Vox Valvetronix ToneLab SE

[BadgerS88]

I recently bought this before Christmas.

At Parklane, Citi Music. Original price was $900 but during the Christmas sale 40% of I got it at $500. Lucky me.

Very big and Very heavy but worth carrying around. The 12AX7 Vacuum tube inside creates and amazing warm tone with much needed bite for your burning Guitar Solos.

The interface on this Huge Multi-effects is pretty and simple, and pretty simple to use too. There are:

Pedals:
- U-Vibe
- BLK/ORG Phase
- Octave
- Ring Modulator
- Treble Boost
- Tube OD
- Super OD
- Boutique OD
- Fat Distortion
- Orange Distortion
- Fuzz
- Octafuzz
- Compressor
- Acoustic Simulator
- Vox Wah
- Auto Wah

Every effect also has an indiviual tone setting.

You also get choices of many famous Amps that have been famous in the past like Vintage Amps, or more Modern Amps.

Amps:
- UK Blues
- UK 68P
- UK 80's
- UK 90's
- UK Modern
- Recto
- US High Gain
- Boutique OD
- Boutique Clean
- Black 2x12
- Tweed 1x12
- Tweed 4x10
- AC15
- AC15TB
- AC30
- AC30TB

Along with Amps you also get Cabinets which is great for when it comes to recording. You dont need to carry an amp down to the studio and you can still record line-in and get a sweet sound.

Cabinet:
- Vox AC15
- Vox AC30
- Vox AD412
- UK H30 4x12
- UK T75 4x12
- US V30 4x12
- Tweed 1x8
- Tweed 1x12
- Tweed 4x10
- Black 2x10
- Black 2x12

For each Amp and cabinet setting you get the normal 'Gain' along with 'Vr Gain' which boost the output from the tube, and then after that you get channel volume and EQs.

Great Modulators that can be tweaked to your own liking and each and everyone has a 'Manual' setting than can be set to any of the 2 pedals so you can manually alter settings during a Live performance. I usualy like to use the Stereo Chorus make a brighter tone for my guitar.

Modulators:
- Text Tremolo
- Rotary
- Pitch Shifter
- Mod Delay
- Filtron
- Talk Modulator
- Classic Chorus
- Stereo Chorus
- Classic Flanger
- Bi-Chorus
- Duo-Phase

Ofcourse the most popular effects, The Delay effect.

Delays:
- Stereo Delay
- Cross Delay
- 2 Tap Delay
- Rhythm Delay
- Hold Delay
- Reverse Delay
- Echo Plus
- Multi Head Echo
- Analog Delay
- Mod Delay
- Sweep Delay

Another Effect that is always trusted upon to make solos sound more powerful, and is also great for recordings, Reverb.

Reverbs:
- Spring 1
- Spring 2
- Plate 1
- Plate 2
- Chamber 1
- Chamber 2
- Room 1
- Room 2
- Hall 1
- Hall 2
- Gated Reverb

When you first purchase your ToneLab SE you get 32 Presets already Calibrated into the effects. Altogether there are 24 Banks and 4 Programs on each bank. So this makes 96 memory slots. Btw each program also has an A and B channel which gives you more possibilities.

When you first glance at this Piece of equipment, you think, Wow how do i use it? But once you start messing around with it (unless you wanna read the 69 page manual) you start getting the hang of it, then you start to create some personal settings. Once you understand it, the sweet sounds come along, but you need to know how to use the effects properly.

In the end, you get amazing quality sound with high quality recording standards.

If you already own one but you dont agree with the sound, try changing your global output setting to 'Line' rather than the preset 'Amp' setting. But the abbreviation isnt helpful. Ln = Line and Ap = Amp. You only use the Amp setting if you want to take advantage of the Amp sound that your plugged into. Otherwise if you use the Line setting it takes advantage of your cabinet settings.

8)

 

[almondx]

Good purchase, but the size kills me

 

[BadgerS88]

hey

Haha, it comes with a free Gig bag which is obviously padded. I think its worth it man. Once you buy this you'll never need anything else again.

Also usualy when i record with this, hardly any mixing is need for the guitars.

 

[subversion]

how does this unit perform with:

*guitars (single coil/ humbucking)?
*amps?

rather than knowing the modules/ features on offer (which we can always refer to the manufacturer's website), potential buyers prefer some tonal evaluation as this would help them decide to acquire/ ditch this unit.

 

[BadgerS88]

haha

Ive only ever used Marshall and Fender guitar amps with this. But I always use stereo output so i have either 2 Marshalls or 2 Fenders. It also works well in the PA system in jamming rooms but its not the same for every studio. My guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, so I have humbuckers and with single coil pick ups, Ive only every tried once and the only difference is, the sound gets improved alot Have you ever tried those switches from single to double coil pickups on guitars? Well its like that. But I prefer the sound with my humbuckers any day.

 

[BadgerS88]

...

I hope you dont think Im goin to go through every single effect individually? I can basically tell you that, this unit is alot better than most multi-effects. The reason is, some multi-effects Ive tried, the Overdrives and distortion pedals sound too 'digital'. I hate this because it just sounds fake. Where as with this unit, you can replicate a vintage guitar sound for melodic rhythms and can also reach modern style Overdrive distortion sounds for powerful guitar solos. Having said that, it can also reach heavy metal distortion standards whilst keeping a classic sound, but I wouldnt recommend this unit for heavy metal musicians.

Like I said previously, this unit is amazing for studio recordings because its amp and cabinet modules are just so real. As if it were actually miked up.

