Best Guitar Processors

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maestrotee

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I'm looking to buy a quality floor processor for live sound and also recording. I am playing through a Crate mini half-stack solid state and realize the benefits of tubes so here are the candidates and any feedback you could give would be appreciated ...
Vox ToneLab SE Tube Driven Modeling Floorboard Processor
Line 6 PODXT Live Pedal
Digitech GNX4

Just recently I sold a GNX3 because it was too tedious to get the sounds that I wanted. I'm not sure if the GNX4 would be more techy and therefore equally as frustrating, however, the Vox and Line 6 appear to be fairly simple to use and I have heard some great things about either (Line 6 is $100 cheaper at Musician's Friend but the Vox is tube driven). Please let me know as I am new to this board but have already gotten some great information from you all. Thanks for reading!!! :cool:
 
I just went thru this process just recently.

without a doubt (for me, of course) the Boss GT-8 was the winner by a long shot.

reasons...besides sounding the best, imo

1.by FAR the most flexible with tweaking, etc
2. two sounds at once, if wanted
3. can morph between sounds via pedal, volume, pick attack...
4. COMPLETELY adjustable order of basically ALL parameters, effects, etc
5. best effects
6. sturdy, nice looking unit
7. effects loop and external inputs for extra switching/pedals..

these are just a couple off the top of my head.

I use mine live, plug straight into the FOH board and use two little clean amps for a stereo stage monitor setup.

great for home recording too.


one downfall(apparently)...no computer program for tweaking and stuff...but at the GT8 forums, some guy made one that apparently addresses this issue. I personally don't need one. ...oh..and apparently a little steeper learning curve than the others. ..but well worth it in my opinion. Took me a solid day to get comfortable with all the parameters. But, if you want the best sounds, sometimes I feel you have to dig a little deeper, than just settle for an "off the floor" sound, and the GT-8 is the only one that really allows you to do that to the Nth degree.. .. but potentially you may not like having to go thru all that.

That said, the GNX3000 probably sounds the best out of the box, but the GT-8 can sound better with some tweaking... in the long run, the true winner.
 
I agree with Mixmkr, but I also have to chime in with a vote for the Pod... I use them for my guitar and bass in studio, and have the XT live for the stage. Haven't used it in a while, but it's versatile and the patches are easy to tweak and get a good sound out of. Just my opinion... Good luck!
 
Thanks for your responses so far ... one more question for all those that would know. Does any of the above have a foot tap controlled delay (hope you know what I'm talking about ... can tap out the timing with your foot in live settings before activiating itz). Thanks again and keep the info comin' :cool:
 
I am sure the GT-8 will allow you to do that. Like I said, pretty much any parameter can be assigned to an array of footswitches and/or the expression pedal...not to mention any add on footswitches/pedals too.
 
I have gone through different machines over the years, and I have only a few thoughts.

* I have never played a Digitech that has tone. They have lots of effects, but they never seem to have TONE
* You have never said what you are trying to achieve by your sound. I have heard a few effects that seem can get one or the other, like a Boss, but one that gets it all.
* For the 80-95% that a Line does for the money, it would be hard to beat as the overall winner.

Just my thoughts...
 
I know my POD XT has tap tempo, so I'm pretty sure the live version has an assignable footswitch tap tempo function. Not positive though. Personally, I've had a fair amount of success recording the POD sounds and felt the distortion/overdrive models to be reasonably accurate. I've never cared for the digitech distortion models, but haven't played through anything they've put out recently. Live, I'm a traditional 'tubes being melted in my 100watt head' guy, and use very mininal effects (wah, phase90, and a Roland GS6 run through my effects loop for a little color). I would spend some time playing through them at the store, though, and get what sounds best for ya.
 
I would definitly go with the Vox Tonelab SE. First it has great sounds and effects. Like you mentioned, it has a tube in the pre. One more thing I really like about it, is that theres a lot of analog controlling. Instead of having a bunch of digital menus to go through, it has plenty of analog integration so you can change on the spot.
 
how is the vox tone lab for metal? Also how does the pod xtcompare to the vamp2 and how is pod xt pro better than the regular version besides being rack mountable and having more outputs? Or is that just it? Right now I use a behringer v amp2 and am pretty happy with it but would like to explore new options.
 
I don't think you'd go wrong with the Pod Live. I got the XT and think tthe tone is very good. I wish I would have held out for the live.
 
maestrotee said:
Thanks for your responses so far ... one more question for all those that would know. Does any of the above have a foot tap controlled delay (hope you know what I'm talking about ... can tap out the timing with your foot in live settings before activiating itz). Thanks again and keep the info comin' :cool:
Click to expand...

The PodXT Live has a footswitch assigned to Tap Tempo.
Or hold it down and it activates the tuner.

PodXT Live got my vote (and my money).
 
I love my TC Electronics G-Major. The effects sounds great and it's very tweakable.

I've never been a fan of the "floor" processors. Usually they don't seem to sound as good as "rack" models. Floor models also seem cheaply built (lots of plastic) which makes me worry about someone stepping on the thing and breaking knobs or displays or whatever. Not to mention beer/drink spillage.

I realize they have their benefits and I haven't test-driven any in the past couple years so maybe the sound quality of the effects has improved. I just think you are limiting yourself with those choices you listed. There's lots of other options out there.
 
TheRockDoc said:
* You have never said what you are trying to achieve by your sound.
Click to expand...
All original material but the guitar sound would probably be closest to Pearl Jam or Live. I'm not the biggest fan of either but, by default, more of the blues, rythm, with a nice warm lead. Not into the super crunch metal at all.
 
I have a Boss GT-6 and it does everything I want it to. I could be wrong, but I don't think there are that many extra features in the updated GT-8, so if you are budget concious, not concerned about having the absolute latest and greatest, and can still find one, it would be an awesome option.
 
That Zoom looks suhweeeet!! Looks like I'm gonna have to spend a whole day at Guitar Center. :cool:
 
I've had my VOX Tonelab SE for about 3 weeks now and I love it. The tone is pure and very high quality. It records brilliantly IMO and has brought my recordings up a notch. Surprisingly, I have not yet found a satisfactory setting for the wah pedal.

The Tonelab SE is NOT good for metal IMO but I can't say I've covered every single possibility for this unit.
 
I prefer the classics..Eventide H3000 D/sx..you can get them for pretty cheap now days.....
 
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