Build a NAM modeler you can gig with for peanuts - it's as easy as Pi

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

After your ringing non-endorsement of the Valeton, I'm favoring building a PiPedal to experience NAM, and picking up an Alto TS410 as both my PA and a FRFR guitar cab. I've been playing with single board computers since the Beaglebone came out, and I have a few Pis on the shelf. So I'll set one up later today and get started on the PiPedal. Stay tuned!

...and here it is! Pipedal is a modeling program created to run on a Raspberry Pi. The Pi is a computer the size of a deck of cards, and it's been around for several years. I've created everything from 8 channel audio front ends to multichannel DAWs that run decent recording software and work well on location. I built one into the processor for our condo building's video displays. They're fantastic, easy to set up and use, and amazingly powerful. I thought there'd be at least one modeler out there for the Pi, figuring that I'd write the code myself if I couldn't find one. Thankfully, PiPedal is already well developed and ready for us to use.

The bottom line is simple - it really works!! The latest version uses A2 NAM models that you can download free from tone3000 - and there are hundreds and hundreds of great ones available. There's no audible latency, and it's remarkably quiet even with no balanced lines or I/O. You need a DAI to provide both an input for the guitar and an output for audio. Every Pi has a headphone jack that should also be accessible for audio out, but I haven't tried that yet so don't hold me to it. I'm using my little TASCAM digital recorder for I&O right now while waiting for an inexpensive DAI to arrive so I can make up a self contained unit in a little travel case. This sucker is definitely gigworthy.

It was designed to be run on the latest version (RPi 5), but it will run OK on a 4b if you only use a few models in a chain (e.g. amp head, one or two effects, and a speaker IR). It can be controlled with a USB MIDI pedal in addition to the screen of your phone, tablet, or computer. There's dual band Wifi built into the Pi, and it acts as a hub. So you can connect your phone or tablet directly to it on a gig or use it over your home Wifi network for home playing, recording etc. Here's my hot rodded 4b sitting next to one of my studio monitors (a JBL 305, which sounds amazing at home volumes). Here's the control interface (which looks the same on phone, tablet, and computer):



I first set it up running into one of my recording monitor systems. That's a JBL 405, and it sounds fantastic as a moderate volume FRFR system for guitar. It'd be a great setup for solo dates and low volume trio work.



And here it is with what will be my gigging setup. Modeling requires FRFR electronics and speaker, and a Toob Metro FRFR II is the best thing around for this. The amp shown is my TC BQ500, because my BAM200 is already packed as backup for tonight's gig. Relax, Markku - I won't unleash the full power of the 500 on it The mic sitting on it is there for recording the clips below - my SM58s are also already packed for tonight.



I only had time right now to make 3 examples for you. That's a very cheap mic, so sound quality is not the greatest - but I think you'll hear the virtues of this concept and my little system even so. I used my Les Paul 7 for these, since I was changing the strings for tonight's gig. It has an EMG in it, which has no personality of its own. Here's the Fender 5e3 clean model:



Here's the 5e3 model with full on gain, al la early Carlton. There's obviously no reverb, but I discovered after recording it that there was a graphic EQ model in the chain with a bit of low end boost. I gotta tweak this one for the tone he got on his Steely Dan stuff:



The last clip is a big clean Fender with a Danelectro DJ-9 Surf 'n Turf pedal model. As soon as I heard the first note, I thought of Sleepwalk. So here it is, with slide on the first chorus and the rest picked. I'm particularly impressed with the pick sensitivity of some of these models. LIsten to how well it brings out finger vibrato in this one.



I'm very impressed with how good the models are, even through a single driver Toob. Since I need a PA for my new gigs and vocalist, I'm planning to get an Alto TS410. It makes more sense than selling my Blu 6 to buy a Bud 10, and it should be powerful enough for any gig I'll ever play. I've tried models of an old GIbson amp, a Twin, a 5150, a Dumble ODS, a Bassman 4x10, and several effects - and everything really does sound so close to the original that it's astounding. NAM modeling really works well, and it's fun. I probably won't gig with this much once I've wrung it out and learned to get the most from it. But it's a great way to experience a lot of cool and expensive stuff without having to find or buy it.

[WilliamScott]

Very cool but can't you just download NAM models into your phone with a NAM app? I like your Sleepwalk version.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Very cool but can't you just download NAM models into your phone with a NAM app?

There are programs you can put on your phone that will load NAM and IR files. But you have to use both an ADC and a DAC to accept your guitar's signal and to deliver the modeled output signal to an amplifier. So you also need a device with an input for your guitar and an output to your amplifier that will convert your guitar's output into an audio signal suitable for amplification and reproduction. There are embedded DAC chips in smartphones, but they don't offer the audio quality and flexibility of the Pi or a dedicated NAM based effects device. The audio noise floor, distortion levels, etc are much better even from a $125 Focusrite than they are from most smartphones. If you're going for the fidelity of an amp model, you really want the most accurate systems you can get.

NAM models also require significant processing power to render them accurately and without artifacts. Especially for live performance, it doesn't take much latency, noise, etc to ruin a gig. Our iPhones and better Androids do have serious power. But it's not at the level of the best NAM processors (yet).

NAM XT and GiGFast Lite are examples of such programs for phones. But you also need a digital audio interface like an iRig. For Apple devices, you also need OTG USB or an Apple camera adapter. I've never done this on Android devices, but the principle is the same. Using a phone is more than a little complex, and I wouldn't want to bother with it on a gig. A simple pedal is the easiest way to go, but the better ones are rather costly right now. The simple ones use a 3 process version of NAM files (A2 Lite) that's not as accurate as the 8 process system used in the better ones.

[Spook410]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. I've been spending time with my new Valeton GP-5. Crazy what you can get for cheap. It does the NAM A1 to Snaptone (Valetone proprietary) format. I'm not sure what differences I'll see when I can run NAM A2 Lite natively. So far my experience has been just OK but we're still at first steps.

I am a little disappointed in the free NAM capture library. While I have found a nice Super Reverb and a couple DeLuxe's, the library does not consider clean tones as much as I would want. And I thought there would be more boutique and vintage. Over time I suppose. In the meantime I am learning new things and enjoying the process.