Back to my Vox Tonelab LE for home use - WOW!

Voxman

Having bought a Zoom G5 to muck around with at home for headphone use, I've decided to sell it and have got my Vox Tonelab LE back out. 

Although the G5 was fun, and capable of giving some nice tones, it was just too awkward to use and took too long to build good patches. I got fed up having to hit two footswitches to scroll patch up and down, having to scroll through one big combined list to find amps and fx, and having to add an Exciter and Air to make patches more 'vivid' and amp like. And whilst the boost switch sounds fine when using the G5 through an amp, oddly it seemed to overload the signal through headphones and fart horribly with most patches. The fx and Z pedal were fun though.

The TLLE is just 'there' with a fuller richer tone that sounds so much more like playing through a real amp, and it's just way easier to use. But its old tech and my plan is still to get a Pod Go for gigging and headphone use. It has the latest generation of Helix modelling with snapshots, loadable IR's, good floor control, and it will be way lighter and more compact than my TLLE ... let alone my TLSE which is akin to Helix size and weight! 

Still waiting though for Pod Go to come out here in the UK as they keep putting back delivery for UK stores, and it's now looking that these won't start to come through until end of June...unless of course deliveries to Europe get pushed back yet again! 

Cookiemonster

Old tech isn't always a bad thing, I like the Helix but I actually miss my Boss ME 50.

monquixote

Good call @Voxman I pissed about with Mooer for a bit before I went line 6 and I'm glad I did.

ICBM

Cookiemonster said:

Old tech isn't always a bad thing, I like the Helix but I actually miss my Boss ME 50.

I had an ME-50. Then got frustrated with its limitations and tempted by something newer, shinier and more up to date, so I sold the ME-50... then got frustrated with the shiny new thing, and bought another ME-50 because it just sounds better. Repeat x3.

This one is not going anywhere, ever - I’ve finally learned the lesson and decided to live with the limitations, because everything else it does is perfect. If I see another one going cheap enough I might even buy a spare...

It is annoyingly big and heavy for something with only three footswitches, but I can live with that too.

Voxman

I'm with you @ICBM which is why I'll never sell my Tonelab SE or LE. These were way ahead of their time, still sound great, are tried and tested, do the job really well especially on stage, and are getting harder to find. The Pod Go will simply be in addition to these. 

Cookiemonster

ICBM said:

Cookiemonster said:

Old tech isn't always a bad thing, I like the Helix but I actually miss my Boss ME 50.

I had an ME-50. Then got frustrated with its limitations and tempted by something newer, shinier and more up to date, so I sold the ME-50... then got frustrated with the shiny new thing, and bought another ME-50 because it just sounds better. Repeat x3.

This one is not going anywhere, ever - I’ve finally learned the lesson and decided to live with the limitations, because everything else it does is perfect. If I see another one going cheap enough I might even buy a spare...

It is annoyingly big and heavy for something with only three footswitches, but I can live with that too.

At some point I will get another and leave it the rehearsal room.  Did a lot of gigs with one and it always sounded great

chrishill901

I miss my old Tonelab LE - I used to have one about 12 or 13 years ago if memory serves and I used to watch your videos all the time @Voxman - I was on the valvetronix.net for a while too. Have you tried the TLLE with an IR, disabling the cab?

I later bought whichever Tonelab came out after that, the black one, and it never sounded as good. Same with the Valvetronix amps, I used to have the chrome panelled AD50VT which sounded great but then the valvetronix tech never sounded good after that? I just assumed my ears had matured? That TLLE though... The UK80s model with the Klon Centaur model in front of it was a great tone.

Voxman

chrishill901 said:

I miss my old Tonelab LE - I used to have one about 12 or 13 years ago if memory serves and I used to watch your videos all the time @Voxman

Ah, you were the one - thank you! LOL     

- I was on the valvetronix.net for a while too. Have you tried the TLLE with an IR, disabling the cab?

No I haven't. I don't have a separate IR Cab pedal and I'm not sure it would work well because you can't control where it is in the chain.

I later bought whichever Tonelab came out after that, the black one, and it never sounded as good. Same with the Valvetronix amps, I used to have the chrome panelled AD50VT which sounded great but then the valvetronix tech never sounded good after that? I just assumed my ears had matured? That TLLE though... The UK80s model with the Klon Centaur model in front of it was a great tone.

No, your ears didn't deceive you. The TLST/TLEX and later Valvetronix (albeit I've not heard the latest versions) were not quite as good tonally IMHO, especially as compared with the original 'Blue' series amps. A big reason was the circuitry surrounding how the tube was subsequently used, which differed due to cost. 

Seziertisch

I have a DA5 which I bought for EUR 40
a few years ago which really does sound great for its time and what it cost.

It also has a lot of useful features like Aux in and Line out and different power settings, the loudest of which gets impressively loud for an amp that can be battery powered

Voxman

My goodness!! - I'd forgotten just how good the TLLE is. I'd previously struggled to get the type of rock tones I like through headphones, but by using Line 2 EQ, and tweaking the VR Gain, Gain & Program level I've figured out how to get some stunning crunch & rock tones.  You know when you've got it right when you can't put the guitar down & when you still love the tone the next day - well I'm there!  

And for the last couple of weeks, my 'lock-down guitar choice of the day' has been ....my 1997 Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro.

Lebarque

I had both an SE and LE back in the days before I went back to valves. They were defo my favourite at the time. Is this your website, @Voxman ?!!! http://thevoxtonelabredesigned.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_430.html

Voxman

Lebarque said:

I had both an SE and LE back in the days before I went back to valves. They were defo my favourite at the time. Is this your website, @Voxman ?!!! http://thevoxtonelabredesigned.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_430.html

Nope, I don't have a website I'm afraid, just a YouTube channel (voxman5) and my Soundcloud page (  https://soundcloud.com/richard-birch-1  ) .  On the Soundcloud page the Dad's Army tracks are TLSE in a live session and the Undercover duo tracks were the TLLE in the studio (all guitars were me), on Youtube the Barnet Festival gig was with the TLSE straight through the PA.

Here's a couple examples of the TLLE: