I have joined the dark side...

Re: I have joined the dark side...

this clip impressed me... I am bringing back my Egnator Rebel 30 because it has a defect and is too loud for an apartment anyways, I will look into one of these units. How do you think this would sound direct into some nice studio monitors, Mike?
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

Erik...LOL. those vox modelers are pretty good from what i've heard. i never tried one hands on just heard people using them and clips etc.

BlueGuyJ...cool clip, never saw that one as i was researching the GSP. the great part about going with the GSP and a solid state power amp or using it with headphones or studio monitors is that it will sound great at low volume and high volume since it doesn't need to be cranked to get the tubes to sing...since there aren't any :D. as for studio monitors, i think it would work well. i'll try it through my KRKs when i get a chance and let you know but i did try it through some headphones last night just to see what it was like and doing so i had to use the cab sims of course and i have to say, i was quite amazed at how good i could get it to sound. the cab sims are much better than i thought they would be. i still like it best through my 4x12 but it's again leaps and bounds better than line 6 stuff and the cab sims via headphones sounded pretty realistic and if i spent time tweaking odds are i could have gotten it even better but i was just doing a quick test. however before i went with studio monitors i think i'd get a simple solid state power amp (or even a used crate powerblock) and a 1x12 cab with a V30 or something. i think that would give even better results than studio monitors and still be capable of low volume apartment use.

-Mike
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

XSSIVE said:
Diego...i'll always have tubes amps but i won't be so quick to turn my nose up at modeling stuff as it comes out. line 6 stuff made me bitter towards it since i was never happy with their modeling tech but this is worlds better. i'd love to try out an axefx one of these days to see just how much better it is but at $sk for an ultra i'm in no rush for that lol.
Click to expand...

I wonder how that POD XT you had would work with your poweramp and Splawn cab now.

My own personal experience has been similar to yours; cab simulation are hit or miss: Depending on the amp/software, some are decent for low gain stuff and awful for high gain or cleans, or viceversa.
Woofy, grainy, muffled or tiny. A combination of that is what usually comes out.

But having the preamp models and a good cab with proper guitar speakers seems to be the recipe. I'd love a nice 4x12 cab but I can't really justify it by now, plus I don't have much space where I live.

I've been considering a Blackheart BH5, since it's all tubes and low power and blah... but I don't think it's worth it. The Cube is good enough. :)
 
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cool review. I like digitech stuff, and kinda always wanted that one, a piranah or the prophesy.

p.s. did you photoshop the perfect "shining star" LED on the power amp in the first pic? that's hilarious, hehe
 
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Re: I have joined the dark side...

I've been trying to think of developing a rig I can use for practice and gigging... Perhaps getting a modeler preamp, suitable power amp and a cab will work and then a tube preamp and power amp for gigging. I am def bringing back this Egnator Rebel 30 on Wed and will have a credit for $760... I'll see what I can do up possibly. I know that the Vox Tonelab ST also seems like a good possibility. Mike, you should try and put up a video or something man? Side note you may dig, I purchased a guitar from Mike Lipe (older founder and establisher of Ibanez USA CS and Starfield guitars)... I know you're into shredder axes, I'll post a vid review soon-ish when I get it in.
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

Diego...i had the pod running through an atomic 1x12 which is made to make modelers sound more real and add tube warmth. it certainly sounded better and for years i liked it just fine for low volume practice but now that i can compare it to this...it flat out sucked in comparison.

DankStar...lol, i didn't even realize that 'til you pointed it out. nope that's 100% natural, the only photoshop i did was editing the colors to look more realistic, resize and add my watermark to the pics.

BluesGuyJ...well with the 4x12 you already have you can certainly use that at low volumes with the GSP and also gig volumes so you wouldn't need a dedicated apartment cab unless you wanted to take up less space...and just have a reason to buy more toys haha. there's also no real need for a tube pre or power amp, the GSP is the pre and a solid state power amp like the art i use will certainly be gigable. this sucker gets scary loud so that's no problem. there's loads of axeFX guys that use the same art sla2 power amp (that's where i got the idea from) and they gig with them without a problem.

i tossed and turned on the idea of tube or solid state for power but in the end decided since the GSPr itself is built to replicate the sound of the tube amps it's modeling then why further color that tone? that's why i went solid state over tube for the power. there's arguments to both sides but solid state seemed a bit more logical to just power the stuff and not really color it any more. although some could argue that a tube power amp will add warmth which could be good.

as for a vid, i don't have any way to do one but there's loads of them already on youtube showing various uses of the GSP (some good some bad lol).

can't wait to see the vid of the Lipe, sounds like it could be cool based on his history.

-Mike
 
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so the GSP has a built in power amp, then why do you play yours thorugh a power amp as well? I actually do not have a 4x12, that fell thorugh years ago and I did not update my sig. I dont even have the Strat lol
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

sorry for any confusion, perhaps it's the way i worded things? the GSP is a preamp and a preamp only. the ART SLA2 is the power amp which is needed to make it work with a standard 4x12 cab.

