Talk box rig help

[warner-211]

Hey guys I'm looking to get a talk box and I've been reading alittle about them and I'm getting really confused. First I'm pretty sure I'm getting the mxr talk box. Second it seems that I'm going to need a second amp. I've read about guys either ruining their Amps or their talk boxes. No big deal. My question is how does the signal path run. I'm not a big effects user at all so all I have is a boost in the back of my Marshall so I can go to 11 for solos. So I've been thinking so far that I'm goning to run my path like this guitar>a/b box path a>Marshall head>mxr boost>cab>audience b path>Talk box>solid state amp? Then to mic?
Am I right?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Talk box rig help

You are confusing a few of the issues that come along with setting up a talk box.

With the old school talk box (Heil) you need an amp to actually drive the talkbox pedal. It goes where a speaker would normally go in the signal chain, as it's literally a speaker in a mall enclosure sent out a tube. It's easiest to simply have two amps, a normal amp and a talk box amp for this setup.

The newer designs (MXR) have an amp built in, so you can simply run it in your line of effects. Go Guitar, boost, talk box, amp. When you engage the talk box, the sound will stop coming out of your amp and start coming out the talk box hose.

Finally, you'll need a microphone, amplifier and speaker to reproduce the talk box sound so others can hear. Usually you'll have the talk box tube strapped on your vocal mic, then use your vocal PA to reproduce the talk box sound for the audience to hear.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Talk box rig help

it's literally a speaker in a mall enclosure sent out a tube ...
The newer designs (MXR) have an amp built in, so you can simply run it in your line of effects.

To be a little more succinct, they usually used a horn driver (which is still a transducer like a speaker, although they're designed for the higher frequencies and are thus smaller than a regular speaker). Horn drivers take less power to drive and are much more efficient. That's why the 'self-powered' units only need a small amplifier, just a few Watts, and can sometimes even be run from a battery.

Usually you'd want to divert your guitar signal from your main amp into the self-powered talk box when using the latter, so an A/B box might be required, or such switching might be built into the unit itself.