NAMM 2025 - BluGuitar AMP X Update
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.พ. 2025
- In today's video, Paul from The Studio Rats is at NAMM 2025 and as always one of my first visits is Thomas Blug to see how he is getting on with AMPX and to see if we finally have a release date.
The Studio Rats are core band members Paul Drew on guitar/production/mixing, drummer James Ivey and Dan Hawkins on bass. They collaborate with singers and musicians to produce radio-ready songs.
The sheer persistence, patience and dedication of this guy are qualities modern society has lost unfortunately.
Is this really the first NAMM video I watch? Sure, this is a priority. I love Thomas and what he does. Gerat guy. Thx for doing this Paul. Cheers from Germany
"I am running out of problems to solve" - that's the statement of a true perfectionist/mad scientist/passionate man, not a con man.
Whenever this is available, it will be and sound fabulous.
And, as it isn't digital, it won't have aged.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
But with all the years gone into it and R&D, will it cost like $3k? He'll be hard pressed to recoup that at like $900.
@@Scott__C Seeing that the AMP 1 is $899
This X amp will be real close to that amount of $3K. it will be at least twice the cost of a AMP 1 i would think?
@@Murphy_R9 No idea. But that seems it'd have to be a minimum since he's been working on this....I don't know, I feel like I've been hearing about it for at least 2 years.
@@Murphy_R9 $16-800 would be a great price for this. Think about what a good sounding 3ch head costs.
Even if it costs a lot more, it could be a, sell all your gear to fund it, kind of product.
Blugh is one passionate Mad Scientist! Love it. Of all the amp in a box, Class D power options out there, hands down, this is the one for me. Well done Thomas.
I will wait forever. Thank you so much for not rushing perfection and for putting your heart and soul into this project @BluGuitar I have one suggestion. Please put your famous rotary effect in here !!!
Looking forward to Amp X release, I can wait for the final version, I know it will be great once Thomas is satisfied. Thanks for sharing!
I remember when Thomas was a young man of 30 years old and he first announced the Amp X. Here we are now, all in the old folks home where Guitars aren't allowed.
He’s working on a function that wipes old ass so it’ll be worth another 30 year wait.
when it was announced for the first time with a prototype?
I'm now 90. I've been waiting for amp x for so long.😂
I'm right behind you and 3 amps since, kinda over it.
This was some of the most awesome guitar playing I have watched in many months. Unusual even for Thomas‘ playing on videos. I loved that.
This will be a life work for Thomas and it will be last forever, a true legacy for Us❤
Can't wait for this thing! It is going to be a huge innovator in the gear space and I look forward to the potential it has.
Awesome!!! I've been following Thomas and his gear for some time and even though I am always "wowed!" by his playing, I'm always left in readiness for the gear his presenting. Can't wait for this!!
When this comes out it will be a huge hit! I hope.
Always love his enthusiasm for precision and great engineering. ❤
That sounds incredible, especially at such low volume! What a player as well!
Sounds amazing!
What a fantastic sounding amp and what a great guitar player Thomas is. Just decided to sell most of my pedals. This is a must buy, my friends. Hopefully it will be offered later this year. 🤩
Sounds superb!! ❤
Brilliant. That's me satisfied. Not sure I'll watch another NAMM video this year. Thomas Blug is god's gift to bedroom guitaristas.
I get it. I understand. But this has dragged on too long for me to care now.
This. The product is pretty much dead to us.
I put Silksong on my steam wishlist in 2019. I know what you mean. But... it will be worth it. And I still get kinda excited once it comes.
Until it's released and orders start going out and them it's right back to wanting this.
It sounds fantastic, do we need it vs another few months or more? No, we cam live. He is right, once it's out it's a little late to be fixing things (tone master) and hoping people hold off critiquing
@@tommurrayGTRexactly, he doesn't have such a cushion as Fender, so it should be perfect right from the start. The competition is too high right now.
This type of tube technology is way overdue. Sad thing is the big Companies like Boss will copy all his hard work in a month and probably improve it.
Love his playing and he seems like such a great guy. Strikes me as one of those people that always makes you feel better after hanging with them.
As an FM9 owner, this is the first product that has peaked my interest. Fingers crossed Thomas can make it happen sooner than later.
BluGuitar products always sound stellar. We will wait patiently for the X.
This thing sounds amazing. I really hope its a success when it finally gets released. Theres so much competition these days, and at very competitive price points. But this really does sound fantastic.
I have been using Thomas’ amp creations for more than thirty years (HK Tubeman Plus, HK Access, HK Zentera, Bluguitar AMP1 Silver and Mercury). He knows what makes a guitar sound good. Moreover, he always made sure his stuff could be used well on stage. I think it’s worth waiting for the AMP X. 👌👍
Thanks for sharing!
