I'm not a fan of lugging heavy stuff around all of the time, so I've constantly been trying to streamline my mobile setup. I've gone from a 50W tube amp down to essentially one pedal (Sansamp GT2). Recently, I've become a little dissatisfied with the cut/punch coming from this setup, which also includes OD/dist and delay in the chain around the GT2.

It sounds OK through my in-ears when I turn it up loud enough, but the recordings sound lame. It's like I have to fight to be heard in the mix, and I don't want to be that guy who keeps turning himself up. I feel like it shouldn't be this hard to have a guitar tone that can be heard individually.

So I'm once again starting to look at tube-based alternatives, maybe a 5-watter or something. I think the conclusion I've come to is that modelers are great for recording, and there's not much reason to use anything else when it comes to recording because they're at such a high level, but that I just can't get them to work well in live applications.

They should work, and that's the annoying part about the whole thing, but I have not had good luck in my many many attempts.

So how do all of you feel about it? Do you rock it live with SS/digital, or do you need a tube amp to get any good muscle behind your tone? I would love to have something like a Pod HD500 be my single-board solution, so it's not for lack of desire that I think these things. Maybe lack of competence, but not lack of desire. If anything, the desire for simplicity is my motivating factor.

Just curious what everyone thinks, and how you feel about modeling's place in general, particularly with all of the new generations of modeling out there.

Also, if you have any suggestions for my live woes, I'm all ears. I have discovered over the past couple of years that live is very different from recorded. A very different set of challenges, at least for me.