Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 12, 2012 Members Share Posted October 12, 2012 :love::love: Such a great amp. specs: 100w - 4 6L6s 4 channels channels 1/2 & 3/4 share EQs independent gain and channel volumes 1/2 has a 3 way bright switch 3/4 has a 3 way voicing switch Global reverb, presence and density MIDI or 1/4" channel switching series/parallel FX loop Slave out a little history.....I've owned a TOL50 and Rocktron Vendetta. Loved the TOL50, but being a 2 channel amp with shared EQ, I could never get both the clean and dirty to sound good at the same time. Even though they sounded good separately. The Vendetta......hurumph......love/hate with that thing. Owned this one before the TOL. It sounded good, but was always missing something........I think it lacked depth tonally. So close to being awesome. The TOL sounds so much better overall, imo. Had some time to mess with it upon arrival yesterday. Jammed on it for 30 minutes. Got it shipped from GC. As usual, in my experiences......something wasn't right. Everything I've gotten from GC online has been wonky in some way. Almost all of the pots were scratchy and dirty....just didn't function as it should have. Spent a good hour or more tearing it apart and cleaning it up. Once that was all good, I spent some time tweaking it. Using it with an Agile Les Paul and 4x12 with V30s. The clean channel is impressive. Amazingly good tones. Mostly Fender styled tones, but with a twist of something else? can't put my finger on it.....like a Vox chime added in? Anyway, it's not just good clean tone for a 4 channel amp, it's good clean tone that competes with great clean tone amps. I'm running a JTM normally, have an old Super Reverb, and have owned many cool amps. This thing is seriously towards the top of the pile....if not king. I thought that of the TOL50 I had a few years ago too. Lots of headroom, ridiculous sustain, full bodied, and sweet. lush as {censored}. Add a little reverb and it's over the top. takes my pedals well too. Fuzz or higher gain distortion. Channel 2 is similar but has more of a Krang! to it. More voxy? It can do clean as well.......up to nice vintage fat crunch. Doesn't have the WOW factor of the clean channel but nice as a boosted version of the clean channel. great for solos or just adding hair. Channel 3 is the hot rodded marshall channel. While not a fire breathing VH plexi tone, it's pretty sweet. A lot more smooth sounding and tight, than that benchmark hot rod tone. It borders on dark without the proper EQing. Took some time to dial this is with the 4 band eq and global presence and density. It's pretty mid focused and really tight, but with plent of low end. Which I enjoy. Pretty flexible, as long as you aren't expecting an ultra wide stereo image and deep sounding gain tone. It's more of a focused dry gain tone. My favorite part about this channel is, even with the gain cranked up......there's a certain amount of clarity that is retained. Unlike the Mesa I had, it's character is clear, rather than your guitar tone with huge amounts of gain slathered on top. Makes tight rhythm stuff sound good, and leads really full. Channel 4 is similar but with more gain and a touch less low end. Leads are liquid with this channel. Rhythm even tighter. So far, I'm happy with it. Got some fresh tubes coming in, so it should be sweet! My switching situation is pretty crazy.....as I don't want to shell out $100 for the MIDI footswitch. I have a 2 button stereo 1/4" rigged up with a stereo to dual mono adapers. Not ideal. Cable nightmare too. 2 cables for guitar to pedalboard to amp, 2 cables for FX loop, and two cables for the footswitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HKSblade1 Posted October 12, 2012 Members Share Posted October 12, 2012 lol 26 views and no HNAD ! HNAD !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted October 12, 2012 Members Share Posted October 12, 2012 HNAD!! And get a proper MIDI switch for the amp, using it the way you are doing is just silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vic Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 ive seen a few locally but never pulled the trigger on one of these but always heard good things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ovid9 Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Did I help fund this? HNAD man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lance-a-not Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Congrats, I owned a couple over the years.... Great amp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spaced Out Ace Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 http://www.tonefinder.com/files/17-notsokleentoan.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vic Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 how does the tol50 differ from the 100 sound wise?