Fortin NATAS vs Randall Satan

[Devotee]

Seriously, though, how many different riffs and distorted tones can actually work with 7 and 8-strings, especially in a Metal context? Maybe if people spent more time on the music itself instead of chasing amps and strings and worrying about who makes a better 15-string guitar with a low-J for ultra-crushing sub-sonic br00tz, they might have something worth listening to than just more jigga-jugga.

AMEN to that. I have nothing against extended range guitars but against the guys who play these things. Most of these guitarists are very technically proficient, well-versed in music theory and can pull off ten-finger tapping quite easily, but their phrasing is shit, their ideas are generic and they can't write music worth a damn. Take three ingredients: syncopated slapping chugga jigga wugga on the 9th string, a random sweep on the high register now and again, and a very melodic and emotional section with clean vocals. Throw them together at random and you have the worthless subsubsubgenre known in idiot circles as 'djent'.

Anyway, this amp sounds pretty good but it's definitely nothing i haven't heard before. Yeah, the guy knows how to dial in his tone for sure.

Ola is also in Feared, Scarpoint, and the touring rhythm guitarist for Six Feet Under.

That's reason enough to take away all his gear, never mind give him a fucking endorsement.

[horns666]

Devotee is saying what I actually think.

Instead of me talkin' 'bout my balls again...I do that. I always do that. These are facts!

Playing rhythm guitar in Six Feet Under..well, that's something soooo very special.

[javert]

Ola is also in Feared, Scarpoint, and the touring rhythm guitarist for Six Feet Under.

I am aware of that, but I hardly think any of it warrants a signature amp. Frankly, I think he's more famous for his amp reviews.

[jgcable]

I don't have a problem with that style, with detuning, with extended range guitars or amps or any of that genre of music. My point is that 99% of the clips I hear online from players of this style and tone of music all have the same guitar tone. The amps all sound the same to me. There are Youtube clips of a guy playing about 20 amps in 10 minutes and they are all spliced together one after another. He is detuned and his tone is high gain. He plays the same riff for every amp. I listened really hard with a very good dolby system on my computer and I could barely tell the difference between any of the amps.

[petez0r]

well i think ola is excellent at what he does and his reviews are awesome even though all the amps sound the same lol, anyway although they are quite similar, i think the randall has more character and sounds quite better, but that may be due to the guitar, mic/recording device or whatever.

[VitaminG]

I am aware of that, but I hardly think any of it warrants a signature amp. Frankly, I think he's more famous for his amp reviews.

that's kinda the point of endorsement deals, isn't it? The guy has a worldwide audience via his YT channel and can dial the shit out of that tone. More people are going to take note of what amp he is playing so from a promotional POV seems to make more sense than throwing a handful of LTDs at the local metal band playing to 300 people each weekend.

I don't have a problem with that style, with detuning, with extended range guitars or amps or any of that genre of music. My point is that 99% of the clips I hear online from players of this style and tone of music all have the same guitar tone. The amps all sound the same to me. There are Youtube clips of a guy playing about 20 amps in 10 minutes and they are all spliced together one after another. He is detuned and his tone is high gain. He plays the same riff for every amp. I listened really hard with a very good dolby system on my computer and I could barely tell the difference between any of the amps.

"You don't do heavy metal in Dubly, you know"

[javert]

that's kinda the point of endorsement deals, isn't it? The guy has a worldwide audience via his YT channel and can dial the shit out of that tone. More people are going to take note of what amp he is playing so from a promotional POV seems to make more sense than throwing a handful of LTDs at the local metal band playing to 300 people each weekend.

Well, I suppose you can see it that way, but doesn't it change the perception of what a signature model is and what it takes? It does not appear to be his accomplishments as a musician that got him there. Anyways, I don't have any strong opinions about it or anything, I was just commenting on it being a bit unusual, even if it gets them additional exposure.

Also, I wonder if people really will want to buy this because of him. Does it add credibility to have his name on it? I've wached several of his videos to hear various amps and I think they're high quality (albeit over-produced, as stated earlier, and sound pretty similar), but that doesn't mean I want to sound like him or that I would wan't to buy his amp.

