Say you can't afford an AXE FX, then what?

[tomanyjacksons]

I love the sound of my tube amp but in bars it's too loud to get it in it's sweet spot and we already have a stage sound level issue live. Who makers an easy to use good soounding floor pedal. I know it won't sound like my amp. I just want something that can cover a variety of sounds from good cleans to Jake era Ozzy to heavey enough dirt to do Pantera or something a little more modern. I've been looking around an so far what I'm seeing is the Fender Mustang Floor processor, the Zoom G5, Line 6 POD HD500 and the Digitech RP1000. I want to run it straight into the sound board for live music and want changing tones easy as well as Writing channels. Anybody have any of these that can give me some real impressions as apposed to the company rep stuff you get at their websites. Thank you for your assistance.
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[Newc]

Try a power attenuator on the amp? You can crank the amp to its "sweet spot" but still get a manageable volume level.

Or put the cab in an isolation box? Maybe turn it around or otherwise let indirect sound hit the crowd/rest of the stage?


You could also look into a smaller cabinet - maybe 2x12 or even 1x12.

[thebeggar]

DigiTech iPB-10.

I was skeptical at first, but it's pretty cool. Not sure if you have an iPad. It can still end up fairly expensive if you bought an iPad and this in one go. Luckily I had an iPad when GAS struck.

The iPad basically acts as a user interface.

All I can say is check it out. Try and have an open mind, especially in regards to peoples attitude towards Apple and I guess the fact that this piece of hardware is intrinsically linked to it.

The iPad in itself is pretty good I guess. I'm certainly no Apple fanboy, and I'm not going to argue whether is great idea or a passing fad. I guess time will tell. But pairing the iPad with the DigiTech floor board is definitely an interesting concept.

There's a few vids on youtube. Check'em out.

I have one and it's certainly one of the easiest modellers and FX units I've tried to program, and probably the coolest.

[Jack Napalm]

Check out the Eleven Rack as well. Easy to use and dial in and sounds pretty damn good on its own.

[Richard W]

Check out the Eleven Rack as well. Easy to use and dial in and sounds pretty damn good on its own.

+1

[Hellbat]

Check out the Eleven Rack as well. Easy to use and dial in and sounds pretty damn good on its own.

+1

I run mine through a my Fender Excelsior amp running clean as a monitor and use the XLR outs to go to the board. One of the other guitarists in the band says the tone I get reminds him of Trans Siberian Orchestra. Which is really funny because I'm running a Tubescreamer pushing a Marshall JTM45 for my "sound" in the band.

Make sure you get one with the expansion pack though. The initial release didn't have much variety in the higher gain department. Also the speaker breakup emulation, stereo studio delay and studio compressor are all welcome (and good) additions there.

The only real issue with would be price once you've added a decent pedalboard. I think the 11R's are going around $500 used still, then you have to add a midi pedalboard on top of it to change patches or switch pedals in and out.

My favorite thing about it is how easy it is to mod or create patches on the fly using only the front panel. The hardware interface guys really did a bang up job on it.

[tomanyjacksons]

I've looked at the Eleven Rack and was impressed with it's sound as it had great tone. I played one when they were new and that was before they had any good dirt settings, I've been told they have gotten better patches. Like any other rack mount processor, you have to also buy a foot controller and my budget isn't a lot to deal with. Hell, it won't even cover an Eleven Rack. Vox tonelab stuff sounds good but all I have to go on is videos. Thanks guys.

[beachjammer]

I've been thinking about doing the same thing. I've been looking at the same floor based processors you mentioned above as well as the Eleven rack and the Line 6 POD HD Pro. I just read an article on a new ZOOM unit that sounds interesting as well. I'm tired of carring amps around and if a PA is already there then might as well utilize it.

[tomanyjacksons]

I've been thinking about doing the same thing. I've been looking at the same floor based processors you mentioned above as well as the Eleven rack and the Line 6 POD HD Pro. I just read an article on a new ZOOM unit that sounds interesting as well. I'm tired of carring amps around and if a PA is already there then might as well utilize it.

