vox tonelab

exhausted

i've had it with my PODxt. i never thought i'd say it but i just can't get what i need out of it anymore.

my favourite shop has a used vox tonelab (the one with the tube in it) so i'm going to give that a try. i've read so many good things from a pretty wide range of folks.

i think i'll end up keeping the pod though because it does work out ok for my bass and as an effects process for my acoustic guitars but i just can't get electric tone i'm happy with anymore.

i've been recording this week and everything just sounds like garbage to me. i need a change.

really wish i didn't need a desktop modeller at all but right now life just doesn't allow real amps much room.

Pacomc79

good luck. I love the valvetronix stuff hopefully the tonelab does it for you Ultimately if that dosen't work and the tube dosen't give you any fatness you could try running it with one of those LPB 1 preamps into your Mbox to maybe warm it up a bit.

exhausted

that's what i'm struggling with. no fatness. with the strat it just sounds so ratty. it liked the SCNs much more i think. i'm in lust with john mayer's guitar tone right now so that's what i'm going for.

i can do it with my amp no problem but i need to get close with a modeller too.

i'm going to order in one of those radial dragster impedance boxes as well i think. they're cheap and apparently do wonders to load the pickups properly.

but then again, isn't that sort of negated when you turn on an effect pedal anyway?

Pacomc79

aren't we all. Hello Two Rock... Yeah I'm going to need 2 10,000 amp heads.. Thanks. sigh.

To bad I bet you could get some semblence relatively easily with your Deluxe and some kind of very smooth od.

A tube preamp could probably help greatly. The way the valvetronix line integrates the 12AX7 into the preamp and power amp modelling circuitry is amazing.

moster78

Pacomc79 wrote:

aren't we all. Hello Two Rock... Yeah I'm going to need 2 10,000 amp heads.. Thanks. sigh.

How much does Two Rock's stuff go for? I'm almost afraid to ask!

exhausted

http://www.boutiquetone.com/index.php?version=index_eng&page=mini_description&product_category_id=496&PHPSESSID=be96479b35b2f39bcb012b6014ee95f3

cdn $$$$ but 1CAN = about 85cents US.

so, a hell of a lot.

exhausted

Pacomc79 wrote:

To bad I bet you could get some semblence relatively easily with your Deluxe and some kind of very smooth od.

i do actually, with just the amp and a dynacomp. the volume is about about 6, bass 6 and treble between 4 and 5. perfect with the strat.

i means, it's all in his hands but i taught myself "slow dancing..." and i can get that bloomy feel to it. albeit without his touch and fluidity.

the break up is a little fizzy though and i think it's because my tubes are old.

moster78

exhausted wrote:

i do actually, with just the amp and a dynacomp. the volume is about about 6, bass 6 and treble between 4 and 5. perfect with the strat.

i means, it's all in his hands but i taught myself "slow dancing..." and i can get that bloomy feel to it. albeit without his touch and fluidity.

the break up is a little fizzy though and i think it's because my tubes are old.

Good lord, thats pricey!

That's my favorite tune off of Continuum, too bad all the tab out there for it sucks, and I still haven't trained my ear well enough to play by it.

exhausted

well, it's in the 9th position mostly but he plays part of it in the 4th.

i can't get back down to the 4th cleanly to execute it so i play it all out of the 9th position. same thing. just a differently feel because i'm playing the bass strings higher up.

i learned it from watching his demo of his new two rock on youtube.

the chords are easy. C#m, A, E Bs and F#m minors in the bridge/choruses etc.

but i can't play the solos obviously.

Pacomc79

my guess is he's been working on that rig for a while, you can get a non custom Two Rock Ruby or Onyx or Topaz for around 2g's

Funny though his "small blues rig" at home is about 40G's worth of dumbles.

There are whole slews of companies out there that build dumble inspired amps.

you don't need to spend all that money to get that tone, but hey if you've got it, you might as well....


the little fuzzy very light breakup in the solos is to die for.

I'm suprised more people aren't playing mad professors yet besides Harper obviously

exhausted

most of mayer's playing on continuum is totally modern clapton to me. and he'd fully admit it i think.

moster78

exhausted wrote:

most of mayer's playing on continuum is totally modern clapton to me. and he'd fully admit it i think.

He thanks Clapton in the liner notes for something like, "knowing that I steal from him and still being cool about it."

exhausted

i heard this story of him buying a porsche after being a little bedazzled by clapton's or something.

and then proceeding to scare the shit out of himself and returning it.


doubt it's true but funny nonetheless.

moster78

exhausted wrote:

i heard this story of him buying a porsche after being a little bedazzled by clapton's or something.

and then proceeding to scare the shit out of himself and returning it.


doubt it's true but funny nonetheless.

I heard the same story. He bought and remembered the paraplegic's in Murderball and reconsidered. And then went onto buying really expensive watches instead.

exhausted

tried the tonelab tonight. seemed fine so i bought it knowing i can return it with no problems..

at home A/B'ed with the POD and it's just a different kind of crap i think. i'll keep trying over the weekend but i think it's going back. might as well stick with the POD. since they both seem like crap, might as well keep the one with the most features.

oh and the tube has a damn LED under it to make it "glow". fuck.


honestly, i think i just have dead hands and should quit playing for a while.

Novawind

I solve my ruts by not playing for a week and then picking back up. I didn't play for something like 10 days, and suddenly I could play the riff from Sweet Child o' Mine really quickly. For me, gear only solves your ruts by giving you some new sound for a little while. But the gear's only as good as the input you give it.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

tried the tonelab tonight. seemed fine so i bought it knowing i can return it with no problems..

at home A/B'ed with the POD and it's just a different kind of crap i think. i'll keep trying over the weekend but i think it's going back. might as well stick with the POD. since they both seem like crap, might as well keep the one with the most features.

oh and the tube has a damn LED under it to make it "glow". fuck.


honestly, i think i just have dead hands and should quit playing for a while.

