Vox tonelab se

[drownedout]

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM04/Content/Vox/PR/TONELABSE-large.jpg


Has anyone played or own this? I always see it at citymusic but never got to play it. I'm wondering how they stack up to a podxt live/boss gt-8 in terms of tone,durability and just normal usage?

 

[jdawg]

I don't have the SE but I have the desktop version. What kind of tones are you looking for?

Just try the desktop version if you're just curious about the sound. The SE shouldn't be that much different.

 

[turtlemuscle]

the tonelab has a warmer sound - valve technology. it will sound slightly better than the POD XT live and alot better than than the GT 8.

durability - GT 8 and XT is known to be bomb proof. not too sure about the tonelab since there is a valve built in.

GT8 and XT will have alot of functions and features compared to the tone lab.

I know XT have add ons, upgrades etc, don't know about GT8. there is no such options for tonelab.

amongst the 3, I like the XT live best.

 

[Guest]

Well I just got myself a unit recently. Before that I tried out the desktop Tonelab and PODxt. Yes, it does have a warmer/more natural sort of sound compared to the POD. But it doesn't stack up in terms the sheer number of effects and depth of tweaking on the POD. Plus the POD has the PC interface and upgradable firmware going for it which the Tonelab SE doesn't have. On the PODxt live and GT8, you can (for the GT8 at least, not sure about POD live) bypass their amp models and run your own amp's preamp through the unit and just use their onboard effects only to integrate with your existing amp.

The main thing that sold me was the natural amp sound. I'm more of a feel/dynamic sort of player and my ears have been sullied by the tone of full valve amps. It feels dynamic, meaning that it reacts to my playing. For eg, the saturation sweetens up and sings the more aggressively I play, and the tone cleans up when I roll off my volume. On the PODxt, I found it a bit linear. The amp models sounded great but didn't have the "feel" I was after.

Effects on the Tonelad SE are okay and useable. Couldn't replicate the lush chorus of my Voodoo Labs analog chorus, but that's nitpicking. I managed to tweak the wah to approximate the sound of my v847 reissue I know and love. So it might be I just need to be a bit patient and tweak around until I find a setting that blows me away. Time spent in tweaking is the same for any other multi unit IMHO.

In the end it boils down to what you want to use the unit for. A lot of pro musicians I know go with the PODs 'cos they can just take the same patches they used for recording in the studio and recall them when doing gigs. I've played with some of them using the PODs in a live setting and they don't sound bad. For me what I wanted most was the natural valve feel which the Tonelab SE had more of and a simpler setup so I didn't have to spend a lot of time working my head around the mind boggling number of parameters the POD has to come up with a sound I like. I'm not patient that way.

Haven't done any gigging with the unit yet so I can't tell you how it holds up under normal abuse. I'll carry a spare 12ax7 just in case...

 

[stars_jy]

hi.. how much did u pay for the vox tonelab se?? im kinda stuck between a XT live.GT8 and vox tonelab... i own the podxt before.. sounds pretty gd to me.. very versatile..

 

[jdawg]

Would you rather have a wider palette of sounds with more effects and amp models, or would you prefer a limited number of very good amp models?

Before I chose the tonelab over the XT, I've extensively tested both. I just found myself playing more on the tonelab rather than tweaking. It's definitely tweakable, but it's much easier to dial in a good sound compared to the XT. Note though that the tonelab is a bit weak in getting high-gain metal/death sounds. To my ears, it's strength lies in:

- Vox models -- trademark 'jangle'
- Fender models -- the Twin Reverb model is simply amazing when paired with UK H30 4x12 cabinet.
-- Marshall JTM and JCM models -- lots of good, workable tones to be found here

Bottom line for me was that the Tonelab is sooooo easy to use out of the box and very easy to dial in a good starting point for inspired playing. You will spend more time playing than tweaking. Also, the Tonelab is much much more organic than the XT. Hands down though, the XT's sheer palette is much more diverse, if that's your priority.

 

[POOP]

How much is the tonelab?

 

[Guest]

The Tonelab SE's going for $696 after the standard 20% discount. The desktop Tonelab unit goes for much less, but can't remember how much it is.

City Music carries them.

 

[drownedout]

I think I might go for a podxt live or a behringer v-amp2..seems that the vox tonelab se isn't really my thing, but yeah I'll go try them all out. Thanks for the review babelfish.