 model in Archetype: Nolly from Neural DSP

This post focuses on what makes a good modern metal tone. I used a very complex guitar rig that used the best of both the digital and analog world. I used a hardware drive pedal, a tube amplifier, a reactive load box, and an Axe-FX for speaker IR loading.

If you’ve got your pc, got your daw, your interface, and your DI box and you’re trying to figure out a good solution for heavy guitar tone, that’s not going to cost you a shit load more of your hard earned dollars, this post is for you.

This is a debate that has raged for a long time, and if I know guitarists, it will probably rage until the end of time. I’m here today to tell you, that it doesn’t matter.

Professional mixing engineers have spent thousands of hours and we have thousands of dollars of gear dedicated to figuring out what guitar tones work well in mixes for different styles of music. We can listen to a demo of a song and hear what the finished song could sound like, including a guitar tone that fits the vibe of the music.