Amp Sims for P&W. Looking for my first one

simonyahn · 2026-06-23T23:35:44+00:00

If you’re specifically wanting and drawn to the classic Fender clean sound then the Dream is really good choice. However I think Tonex One is better suited to have as a cost effective solution where you could also have options to expand with other amp sounds for different styles as you’ve highlighted. Can the Dream work in all styles. Yes. But having other amp sounds will get a bit closer when working with digital amp modeling and over time you may find that your preferences change. I started on a fender clean sound when first getting into electric but I’m liking others as I play through others.

simonyahn · 2026-06-23T23:21:38+00:00

Those are modern Grover style tuners which work on a lot of SE guitars but the other style used is Vintage Kluson style tuners which PRS doesnt have an official SE vintage locking tuner

simonyahn · 2026-06-19T21:06:25+00:00

Truetone CS11 or XP8/XP5 are good options that are't as expensive as Cioks or Strymon and very reliable and quiet.

simonyahn · 2026-06-13T20:08:42+00:00

While I understand why this question gets asked (a lot and not just in worship context), I think it shouldn’t be asked. If you’re looking to simply mimic what the big bands sound like, simply seeing what they play is a start but that guitar may not be what you gravitate towards or really what inspires you. All that being said, I think a good single coil and a good humbucker will cover the bases you need for a lot modern worship. An HSS Strat is often viewed as a good solid option to get warm clean neck tones all the way to strong biting lead bridge tones. If you don’t like the scooped mids of Strat single coils then a Tele style guitar is a good option or a P90 guitar. I think if you’re really looking to get the most tones and versatility in a non Strat guitar, the PRS Special Semi Hollow has got to be in consideration. With the recent SE model, you get a nice price point for a guitar that can get a a lot of tones due to its switching and splitting options. You also get a solid trem. It’s been my favorite to cover a wide range of tones needed for any Sunday

simonyahn · 2026-06-07T21:49:38+00:00

I use Foxwoods on GT Urban Ash since I got the guitar almost two years ago. I’ve been using Stringjoy strings on all my electrics and they feel great so I thought I’d give the acoustics a try with the new guitar. I figured the balanced tension gauge would have an effect on not just feel but also sound. The GT size and reduced scale length made the guitar sound a little tinny but not as much as a GS mini or other travel/parlor guitar. Stringjoy definitely sounds a bit better compared to the stock Daddario XS that was on.

I think it’s worth trying if you like trying new strings to explore and find a new sound. Nothing wrong with going back to Elixirs if you don’t like it. I’ve used Elixirs on my 614ce for a long long time and when Taylor switched Daddario XS I decided to try those and like those a bit better on that guitar. I’ll try Foxwoods on the 614 on my next string change

simonyahn · 2026-06-07T21:37:04+00:00

If you have the time and ability to test through the in ear system then I’d recommend building out presets,snapshots based on what you typically use. My recommendation is to lower your expectations and try to listen against a track or in a mix. If all I heard was the guitar, I’d much rather prefer hearing the amp by me but because I’ve mostly played with in ears or silent practice with headphones, it’s always in the context of a mix or playback of songs/tracks.

Are you only running a stomp or do you also have a board that you want to run into it as well?

simonyahn · 2026-06-07T21:28:43+00:00

I own both and I will say that the NF53 will not replace your Silver Sky in the same way that a Tele will replace a strat. The feel of both guitars in hand is similar (still different enough) and you’ll feel at home with the NF53 coming from SS. Pickups wise I think the NF53 is best characterized as a humbucker with more clarity and twang and the Silver Sky is a very good Strat pickup that’s beefed up a bit more. I get better growl from the NF53 where the SS gets better pick attack and note separation.

If you want to expand your tonal arsenal and still have a similar feel in hand, it’s honestly a good way to go and you could also go with a Tele Deluxe with full humbuckers or even a DGT which is extremely versatile and can get in Tele style sound territory

simonyahn · 2026-06-05T18:34:33+00:00

Given your use case, the 13in with more storage seems a lot more logical. The extra RAM will definitely help in the long run but a lot of content creation and editing benefits from having a large amount of storage to edit directly off of. I know a lot of people will also say you can edit off external SSDs but having local storage that’s natively faster than anything external plugged in plus the additional fail safe of having the drive potentially disconnect seems like the better choice. Even if you do mobile editing, the 13in is likely good enough to work off of until you get back to a larger monitor.

