NPD. Got a Vox today.

[jacksontrader]

Went and got a used Vox Valvetronix Tonelab SE from Guitarget today didn't give a lot for it and so far I've been pretty happy with it. I got it so I could leave my half stack at home when I play smaller gigs. I am having a bit of a time setting up channels, a little adjustment does a lot. Anyone here have one of these that has a "plan" as to how they go about writing channels. It seems once I get the amp and cab settings set, other effects change the sound a bit more than I like. I'm playing with it through a Fender Mustang I amp to get a head start on tones so when I get to practice and run it through the board it won't take much to even it all out for live stuff. Thanks for any and all help.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: NPD. Got a Vox today.

I know that being experienced with a lot of classic amps really helps, when creating amp channels in the modeling world. The guys you hear with modelers that sound great usually have a good handle on nice tube amp tone, while the modelers you hear that suck were preset by guys who don't know real tones, and then they fail miserably at creating patches that are realistic.

Modern day modeling amps and floorboards have an infinite amount of tweakability, so the only thing that really matters is getting the unit to sound as good as possible.
It's really not the gear that counts, it's the person dialing it in.

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: NPD. Got a Vox today.

I have a couple of the Valvetronix modelers, including the SE. These are flexible units and dish up a lot of versatile tones. I use them for headphone practice and rehearsals, but have not spent a lot of time making presets for any of them. I tend to dial these in on-the-fly, which they handle pretty well.

One thing I will say about these is that when you are going DI you should plan ahead for the headroom wars. I often find the pedal sounds great by itself, but easily gets lost in the mix once the whole band starts playing. I have learned to plan for a little extra clarity in the stand-alone tones in order to compensate for this. I find it best to use the effects sparingly, as these can really turn to mud if you're not careful with them.

That said, the amp and cabinet modeling is great on these units. So good that it tricks me into expecting the "amp" to react more with the guitar when I'm playing. But of course, you won't get that same reactance going DI that you would when standing 3 feet in front of a tube combo, so that's something else to plan for.

I start with amp and cab selection, switch in the desired effects, then tweak the EQ to get a good stand-alone tone. Then I go through and turn everything back a hair to stay out of the mud.

There are several sites out there for exchanging Tonelab patches. You might be able to find some good stuff already built up for you to use as inspiration for your own patches.

http://www.voxamps.com/toneroom/

Hope you're having a happy NPD!

[jacksontrader]

Re: NPD. Got a Vox today.

Thanks Dr. Vegetable I need to get off my butt and get whatever it takes to download them. Sadly enough my only times with a processor was an old GSP21Pro and more recently an RP3. The GSP sounded awesome back when I used it 15 or so years ago and the RP3 was just for some delays in the effects loop of my Genz Benz. It took me awhile to get the GSP down but once I got it, it was pretty easy. The RP3 was really easy considering I was cutting everything out of it but the delays.