“They’re getting close, but you can never account for the physics of a room”: Why the Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson isn’t yet a amp modeller convert
Ah, yes. The perpetual analogue vs digital guitar gear debate. It divides the guitar community like few other topics, with prominent and well-qualified voices on both sides.
Last month, Analog Man legend Mike Piera weighed in on digital guitar gear and amp modellers, saying those who use them are missing out on a huge part of guitar tone. He added that digital amp modellers are “not any fun”.
Meanwhile, Joe Bonamassa recently questioned the cool factor of digital gear, pondering whether Eddie Van Halen would have made the same splash were he using a Neural DSP Quad Cortex instead of vintage analogue gear. JoBo is, of course, an avid vintage gear collector – with two physical locations in Nashville and LA housing his vast collection – but we’ll park that for now…
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But not everyone is married to the idea that vintage is always better; in November, AFI guitarist Jade Puget revealed he’d ditched tube amps in favour of a digital Line 6 Helix as the former made him feel “constrained”.
Yep, the pool of digital converts is expanding, but don’t count the Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson among them quite yet.
In a new interview in the latest print issue of Guitar World, Robinson says that digital amp modellers are “getting close, but you can never account for the physics of a room”.
He explains: “What’s the humidity like? What’s the oxygen level like? Are you at high altitude or low altitude? What’s the shape of the room? Where is the microphone being placed? All of these things can have a big effect on your sound.
“Your tone that comes out will always be what it is, but everything else needs to be taken into consideration.
“Then there’s the feeling aspect. You have this symbiotic relationship with your amp. You’re literally connected to it. You’re plugged in and feeling that. It’s vibrating the floor and you’re hearing it, feeling it and playing with it. I think that’s when it becomes like this big oscillation. You’re in it.”
Part of Robinson’s favour of analogue gear over digital is his dislike of computers, as he explains.
“The whole purpose of rock ‘n’ roll is to [play with] abandon. It could go off the rails at any time. If everybody is on a computer listening to a click track playing their music around the light show rather than the actual songs, there’s no chance of greatness or failure… There’s nothing more boring than sitting at a computer.”
The Black Crowes have a series of tour dates planned throughout 2026, making stops in Australia, Japan, the US, and Europe. For tickets and a full list of dates, head to their official website. They also have a new album out, A Pound of Feathers. Check out one of its singles, Profane Prophecy, below:
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