Thinking the same thing man. I get to play outdoors all summer long and love being able to turn up my amp. I know it sounds a little childish but it's my thing and my cab has high wattage speakers in it, 2 Eminence Man-o-wars and 2 Carvin GT12's They have to be pushed hard to get good sounds out of them. Anyways outside I can turn my amp in a different direction so no big deal with flooding the stage with volume. Indoor gigs in a winter wonderland on the other hand are a pain not only dragging P.A around I've got a lot of guitars and gear that weighs a lot. It's a bit to deal with slipping and sliding. The volume levels are to much with a 100 watt halfstack because the bars are small around here, hence playing outdoors when weather is permitting. I think a floor processor with amp, cab sims and effects going straight into the board is the route I should choose for sheer logistics. Thanks everyone.

[jgcable]

stay away from modeling amps live. i just did a live gig with 5 bands. every one of them had 1 guitar player using one type of another moedling amp. high end, low end. They all sounded like ass live. i used my singlel recto head and my 5150 4 x 12 cab with a wah pedal out in front. I ruled the day. Everybody said so.

[mr426]

I vote also for a power attenuator. I think Riveara makes one for around $400 and its amazing. I also vote no on modeling amps live. I have never used one or heard one that sounded great live. I think you just need those power tubes to make it breath right...

[roodyrocker]

I agree with Newc, if you have a tube amp you like the sound of then get a good Attenuator. I gig 100+ watt amps in small places quite a bit. I either use the master volume amps or an Attenuator with amps like the Marshall Randy Rhoads 1/2 stack. That amp has to be the loudest of the bunch and has no master volume. I use either a Faustine Phantom or Alex's Attenuator. The Faustine is expensive and they are out of business but you can find an Alex for under $400 and it works great. Another option is to buy a Palmer PDI-03 and run the head into that then from that to the PA. You can still run your cab on stage but mainly just for yourself. The audience would hear the sound from the PA mix. Alex Lifeson used these on the last Rush tour. No live cabs on stage for Rush.
The floor units you mentioned are fairly noisy in many PA systems and not that great sounding. I'd pass on that idea.

[tomanyjacksons]

With an attenuator in it will I be able to get the sound out of the speakers aswell?

[jgcable]

With an attenuator in it will I be able to get the sound out of the speakers aswell?

Yes. You put the attenuator between the amp and the speakers. Make sure you buy an attenuator that is rated for the wattage of your amp. Buy something good. Weber makes good ones.
Forget modeling live. Trust me. Forget it.
Modeling live should only be done one way.... with super hot skinny girls walking down a runway.

[roodyrocker]

Yes. You put the attenuator between the amp and the speakers. Make sure you buy an attenuator that is rated for the wattage of your amp. Buy something good. Weber makes good ones.
Forget modeling live. Trust me. Forget it.
Modeling live should only be done one way.... with super hot skinny girls walking down a runway.

I think most modeling amps sound pretty poor live with one exception, the Axe Fx. But since he said the Axe Fx is not an option due to cost then a tube amp with an attenuator is the way to go. It depends on how much is budgeted for an attenuator and some sound way better than others. I went on an attenuator spree a while back. tried out a bunch of stuff from the Ho Attenuator (now sold as the Ultimate Attenuator) to the Faustine Phantom. I found out that not only does the attenuator matter but also what amp its being used on. For example, my Metro amp (a Plexi clone) sounds fine with a THD Hot Plate but the same Hot Plate sapped some tone from my Randy Rhoads Marshall. The Faustine Phantom was king of the hill when it came to attenuators but they are no longer in business and made few of them. They are very expensive if you find one used. Alternatives would be the Aracom or the Alex. The reason I suggest the Alex is its smaller in size and cheaper than others. It works great on my RR head. When I saw Paul Gibert live with Racer X a couple years ago he was using the THD Hot Plate with his Marshall RR stack. If you like that tone you can find a used Hot Plate for $200-250 used.