Atomic Amplifire - in stock

GuitarZero

Edit: I changed the thread title because it seems these can now be bought online immediately.  

I haven't seen too much posted here about the Atomic Amplifire.  They've taken their time but finally after 7 months they are to be made available here in the UK.  It was announced on their Facebook page today that invitations to purchase will start being sent out over the weekend.  

If you haven't had a chance to see what it's about, here's a decent vid showing off some of it's tones.  The waffle stops and the playing starts around 2.20.

monquixote

Sounds good.

How much are they?

John_P

I really liked the look of these but gave up following them when it seemed to be taking forever for them to arrive in Europe.   

I'm going to wait till we here details on the ax8 before deciding but depending how the prices work out I might grab one - looks a handy little box. 

GuitarZero

@monquixote

Well they've said that they are selling them here for the same price that they are selling them everywhere else - $599.  What I don't know at this point is whether that includes VAT.  The units are actually in this country so there are no international shipping fees or extra import duties.

Anyway at current exchange rates $599 equates to somewhere around £380.  If there is VAT on top it will work out around £460.  Not cheap obviously, but I guess about what you expect for high quality modelers.

@John_P

I had all but given up hope too and was thinking of dumping some gear and throwing the money on the Helix. The Helix is a bit overkill for what I need however, so I think I'll now go back to plan A and wait for my number to come up with Atomic.

I've thought about the ax8 a lot but I can't see it being below the price of the fx8 and that's about £1000, same as the Helix basically. With all the extra functions I think the ax8 must be around £1300-£1500 when it's finally launched.

MoANjAm

It doesn't include VAT or Shipping.

Total I've been quoted is $744 which is a considerable amount BUT you seem to get what you pay for; free upgrades and patches for life, brilliant support and its a studio quality piece of kit, so if you gig and record then its worth considering.

Its a lot JUST for a stomp box though, which of course it isn't but some people will just want to whack it on their pedal board next to all their Strymon boxes and go 'Look at those bad boys!".

GuitarZero

Indeed, that's correct.  Mine worked out at around £480.00.  It does sound like a lot but the quality of the amp modelling is worth it in my opinion.  One of the main reasons I bought it was because of it's size and the fact it takes other pedals really well.  The current fx built in are basic, but I intend to use my own anyway, so not a problem.

They've already added a Dumble model and a Soldano since it released and they have now modelled Friedman BE/HBE which is being demoed at the LA amp show this weekend.  Hopefully it means we'll see new FW released soon.

Just a heads up.  Anyone who wants one can now get them direct from the website on the EU link.  It seems they've completed their reserve list and have some left over for general sale.

cbellanga

I bought one as well on my quest for the smaller midi controlled pedalboard that do it all, arrived today.

Heard the fx are pretty basic but hopefully that will fit the bill for me.

Worst case scenario will send it back as part of the 15days return.

GuitarZero

cbellanga said:

I bought one as well on my quest for the smaller midi controlled pedalboard that do it all, arrived today.

Heard the fx are pretty basic but hopefully that will fit the bill for me.

Worst case scenario will send it back as part of the 15days return.

Exactly.  Nothing to lose really.

Fretwired

GuitarZero said:

Indeed, that's correct.  Mine worked out at around £480.00.  It does sound like a lot but the quality of the amp modelling is worth it in my opinion.  One of the main reasons I bought it was because of it's size and the fact it takes other pedals really well.  The current fx built in are basic, but I intend to use my own anyway, so not a problem.

They've already added a Dumble model and a Soldano since it released and they have now modelled Friedman BE/HBE which is being demoed at the LA amp show this weekend.  Hopefully it means we'll see new FW released soon.

Just a heads up.  Anyone who wants one can now get them direct from the website on the EU link.  It seems they've completed their reserve list and have some left over for general sale.

@GuitarZero What amps does it model? Does it take pedals well?

Fortheloveofguitar

Keen to hear more feedback about this.

Looks very good

GuitarZero

@fretwired

Below are details of the 10 amps it comes with stock.  Also they've modelled a Soldano and Dumble which are available for free with the latest firmware. As I've mentioned there is also a Friedmann coming soon. In terms of the pedals, whilst I don't use loads, I've currently got a Lovepedal OD11 running through the front and an MXR Carbon Copy running through the loop.  Both sound great, and have no negative affect on the amp models sounds themselves.  I wish I could post a clip or two but I have no recording interface at the moment.

You can also upload third party IR's and The Amp Factory have created 76 presets for the unit, which is also available to download for free, and they have included a number of their own IRs within those presets which you can use when creating your own sounds.

Amp Models (from the Amplifire manual)

US Clean: Based on the 2 speaker combo that set the standard for clean, loud,

guitar amps spanning a wide variety of styles.

D Luxe: Based on a medium powered, American, single 12” workhorse classic

known for its snappy and crystalline tones and coveted by country, blues and rock

players.

‘59 B Man: Based on the amp that inspired many of the amps that would follow

it, this legend started as a bass amp and is known for its diverse tones and touch

sensitive dynamics.

Top Boost: Based on a British classic, this “Class A” 2x12 is known best for its

chime, jangle and it’s beautiful, unique voicing whether played clean, dirty or in

between.