 

[subversion]

thank you for the further evaluation.

with any tone generating equipment, if it should be scrutinized, it has to be objective. there is no need to go through every patch/ modules/ features on offer, highlight the forte or short-comings if there are any. if there is a need to allude to any particular tonal benchmark, please do so because this gives the general idea to the potential buyer pertaining to certain expectations; elaboration is necessary unless an appraisal is adequately supplemented with an audio sample. this way, what one hears makes up for what isn't documented.

 

[BadgerS88]

haha

Thnx for the advise man, Ive havent done a review before.

Well I guess the forte of this unit would be the fact that the 12AX7 vacuum tube creates a great warm sound with alot bite. I love this sound with my Les Paul because, when I solo I occasionally use my low strings too, like E and A, but i dont know how to describe the sound. there is a great sounding vibration you get from soloing using these lower strings. when you reach your mid's you get alot of bite and if your a good soloist then you can get a great ring sound from using the Boutique OD. The Super OD is another great overdrive effect on this. I love to use this with alot of delay and reverb and the high end bends with this effect is enough emotion to make your eyes water. :lol: seriously.

 

[subversion]

i have limited patience with FX/ Multi FX units, especially so when i try them out at the shops. i'm basically a guitar + amp person so it's good to see other members coming forth to appraise pedals & stuff here.

i have tried countless tube-equipped FX units but the tone generated isn't about to render tube amps extinct. yes there is added warmth in the output, it's quite audible when one tries one but more often than not, it is less favourable than a straight through plug in. i have indeed heard this unit in action but the overall warmth still couldn't match MI Audio's Tube Zone which is ironically, tubeless... 8)

 

[BadgerS88]

...

Ofcourse if wont make tube amps extinct. Multi effects set out to replicate the sound although with multi effects you get the choice of many.

 

[BadgerS88]

...

i have indeed heard this unit in action but the overall warmth still couldn't match MI Audio's Tube Zone which is ironically, tubeless...

Depends on the person whos used it. depending on how the person has calibrated their effects. I know some people who buy effects etc and they dont know how to use it to its full potential. I feel i have though. The manual come in handy from units like this. Also it depends on whether the guy had his global output set to line or amp. theres a splendid difference.

 

[BloodSolo]

what comes in the box ? is there any cables or software or anything adapters or what??? just wanna know thnx ...

 

[BadgerS88]

Well unless youve been ripped off, it should come with midi cables and a midi software for storing your saved presets externally. a gig bag and a power cable obviously. and lots of styrofoam, dunno how to spell that one, but the box is basically bloody huge.

 

[dhalif]

Recently aquired this too.. heres a soundfile

http://download.yousendit.com/5B35D6015035057B

it was on 90s amp tweed cab and fat dist to boost it just a little bit.. i was changing between my dry signal and delayed signal via the controller (Damn transparent switching btw)

 

[dric]

dhalif bro i also interested in getting one eh. how much you paid for it ah? everytime i call city music they say they'll get back to me always never get back,

 

[BadgerS88]

I got mine during Christmas Sale. Mine was $500. it was a 40% sale so original price was around $900

 

[dhalif]

bro dric.. someone selling on soft ley..

 

[dric]

WAH!!!!! OMG!!!!!$900!!!!! no $$$$!!

bro dric.. someone selling on soft ley..

i can't believe i didn't notice it dude! i check out the ads page almost every hour at work when i got nothin to do! thanks bro.....still can't believe i didnt see it. shit man. lol.

 

[BadgerS88]

Im not sure about the price for the LE but it might be something a little cheaper that you might like.

Or, if you try come up with your own unique selection of VOX's cooltron effects (City Music) they together could sound just a good but without the amp and cab sims. DO NOT mix vox with line 6 though. Ive had bad experience of everyone complaining about way too much high frequencies at ear piercing levels.

I wouldnt mind trying the LE but the SE gives me more options and versatility.

 

[dric]

Alright, I've got my very own tonelab SE! eh... 2nd hand ofcourse.

Was playing with it a little last night, and i must say, the tube really makes a lot of difference in a multi effects pedal. a few years ago i was using a few multi effects here and there....after awhile i swore by individual pedals. all the multiefx i used were just simply really bad. however, this one's staying with me!! i haven't tried the zoom g9 tho, heard its good.

anyways, tweaking with the knobs here and there a lot, you can really take out the digitalness of this pedal with the right settings for most of the pedal types. i was rather impressed by the amp n cabinet simulations, they are extremely accurate. you're actually able to get the sound of the tube saturation realistically for a multiefx pedal. except 1 or 2 of them, which for some reason i couldnt get the digitalness out of em. oh wells. oh ya, and i agree with BadgerS88, this unit WON'T satisfy heavy metal musicians.

i was toying around with the amp n cabs a lot, didnt have time to try out the modulation. except the analog delay, which i just had to hear. (for some reason i'm always drawn to the words "analog", so couldn't help myself) hah! it's definitely got the warmth of analog, DEFINITELY! however for those of you who like digital sounds., you CAN get it out from the ANALOG DELAY just by tweaking one of the knobs(forgot what the knob setting was called).

Yep, will try to add more to the review once i've fully tried out the other pedal types and the expression pedals.

as for user friendlyness......i'd say its much easier to use than zooms or korgs that are roughly of equal capability. ofcourse the smaller multiefx are easier to use, but these are not of equal capability.
also, this thing weighs a bomb! but i sure does look real sturdy. the gig bag that comes with it though isn't very good. would be good to invest in a better one. the westfield bag is about an inch too small tho, sadly, if not it would be perfect. mine's housed in my misse board...fits perfectly with just enough space for the adapter. but ofcourse, now it weighs 2 bombs.

another thing weird about it is there's a wording "TOP" on the plug on the power adapter. but, it doesn't face up when you plug it in, it faces down. lolx.

but overall.........until i review the modulation efx .....great pedal here.