Well, my own opinion is that any "device" (whether an "add-on" unit like the POD, or an amplifier with built-in "modeling") is at best...a very crude approximation of another amp's "clean" sounds. There is just no way you can make two twelves sound like four tens, or make one fifteen sound like two eights...etc, etc. Now I'll grant that you do get different tone with the settings they provide, but you can pretty much do that with ordinary tone controls. I think the advantage of using "modeling devices" is very limited when it comes to steel guitar.
But, in the world of straight guitars, they're far more useful. Straight guitar players are much more concerned with controlled distortion to emulate a certain sound. They play mostly without the benefit of volume pedals, and therefore the "overdrive-crunch-distortion" thing can be key to their sound. Modeling devices can replicate the different types of distortion you get from different amps pretty accurately.
As to your questions about the differences in Fender amp sounds, Jay is right on the money. The most noticeable differences come from the output stages, and the different cabinet/speaker configurations. [This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 20 May 2001 at 08:49 PM.]
