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In this Discussion
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Tonex Tips
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Comments
In the end they all seem to sound pretty much the same (according to that Anderton's comparison anyway) so you can pick your trade off of price vs convenience.
You'll get just enough software to allow you to access Tone net, and then the world is your lobster.
Can 'only' hold 20 at a time on the pedal though, and when the new update drops in late Nov, nothing else really competes at the price..
also it was that classic thing of dialling in the sound at home and then hearing it in the context of the band and being dissatisfied. I guess this is a thing with any modeller. It made me miss the simple fat clean sound of my Hot Rod Deluxe, although in theory I can get that sound with the Tonex…I think it’s probably a monitoring issue.
It did make me think about getting the Tone Master Deluxe or even Blackstar Amped 1 through a nice lightweight cab.
my thought process is if it sounds good I’ll get an AB/Y box and run two together into my Headrush FRFR08 and if it sounds naff I’ll try it as a stomp box into the Pod Go or return it.
Or you can attach to your PC and drag+drop them into the slots.
I originally went with the big one on the Amazon deal, just because it was a really good deal if you factor in the software.
The software itself is a bit of a pain, but once you get used to it - it does seem to make sense, and does give almost unlimited access to great stuff.
I think the One comes with a stripped down version, so there will be some limitations, I think it can only hold a small amount of captures, which then need to be loaded on the pedal, but with some thought, this can be a great platform.
On the One pedal, tones can be edited and saved on the fly, so it should be easy to get the included tones to sound good through your FRFR, and I think part of the fun with stomp pedals, is the ability to tweak the settings.
I'm planning on just getting a clean and dirty A/B set going, and will probably not be using stomp mode too much for the moment.
When you feel the urge to throw it out the window, pause, count to 10, and have a browse on Tone net for some good stuff.
Top Tip-
sort by top ten downloads, try 'Perfect Marshall', and click on the uploaders name to see what else he has done.
Perfect Marshall, is in fact a Friedman, and will probably be my basic Marshall patch for now, it is that good.
Also, I think if you have a One and a full sized pedal registered on your account then when you run the software you get the full version regardless of which pedal you connect to it.
Edit: I upgraded from a One to the full sized pedal then moved the One on, but I'm pretty sure that's how it worked in the few days I had both.
Didn't feel like diving in straight away, so I just spent a little time reading the manual, a lot of crossover from the bigger version, but a few nice differences.
I knew straight away, that using this pedal will be a very different experience, as the only way to change a preset on the pedal is to go into an edit mode, and identify a preset by a colour, which sounds impossible to me, Green, Blue and Red are the only obvious ones that make sense to me as Amp descriptions, so how can I choose between versions of clean for example?
There is the 'Diceman' approach, mentioned above, where I just use my ears to select a good sound from a random selection of the 20 sounds on board, which is useful maybe.
I like the fact that using the pedal as an interface requires no power (USB powered ) so that has me thinking.
Anyhoo,
This morning, feeling refreshed, I decided to register the pedal and see whats what.
Registered immediately, and gives me access to the SE versions of the software, which I don't need, and also needed a firmware update as the software was updated a couple of days ago ( prep for the next big update )
I didn't want to start sorting a lot of stuff out, so I simply put my current favourite clean and dirty presets in A/B sections, and an Amalgam EVH tonemodel in C, just to see how I get on.
I used my BT battery headphone amp ( £11.99 - ebay ) into my 40year old Cube cab ( 60 watt, 12 inch, mentioned above ) and powered the Tonex One with a USB powerbank ( dual lead USB C from one USB 3 output - the other USB C can also power the amp )
Sounds just as expected, great for home playing, and even easier to tweak the settings than the big one, changes are made instantly and saved, so it was easy to balance the levels of the 2 presets, and I didn't need to touch the EQ.
I am using an Amalgam freebie Supro as my clean, with reverb, and 'Perfect Marshall ' from the top ten downloads as my dirty, and they both sound as good as anything I have heard, really.
A bonus tip, from the manual, is to go into 'Edit' mode, by pressing Alt and the switch at the same time, which lets you step through the 3 presets stored, which might come in very useful later down the road, when the delays and modulations are added, but in practice I am not sure how well it can work- still allows access to 3, rather than 2 selections.
I am not sure how easily it would be to get into all this, if I didn't already have the larger pedal, as the SE version of the software has a few limitations, and I am not sure how much will change to accommodate the software update, but obviously the Tonex One is a very useful piece of gear to have on a board, 2 or 3 of them could be a complete board really.
I like the idea of just carrying around a Tonex One with my laptop and a guitar, to be able to record / play ideas, without the need for power supplies, and my little amp / speaker solution makes it sound great in the room, I even tried the Tonex One direct into a mini BT speaker, which works fine although there was a loss of bass response ( tiny UE boombox ) perfectly useable though.
The USB powerbank solution is a useful thing to know, as I don't intend mounting it to a board right now, and I detest the wall wart power supplies.
