Robert Fisher

Just thinking out loud

Guitar gear

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What I bought

  • Digitech RP350
  • Crate GTD15R

One of the really nice things about the Digitech RP350 is that you can use it at four different levels:

  1. You can just play the presets.
  2. You can choose a "tone" from the tone library, an effects chain from the effects library, & set an effects level.
  3. You can enable/disable each effect (in this case using "effect" to include the amp/cab models & everything else the unit does) & tweak its parameters.
  4. You can edit presets on a computer--including access to some parameters otherwise unavailable (or does that only apply to the 250?).

So, I need to clean-up the mess below...

My so-called “needs”

  • Recording & live performance.
  • Would like to be able to change sounds mid-song.
  • Prefer simple. While I like a decent tone, I don't really want to spend a lot of time tweaking knobs. I just want to play.

New plan

Buy a new multi-FX box. (A floor model.) Buy a simple practice amp.

Practice Amp:

  • Fender 15R Frontman ($100)
  • Crate FW15R ($100) or GTD15R
  • Roland Cube15 ($100)
  • Marshall MG10CD ($75)
  • Fender 25R Frontman ($140) footswitch!
  • Marshall MG15CD ($115)

FX

  • Line 6 Floor POD ($200)
    • +The POD amp models
    • ±FX aren't tweakable
    • -Only up/down switching between patches
    • -Perhaps not so durable
    • -Controls seem fairly lame (mid-range EQ is accessed by holding a button & using the bass knob)
  • Digitech RP350 ($200)
    • +Sweepable mid-EQ!
    • +Has A/B in addition to up/down patch pedals
  • Zoom G2.1U ($170)

Expensive (or otherwise out of the running:

  • BOSS ME-50 ($300)
    • +Like a bunch of stompboxes with a memory
    • +Durable
    • -Slight delay when switching patches in memory mode
    • -Doesn't come with power adapter
    • -Helpful to buy separate footswitch
  • Line 6 Floor POD Plus ($300)
  • Line 6 PODxt Live ($400)
  • Yamaha Magicstomp
    • +Cheap on clearance, it seems
    • -Discontinued

A plan?

Towards a dream setup, bit by bit. In rough order of planned acquisition.

  • Carvin SX300 or SX200 2x12 combo amp ($350)
  • Danelectro compression & 2 EQ pedals (& more?) to help shape the distortion on the Carvin amp ($30 for each pedal)
  • Variax 300 guitar ($500)
    • The 300 doesn't have a vibrato; maybe hold out for a 600 or 700?
    • Although at least one customer had an issue stemming from bridge pick-up + vibrato arm
  • PODxt Live FX & modeling (in foot controller format) (Can control the Variax) ($400)
  • Carvin G212 2x12 speaker cabinet ($219)

Variax competition?

  • Fender/Roland VG Stratocaster
  • Gibson HD-6X.PRO digital guitar (a Les Paul)

Amps I'm considering

Here we go again:

NameF/X loopline outspeaker ext.phonesprice
Crate GT65 (or 212)yes (insert)noyesno$150–250 ($200–350)
Crate GLX65 (or 212)yes (insert)noyesno$200–$350 ($250)
Crate GTD65 (or 120)yes (insert)noyesno$250 ($350)
Carvin SX200 (or 300)yesyesyesyes$300[363] ($350[418]) [plus footswitch & shipping]
Line 6 Spider III 75noyes (phones)noyes$300 (sans footswitch)

¿Can the FX loop out be used as a direct out? Some (mix loop) can.

