RE: Vox Tonelab (was: FOR SALE: Mesa Boogie Mark I Combo Amp)

[mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

Oh my, oh my, oh my -- what in the world have I gotten myself into now...

Welp, Mark, based on yours and Bill's impression of the Tonelab -- 
both here now as well as in the past -- I finally got myself down to 
the local guitar megagoogleplex today, and picked up a Tonelab of my 
very own.  Now, I've spent the last, ohhhhhhh, let's say SEVEN HOURS 
just running through tweezing the presets and basking in all of its 
new gear, glowing tube goodiness.

And all I can say right now is: wow!  This is much, much more than I 
bargained for.

I'd merely been thinking of something to punch up a somewhat flat 
powered monitor; something that could be dropped in as the last stage 
with a "set it and forget it" preset just to add some more warmth and 
dynamics to the overall mix.  Okay, the Tonelab doesn't seem like 
it's going to fit the bill for that, and right now I really don't 
care.  I'm now in the process of rearchitecting my pedalboard's 
signal path so that I can actually take better advantage of all the 
different tones which the little blue meanie is capable.

My only regret is that it's gonna take me a year to really get my 
head around all the nuances within this box.  Sure, the presets 
themselves are a snap, but since each of the different models really 
seem to play like real amps, its almost like learning each one as a 
new instrument.

Very, very kewl box.  Thanks again for the recommendation, guys!!!

        --m.



At 11:24 AM -0700 6/23/06, mark sottilaro wrote:
>The good thing about the tonelab is that you can
>bypass the preamp or cab models if you'd like.  I've
>never tried keyboards but I run my acoustic guitar and
>bass through it with pretty good results.  Remember
>most guitar preamps roll off quite quickly after 8K or
>so and you're not going ot want your keyboard sounds
>to do that.... or maybe you do.  Low end wont' be an
>issue, but bass has a drop-d bridge set up and it
>seems to do fine. (I come out of the tonelab and go
>into a Soundcraft board and on to Mackie studio
>monitors.)
>
>If I remember I'll run the output of one of my synths
>though it and see how it works.
>
>Mark
>
>--- mech <mech@m3ch.net> wrote:
>
>>  At 10:10 AM -0700 6/23/06, mark sottilaro wrote:
>>  >
>>  >Wait!  There's MORE!  I did find a way to get a
>>  good
>>  >JC120 sound out of the Tonelab!  I forget how
>>  now...
>>  >I'll check tonight and let you know.  I know the
>>  key
>>  >was leaving out either the amp modeling stage or
>>  cab
>>  >modeling stage.  Also, I found I got better results
>>  >when I use the VF-1's stereo chorus (which I know
>>  Kris
>>  >has a couple of)
>>
>>  Hey Mark!  Have you ever tried running keyboards or
>>  bass through your
>>  Tonelab?  If so, how well did it take to processing
>>  instruments
>>  having a full-range of frequency content, especially
>>  the low end?
>>
>>  I've got a powered PA monitor that I'd like to warm
>>  up a bit (Gemini
>>  GX-350; think of it as in the same ballpark as a
>>  Mackie or JBL Eon)
>>  and I'm thinking the Tonelab might give a better
>>  playing response
>>  than your average tube mic preamp.  Dunno how well
>>  the Tonelab deals
>>  with a full frequency spectrum though...
>>
>>  TIA!
>>      --m.
>>  --
>>  _______
>>  "Behind every fear lies a wish, don't you think...?"
>>
>>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>http://mail.yahoo.com