Members juri Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Amp simulation is different then speaker simulation. All the tweed pedals are supposed to replicate or add 'Tweed Amp' characteristics but the Tech 21 Character Series also has a speaker simulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Originally Posted by juri Amp simulation is different then speaker simulation. All the tweed pedals are supposed to replicate or add 'Tweed Amp' characteristics but the Tech 21 Character Series also has a speaker simulation. What are the differences? I am confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Originally Posted by stunningbabe What are the differences? I am confused. You can simulate the sound of the amp with a pedal that is designed to run into another amp - basically changing its overall sound to more closely sound like the targeted amp - in this case, an old Fender Tweed. Tweed is actually more an era than a individual amp, but we'll let that slide for now... the point is, the pedal relies on being coupled to an amplifier and speaker to achieve the desired end result.The Tech 21 Blonde can do that too, but it also has a speaker simulator. In other words, it not only simulates the amplifier, but it can also simulate the coloration that a guitar speaker adds to the equation. This can be switched off when using the pedal with an amp and speaker. A PA speaker is generally "full range" in its frequency response - it can cover the entire frequency range of human hearing (20Hz - 20kHz) or close to it. An electric guitar amp and speaker typically only cover a much narrower range - from about 100Hz to 6kHz. Over 6kHz, the typical guitar speaker craps out pretty quickly. The Tech 21 has circuitry that you can turn on to simulate the effect of that. That's in addition to simulating the sound of the amplifier. Such speaker simulation can add considerably to the realism of the simulated guitar amp sound when running direct into a mixing board and PA (or recording) system.Here - you may find this review I wrote on the Tech 21 Blonde interesting. http://www.harmonycentral.com/docs/DOC-2151 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I'd recommend the Tech 21 Blonde as well as the best all around FENDER amp simulator pedal available today. there are certainly many pedals which could likely beat it in several different areas, but over all the Blonde is so incredibly versatile, sounds good direct or into an amp, and takes other dirtboxes well. I've not tried another analog pedal on the market with a competitive price as successfully versatile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpd78 Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Originally Posted by stunningbabe What are the differences? I am confused. Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe You can simulate the sound of the amp with a pedal that is designed to run into another amp - basically changing its overall sound to more closely sound like the targeted amp - in this case, an old Fender Tweed. Tweed is actually more an era than a individual amp, but we'll let that slide for now... the point is, the pedal relies on being coupled to an amplifier and speaker to achieve the desired end result.The Tech 21 Blone can do that too, but it also has a speaker simulator. In other words, it not only simulates the amplifier, but it can also simulate the coloration that a guitar speaker adds to the equation. This can be switched off when using the pedal with an amp and speaker. A PA speaker is generally "full range" in its frequency response - it can cover the entire frequency range of human hearing (20Hz - 20kHz) or close to it. An electric guitar amp and speaker typically only cover a much narrower range - from about 100Hz to 6kHz. Over 6kHz, the typical guitar speaker craps out pretty quickly. The Tech 21 has circuitry that you can turn on to simulate the effect of that. That's in addition to simulating the sound of the amplifier. Such speaker simulation can add considerably to the realism of the simulated guitar amp sound when running direct into a mixing board and PA (or recording) system.Here - you may find this review I wrote on the Tech 21 Blonde interesting. http://www.harmonycentral.com/docs/DOC-2151 Just to add to what Phil has said and to put it simply:The Tech 21 Blonde is the complete package - plug that into your PA system (for live performances) or direct to a recording system (for recording, obviously) and you're good to go: you'll possibly want to add some reverb or ambience so the sound isn't completely dry, and then you can add any other effects to taste (tremolo, delay etc.).With ALL of the other overdrive pedals mentioned in this thread, you'll need to add another device to take care of the speaker emulation - there are decent, compact options such as a Palmer PDI-09 that can do the job - and you may even feel there is a need to add an EQ pedal/unit to properly shape your tone. As with the Blonde, you may feel that your tone will benefit from a little reverb and then you can add any other effects you want to complement your sound.There are other all-in-one-box options besides a Tech 21 Blonde, but I haven't personally used anything else that I'd recommend for a 'Tweed' sound. There's an AMT pedal/preamp - the F1 - which is a good (analogue) amp and speaker sim, but that one is based on a Fender Twin sound; it's very clean and less versatile than the Blonde.There is a budget-friendly copy of the Blonde made by Joyo, "American Sound" iirc, but it doesn't seem to be an exact copy... I tried them side by side and the Joyo seems to be either missing the speaker emulation, or they have set it at a higher frequency - it sounded OK for clean tones, but fizzy when overdriven. The Joyo also had a touch more distortion when maxed, and the overdrive response was different - it broke up earlier on the gain control. I found the Joyo to be best when used as an overdrive pedal in front of another amp (possibly better than the Tech 21 Blonde version 1 - which doesn't have the the switch to turn the speaker sim off - in this application) whereas the genuine Blonde is best when used direct (no amp). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plumber Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I highly recommend the joyo American which I use into a line 6 m9 then a mackie srm150 or 450 Completely brilliant and for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hooya Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 I know you're a fan of analog, but why has nobody mentioned this as a potential option for you:http://line6.com/pocketpod/amps.html ? Also, it looks like the Tech 21 character series has been discontinued. I built a GT-2 clone and am liking it for my purposes right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Originally Posted by hooya I know you're a fan of analog, but why has nobody mentioned this as a potential option for you:http://line6.com/pocketpod/amps.html?Also, it looks like the Tech 21 character series has been discontinued.I built a GT-2 clone and am liking it for my purposes right now. Why would you presume they've been discontinued? V2 of the pedals is for sale at many major retailers and directly from the Tech 21 web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 TEch 21 character series is still very much in production! