05/10/2026
I am working on integrating the Nano Cortex into a live rig and here is my working setup. I don't like big, complex boards and even this is more stuff than I want but it's a great test bed. It's got the Nano as a digital modeling/capture device device, midi, bluetooth, wireless, as well as a few choice analog pedals. As good as modeling is nowadays, I find that adding analog devices to the mix, like a compressor or overdrive pedal or an analog delay, adds a missing presence to the chain. I doubt this will be the final configuration but it does highlight the strengths and limitations of the Nano Cortex. Overall it is a very capable and impressive device that can stand alone as a giggable system, especially when you add a controller like the M-Vave Chocolate Plus seen here. If I were going that route I would go with the Airstep wireless controller. Coming from a flagship modeler where you can have any imaginable signal chain, this is very limited and has a fixed chain that in some cases doesn't really make sense. Why can't you add a chorus or flanger in front of the amp? And one I just ran into, when using an expression pedal to control output volume of a patch, the setting is in percentages, which is weird but ok, but here's the kicker, it's not a percentage of the master setting of the patch, it's a percentage of 100%. So say you have the master output set to 8 and you want the expression pedal minimum to be 50% of the max volume, you set the range to 50% right? Wrong! You have to monkey around and find what percent of 100 gets you to the magical settings of 8 and 4. Very non intuitive and impractical. Only one capture is allowed in the chain so you can't have a pedal capture and an amp capture. If you want to slam your good old tweaked JCM800 with your favorite TS-10 or vintage SD-1, you have to use the actual pedal, or maybe buy a second nano cortex or TONEX or something that can capture the pedals so that you can use it with your nifty amp capture. Which brings us to the beauty part of this device and the reason for this build. What we have here is a box of great sounding amps, YOUR amps, captured in stunning realism with the sound, response and feel that you love, in a box that weighs like 1 pound. This is something that has been promised for many years but this is seriously good and super easy to use. Think about a situation where you have great sounding pedals and a great sounding amp and cab, now imagine having that amp and cab on your pedalboard. That is this, and as a bonus you get some great basic effects models of the ones we know and love to get you started. So yeah, I dig this kind of stuff and have been using this kind of setup for years. I will always own tube amps and pedals but they are for special occasions. For practicing, gigging, touring, this is where it's at. The ability to carry in a single piece of gear, plug it in, fire it up and immediately and consistently have your sound and setup at your feet is amazing and once you experience a setup like this that actually inspires you to play, it's hard to go back. Wow that was a lot of typing, happy Mother's Day y'all and keep doing whatever you do, the best you can possibly do it. Skin it back. 😎🎸