  • Investigate clean (acoustic/keyboard) amp + stomp box angle some more?
    • A multiFX in a foot switch package would be less transport/setup trouble than the GSP-21.
    • A pedalboard could be just as good as a multiFX box, but can't preset programs.
  • Mosvalve? Best solid-state distortion?
  • ¡New to the list! Carvin SX100, SX200, & SX300
    • SX100 lacks FX loop.
    • SX300 has 3 channels.
    • Consensus seems to be that the SX clean channels are great, but the gain channels have a lot of hum. (& don't have great distortion compared to a tube pre-amp, but there's nothing surprising about that.) How does the hum & distortion compare to the Crate or Line 6 solid-state amps I'm considering is the real question, though.
  • Crate GLX212 (what about their other lines)
    • 3 channels
    • FX loop
    • Direct out
    • Extension cab out
    • --
    • Decent review by Guitar Player
    • Pop when channel switching?
    • Channel tracking only covers which FX applies to each channel, not the level setting!
  • Crate GTD212 (also played the GTD65)
    • Played at Guitar Center.
    • I assume the sound is going to be similar to the GLX series.
    • Built in tuner didn't seem easy to use.
    • Didn't notice much difference between the 1x12 & 2x12 models.
    • Sound is good, but sounded a bit chorusie even when the FX were off.
    • While not as flexible as the Line 6 as far as sound, much more flexible in working with other gear.
  • Line 6 Spider III 75
    • Multiple virtual channels
    • No FX loop
    • Headphone/direct out (?)
    • No extension cab out
    • --
    • Footswitch is extra!
    • Level problems between "channels"?
    • Decent Guitar Player review of the 150
    • I played one at Guitar Center. Digital, while maybe not as good a tube, seems to sound better than analog solid state. Very flexible in the sounds it can produce. Not very flexible in working with other gear. Complex (which is a negative in a combo amp, IMHO).
  • Peavey KB 3
  • Fender FM 65 DSP
    • 2 channels
    • No FX loop (spec mentions it, but manual doesn't & I don't see it in the pictures)
    • Headphone/direct out (?)
    • No extension out
  • Fender FM 65R
    • 2 channels
    • FX loop
    • No direct out (FX out for this?)
    • No extension out (FX out for this?)
  • Crate FW120 FlexWave
  • Crate GT212
  • Crate GTX212
  • Behringer (V-Tone GMX212)
    • It looks great on paper, but I'm very concerned about the quality.
    • Guitar Player review
    • Not great at crunch or chorus
    • Separate footswitch?
  • Roland Cube 60
    • Played at Strait music. I wasn't particularly impressed.

Guitar Player readers choice award winners to look into

  • Yamaha Magicstomp
  • Stagemagic Pedalsnake

Option 1

Get a keyboard amp, like the Peavey KB 3, to use with my Digitech GSP-21.

Pros:

  • A keyboard amp is like a mini-PA. (The KB 3 has four channels!) I could run a mic, my flat top acoustic, & my keyboard through it in addition to the GSP-21.
  • KB 3 has direct out. (doesn't it?)
  • KB 3 can connect an extension speaker cabinet.

Cons:

  • GSP-21 may be on the fritz.
  • Different GSP-21 programs can have radically different volume levels. So, using the footswitch to switch sound mid-song doesn't always work because it would require adjusting the volume at the amp or the output level knob on the GSP.
  • Having to tote & setup both the amp & GSP-21. An electric guitar straight into a keyboard amp isn't an option.

Option 2

A 1x12 or 2x12 combo guitar amp with two or three channels.

Stomp boxes that I might want to add to such a setup: compression → EQ → amp → effects loop out → chorus → effects loop in.

Pros:

  • Simple. Grab & go! Can take or leave effects.
  • Separate foot-switchable channels means it is easy to switch sounds mid-song.

Cons:

  • More affordable combos don't have direct out so I'd have to mic the amp for recording.
  • More affordable combos don't have extension cabinet outs, so no upgradability.
  • Once you add additional effects, switching sounds mid-song becomes impractical again. Could probably be taken care of with A/B switches or an intelligence patch device, but that's a bit much for my needs.

Option 3

GSP-21 into a guitar combo amp.

Cons:

  • Kind of a waste to get a guitar amp if I'm just running the GSP-21 through it clean.

Option 4

A bit crazy perhaps: Two stomp box chains & an A/B switch in a clean amp.

Hmm...could still have trouble matching volumes between the two chains if they both go into the same amp.

Danelectro Mini Effects of interest

  • DJ-25 Chromatic Tuner
  • DJ-9 Surf & Turf (Compressor)
  • DJ-14 Fish & Chips (EQ)
  • DJ-7 Milkshake (Chorus)

What I have:

  • Westone Spectrum ST with a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge position (I think)
  • 12-string
  • Washburn SCX:7 Stereo Chorus stompbox
  • classical
  • Digitech GSP-21 "Guitar signal processor" rack-mount multi-effects unit with footswitch
  • Yamaha DW-105C flattop
  • Washburn Camping Guitar
  • Danelectro Honeytone mini amp
  • Original Crybaby wah, model GCB-95

Musings on what my dream guitar might be...

  • No knobs. Just a volume on/off switch & a pick-up selector.
  • 4/3 tuners. (like the MusicMan guitars)
  • Tele neck? (Every Tele I've ever played seemed effortless.)
  • I love the cross inlays on the Tony Iommi signature SG.

I tend to prefer to record guitar direct (through a pre-amp/FX unit like--e.g.--the Digitech RP350 or from an amp's direct out) mostly for practical reasons. I record in my home study & don't want to pick up the noises from the kids during the day or wake them at night.

But I'm a bit perplexed by the people who mic an amp. You're going to expect a tiny micophone diaphragm to pick up the tone you bought a 12" speaker to produce?

last updated 10 days ago #