In the last Home Recording article I mentioned the importance of having a good piece of software if you are going to run your guitar input through the computer. Line 6’s Gearbox is a good example of such an application. If you purchase a Line 6 product you get a free piece of software called Gearbox that allows you to customize your tone. Don’t confuse free with cheap, no good, useless software—Gearbox is none of those things.
When you first plug in your device and launch Gearbox it will bring up the main screen that shows you your current tone followed by a graphical representation of your amp, the chain of effects, and the detailed effects settings panel. If you have ever touched an amp before, you will immediately recognize the controls on the front of the amp software section. Everything you would expect to find is there, including Drive, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, and Volume. Moving the controls will change the sound of your tone, the same way it would if you were playing through an amp. You can also replace your current amp by choosing a new amp model from the drop down menu. You can do the same for your cab, too.
The effects are just as easy to use. Click the On/Off button and you instantly have Gate, Stomp, Compression, Reverb, Delay, and Mod turned on. You can even go a little deeper into certain effects. Let’s take the Stomp button. The Stomp doesn’t just turn on some generic overdrive that will distort your guitar beyond recognition.
You have a choice of Facial Fuzz, Fuzz Pi, Screamer, Classic Distortion, Bronze Master, and many others. That means that you can tweak your tone in many different ways just from the Stomp effects screen alone.
You can do some really fun stuff when you start playing around with an application like this. Take a Jazz Clean amp going through a 1959 1x12 Gibtone cabinet, throw on some Chorus, just a touch of Reverb and a Tube Echo Delay. Nice sound.
Now, turn on the Screamer and see what happens. Seriously, the fun you can have with your tone using applications like this is endless. I’ve found some great things by playing around with Gearbox when I’m looking for a different sound.
There is another section of Gearbox that might interest you as well. At the bottom is GuitarPort Online—this is Line 6’s tutorial section that gives you tabs and instructions on how to play like certain players and the songs they made famous. While Gearbox is free, GuitarPort is not—there is a monthly charge to become a member.
The other interesting button is the Tone Library. This is really cool. You can do a search for your favorite guitar player and it will bring up a list of all the tones in Line 6’s online system for that player. If it’s Angus Young’s “Back in Black” you are looking for, you just click the Load button and that tone is instantly downloaded to your Gearbox software. As with any of the tones you use or change in Gearbox, you can save them to a User folder so you can recall them at a later date.
If you are new to digital modeling software, don’t be overwhelmed by all of the buttons and amp models. Using the tone menu at the top of the application, you can choose from one of the many included tones from Line 6. You’ll be able to tell right away who the tone is modeled after too. “Ain’t Talking Bout Love” is obviously Eddie Van Halen and “Blizzard” is Randy Rhoads. Very clever names that help you choose the right tone.
I should mention that the gear modeled in Gearbox is done using the real equipment. In other words, Line 6 has gone out and bought the vintage gear, taken it to their studio, and sat down with the engineers while they model exactly how the amp or effect sounds. I’ve been to the company’s offices in California and have seen the “gear museum” first hand. Quite an amazing place.
Using a piece of software like Gearbox can give you access to a variety of amps and effects that would cost you a fortune to use in the analog world. Most of all it can give you inspiration to play all sorts of music.