I’m sure most of the interested people in this amp would be happy with the amp x in the current state and maybe would accept an updated version with more amps, effects etc 5 years later.
Thomas, you are crazy and a genius! Please give us that amp 😭
Thomas is clearly a genius when it comes to these things but it’s the combination of that and being such a perfectionist together that’s made it take its time.
Good to hear the list of “problems to solve” is shrinking and hopefully there’ll be something out in the wild before this time next year 🤞
Cool,that's sounds amazing,bravo for this demo. ;-)
What an awesome player ...
Let us just hope Thomas & crew will FINALLY finish the development and go into production this year. I still think this is the single most exciting guitar product since a long time. But damn, it needs to come out now.
it really sounds good
Thanks for checking this out Paul, I think a lot of us are waiting for this one. Maybe some are giving up?
will defenitely buy this one once it gets out to try it out ... on youtube it sounds VERY realistic... Let's see what's it doing in real life. Great work BluGuitar
It sounds great
Most other companies would have released and then sold Mk 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This man stands behind this product that carries his name and he wants to be perfect.
Hopefully we'll see it in production soon enough.
Thanks!
Very good philosophy....from a very good creator and sound designer!!
I want it so bad!!!!
I find it funny that folks are complaining about how long this is taking. I can think of a few major brands who went to market too early and got bitten by it. Bluguitar is probably the most transparent brand in terms of updates and they put out plenty of videos going into detail about phases of development. I’m glad they aren’t rushing. The worst thing would be to release the unit with a hardware fault or compromise. Firmware updates are much easier to roll out but he’s totally right, the foundation needs to be solid. It sounds like they made a lot of progress and I hope they achieve everything they set out to do!
Poor Thomas, getting so much criticism for delays. It sounds great, and I'm sure the finished version is really worth waiting for 😊.
Thomas is a great guitarist, no doubt, but I'm tired of never hearing anyone else play his Amp1 gear!!😮
Because it doesn't work
@@NoName-ql1wk In what sense? I have been gigging and recording with one for years. No issues at all. People find it fascinating, even though they don't understand what it is.
They either think it's a modeler, preamp, or overdrive pedal. Even sound guys are confused when they don't see the amp head , but I am still pushing serious volume from the speaker (and BluBox direct). It looks weird but you get used to it. The usability of this thing and convenience is superb.
Looking forward to a further Amp X update at NAMM 2026, 2027, 2028………
The enemy of success is the pursuit of perfection. That pursuit would be fine if it was simply Thomas making it for himself, but he's been promising this for years and the truth is most guitar players would have been happy with the second version.
MVP … he needed help managing it all … bit late now. Sounds good, tho’!
Yeah, I don't see why he couldn't have released it a year or two ago. It was already sounding great. If he kept iterating after release, he'd be halfway to making a Mark II already. There's clearly an appetite for this kind of gear, even if it's not perfect. And gear heads will readily upgrade for incremental improvements in existing gear, which is like 99% of NAMM releases, anyway.
@@senorchivo90 Agree 100%. Thomas is a visionary and I admire his entire catalog of achievement going all the way back to my Zentera. I understand his commitment to excellence, but there's nothing wrong with debuting something that's 80% of the way there because I would have been all too happy with that 80% and then enjoying the benefits of Thomas's fine-tuning over the years. What would Mesa Boogie be today if they had simply waited a decade to debut their first combo? If I could say anything to Thomas directly, I would simply say "80% of what you have created is likely going to be better than 100% of what others are offering. Give us the joy of enjoying that 80% while you pursue the remaining 20."🤘
Sounds so damn good wish he could make it happen
From a product manager perspective, This product is over-engineered and too late to the market. None of the features are tested and verified by a focus group. UI and therefore UX is unfamiliar and unclear. From a manufacturing stand point, it is probably far from optimized.
From an engineer perspective, this thing is awesome. I wish I was the one who built it.
From a guitarist perspective, it sounds almost better than the amps that it tries to simulate. I can sense that it has this "amp feel" where you touch a string and it gets really amplified by a sensitive tube. I can also sense that there's enough compression (non-linearity) that makes it easier to play.
From a marketer perspective, this thing needs a facelift. It does not excite average consumer who doesn't know a single thing about this product, just by its appearance.
As a former project manager thi is the very definition of perfection being the enemy of the good.
Hang in there Thomas!👍😎
Thomas, we love you, we love what you do, but this is the straw for a lot of us. We’re moving on
Yeah seriously. I used to own an Iridium but sold it hoping to eventually get the amp x but at this point why bother?