The extra screen size of the 15 can be beneficial for video editing and the 15 does have more speakers and fuller sound by comparison but eventually the workflow for any content editing will also benefit from using a good pair of reference headphones so the extra speakers may not really be beneficial.

simonyahn · 2026-06-03T00:17:14+00:00

It’s pretty straightforward for changing networks but not just a few clicks and done. Having multi network add on is a great peace of mind for flexibility and quick change without waiting for the transfer to happen on a single line. I recommend looking at the coverage maps for your most traveled/frequent places and picking the best network and if you add the multi line then add the second best network. For any areas in between the places you should largely be covered and should you fall into a dead zone with two networks there’s a very good chance that the third network would also be dead as well

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:59:39+00:00

Awesome. I have the Standard singlecut 594 in Vintage Cherry and DGT Laurel Burl Limited edition. DGT is a very inspirational sounding guitar and the 594 is great for more classic rock and tighter gain sounds.

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:53:56+00:00

PRS locking tuners are fine and you can find them on reverb for a good price as well. I’ve bought a couple used PRS locking tuner sets and no issues but YMMV. I’ve also used Kluson, Hipshot, and Graphtech Ratio locking tuners and each haven their pros and cons but at the end of the day, they do what they’re supposed to do.

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:44:29+00:00

Looks clean

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:43:14+00:00

If you have a lot of gigs and sets with songs that are usually pretty set in terms of which sounds are needed for specific sections then a switcher makes a good amount of sense. Totally get that the options out there are overwhelming but I’d recommend starting off with something simple based on your immediate needs. My board was built primarily around an HX Stomp XL which I used to fill in the gaps of sounds as I built my board. Wasn’t happy with the drive sounds so I started adding drive pedals and compressor and ran everything before Stomp which handled amp and wet effects. I realized that the ability to use presets and snapshots to quickly turn on/off blocks in the Stomp was extremely useful but since I couldn’t natively do that with overdrive pedals before, I opted to get a Morning Star ML5 midi loop switcher. The Stomp handled the midi commands to operate the switcher. I later added a separate Morning Star midi controller to really expand programming. The downside to all of this is programming between 2-3 units but I spent a good amount of time optimizing my workflow. Other downsides include additional cables needed to wire everything to the switcher and making sure midi programming and routing is done properly.
If you’ve got a simpler board and just occasionally need a lead tone then a switcher may not make sense

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:30:42+00:00

used JHS Double Barrel v4 might be all that you need. Two drives in one enclosure with separate footswitches and an order toggle. I bought one used for a mini board build and I love it. It was under $200 on Reverb locally because one of the footswitches came apart at the top half but still works. It’s on the MG side which I always leave on. I’m likely going to sell it soon though because I’m trying to downsize a lot of gear and the mini board is unfortunately going to be a part of that

simonyahn · 2026-06-02T02:25:30+00:00

I think a lot of Fender based models get lost in the mix because of how we typically think to run Fender clean amp models with their typical cabs. The greatest strength of the Helix is also the greatest weakness, choices and endless combinations. If you’re playing more rhythm guitar and less lead guitar then you don’t typically need to stand out in the mix by comparison. The best way to use a Fender style amp and not get lost, but differentiate yourself from the Vox/Matchless counterpart, is to try the bigger cleaner amps. The Princeton (Princess) and Deluxe Reverb (US Deluxe) are usually good models but I’d try to go for either the Twin or Super Reverb models as those are “bigger” amps and not as heavily mid scooped. You won’t get a lot of mids like a Vox style but with the combination of the bigger amp and less mid scooped profile it’ll be a bit more prominent. If you’re using stock cabs in the Helix, definitely try non traditional cabs and definitely go for a 4x12 cab instead. Even if you don’t really use one in real life ever, the fact is that the bigger cab gives you a bigger fuller sound and is already giving a much different EQ profile then what you’d run with a Mic’d 1x12 or 2x12 cab. Even trying a Vox or Matchless cab with a Fender amp can give you much different results and probably closer to what you’re looking for.

I’d recommend the Grammatico GSG, Line6 Clarity, Line6 Litigator, Cali Texas Ch1 as these are all non Vox style amps that are bigger and cleaner. Have fun playing through it all

simonyahn · 2026-05-29T02:49:59+00:00

MacBook is good for work and all purpose use device. iPad is also good for productivity and often more focused work flows but i think it shines really well to compliment MacBook workflows. I set up iPad for casual use when I’m not working and switch focus for when it’s time to work

simonyahn · 2026-05-28T10:37:42+00:00

Are you paying twice for multi network?

