[Rick Lee]

I'm not sure of the precise definition, but it's generally an amp with programmable settings or pre-programmed sounds. Say you want a Fender Twin Reverb sound, a modeling amp would either have a patch for it or you could create one and store it. I'm a simple-minded player, so I don't like too many buttons with digital displays. My Roland Cube has a knob with settings for classic, metal, British, American, clean, etc. and then knobs for effects like phaser, flanger, reverb, chorus, delay, etc. I can do just about anything I want with those, though I can't program specific settings to switch back to instantly.