Seriously, I'd rather have him take his time and release a proper amp instead of throwing it on the market and then have the online community destroy it when something goes wrong.
I love my Iridium, great unit. Keep up the good work, Thomas!
Please make a 2x50w stereo version.
I don't want to complain, but in 2020 Thomas said that it is a project that should carry about 10 years and we are already in year five and it is still not available despite it being announced "definitely" for 2023 and equally definitely for 2024. I am sure it'll be great. Thomas is a real trail blazer. Nobody dared to take on a project as courageous as the Amp X.
Yes this has taken too long. And yes, I will still buy it when it comes out 20 years from now.
This guy reminds me of Achilles chasing the tortoise. But it sounds epic, and I hope it gets finished and then released.
Mr. Blug, I can imagine you at NAMM 2038 doing the same thing, you will present the Amp X
I agree, cool idea, but it should’ve just been left undisclosed until it was ready, it’s already an old idea and we haven’t even got our hands on it, hopefully he sees it through and it’s as amazing as it needs to be
Waiting patiently. But im totally content with my Mercury. ESPECIALLY with a tc electronics spark boost going in the vintage channel with the mid boost switch on, gain at 0 and level at 2 oclock and bass and treble at 0 all on the spark boost. The mercury is 7.8 on gain 7 on master 7bass 4.8mids 4.3treble vol is up to you. Soo good!!!!
Not yet? But this same talk was a year ago. 😅 I want it now
A gardener cut a huge tree trying to get a perfect round shape. He was never satisfied, as the shape never was round enough. At the end he achieved the round form, but it wasn't a tree anymore!
it most likely will never be released The guy is a perfectionist that requires 100% perfection. Trouble is nothing is ever 100% perfect and even if it were perfect one day the next day it will be ever so slightly out of date. He is crippled by his pursuit for perfection. I have his amp1 and it's awesome. Been waiting for the X for well over a year.
Is it ever going to be ready?
Kudos to him for not releasing a half ass product
Very exciting piece of gear. Hope Thomas adapts a bigger oled display.
I love how everyone is an expert about marketing and production on TH-cam. I wonder if the delay is because it’s analogue and can’t be “improved” with a software update later. Only the control stuff and fx are digital. Still I am sure everyone will reassuringly slam it when it comes out as outrageously expensive as they plug into their quad cortex that they swore they would never buy.
For what it’s worth, I think it sounds great! Hold my tube amp!
This would run about 2k, how much is QC? SO if you want full functionality you'd need additional poweramp alongside QC,right?
AmpX modulation FX are digital, the rest of "FX pedals" are analog.
You should check out the „Underdog“ from Chuck.
Its a compareable unit, but with real tubes that are voiced digital in diffrent ways. Sounds fantastic in my opinion 👌🏼
Nice video anyways 🙏🏼
I love Thomas, I’m super excited for this, but I do think he announced too early and it cost him some hype
Very cool
He might as well do a rackmount version, it seems to be what people are into right now, and its taking forever anyway, why not? BluGuitar RackX
The grand vision for Amp X is appealing.
At this stage he should just put Mercury & Iridium preamps with analog fuzz, comp, boost and drive upfront with DSP FX for modulation/delay/reverb and IR’s into the AmpX enclosure (with scribble strips).
2025 for AmpX?!?
If you watch Blug's Academy Of Tone you could see that Mercury and Iridium were the first amps that were in the AmpX.
You can also find out about the tech involved, software revisions and additional reproductions of other amps.
Thomas seems like such a great fellow.
Building momentum is good, but really, at some point, he just has to release it. It's like the guy mixing who keeps re-EQing the snare.
Having the best best sports car is great, but if no one can drive it, will it matter?
“The mix is almost perfect … 💀 “, lol
Like you said Thomas seems like a great guy but he will never be totally satisfied with Amp X because in his mind he will always want to tweak it and make it better at some point the competition will be years ahead of him and may even mix Analog with Digital Modeling!He has to say to himself this product is good enough to release now!
@@jimsimmons2674 Honestly, Friedman's IR series could add a few buttons and a digital effects section with presets and make a mint.
“The mix is almost perfect … 💀🕸”, lol …
The sounds and way it appears to respond ‘look’ like a trad valve amp.
I do hope he manages to get to the beta tester stage soon. 🤞🏻
I fear that when the AMP X will be ready, other technologies or current technologies would advance so much that Thomas would lose the peak of his wave.... seems like a super great product, definitely a year and a half ago looked more amazing compared to other products...I love his idea, but we have to see it compares to the other Products at the time of the Amp X release...best luck...I am waiting for this!
