Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

[millsart]

While I'm definatly a pedal type guy, I was able to spend some time checking out a few of the so called latest and great MFX boxes out there and since I just love hearing myself talk (reading what I type in this case lol) heres some thoughts

Pod X3 - Hated it. This thing just is not a good sounding unit. Its totally steril on the clean patches and lacks any sort of dynamics. Just over compressed, high gain fizzy pedal stuff. Maybe the Solando, Bogners etc are modeled good, I dont really know and couldnt care, not my style of amp or music. Clean, crunch and rock tones ? Really poor and fake with no feel at all. FX section is pretty good, L6 has some decent stuff in that dept but the routing options are a bit lame honestly. Sorry but there should be more flexibility in how you want to arrange effects, where you want to put the dirt boxes etc. Lastly its just a PITA to get around on this thing, tiny screen, hard to read type, confusing knob functions etc. Just overall hard to use and bad sounding

Tonelab LE - This one isn't half bad in sound. Pretty decent models and while it doesnt do super high gain (not an issue for me) its got a nice range of tones. Not super dynamic but has a little feel at least. FX though are sort of a letdown. They just are sort of generic and nothing special though. Total dealbreaker though ? That all the cool effects combo's are in the pedal section. Sorry but this is idiotic!

Suppose I want a wah pedal ? Well then that means I can't select the fuzz, or univibe, or comp etc. Thing has 16 choices for delay and 16 for reverb but they couldnt think that maybe someone would want a wah and a comp together for funk ? Maybe a univibe and a fuzz ? Maybe I want a wah and a tube screamer ? nope, nope and nope

Even worse, the pedals come before the amps so if you want to try to use the univibe dirty you can't. I personally run my vibe pedal after my dirt boxes. No can do with the TLLE.

Shame because its a decent unit otherwise for the money but its pedal, amp, mod, delay and verb and all the good stuff is in the pedal section. Its just dumb and you can tell it was made by engineers and not musicians.


Boss GT-10 This one surprised me. Its got some nice clean tones and dynamics! I actually found this box like the TLLE was a bit better at clean and crunch that uber metal, though there are plenty of patches to keep the 14 year old black t shirt crowd happy lol. Patch names like Freak on a Leash ala Korn. That sells units though, so Boss is smart

Anyways, this was a well thought out unit. Very in depth yet very easy to get around. Blows the L6 away in that regard. Really simply as you push a button, select the paraments and effect you want and your off and running. Nice LCD as well.

Good, not great, but good, Boss type effects. Hey Boss isnt Lexicon or Eventide but Boss pedals are good enough for millions of musicians so who am I to complain.

Seems like a very flexible routing ability as well which I think is really cool. Sorry but in 2008 if I can choose where in my chain my vibe pedal goes we've got problems lol

I didnt get to mess with this one quite as much but even from the presents I can tell its very deep and does a ton of crazy sounds. How useful they are I cant really say but theres no shortage of effects on this thing.

I think its probably the winner in terms of the MFX type box right now. Not cheap as I think its $500 though so thats no chump change but if your looking for mfx and want both sound quality, versatility and build, it would be my choice.

Oh yeah, its typical Boss build quality too. Everything just felt so nice and solid under foot and under hand. Miles ahead of Digitech where your always expecting a switch to break under your weight if you dont use it barefoot etc



So anyways, theres some thoughts from me on something other than vibe pedals or octave effects

 

[millsart]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

So anyone agree, disagree, knows that anything I have to say isnt worth reading and just skipped the thread all together ? Lots of views and not one responce on a discussion forum ?

Line 6, Vox, Boss, surely you've heard of them or perhaps even played one ? Anyone ?

 

[kjrocks]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

What , no GNX review? Read it all but havent played any myself.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I have seen all the displays at GC, but the units are presented without even the most basic quick start guide.

I admire your ability to test them.

I have played in a band with a guy that used the XT Live and another guy who uses the Vox. There's no way to know who was the better tweaker, but the Vox sounded less like a pretender.

 

[millsart]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I have seen all the displays at GC, but the units are presented without even the most basic quick start guide.

I admire your ability to test them.

I have played in a band with a guy that used the XT Live and another guy who uses the Vox. There's no way to know who was the better tweaker, but the Vox sounded less like a pretender.

