Members Danhedonia Posted November 18, 2014 Members Share Posted November 18, 2014 I have the iMS-20, the Animoog, Alchemy ... the one thing that really amazed me was how GOOD they all sound when you run them through just a smidge of outboard tweaking ... the iPad form factor doesn't work at all, but once you get a controller going, it's awesome. Can't imagine getting a hardware synth ever again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninjaaron Posted November 18, 2014 Members Share Posted November 18, 2014 How do you like the amp Aaron? Is it loud enough for the gig? Are you running it into the PA too? Dude, I can't say enough good things about the lunchbox! I have it mic'd with a Shure SM57 to the board and have the amp pointed directly at my face (away from the audience so I get the on-axis sound. It's perfect for stage volume, 'cause it's fairly directional, so it doesn't affect the other musicians or the room too much. I only have it up about a third or less of its maximum volume; gain at half (just below the audible clipping point unless I smack it with a boost), and volume a little below half. It can get MUCH louder than where I use it (probably similar to a 15W tube amp). I think it could definitely fill a small club or coffee house (or a practice space with a loud drummer), but I wouldn't want to try it at my church, which is a ~300-400 person venue. I do think it would be heard, but not sure it would sound very good. However, with the sound reinforcement we have, it sounds very, very good. I've actually never gotten more complements on my tone than I have with this amp. The other guitar player was literally angry with me when I took all my tube stuff home and showed up with this, but now he can't stop singing its praises. He's just frustrated because it sounds better than his Princeton reverb with a 12" Alnico! But yeah, the tone is great. You don't get huge, chest-thumping air movement out of the stock, 8" speaker, but the house system can move more air than any guitar rig ever could, so I don't worry about that. Plus, we already have acoustic guitar, bass and a left-hand loving piano player, so there is already too much low end. A bright amp like this one is perfect. You can plug it into an extention cab, so you'd get your air-movement and bass there, if you need it (personally, I don't get all these guitarist who think they need bass, but whatever). I wouldn't be surprised to find it could fill a larger club if it was plugged into a half-stack, but I've never tried it. I did use it with my 1x12 V30 extention cab, but I really like the clarity and bark with the stock speaker, so I just use that. Extention cab sort of defeats the purpose of a Lunchbox anyway. Oh, and don't get me wrong, the stock speaker is designed with more of that part around the edge to let it move than normal, so it has an incredible amount of bass for an 8" speaker, but it's still no 12". Tone... It's hard to say exactly what other amp it sounds like. The tone knob is really versatile. It's implemented digitally, so instead of just cutting/boosting treble, like you might expect, it progressively fades through a series of different EQ curves. I leave it at about 12:30 for a really bright clear sound that isn't harsh with dirt. With gain and volume cranked all the way, it sort of has some of the tonal characteristics of a Bassman or JTM 45. I know the power section is AB, so they could get it to interact with the power supply in a way that is similar to some of the classic amps. Clipping is supplied by diodes (and speaker, at higher volumes). The SS power section is actually rated at something like 280W, so even at max, you aren't clipping the power amp (definitely what you want in SS). I think there is also some compression added digitally in the preamp to give it a squishier feel. So, yeah, compression and EQ are implemented digitally, but stuff like clipping and and push-pull whatever are analogue. Everybody should do it this way. I wouldn't say it feels or sounds like a tube amp exactly, but it does possess some of the qualities of a tube amp and displays almost none of the negative qualities associated with SS amps. It's just a great clean clear amp with a good amount of warmth that takes pedals very well. For fuzz, like with most cleanish amps, it sounds smoother if you crank the gain to the point of "barely clipping" instead of clean clean. Nice thing about SS is that sound can be achieved at any volume, as opposed to tube amps. Definitely a keeper. I feel like I'm sort of done with tubes now that I've found this. Really interested to try the Tech 21 and Quilter stuff as well. Tubes are amazing and wonderful, but they are kind of a racket too. Sure, they respond to your playing, but they also respond to the weather, to wear, improper biasing, etc. It's so nice to have a small, light, loud amp that provides the same great clear-yet-warm tone no matter what. There is also a direct out (no XLR). I tried it with headphones and it sounded good. I haven't tried going to the system with it because I'd rather have the mojo of speaker + SM57 on my side, but it's there if