Valeska ❤❤❤❤❤
Sounds great but if we can't buy it, what does it matter? At some point you have to stop mixing your record and release it for everyone to enjoy.
It does sound really good. Hope it comes to market soon .
Thomas Blug is an extremely inventive designer and I am still looking forward for the Amp X to be released. However, he has mismanaged the release by maybe going public too early and dragging out the release. The good thing is that he hasn't taken anyone's money as preorders or shipped a product that had to have initially advertised features developed after the fact (like Neural DSP). I can understand the immense pressure to constantly have attention directed towards your product. It must be difficult being an independent company that has to make money on hardware only. If he was a software developer he could easily use plugins as a way to continuously fund the company and fund hardware development, which is again what Neural does with the quad cortex. To echo other comments people have made, I also hope it isn't the case that the Amp X has proven too expensive to produce and therefore uncompetitive when measured against Neural & Axe FX. Wishing him all the best and I hope the Amp X can do well
I think it’s the high gain tones that are going to be scrutinised with this thing. Claiming it can pull off every modern metal amp is a very bold claim.
I love the idea of the Amp X, I love Thomas's passion and thought process. Just worried for them that by the time it comes out, the market will have passed it. The folks that want this type of unit are less and less every year because the youngest generation, the non-gigging folks, etc. are probably not going to be interested in this, especially at like $3,000 USD which is roughly the last quoted price he gave.
It was quoted at 2k, where does 3k come from?
I mean they can be interested just not be able to buy it.
Katana is very good , nothing wrong with other gear.
Theres DeLorean vibes off this at this stage.
Too long, too late. The competition is going hard and fast.
Who offers similar product?
It will come out when Time III is released (IYKYK)
I'm now too old to wait for the version that'll come after this..
The main thing about this product , when it was first announced in 2013 😂, was the blugprints and the ability to “recreated any amp that ever existed or that will exist”. Never hear about that core principle anymore.
are those foot switches on the AMP X reliable, sturdy and responsive for a Touring Guitar Player? I think I would prefer the real deal classic tall ones...would be sad that such a cool piece of gear would have the lowest link on something so basic and important as the foot switches.
That's fine, he doesn't want to release the X yet. But if not he has to at least support and produce the old amp in the meantime. You can't get the support equipment if you can get the Mercury. At some point you have to eliminate the engineer and go to production.
Don't take those as negative comments please. I love Thomas and these amps.
Is this a case of perfection being the enemy of good? Another callback that comes to mind is when Beato asks the artist, how do you know a song is done? It's never done but you have to know when you can stop working on it
19 inch rack mount?
Omg we been hearing the same thing for how long ????
PLSASE have a Choke resistor that goes from 5H to 10H or possibly 15hH for more Modern compression, chugs and pinch jarmonics.
This would be amazing 4 years ago.
It will be amazing still. There’s nothing else like it on the market.
Yeah, thats why people never buy tube amps anymore.
Analog tone is timeless, digital will always have to play catchup with the updates , no matter is it sounds "good".
If he leaves it much longer, the competitors will jump in and do it, and then he won't have to worry.
Class D Power or A/B Power ?
I’m always surprised when I see one of these types of videos, to see how tall you are, Mr. Drew! You must be at least 6’1”. Am I close?
Everyone that is talking about it are saying, enough already.
How loud was he playing?
In 2019 this was cool, and interesting. In 2025, it’s just too late. Either get a tube amp, or run a modeler into a good power amp and cab.
But why get one tube amp when with this thing you can have like 10 great tube amps?
Is it late to have Marshall JMP now days, is that amp also obsolete suddenly just because there are modelers?
Modeler setup you mention is not really streamlining anything, why not Ampx and cab/direct?
I don't get why are people so angry at this product.
I guess as it's analogue, some of the bugs will be hardwired, so he can't just issue updated software to fix them, and that's why he can't just release it, and improve it later?
Basically that's what he said in his last Academy of Tone episode. The hardware/circuit was improved (tone controls are interactive and react to change like on an original reference amp) and he said he is satisfied with it. Bugs are maybe on software side and they are working on it. I get people are pissed for this or that reason, but I can't wait for this thing to come out. Been listening to pedals and digital preamps and modelers from this NAAM and they do not sound like this. Everything overprocessed, compressed and sterile.
Release it and update later Thomas ……
Yes, it sounds amazing.
But it will never be released!
Oh no, not again.
Groundhog Day? 🤷♂️
Get an amp1 now and use pedals. It’s already great. People using amp1 already get it.