Pod X3 was the toughest to figure out, that twin input thing etc really made it tough. Very user unfriendly

The Tonelab is stupid simple as its all done with the basic effects matrix, in other words you press delay, and then each setting of the row of knobs is for example the words across the 4th row. You press reverb, its the 5th row etc


The Boss while complexe actually wasn't too bad, its one thing that impressed me. I was able to instantly get around, tweak it a little etc.


I've been a studio guy for years though and have owned tons of synths, samplers, rack effects etc so I'm pretty comfortable with figuring out how must stuff works, exception being the X3, that was still a PITA

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I was fascinated with the GT10 I bought for about 3 days. It has been in my closet collecting dust ever since. For some reason I like it enough not to sell it but still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet.

 

[rashayritto]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

so how do mfx/modeler guys work in a band setting? do they run direct to a PA? that would annoy me a lot, hearing them through hifi speakers. using a traditional set up makes more sense unless you play for church and just keep the modeler there, hooked into the house speakers. maybe im wrong, i rant

 

[millsart]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

so how do mfx/modeler guys work in a band setting? do they run direct to a PA? that would annoy me a lot, hearing them through hifi speakers. using a traditional set up makes more sense unless you play for church and just keep the modeler there, hooked into the house speakers. maybe im wrong, i rant

Well all but the smallest of clubs these days runs everything mic'd and through a PA so for live gigs I guess its not much of an issue. You can have just your guitar or the full mix into the stage monitor and from everything I've heard, modelers actually work quite well into full range PA's and keep the soundmen happy as well.

I guess for rehersal it could be a pain, but a cheap keyboard amp is only a few hundred bucks so you could probably use that and still be heard over the drummer, against the other guys stacks etc, though alot of bands these days have their own PA's for their vocals, keyboards etc so again, might not be much of an issue.

Playing at home then I guess you could use some monitor speakers, of which I do suggest most any musician who's doing recording own as gaming speakers, stereo's etc color the sound so much. theres some great deals to be had for some great sounding monitors. Heck, even as a music fan its cool to hear a really accurate mix of a great recording.


So thats what Id do at least if I was serious about them. Realistically id just plug into one of my guitar rigs though.

I guess that can create problems though as your patches need to be tweaked differently for running DI into the house PA than an amp so would be wise no doubt to always go one way or another

 

[Woodcutter]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I haven't tried the X3, but I have line 6's XT live and I agree with you that it can be I pain to navigate all the menus. In all fairness though it really seems like it was designed with the assumption that you would use their patch editing software. When you plug them into a computer and use the editing software its really pretty easy to tweak and create settings.

I've been thinking about trying out the Tonelab, because the XTs clean sounds are a bit lacking in my opinion. The Tonelab also looks easier to edit on the fly.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I agree on many points bro , but still there are some points to clear.

Yeah ,the display of GT 10 is somehow better to navigate ,but it's really crappy to read on stage ,it's blurry and forget it if you have daylight!!!
The GT10 is the only of those 3 wich has many things done "from scratch"...The COSM models are new ,the display ,menu system.Many things new.

The VOX and Line6 ones are polished ,and somehow little bit pushed versions.But nothing really new.Still the same fx ,same models...

And the Line6 is not sturdy anymore. They went cheaper with both x3 and live version.

I think Vox is coming up with a new model on winter NAMM...
After seeing the Black Diamond ,I'm shure that some new Tonelab will be here soon!

Cheers and thanx for the review BTW.Much appreciated!

 

[ErikH]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

Good stuff. I've played older versions of all these and the Vox was my favorite. It just sounded and felt more real than the others. And the simplicity of it made me happy. I don't like to sit and tweak and tweak for days to find a sound I like, that's one thing that I love about my AD50. Plug and play, not hard to find a good sound. Since I'm not one that is big on effects anyway other than reverb, the Vox is the one I'd go after.