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hooya Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Sorry, when I searched for "Tech 21 Blonde" all the shopping links I got said they were discontinued. I didn't know there was a "V2" out there. Looks like the new version is the one that lets you turn the speaker simulation off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Originally Posted by hooya Sorry, when I searched for "Tech 21 Blonde" all the shopping links I got said they were discontinued. I didn't know there was a "V2" out there.Looks like the new version is the one that lets you turn the speaker simulation off. The first series of Character pedals (Blonde, British, California, Liverpool, VT) did not have defeat-able speaker sims; the second series (Oxford, Leeds, Metal) did. The Speaker Sim switch is VERY popular since most people still use character pedals in front of amps. It was a smart decision to release new versions of the Blonde, British, Liverpool, etc. with the switch (v.2). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scolfax Posted August 27, 2012 Members Share Posted August 27, 2012 Anyone try running the Blonde into the effects return on a tube amp? Would that work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimtalkbox Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 I had a Lovepedal Les Lius and a Catalinbread Formula No. 5. I liked the Les Lius more but those two pedals only did medium to high gain stuff. I like the look of the Wampler Tweed '57 because it seems like it does a wider range of gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpd78 Posted August 28, 2012 Members Share Posted August 28, 2012 Originally Posted by scolfax Anyone try running the Blonde into the effects return on a tube amp? Would that work? I've done that using the effect return of solid state amps and it sounded great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 I thought the most ideal way is to put the Reverb pedal last in the chain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted August 30, 2012 Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 Originally Posted by stunningbabe I thought the most ideal way is to put the Reverb pedal last in the chain? ???? I don't exactly understand bow this fits into the context of the thread so far ... but since Tweeds and Blonde/Brown Fenders didn't have built-in reverb, and aren't hi-gain enough to compress the preamp, outboard reverbs were/are placed in front of the amp (reverb in front of the amp is a key surf guitar setup)... But far FAR more commonly delays/echos were used in front of the amp instead of reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted August 30, 2012 Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 stay away from those simulations unless you want to run around naked eating peoples faces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 Hmm.....more opinions need here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Originally Posted by Wyatt The first series of Character pedals (Blonde, British, California, Liverpool, VT) did not have defeat-able speaker sims; the second series (Oxford, Leeds, Metal) did. The Speaker Sim switch is VERY popular since most people still use character pedals in front of amps. It was a smart decision to release new versions of the Blonde, British, Liverpool, etc. with the switch (v.2). Just to clarify, all the version 2 pedals have the switch, and none of the version 1 pedals do. However, all of the models that were available in version 1 were also made available in version 2. The only one that it "sold out" (and possibly was never released in V2) is the California, which one rumor said was dropped due to a issue over the use of the wicker cane grill graphic, but IDK for certain. Outside of that model, I'm pretty sure you can still purchase everything else in version 2 - I've reviewed the Blonde, Liverpool and VT Bass, and I'm pretty sure you can still get the British, Oxford, Leeds and US Metal still too. http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sa...terseries.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Originally Posted by scolfax Anyone try running the Blonde into the effects return on a tube amp? Would that work? It should. Of course, that would be bypassing the tube amp's preamp section and substituting the Tech 21. In that situation, you'd normally want to turn the speaker emulation off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Originally Posted by stunningbabe I thought the most ideal way is to put the Reverb pedal last in the chain? Originally Posted by Wyatt ???? I don't exactly understand bow this fits into the context of the thread so far ... but since Tweeds and Blonde/Brown Fenders didn't have built-in reverb, and aren't hi-gain enough to compress the preamp, outboard reverbs were/are placed in front of the amp (reverb in front of the amp is a key surf guitar setup)... But far FAR more commonly delays/echos were used in front of the amp instead of reverb. I agree. There's no law that says you have to put reverb last in the chain. That's usually the way it is when it's built into your guitar amp, but as Wyatt pointed out, back when those now-old Fenders from the early 60s were pumping out brand new Surf hits, the reverb units weren't built-in, they were add-ons that you plugged the guitar into, then plugged the reverb's output into your guitar amp - much like we use pedals today. I personally like reverb last as a general rule because it more closely replicates the way sound behaves in the real world around us. Inside a large room, we first hear short echoes called early reflections, then the reverb hits... for that reason, I normally run verb after delay. As far as any of this stuff goes, it's all subjective and totally up to your own creative muse and judgement. I constantly throw the rules out if it gives us the sound we're after in the studio, so if you want to flange the reverb's output and then feed that into a delay, be my guest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpd78 Posted August 30, 2012 Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 Originally Posted by RoboPimp stay away from those simulations unless you want to run around naked eating peoples faces But if it sounds good, isn't that a small price to pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted August 30, 2012 Members Share Posted August 30, 2012 Here's another vote for the Lovepedal Les Luis (or is it Lius...?). At first I wasn't fond of the "preset minimum distortion" level at the lowest setting, but like the real thing, it cleans up nicely when you roll off the guitar's volume knob. It has a setting for either Tweed Twin or Tweed Deluxe or a combination of both. Then there's the adjustable distortion boost side. The Lovepedal video on their site describes everything best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stunningbabe Posted August 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thx to all who gave your opinions. I think I favour the BLONDE ( a bit more than other excellent pedals mentioned here) as it has a more powerful tone shaping method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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