I ever need it. You can turn off the speaker as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iodine74 Posted November 19, 2014 Members Share Posted November 19, 2014 mmmmm quite tasty choices here Thanks Seif! Nice - is that a Yamaha 335 style hanging in the foreground? Nope, that's a Korean Epiphone Dot Deluxe in Violin burst (I think that's what they called it). Got it used. I actually do have a Yamaha 335ish type thing, but it's not in that shot. And how do you like the Bass VI? I like it. Still need to do a proper setup on it, and replace the low E. But yeah throw some chorus and a bit of delay on it, and it's instance Cure or Cocteau Twins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted November 19, 2014 Members Share Posted November 19, 2014 I like it. Still need to do a proper setup on it, and replace the low E. But yeah throw some chorus and a bit of delay on it, and it's instance Cure or Cocteau Twins. Yikes, I didn't need to hear that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodhonk Posted November 19, 2014 Members Share Posted November 19, 2014 The amp' date=' the Trademark. No more pedals for me.[/quote'] Tech 21 trademark amps are great. I'm currently using the tm10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seifukusha Posted November 20, 2014 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2014 Im getting a Roland BC-60. They seem to be in the same category as the Trademark amps, 1x12 speaker, for around $230. Decent shape (except those famous popping off knob covers). Ive ignored my amp for ages, which seems really odd. From now on, its going to be like Im re-acquainting myself with the guitar! I cant wait, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eti Posted November 20, 2014 Members Share Posted November 20, 2014 Hi Seif! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eti Posted November 22, 2014 Members Share Posted November 22, 2014 I killed another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iodine74 Posted November 22, 2014 Members Share Posted November 22, 2014 Murderous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Great write-up - thanks Aaron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Thread assassin. Won't someone please think of the threads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members travisbrowning Posted November 23, 2014 Members Share Posted November 23, 2014 Hi Seif! Good to see you. I still listen to SPC ECO 3D quite often. Right now I'm rocking a Squier Jazzmaster, love the feel but I really wanna do something with the pups. No amp or pedals currently you see the new Boss DM-2? Ps - I've been listening that new self titled Ryan Adams record a lot and it's really got me interested in a chorus pedal, he used a Boss chorus all over the new albums, sounds great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seifukusha Posted November 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted November 23, 2014 Hey guys thanks for the nice vibes. Sending them right back. Ryan is still a great songsmith for sure. I see he's leaning on thatRV-3 or whatever it is now. Yeah, spc eco was a good time in my life for sure. A lot of crazy tones! Yeah I saw the Waza Crafts. I got a Keeley-tweaked DM-2 off of ebay a bit back for $180. It works with a regular 9v adapter and I guesshe optimized it, sounds killer. So many great pedals at all price points now. Even China is making some cool stuff nowadays (as well as an upcoming indie scene). That said, I still use my old stuff, just less of it now. oh, and my new BC-60 is killer. No wonder people love these things. Never poopoo SS amps, the cleans on this are soooooooo nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted December 2, 2014 Members Share Posted December 2, 2014 This forum got super slow... I think we all got a bit tired of the routine at about the same time, unfortunately for HC it was the same time they decided to change the board structure and they lost quite a few people. I stopped playing for quite a while, a few years of touring with that one band burnt me out, I got down to just my Tele, Hiwatt, and pedalboard... After a year and a half or so of not playing I picked it back up and I've spent the last two years working on music I actually like, and I just so happen to have a real income now so my gear buying has gotten a touch out of hand haha. I've bounced around different amps, but now I've settled on a stereo setup with my Hiwatt and a Morgan Dual 40. I picked up a walnut/bigsby '69 ES-335, a yellow '71 ES-320tdn and a black Les Paul Custom and I spent a few months building a pedalboard that I can't quite explain haha. Life is good, I spend more time playing music than I do on forums, and if I want to know what's new these days TGP has actually gotten a little less stuffy than it used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members travisbrowning Posted December 3, 2014 Members Share Posted December 3, 2014 I've listened to your new band a bit, Beck. I really like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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