Vox Tonelab ST...wow

[voodoo364]

I can't believe how good this little box sounds. I am only using it to play/practice through headphones and it does an admirable job of replicating the tones I need. I tried a POD 2.0 years ago and was not that enamored with the "sterile" kind of vibe it produced. I swore off digital modeling stuff and remained totally faithful to my collection of high end new/vintage amps. How can I use this thing to record? Can anyone suggest a good software that works well with the Vox?

[Axe-Man]

I've heard they sound good for clean/mid gain tones with no effects...which is what I would like it for.

My local music store has them on special and I would like a nice crunch/clean unit to practice with (PA and headphones) without ANY effect usage (I have a M13) to jam with...it's a replacement for a POD 1.0

I've tried an X3 Live and RP500/1000 and found they sounded (IMHO) very fake and nothing like an amp.

Does the Vox Tonelab sound ok for the above or is it more of the same?

[jchan]

Originally Posted by Axe-Man

I've heard they sound good for clean/mid gain tones with no effects...which is what I would like it for.

My local music store has them on special and I would like a nice crunch/clean unit to practice with (PA and headphones) without ANY effect usage (I have a M13) to jam with...it's a replacement for a POD 1.0

I've tried an X3 Live and RP500/1000 and found they sounded (IMHO) very fake and nothing like an amp.

Does the Vox Tonelab sound ok for the above or is it more of the same?

IMO, the Tonelab ST is a little more realistic sounding than either a POD or RP, especially with clean/crunch type tones. Its a bit warmer, fuller sounding.

[Pietro]

Same sound engine as the excellent ToneLab SE and LE. FANTASTIC sound. Way above the POD 2.0 that I replaced with a Tonelab SE for a while.

This would make a great "backup amp" and I might get one for that very purpose.

[voodoo364]

I would agree...the ST is light years "better" than the POD 2.0. I don't know if its the 12ax7 or what...it just sounds very real and authentic.

[FatTeleTom]

It's really amazing how much good tone you can get with this thing for $200.

Very happy with mine so far, mostly for headphone practice.

[erikm5150]

Glad to hear that the ST sounds good.
I was considering buying it as a backup amp...

For those of you that own one, is there a delay when you change patches?

[jchan]

I think the Sansamp Character pedals sound the best. For $150 they sound really good and natural.

[mattball826]

the ST does sound like it'd make a great bu unit !

[Axe-Man]

Just thought I'd report back...

Thought I'd try the ST and while I think it was decent I wasn't really sold.

It was even going dirt cheap and I couldn't commit.

I spent a good 45 minutes tinkering around with it and whilst I feel I got a fairly decent fender and vox clean out it...a reasonable marshall at low gain effort as well...IMO these tones were pretty brittle and digital sounding in the high end. The high gain tones were aweful...

I think it sounds pretty good for the money and could be used as a BU unit if your tube amp goes down...but it really doesn't sound like a tube amp.

Whenever I had the gain over about 1/2 it really turned to mush.

Now for reference I think the current crop of high end mainstream modellers still haven't got there...they all need some major work IMHO but if I was thinking about something simple on the cheap you could do much worse than the ST and spend alot more money - this is not relating to features...just simulated tones...

IMHO I would still rather add $100-200 and buy a Bugera V22 for the car boot as it is in another league tone wise.

[FatTeleTom]

Just to be sure:

Did you make sure to have the 4-way switch on the back set for the correct type of output?

For headphone or PA use, it should be set to the "line" setting or whatever they call it. For use into a guitar amp, you'd want one of the F, M, or V settings (which have different EQ curves for use with Fender, Marshall, or Vox style amps). The ST can sound pretty crappy if you've got that switch set incorrectly for what you are doing.

Also, my initial impression was that the higher gain tones were on the fizzy side, but, to the limited extent I've messed with the gainier stuff, that was largely resolved by finding the appropriate cab model. The Presence setting can have a big impact here as well.

[Axe-Man]

Yeah I made sure it was on line but did try the others just in case.

Mucked around with the cabs and even went through the presets after I'd spent 30 minutes using it manually.

I found turning off the effects made it pretty thin though - a nice setup was a fender tone with either a comp or dist box but without that effecf it lost alot of it's dimention.

I'll again try out the new generation when they all upgrade to high-z tech and better more powerful DSP chips.

The Axe is like the cat amongst the pigeons so next gen modellers should be noticably improved.

[Brooks]

i love mine, but like most of these preamps, i use just a few tones, the rest are useless for me. IMFO the best tones here are CAB SIMS AND EVERYTHING ELSE OFF; clean is "US 2x12 (twin)", & for crunch it's "UK metal (marshall JVM", w/ maybe a bit of comp, wha, or delay), into a SS power amp, then into a cab. for variations of these 2 tones into a SS amp and cab,
i preferred the tonelab to my axe-fx standard.

[banjoze]

Here's some Tonelab SE noodling I did several years ago. I thought the tone was pretty decent. This is the Tonelab being amplified by an Art SLA 1 into a 2x12 cab I built that has a couple of Celestions in it (Lead 80 and (I think) a G12h30).

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=253725

[B_of_H]

Originally Posted by banjoze

Here's some Tonelab SE noodling I did several years ago. I thought the tone was pretty decent. This is the Tonelab being amplified by an Art SLA 1 into a 2x12 cab I built that has a couple of Celestions in it (Lead 80 and (I think) a G12h30).

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=253725

nice tones and good music.