I suppose I can understand giving him an endorsement deal (which is not the same as having signature equipment) or throwing him some stuff for his reviews, only it would ruin his credibility as an amp reviewer in the future. Oh well, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[Hellbat]

I'm more interested in it for the design features. I could care less about the guy demoing it. I wasn't trying to start a "hate on a guy for being internet famous" thread. Unfortunately we don't have the amp in anyone else's hands right now. I wish I could remember who was playing around with it here a couple years ago. Maybe SpiralArchitect? I remember it was one of the Eastern Canadian guys.

I like that the preamp drive setup is kind of like a jumped plexi where you have control over differing amounts of gain for the lows and highs. I thought it was a really innovative/throwback design on the NATAS. It really lets you dial in a specific tone. Then adding the master gain on top of that is a sweet idea. And the parametric style mid adjustment. It just seems like an amp designed to be dialed in.

[Cliff]

I like that the preamp drive setup is kind of like a jumped plexi where you have control over differing amounts of gain for the lows and highs. I thought it was a really innovative/throwback design on the NATAS.

That does sound like a cool idea. I was wondering - not to stray too far off-topic in a different direction - if you could do something similar with an AxeFX-II: split the signal into two paths, eq out the highs in one and the lows in a another, send them through two different amp sims and combine the result.

[Hellbat]

You could probably pull that off in the Axe. Probably easier with that hardware to simulate a jumped plexi and tweak it out from there. As long as you can adjust both master volumes independently you are golden. Then you aren't beating down the CPU so hard. Probably not an issue with the II but I think you'd have to go with the low res IR's to use 2 cab sims.

[Newc]

Or use a single cab sim and just make all the changes in the EQ sections to save RAM/CPU?

[MetalDaze]

And you're the target audience. And it's not very big. Which means get one now before they go out of business.

As long as it doesn't say Ola Englund on it, I might. I like artist endorsed gear; I don't like gear with the artist's named plastered all over it.

[jgcable]

I like signature or endorsed gear for some reason. I do think that endorsements from small companies are handed out like potato chips.
Now.. in regards to this particular amp or any otheramps for that matter... I don't think that clips like this help sales.
Maybe if you are a fan of those bands that this guy was in (I never heard of any of them) you might be enticed to buy this amp.
I think for the rest of the 99% of the potential customers out there it would be more helpful if they showed the range of tones that the amp can get instead of the drop tuning chug chug chug scooped bottom heavy sound that these guys seem to be obsessed with.
I want to hear how the amp reacts with guitar volume changes, I want to hear the clean channel, I want to hear what the amp sounds like with different amount of gain. I can get the sound on this clip with my Rectifier, with my 5150, with my Marshall, with my V3, with my Quad X, with my Peavey Triple X and I can absolutely nail it dead on perfect with my POD Xt Live using a factory preset.
When I hear this tone I say.. big deal.

[jgcable]

I had to rethink my signature modeled thinking about 2 weeks ago when a few people saw my Jackson COW-7. I told them its the Christian Olde Wolbers signature model. Not a single person out of 100 at the show knew who the guy was and wondered why he had a signature guitar. They never say that when I am playing my Washburn Nuno or a Jem or an Eric Clapton Blackie or when I am using my 5150 EVH amp.
I think I just have endorsement envy!!!

[Endrik]

How incredibly unsuitable names for modern hi-gain amps.

They should be called for what they really are for.

"Weak Bitch"

"Pussyfied"

"Candy Ass"

etc.

These are appropriate names considering the market.

I don't see anything particularly angry and aggressive in most modern, young metal guitar players.

When people are used to playing only with over compressed distortion sound which does all the work then there's no wonder of lack of power in the performance.

Years ago I happened to see a video of two guitar players from such dreadful band called Trivium, I believe it was some kind of lesson. I kept wondering why are they playing lead guitar pianissimo when aggressive music should be played at least with forte? But soon I discovered more and more metal players are doing that.
Can you imagine playing like that with an acoustic instrument when you have a big orchestra behind you? How are the people in the audience suppose to hear what you are playing?

When your performance of angry music is far softer than that of a violinist who is performing a cheerful chamber piece written by someone who wore stockings and a wig then the only thing you should be allowed to play is Muzak type background noise for malls with a cheesy 80's synthesizer. Only then you are allowed to use such terms as Satan because then you are actually doing something evil.