-Mike
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

Mike, does the GSP come with a built in foot switch to navigate patches? I am thinking about picking up one of these units and an Atomic Reactor FR...
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

There is an "integrated" foot controller but it's not included with the GSP.
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

cool, thanks! I've been exploring tons of online clips of the GSP1101 and PODxt3 and the GSP1101 definitely seems to have a greater warmth to it compared to the POD, in my opinion. I just kept hearing this high end snappy/piercing sound with the POD on many of the amp models while the GSP1101 did not deliver that sour quality. I think this thing might rock thorugh a Atomic Reactor FR. The reactor FR is meant to provided a tube power amp with a flat response so no coloration occurs, only enhanced tube quality. This could really nail my practice/gig rig all in one. I'm gettin' mah money back from GC on Friday for sure. Do they give you money back on gift cards or no?
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

tc...yup, there's lots of good clips and vids out there of it.

BluesGuyJ...it does not come with the footswitch, that's separate. check my second pic the large footswitch with built in expression/wah pedal is the optional digitech "control 2" footswitch that works with it.

the GSP and the new FR could be a great match i think. the quality of my original atomic amp was great. i had the first model 18w that they came out with years ago, not the new FR style. it was the pod in it that always sucked a bit hahaha. i'm curious if the FR would work best with the cab sims on or off since it sits on a line between "real" cab and speaker and sort of a full size guitar based powered studio monitor. it might actually work both ways since if i'm not mistaken you can run it full range or turn off the tweeter and run just the 12. if you want a more compact setup and don't want to buy a dedicated power amp and cab it may be a cool choice to look into.

-Mike
 
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with the 50watt power amp built in though, I still wonder if it sounds good at bed room volumes, does the ART SLA2 sound good at bedroom volumes? The other positive is that I could et the GSP, ART SLA2 and a normal cab like you, and then could have various tube heads for gigging versus going for the SS preamp and a powerd cab like the atomic...
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

P.S. - what are the main differences between the ART SLA2 and SLA1? I am not super tech smart lol, lot of terms I am not too familiar with. Sorry if I kind of took over the thread, I think this is just a promising piece of gear.
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

this setup even with the 4x12 can do extremely low volumes since it's all solid state and modeling, no need to crank it up to get tubes cooking since there are none. plus you also have the headphone option where you can play louder in your ears and be silent to the other people around which is a bonus.

the SLA-1 is 100Wx2 and SLA-2 is 200WX2 otherwise they're the same. i did lots of shopping around and figured i might as well get the big one in case i need that extra power for a future band. plus if you check amazon.com the SLA-1 can be had for $219 and the SLA-2 for $289 if you then have zzsounds.com price match via there online system where you send them the link they actually beat the prices by a few dollars and have free shipping. that's what i did and got the SLA-2 for $282 shipped.

also to use the SLA 1 or 2 you need to convert the typical 1/4" speaker cable to banana plugs to work with the SLA-2 or buy speaker cables that have both proper ends on them like these...
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Monster-Cable-S100-Speaker-Cable-14-Banana?sku=331641

i usually don't condone monster cable use however they aren't too crazy priced in this case and color coded so if the concept of ring and tip on a typical 1/4" jack confuses you having them color coded makes like easier so you don't plug them in backwards. i just made my own by cutting off the 1/4" end on one side of the speaker cables i already had and replaced them with banana plugs.

i suggest whatever cab you get try and get a stereo wired cab so if it's a 2x12 you can split it and run 1x12/1x12 or if it's a 4x12 run it 2x12/2x12 that way you can take advantage of FX that pan and things like ping pong delay all inside one cab. the spread won't be as drastic as if it was two separate 4x12 cabs but at least you can use those features. i'm not sure the ping pong delay for example will even work in mono since it works by sending the delay left then right and if there's only a center mono it won't do anything.

no problem taking over, ask all the questions you want i already did all the research on this stuff when i was shipping so i'm glad to pass on the info.

-Mike
 
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Re: I have joined the dark side...

Great tip about the amazon price matching. When I go back to GC on friday, I will try and get my credit back on a card and order some of this stuff off the GC web site and will then order the poweramp thorugh Amazon. The last time I tried out a modeler was a Peavey Vypr 15, so I don't recall loving SS tones but this thing sounds pretty good on youtube and other forums thorugh vids and direct recordings.
 
Re: I have joined the dark side...

you have to shop around that's for sure, i didn't pay full price on anything. i found an authorized digitech dealer in AZ on eBay that had a combo price on the control 2 controller and GSP1101 for way less than any of the other online places. i bought the second to last pair they had listed and i just went to find the auction for the last pair for you but they seem to have sold it already.

i've never tried the peavey modeling stuff, so i have no idea what they sound like to be honest.

-Mike
 
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