The world of electric guitar and anything else from strings to effects, and amp/cabs to technology! I love the world of electric guitar and that's what I really wanted to talk to you kiddies about.
Today we are going to cover the world of PROCESSORS!!! That's right kids. And I play metal but I'm a vintage analog fiend. My favorite stomp box is an original 1980 black label Boss CE-2 Chorus pedal. That thing is a real treat, but unfortunately, a real pain in the arse, it has been out of commision for a few months as I needed it repaired. The circuits are old I fear that they might become too damaged and I'll never see them again.
Here's what I wanted to talk to you kiddies about and see if you can understand this. We'll start with this:
This is a Boss CE-2 chorus pedal. It is one of the most sought after pedals by collectors. And it sounds great. There is one small problem with it. It is not true bypass, it is old, it is hard to find, it is expensive. While it may sound good, digital modeling has taken the sound path that a Boss CE-2 (or even the CE-1!) can make and encoded its familiar harmonic properties onto a motherboard. This represents the similar wave form coloring that original had the effects market going.
Here is a very familiar processor:
Supposedly it will contain all of the familiar sounds that made Roland/Boss famous. I doubt this very much. The most highly collected and sought after stompboxes were made before the transition of production from Japan to Taiwan. Because of this assembly of the stompboxes changed, and if the design and parts changes so does the sound. And sound kiddies is what we are after here.
This is a Pod XT Live
This was the master of the processors and because of it was of a readily available nature and affordable to the average player it was a huge success and gave rise to the upgraded Pod X3 Live, pictured below.
Essentially they are the same product in a different chassis. The only real differences is the presence of a Stereo mode feature that allows you to create and run in processed stereo to simultaneous rigs. More of the slight differences can be found here http://www.line6.com/
These devices were miracles to some but I've had time to tinker with them and found them to be lacking in quite a few different areas. First of all it was hard enough to find a decent effect but then I had control over only a few different parameters. It was just frustrating. I had also discovered that the effects were completely digital and modeled after the Taiwan clones of famous effects. This made me ask this:
"Why manufacturing a unit composed of all the crap effects?"
Because of this I dropped Line6 gear off my roster. In my journey through Processor land I found three great processors. The first of these is the Zoom G9.2tt effects processor.
This is a great processor. It also has a few other functions that normal floor processors do not. One of them is the Z pedal that let's you move three dimensional. More of it can be explained here , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YUGlVG8-fI.
Best of all is the fact that the Zoom unit is a HYBRID. It uses the best processing power but with the best qualities of the valve driving sound power. Yes a Hybrid processor! This is a great unit. More can also be found here, http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/g92tt/
Then I found to me what is the best processor ever. And that is The Rocktron Prophesy II preamp. Holy grail.
This is the most amazing unit. The effects are warm and driving. Authentic and tweakable. The Rocktron Prophesy II is also HYBRID. It was tube warmth with the reliability of a DSP chip. Check out some of the presets here http://www.rocktron.com/
Unfortunately, the main drawback to this unit is its price tag. So wallet conscious fiends unite. I've got some middle ground for you.
Here I give you the Rocktron Xpression.
Take my word or countless others. The effect designs are after all of the best units available and not the cheap crap. You can find a real good review of it here. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar04/articles/rocktronexpression.htm This seems to be the best review and of course with this unit there are the flaws! Yes all units have flaws but here is another thing that you can't beat about Rocktron and that is the price. Beside the Prophesy, all of their stompboxes and other products are amazing. Only great drawback to these units is the fact that for foot control they require an external MIDI controller which if you know where to look won't cost you that much at all, Rocktron makes one of them The Rocktron MIDI mate.
Well kiddies. I think that I'm a modeling man. And while that sentence does sound a little funny, here's what you really need to know. If you're interested in digital sound modeling and want to keep authentic tone check out Randall Amps. The Randall MTS series is the most innovative idea to hit the markets and no one has seemed to caught on. A lot of the sluggish behavior is because the MTS series is expensive at the moment but that's bat shit crazy. This is modeling to the ultimate level.
I've been trying to provide you with the most accurate and detailed pics to help explain my point but unfortunately photobucket has only so many good photos. Sorry kiddies.
But just imagine the possibilties with Randall and Rocktron. There may be something else out there, but for now, I think this is going to be the best availbale to the tone freak HYBRID!
No comments:
Post a Comment