Talk Box

[steelprostate]

I'm thinking about purchasing a talk box, particularly a Dunlop Heil, and was just wondering if anyone has any experience with these or any other talk boxes for that matter? I'm sure many of you do, but I was just wondering a few things like 1. what is the best one out there, 2. how exactly do you set it up as far as with the amp and a mic and everything, etc. any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

 

[Guest]

Re: Talk Box

For simplicity, people seem to prefer the Rocktron Banshee these days. Hope my little drawing is understandable...

You with tube || + Mic nex to it -> PA
____________||
____________||
____________||
Guitar -> Rocktron Banshee -> Amp

When you stomp the Banshee it cuts the signal to the amp and it goes up through the tube to your mouth, the microphone pics you messing with the tube up and shoots it out through the PA ... I think

 

[steelprostate]

Re: Talk Box

Seems simple enough. Anyone else?

 

[matt99camero]

Re: Talk Box

I've got one of the Dunlops. Works great but it is a little bit of a hassle to hook it up. What kind of amp are you going to be running it through, it won't work with every combo amp, but it does work with my Hot Rod Deluxe. I had to buy a 1/4" female coupler. Basically I have to unplug the speaker from the speaker jack into the coupler, then a guitar cable from the other side of the coupler into the input of the talkbox. Then plug a cable into the empty speaker jack of the amp and run that to the output of the talkbox. That is where you risk messing up the amp if you don't hook something up right. You don't have that with the Banshee. But I've heard people don't like the gain that is build into the banshee. I still prefer the Dunlop, but if messing up an amp scares you the banshee might be your best bet. I will say dunlop came through for me when my talkbox blew something inside of it. I was 1 day over warenty and they still fixed it for free(-$18 to ship it to them, it's heavy as hell).

 

[steelprostate]

Re: Talk Box

I play through a Mesa Recto half stack. That does seem like a bit of a hassle, and I would be kinda worried about screwing up the amp. How exactly does the banshee work? And as far as any of them go, is a separate PA necessary outside of the amp? If so I've got one sittin around, I just wouldn't know exactly how to set everything up with the talk box, although it doesn't seem like it'd be too hard.

 

[matt99camero]

Re: Talk Box

I'm not really sure how you would hook up the Dunlop through a half stack since I've never owned one, but after reading some reviews they say it's easier with a half stack. I think the Banshee works just like any other pedal on your board. It works pretty much the same as the Dunlop but since it has a built in amplifer you don't need to run all those wires to your amp, you can run it in line just like other effects. With the Dunlop, I can practice with it at home with it and hear it just fine, but with either one in a live situation you'll need a pa to pick up the sounds from the tube, but hopefully if your playing live you have a pa.

How many watts is that Mesa half stack? You cannot run more than 100 watts into the Dunlop or you will blow the diaphram, and I wouldn't even want to try close to 100, might be pushing it. I blew the diaphram in mine with a 40 watt tube combo when I was playing at apartment volume levels. Maybe it was just a bad diaphram because I haven't had any trouble with it since.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Talk Box

I have a Heil. If you're going to be using one live, the best thing is to have two amps and use one of them specifically for the talk box.

 

[metlking]

Re: Talk Box

I have a Banshee and it's very simple. You hook it inline like any effect pedal. It's basically a small practice amp, it'll even power a speaker cabinet, it has a speaker out! When you stomp on the switch it stops the signal from going to your amp and uses it's own built-in amp sending the sound up the tube to your mouth. The sound is manipulated by your mouth and gets picked up by mic to the house PA. The Heil version uses your amp to power it and it hooks inline with your speaker, bypassing it when in use. The Heil sounds better but is much more difficult to use with complicated guitar systems such as multiple amps, stereo amps and combos...ect. The Banshee is great for the occasional talk-box user such as me. It's also safer for the amp, especially if it's a tube amp.

 

[thespricket]

Re: Talk Box

i have the dano one. it's really cheap, but its not as complicated as the others. its meant not to have to use it with two different amps.

 

[steelprostate]

Re: Talk Box

It's a triple recto, so it's 150 watts. I definitely think I'll go with the Banshee...seems like less of a hassle, safer with the amp, etc. Thanks a lot to everyone, esp. Matt and metlking.