These things are made to run through the PA. They sound great through full range speakers. Running them through a guitar amp is a bad idea. Either a keyboard amp or PA. I'm pretty partial to a mic'd speaker but if space was an issue on stage and I had a TLLE, I'd have no problem running it through the PA. Just give me a good mix and I'm happy.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I've had the GT10 now for a couple of weeks. If you build patches from scratch you can make it sound great. I have one complaint and that is the lack of speaker cab and mic placement choices which the Toneport i own does so well. I just can't get a big 4x12 cabinet thump out of it but that's hard with any of them. I thought about taking it back for the X3 but I'm leaning towards keeping it because some of the patches I've been able to put together have convinced me all the sounds I would ever need are in this unit if I take the time to build them up from scratch.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

Freak on a Leash setting? LOL

 

[guitarded]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

So anyone agree, disagree, knows that anything I have to say isnt worth reading and just skipped the thread all together ? Lots of views and not one responce on a discussion forum ?

Line 6, Vox, Boss, surely you've heard of them or perhaps even played one ? Anyone ?

Just curious about the X3. Did you base your opinions on factory pre-sets or did you create any patches from scratch?

 

[guitarded]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I also agree. I have an XT and all tweaks are done using the gearbox computer interface. The older 2.0 models were much easier to tweak on the fly but they did not have as many options to tweak.

I haven't tried the X3, but I have line 6's XT live and I agree with you that it can be I pain to navigate all the menus. In all fairness though it really seems like it was designed with the assumption that you would use their patch editing software. When you plug them into a computer and use the editing software its really pretty easy to tweak and create settings.

I've been thinking about trying out the Tonelab, because the XTs clean sounds are a bit lacking in my opinion. The Tonelab also looks easier to edit on the fly.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I've had the GT10 now for a couple of weeks. If you build patches from scratch you can make it sound great. I have one complaint and that is the lack of speaker cab and mic placement choices which the Toneport i own does so well. I just can't get a big 4x12 cabinet thump out of it but that's hard with any of them. I thought about taking it back for the X3 but I'm leaning towards keeping it because some of the patches I've been able to put together have convinced me all the sounds I would ever need are in this unit if I take the time to build them up from scratch.

get a Palmer PDI 09 ,it does that job really well!

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

I was fascinated with the GT10 I bought for about 3 days. It has been in my closet collecting dust ever since. For some reason I like it enough not to sell it but still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet.

Are we twins separated at birth? It happened exactly the same thing to me last year when I bought myself a Boss GT-8 for my birthday.

I've used for about three months and, after I've made a dozen killer sounding patches, I couldn't find any use for any of them... I've found myself using my 335 straight to the amp with a pinch of reverb and that was it.

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

 

[dd12939]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

so how do mfx/modeler guys work in a band setting?

I have a GT-6 (old technology now!) that I run through a peavey classic tube power amp to a Bag End 1x12 cab. It sounds reasonable to my ears. I've tried the PA thing, but I thought it sounded pretty dead there.

I am looking forward to trying out the GT10

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

so how do mfx/modeler guys work in a band setting? do they run direct to a PA? that would annoy me a lot, hearing them through hifi speakers. using a traditional set up makes more sense unless you play for church and just keep the modeler there, hooked into the house speakers. maybe im wrong, i rant

At my Church we keep the main guitarists POD XT there (and bass POD)
He has spent many an hour setting that thing up, and it sounds darn good. He Mainly played his PRS (sometimes his les paul). I would fill in with my Washburn (59s, custom once) and It worked great. Then he got a special edition something or other strat. He loves that thing. It seems to be all he plays. So I fill in with my Washburn, and the presets dont work so well anymore. He has adjusted them to sound better with the single coil loaded strat. I had to edit out some gain on the spot. Not too hard. I have never owned or edited on a POD before.

 

[Woodcutter]

Re: Played a Tonelab LE, Pod X3 and Boss GT-10

At my Church we keep the main guitarists POD XT there (and bass POD)
He has spent many an hour setting that thing up, and it sounds darn good. He Mainly played his PRS (sometimes his les paul). I would fill in with my Washburn (59s, custom once) and It worked great. Then he got a special edition something or other strat. He loves that thing. It seems to be all he plays. So I fill in with my Washburn, and the presets dont work so well anymore. He has adjusted them to sound better with the single coil loaded strat. I had to edit out some gain on the spot. Not too hard. I have never owned or edited on a POD before.

That is one thing I have found with my POD xt live, it's much more sensitive to switching guitars than my tube amp. I can create a patch using one guitar that sounds great and then switch guitars and the patch will sound terrible. With my Mesa if I switch guitars it might not sound perfect but, it will usually still sound pretty good.