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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 27, 2005 12:34:21 GMT -5
Get a VHT Valvulator. I swear it actually improves the sound of any amp with or without pedals. I've had this awesome Vox wah for years and would never use it live because it would kill my tone. Since I bought the Splawn I rebuilt a pedal board around the VHT Valvulator and it solves ALL the tone loss issues associated with foot pedals. I can now run my tuner, SD-1, MXR Phase 90 and Wah, all through the Valvulator with not one bit of tone loss at all. I can't recommend that piece of equipment enough.
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Post by royboy on Nov 27, 2005 13:53:31 GMT -5
I too bought a rocktron expression and sent it back the same day. Very disappointing ... oh well. Here is something that works very nicely for all high gain amps, splawn, bogner, 5150, soldano, rivera, marshall etc with an efx loop - try a Boss GT5, 6 or 8 in the loop for delays and reverbs and chorus and whtever else you like. The units are very sturdy and the efx are really very nice. I toured with a GT5 for an entire year and did over 200 shows all over the world running it in the efx loop of dual 5150s into dual mesa recto 4x12 cabs. I never used the amp models as I had all the amp tone I needed. Instead of setting patches to amp models, set some patches and banks for various wet efx, i.e short delay, long delay, panner, dely-chor, dly-rev, dly-flanger, dly phaser, etc. If you prefer something simpler, get two alesis nanoverbs, and set one for delay and the other for reverb. I got this idea from Carl Verheyen who'se been doing this for years. They are awesome efx units for guitar rigs and can be tapped on and off with a separate fs plugged into the back.
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Post by jimbax on Nov 27, 2005 17:01:54 GMT -5
Isn't the VHT Valvulator a rack mount guitar preamp? I played one at NAMM it is a 'tube' simulation preamp right? I played a Boss GT5 for a coupla years in the late 90s, all the usual suspects (distortion, chorus, flanger, delay...etc...) I found that when I used it I tended to over process my sound (I just ain't got no restraint...) cause....it's there, be a shame not to use it right? anyway, mine was pretty dang noisy and the volume pedal didn't give me full travel...therefore no full volume! (it was adjusted where you can get full volume and yet won't turn off completely OR adjust the other way and it will turn off but only give you 90% volume...) That really ticked me off. I got rid of all the crud and went simple...a few quality reliable pedals and the QR.
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 28, 2005 0:30:23 GMT -5
No thats not the Valvulator. It brings your signal down to low impedance and regulates the voltage of pedals. It has a 12ax7 in it but all it does is 'warm' up the signal. It has no other fetaures or uses, other than that it powers the pedals, so no batteries. Neil Zaza turned me onto it. Lots of Pros are using these in their pedal boards who like me, do not want to go with any rack-mount stuff. [edit] Looks like there IS a valvulator pre-amp, but thats not the one I mean, I guess they've changed the name , now its called a Valvulator I: www.vhtamp.com/frames.html
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Post by Hacksaw on Nov 28, 2005 0:32:46 GMT -5
I just snooped the web for one, looks like they have a rack mounted and floor model. Floor model has power output for other pedals as well. pretty cool. looks like it changes impedance as well, for those longer cable runs. 1m ohm to 470k. I bet that would sound cleaner, with more signal getting to the amp. s/n ratio would be a lot better as well. thanks Craig for the cool info. seems more like a light booster on the floor model. I too over proccessed my sound with rocktron Prophesy and Voodu valve preamps. I am also going back to pedals with the QR. and really enjoying it. The QR loves it. the OLD Electric Mistress is Rocking out again.
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 28, 2005 0:33:13 GMT -5
Looks like there IS a valvulator pre-amp, but thats not the one I mean, I guess they've changed the name , now its called a Valvulator I: www.vhtamp.com/frames.html
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 28, 2005 0:33:56 GMT -5
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Post by Hacksaw on Nov 28, 2005 0:40:08 GMT -5
Ok thats cool, Very impressive unit.. and I can actually power my 18 equipment with it. hello electric mistress.. no more batteries! LOL.. Thanks Craig!
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 28, 2005 0:41:13 GMT -5
Its a great unit, and for what its worth hasn't failed me yet playing many gigs this year. I even spilt a beer right on it,, LOL.
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Post by Hacksaw on Nov 28, 2005 0:45:56 GMT -5
Hey ya gotta keep it clean right? what does it A/B like when you remove\add? the old A/B test again!
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Nov 28, 2005 0:54:57 GMT -5
Theres no significant volume or tone change, but I can tell you that you could run 15 pedals (now why would you though!) through it and wouldn't lose any more signal than running 1. Thats the beauty of it.
dude, I'm such a freak about playing dry, that I bought this $200 unit just so I could use a tuner without un-plugging for silent tuning on-stage. I hate turning my back to the crowd and I hate fiddling with gear onstage. So I have a Boss pedal tuner, the white one. The Valvulator was so close to playing straight in the QR, that I through I'd try adding the MXR Phase 90. No problem, no tone loss, so I added my Vox wah and my Keeley Sd-1, NO TONE LOSS, amazing. everythings hand wired with super-duper short George-L cables. And best of all, no goofy looking rack with flashy lights to carry around.. hahahaha.
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Post by Hacksaw on Nov 28, 2005 1:06:18 GMT -5
WOw thats sweet.. Man! My Christmas list is going to be a long one this year! I messed with the Tc gmajor for a few days, its cool, Sounded great in the serial loop, but... only at higher volumes to get back the tone. I didnt like that too much. So I still ended up with the floor pedals of yesterday back inline. rack gear has been removed ( after 10 years.. wow) This may be the cleanup I need. thanks for the insite, as I know you are a freak about dry, and tone. and now with more effects! thanks goodness for the ebay recycler.
anyone looking to buy good used empty Racks?
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Post by jimbax on Nov 28, 2005 14:12:21 GMT -5
I'm not going back to the 'rack' thing...I don't care what the trends are...thanks for the Valvulator tip Craig...
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Post by craggin on Nov 28, 2005 14:49:54 GMT -5
I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible...delay, wah, maybe a chorus pedal for clean stuff.
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Post by jimbax on Nov 28, 2005 15:01:24 GMT -5
my chain: Clyde Deluxe Wah---Prescription VibeUnit---Fulltone OCD---Analogman Clone Chorus---Ernie ball volume (split to strobotuner and to amp-QR) I put a Diamond MemoryLane analog delay in the effects loop which pretty much stays on all the time...all are TRUE bypass pedals and run quiet and don't rob tone!!! 98% of the time the vibe,wah and chorus are off...everything is run using short george L cable...all the noise making crud I need!!!
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