Plexi: Based on the British amp with a reputation for being the definitive Rock tone

machine, this amp can be sweet, crunchy or mean with its mid focused punchy

sound.

Brit 800: Based on the early 80s British 100w head that helped define the Heavy

Metal sound, this beast can blow the roof off but cleans up surprisingly well. Put

an overdrive pedal in front of it and you’ve got “the sound”.

Hot Brit: An Amplifire original model, this amp is inspired by the great British rock

amps but has a tighter low end and more gain on tap so a drive pedal in front as

necessary (unless you want over the top).

Recto: Based on the amp that defined much of the 90s’ heavy sounds, this amp

has tons of gain and compression on tap, sounds great with scooped mids and has

a powerful bottom end.

5051: Based on the original signature amp of one of the most influential guitarists

of all time, this amp is a gain machine that has become a Metal standard with its

focused bottom end and touch sensitive response.

Kornfield: Based on a very popular boutique model, this amp puts its own

aggressive but responsive and nuanced spin on the Brit sound.

GuitarZero

Here's a link to the manual so you can see all the details

http://atomicamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Atomic-AmpliFire-Manual-V1.0.pdf

Fretwired

@GuitarZero .. thanks .. have a wis ..

dindude

I'm quite interested in these too, basically as a high quality tool box for everything my core rig doesn't do and on the odd occasion I need it. The interface looks a little 1992 but I'd cope of the sounds were great at this price. I also like the fact that it hasn't got option overload. @guitarzero have you explored 3rd party cab impulses yet? This would be a key selling point from.

John_P

I'm still really interested and half tempted to get one - the things that put me off are the display (but I would probably edit on a computer) and the footswitches, if they did a version that let you have 4 or 5 patches available instantly it would be a lot more practical to use on stage.   I did think it would pair up nicely with a midi board but that's sort of defeating the point of an all in one box. 

Fortheloveofguitar

Interesting that theyve modelled a Cornford. 'Kornfield'

Hope it's the MK50 and not the hellcat

GuitarZero

@dindude

I've had mine roughly 24 hours.  That translates to about 2 hrs of actual time with the unit.  Apart from the IRs that came with The Amp Factory bundle, I haven't delved into that side as yet, but it's something I'm looking forward getting my teeth into, is there anything particularly on the IR side you want to know?  I can report back once I've had a proper chance to get into the nitty gritty (hopefully over the weekend). 

First impressions however seem good.  It's very easy to get sounds from. The sounds you get (even from the presets) are of good quality and most importantly, feel good.  The amps respond well with different picking dynamics and the guitar volume really cleans things up nicely, rather than just turning the volume down as can be the case with some modelers.  I'm running through an Alto TS110a active speaker, so the sounds I'm getting out, should be exactly (or pretty close to) how Atomic want you to hear them.  I'm sure there are better speakers out there, but this one does the trick for my needs.

The PC editor feels a bit basic right now, but it does what it needs to do, and there are plenty of options for tweaking both the effects and the amps.  One of the things I really like is that you can find an amp model, and just use the knobs on the top of the pedal to alter most of the usual amp settings, you don't actually need to go into the editor to do that.  For more detailed tweaking, the editor is more useful as you have to navigate through menus on the pedal itself.

GuitarZero

Fretwired said:

@GuitarZero .. thanks .. have a wis ..

No problem, and thank you kind sir!

NPP

I am quite interested in this as the centrepiece of a headphone practice rig. The only reason I didn't snap it up at once was that for the next year or so I'll mostly be able to practice with a real amp.

I hope that the Amplifire is a good mid-price solution, cheaper than Axe / Kemper / other high end stuff but with a few good basic sounds in it. Therefore, I'm glad you like it, @GuitarZero! ;

GuitarZero

Just thought I'd add this soundcloud page.  Gives a bit of an overview of what people are currently doing with the unit.  Some obviously better than others, but there's a lot of clips out there.

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=atomic amplifire

GuitarZero

John_P said:

I'm still really interested and half tempted to get one - the things that put me off are the display (but I would probably edit on a computer) and the footswitches, if they did a version that let you have 4 or 5 patches available instantly it would be a lot more practical to use on stage.   I did think it would pair up nicely with a midi board but that's sort of defeating the point of an all in one box. 

Well I have seen a guy who has found a way to get 4-5 patches available immediately.  Here's some details swiped from a post on a different forum.  It's not perfect, but it's a cool way to get around some of those issues.

I've been thinking about how I can maximise the current switching capabilities of the Amplifire because ideally, i'd like access to all presets, toggling between main presets and tap tempo and i've come up with a way to do everything. Some of you may already be doing this but for those that aren't, here's how i'm doing it;

Footswitch 1 = A<->B
Footswitch 2 = Preset Increment
Footswitch 3 = Tap Tempo

I've set Footswitch 1 to toggle between my Dirty Rhythm (position 1) & Lead (position 7). The Lead tone is saved to position 7 because I have my Clean saved to position 2. This allows me to be in my Dirty Rhythm and hit Switch 2 to instantly access my Clean. Increment again and i'm in position 3 which is Clean Chorus.

If I toggle Switch 1 to my Dirty Lead (again, position 7) I can increment directly to my Plexi tone or other song specific presets beyond that... Hitting switch 1 always gets me back to preset 1.

And of course, Tap Tempo is available from Switch 3 in any preset.