I think the tube is really kind of only there for the visual.

you should try an LPB1 to warm it up a bit or maybe even strait in (tube preamp model) -> LPB1 or other tube preamp. That's what you're lacking out of the Pod I think. That and you might look in to BBE or Aphex for some sparkle

exhausted

interesting twist:


i set the output from "line" to "amp" which makes the output much darker. then i opened up the presence control and adjusted the EQ slightly and it sounds much better. like in the store.

it must have been set that way when i tried it initially and got bumped or something when we packed it up.

anyway, much better now with the blackface twin and AC15 models, which are the only two i'm interested in right now.

much better.

also need to keep the gain to the "valve reactor" bullshit down slightly. otherwise it turns to mush if you push too much though that stupid tube.

exhausted

Pacomc79 wrote:

I think the tube is really kind of only there for the visual.

you should try an LPB1 to warm it up a bit or maybe even strait in (tube preamp model) -> LPB1 or other tube preamp. That's what you're lacking out of the Pod I think. That and you might look in to BBE or Aphex for some sparkle

i don't know for sure how much basis in reality that tube has. it does get warm but not so hot i couldn't touch it to try a different one.

i really don't know what to think. my ears are shot or something. i'm looking for a tone i just can't get with anything, amps or modellers or anything.

i should do some clips this weekend and ask for opinions. maybe i'm just nuts.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

tried the tonelab tonight. seemed fine so i bought it knowing i can return it with no problems..

at home A/B'ed with the POD and it's just a different kind of crap i think. i'll keep trying over the weekend but i think it's going back. might as well stick with the POD. since they both seem like crap, might as well keep the one with the most features.

oh and the tube has a damn LED under it to make it "glow". fuck.


honestly, i think i just have dead hands and should quit playing for a while.

I think the tube is really kind of only there for the visual.

you should try an LPB1 to warm it up a bit or maybe even strait in (tube preamp model) -> LPB1 or other tube preamp. That's what you're lacking out of the Pod I think. That and you might look in to BBE or Aphex for some sparkle

http://www.ehx.com/instructions/LPB%202UBE_INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

I mean the LPB2ube of course.

You know an EQ might be fun too like the Barb E Q or Tube EQ what have you. Or some kind of parametric where you can change the shape.

I have been impressed by the valvetronix and underwhelmed by the tone lab. I can say that.

exhausted

i used to have a presonus blue tube but found it very hissy.

EQ isn't the problem so much. i can get a great clean tone out of almost anything. it's just this fizziness that i hear.

but honestly, and this will be sacrilege, i hear it in SRV's tone on little wing too. so i think my ears are fucked.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

i used to have a presonus blue tube but found it very hissy.

EQ isn't the problem so much. i can get a great clean tone out of almost anything. it's just this fizziness that i hear.

but honestly, and this will be sacrilege, i hear it in SRV's tone on little wing too. so i think my ears are fucked.

like a tape hiss or digital overloading the input fizziness? So you need fatness right and you also need to knock some treble out of those pups. Maybe you should go back to playing one of the guitars with stacked buckers or SCN's? Or try dialing down the input sensitivity sometimes that helps.

Uh honestly, just hang up the Pod for a while and whip out the MASS. That's the only way

exhausted

god i long for the days when i was ignorant and happy with a fabtone and a fender jam solid state.

TheLuckyOnes

exhausted wrote:

at home A/B'ed with the POD and it's just a different kind of crap i think. i'll keep trying over the weekend but i think it's going back. might as well stick with the POD. since they both seem like crap, might as well keep the one with the most features.

i'll second that


own a valvetronix amp, had a pod, had a flextone, and one of those beringer v-amps, not to mention Zoom and Digitech units way back when. All crap to me. i'm sure plenty of people get great results, but not me. i fight and fight, but to me there is not any kind of amplike response from any of them. just tweaked on-off, cheap boss distortion-like tone. Especially for mid gain breakup tones. Its just not there. Keep the Pod if its usable for you.

No, i don't have a good suggestion. I'm in the same boat as you.

This is exactly why i've been looking thru all the 1-5watt amps, but as i'm sure someone will point out, 5 watts can be plenty loud with a sleeping 2 year old in the next room.

I think its time to rent practice space.

cheers

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

god i long for the days when i was ignorant and happy with a fabtone and a fender jam solid state.

ha ha. So true, it dosen't seem so long ago my Peavy Predator and SS Fender Ultimate Chorus made me happy.


Ex.... I found the solution....are you ready?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-DUMBLE-Overdrive-Special-Guitar-Amp-W-1x12_W0QQitemZ200073079757QQihZ010QQcategoryZ10171QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

exhausted

sweet. i should probably call my wife first but i think she'll be ok with it.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

sweet. i should probably call my wife first but i think she'll be ok with it.

I'd just like to know what her reaction would be

exhausted

well, it would be somewhat fiery i think.

luckily, i don't have a credit limit high enough to buy that.

i'm listening to texas flood right now. the tone is very bright.

i think my problem is a hypersensitivity to high frequencies. does that make sense?

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

well, it would be somewhat fiery i think.

luckily, i don't have a credit limit high enough to buy that.

i'm listening to texas flood right now. the tone is very bright.

i think my problem is a hypersensitivity to high frequencies. does that make sense?

absolutely. maybe you should pick up the LP custom and jam on the rhythm pickup for a while.

exhausted

just saw the thread about that dumble auction on ebay. they figure mayer will buy it. looks like they figured out mayer's ebay id too.