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Did I help fund this? HNAD man! Sort of. You were part if it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 how does the tol50 differ from the 100 sound wise?? Straight clean and channel 3 gain, not too much. Mostly just features the TOL50 is worth it, even as a single channel amp with MV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 ^ I don't remember typing that. Tonally both are very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 I have wanted to try a TOL for a while now. Channels 3 and 4 are supposed to be pretty damn awesome! I owned a Vendetta at one time too, and I have to agree with you on the love/hate relationship. What I didn't like was the shared eqs between channels 1/2 and 3/4... If I got one dialed in, the other sounded not so great. That being said I loved channel 3 it had that pissed off plexi sound to me! There are days that I miss that amp and days that I don't... I would like to try the Vendetta again with my current setup... AND HNAD! Clips???? Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Modded it today. Swapped out C18 for a 500pf cap to open up the gain channel. Talked with Bruce about it. Worked well, not overly bright, just more crunch. Talked about the TOS mode too. Another cap swap on the switch for more gain and scooped mids. Did not do the TOS mod. I like mids, and it has plenty of gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Modded it today. Swapped out C18 for a 500pf cap to open up the gain channel. Talked with Bruce about it. Worked well, not overly bright, just more crunch. Talked about the TOS mode too. Another cap swap on the switch for more gain and scooped mids. Did not do the TOS mod. I like mids, and it has plenty of gain. That is cool that you were able to talk with the man himself! I imagine it would be nice to run your concerns/wants of the amp by the designer for ideas on how to adjust it! So.... clips???? Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Probably wont do clips. My recording {censored} is all packed up. Maybe I'll post a video of our gig Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 Probably wont do clips. My recording {censored} is all packed up. Maybe I'll post a video of our gig Friday. That would be cool Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 He helped me with the Vendetta too. Trying to add low end. Since you had a vendetta, the TOL is way more sweet tonally. The vendetta is like rail whiskey, and the TOL is like high end scotch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 13, 2012 Members Share Posted October 13, 2012 He helped me with the Vendetta too. Trying to add low end. Since you had a vendetta, the TOL is way more sweet tonally. The vendetta is like rail whiskey, and the TOL is like high end scotch. I can imagine the TOL is awesome... I have heard some clips from back in the day of it and was totally impressed! I wanted to love my Vendetta so much, but it just didn't have what it took to stay. I ultimately loved the sound a Marshall DSL more... I did get some pretty decent clips of the Vendetta when I had it; it seemed to record well and it had a cool growl to it. It definitely had the low mid punch thing going on! It looked so good on paper with the MIDI function, huge transformers that could accommodate pretty much any output tube, 4 channels, and the bias points on the back were sick [why doesn't every amp company do this ]. Like I said earlier, I would love to try it out again and see if my tastes have changed at all. Here is a couple of clips I did with the Vendetta... http://tonefinder.com/?section=id&value=1108 - Sorry about the cymbals in the backing track, I tried to kill them down as much as possible... http://tonefinder.com/?section=id&value=1223 Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 14, 2012 Bias points are boss. I figure some don't because people are idiots. Yeah, the vendetta and TOL are in the same vein, but the Vendetta was always lacking. The thing I noticed is that the gain tones are very focused. As in, the TOL is a sniper shot. Compared to a Mesa shotgun. The clean is wider sounding. Very contrasting voices between 1/2 & 3/4. In a good way. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 14, 2012 Members Share Posted October 14, 2012 Bias points are boss. I figure some don't because people are idiots. Yeah, the vendetta and TOL are in the same vein, but the Vendetta was always lacking. The thing I noticed is that the gain tones are very focused. As in, the TOL is a sniper shot. Compared to a Mesa shotgun. The clean is wider sounding. Very contrasting voices between 1/2 & 3/4. In a good way. IMO. Through the wrong cab you might take peoples' heads off You could have a sniper laser beam I can't wait to hear your band setting with it. It already sounds amazing to me!!! Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 14, 2012 Oh, I didn't mean projection. I sorta meant frequency range of the gain channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members colejustesen Posted October 14, 2012 Members Share Posted October 14, 2012 Oh, I didn't mean projection. I sorta meant frequency range of the gain channel. I am following you! Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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