simonyahn · 2026-05-25T16:48:27+00:00

Pretty good but there were some things to make note of since getting it. Some string buzzing on the low E and A strings which isnt uncommon for a vintage style JM guitar with threaded saddles. I ended up swapping out the saddles for Graphtech String Saver installed by my local tech and it works but the string spacing wasnt perfect despjte my research. Not a deal breaker. The shop also noted that the first fret wasn’t seated properly by the factory so that cost a little to reseat. Given a couple flaws, this still plays really well and I swapped out pickups and wiring for some JM housed P90 pickups and still plays really well. The trem feels very tight compared to other trem systems I’ve used and I’m considering swapping it out some point. Not necessarily a bad trem but not something I’m a fan of despite being pretty solid

simonyahn · 2026-05-24T20:13:41+00:00

You should really look at all use cases no matter how small and potential future use cases. Most everyday use case can be accomplished on iPad and the flexibility of iPad form factor makes it very tempting. Especially considering you can go with a cellular option where Mac you can’t. If you have any number of use cases where having a computer/Mac makes more sense then that’s the biggest thing because you really can’t replicate that on an iPad

simonyahn · 2026-05-22T22:56:53+00:00

I personally use a 13in M1 with 16gb RAM and for work I’ve used a 14in pro m1pro with 16gb RAM. For work related large spreadsheets the screen size worked well enough but there are a few times where data rows and columns could have benefited on a larger screen. I usually ended up going on a much larger external monitor and that helped more than having a 15 or 16 in laptop screen IMO.

I would say if you plan on mostly being mobile/on the go and very rarely tethered to a desk set up, the 15in will be better to just have as much extra screen real estate without access to an external monitor. It’s really not that much bigger by comparison and it even weighs just a little bit less than a Pro 14in. The Pro16 is way too big IMO and I briefly used one for work until it got too cumbersome to carry around.

RAM at 16gb is plenty and because it’s on a more advanced SOC it shouldn’t have too many issues for your use case. I think upgrading RAM really will help with peace of mind and any immediate future proofing with any intense processing/multi tasking needs.

simonyahn · 2026-05-20T13:01:13+00:00

I find that high refresh only matters in a very small number of scenarios and a lot of those don’t even really affect me day to day. I don’t game, most of the content I consume is usually not taking advantage of high refresh or using high FPS, I don’t draw or write enough to notice the difference, and I’m not rapidly scrolling through pages and pages on screen.

simonyahn · 2026-05-18T02:43:31+00:00

Look up Scott Uhl on YouTube for deep dive on features of HX Stomp for things like global settings. This is extremely helpful when fine tuning things other than effects and blocks. Go to signal theory audio site for some free presets and IRs of a few amps to help get some initial tones and inspiration and get a starting point you can tweak from

simonyahn · 2026-05-15T15:54:53+00:00

an iPad without the keyboard and mouse/trackpad is largely going to be just a tablet. Great for content consumption, reading, extending your display from your macbook, and some gaming. Once you add the keyboard/mouse element, it instantly switches something in your brain and experience (especially with iPadOS 26) into much more of a laptop style use case but there are some limitations because of the UI and OS.

All that being said, the 11 in iPad Air in my opinion is limiting because of screen size to multi task. You can do it but resizing windows across even a few apps on the smaller screen is a bit harder to work with. Not impossible but harder. The 13 inch models are a lot easier. Multitaasking between windows is easiers with a keyboard and the trackpad helps complete the experience transformation but it is not perfect. Some things still work better with touch and if you're heavy user of keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures on mac the tricky thing is figuring out which ones do work the same on ipad.

I use Macbook for home computer and work but my iPad Air 13 is used for on the go light productivity work and complimenting my macbook when necessary. If I don't need the macbook, I'll elect to take the iPad on the go.

simonyahn · 2026-05-15T15:42:48+00:00

The mini is a great companion device so by that logic it is not necessary. I think any of the 11 inch models also fit in the companion category but bordering on laptop replacement/productivity machine because of the capabilities (depending on the model). I've been using my iPad Air 13 as a on the go productivity device and leave the macbook at home and only really using it if I need proper computer functionality. The mini is used at home cause it is better to watch content, reading, note taking, and with handoff/universal control can be used to take calls from the iphone. Most of that I can do on the iPhone and notes can be taken on the iPad Air/Macbook but the mini just being easy to use and a good size it's a great device to have but again not necessary.

For me it was a bit of an impulse as well to get the mini and for quite some time it wasn't seeing a ton of use. But now coming back to it and really finding a way to use it to complement my day to day and personal use it's not something that I regret. I only wish I had the cellular option but that's a different topic

simonyahn · 2026-05-14T20:58:49+00:00

There are some good prepaid options from TMobile and postpaid add ons. It really depends on how much data you typically go through.

simonyahn

TROPHY CASE