Genuinely, the tone is good enough to allow me to forget about it and concentrate on the playing, as it responds well to the volume on my guitar, so I now struggle to understand how people can't get a good sound out of the Tonex stuff, true it takes a little work, but IMO, it is well worth it.
Mini review over,
TBC.
I honestly believe it's down to expectations in a lot of cases.
Seems to me from reading recent threads that a lot of people bought them when they were on offer expecting it to be a pain in the arse because other people have said it will be.
In the same vein, a lot of people are saying it's not as good sounding as they thought it would be. That colours a lot of people's viewpoint and they end up judging it through a half preconceived idea.
When I bought mine I had heard some online demos that sounded fantastic. In terms of what it did and how I planned to use it, it was the answer to all of my dreams so I bought it with a very positive expectation.
Because this was a while ago I'd not heard anyone complaining about the software so I had zero expectations. My initial thought was, this is a bit clunky and not very well thought out. I agree with that still but it's never been more than a mild gripe and has certainly never caused me any difficulties.
Expectations tend to become self fulfilling prophecies.
We say a lot "listen with your ears" we know that is true but it's often difficult to do that.
Imagine what can be done when the modulation and delay are introduced...
Further revelations today,
I ordered a couple of 1ft sideways USB c / USB 3 adaptor cables to tidy up my little practice rig, powerbank / headphone amp / Tonex One, sat on top of a 1 x 12 cab - should make it a little neater without the USB C straight out the front of the pedal.
There are 2.5mm / usb 3 adaptors available as well, so I might invest. but the power into the amp also comes from the front ( when plugged in )
I will get a picture when I have it done, I promise.
It was 9 am on a sunday, so I was playing very quietly, and was having a great time exploring the 'Perfect Marshall' preset by using the volume on my guitar, getting some nice tones and making all the pickup selections very useable, but I did notice the green ALT button was blinking occasionally.
Later on, when I had finished playing I had another look at the manual, and found out that the blinking was due to me having the 'cab' turned of in the settings.
Not sure how I managed to turn it off really, as I haven't really even bothered trying to change much apart from matching the volume between my clean and dirty A / B patches, but later on I had another go, and found out also that I have the input gain set really low.
Press and hold the ALT for 6 seconds to get into the settings, L hand knob is either A/B or Stomp mode ( red or green on the knob )
Middle knob is red or green for cabs on or off, and R knob is input gain level, but this only really gives a rough idea of the level, and will depend on both the pickup you use, and the 'tone model' you use.
You press ALT again to get out of it.
I know I am only explaining what the manual says, but also the blinking lights, button presses and colours can be a little confusing.
Not sure I would trust the tuner, but it is nice to have it.
I am playing it through a guitar cab, so it is not really a surprise that it didn't sound terrible without the cab selected, but fiddling with the input gain was interesting, as it does affect the tone when I turn down my guitar volume.
I'm not sure what I have it set to- maybe it will be displayed in the software, because there is a setting when you have it connected ( cog icon at the top ), and I originally had it set to -3 when I put the presets into it.
It doesn't really matter, and I expect the forthcoming updates will involve more cryptic button pressing to allow the mod / delay settings to be altered, but I haven't been playing as much for a long time.
It has really helped me actually hear how my pickups sound, and the reaction with the volume on the guitar is something I haven't really experienced that much at low volumes with my valve amps.
I also noticed that Tone Net has been growing quite quickly, with all the tone models from the limited edition white Tonex being added, and there are now over 35,000 tone models available.
I think it would be nice to have something in between a Tonex and a Tonex One, with 2 switches and some sort of display, but at this point I can't see it happening, there are already bundles available on IK site offering 2x the One pedal for a decent saving.
TBC
Checking a few other threads, and thinking more about amplifying / powering the Tonex One.
We are ( generally ) hearing / amplifying , the sound of an amp / cab / mic capture, therefore, we want to have the sound at a suitable volume- right?
If we are doing this at home levels, we just need an amplifier that can power a speaker at comfortable volumes in a bedroom / home setting, and we don't really need 20-100 watts of power, but DO need a speaker that can handle the frequency range of a guitar, in this case, the SOUND of a recorded guitar.
Generally, this sound falls well withing the 20 -20k range of any recording, and the equipment used will not be adding too much beyond the mid range, I realise that some mics are capable of higher range recording, but in the main they are not adding anything to the 'core' sound, but are just capturing more of it.
It is desirable for an amplifier to be able to reproduce as much of the original signal as possible, and we now have easy access to very high quality equipment, at a very low price, and the HiFi world is all about a clean signal path.
My experiments with the £11.99 BT, battery headphone amp have been quite revealing, as although headphone amps are only designed to put out a tiny wattage ( they only need to power headphones ) this is just about the perfect level for home practice, even when powering a high wattage 12 inch guitar cab.
I have also tried a couple of different cabs, which shows me that the speaker has a drastic effect on the final tone depending on its 'character'or condition, but still all very acceptable.
Using a 16 ohm 4x12 in a home setting, is a little OTT, and the volume is reduced quite drastically, but still works, and I have found the best results by using an old Roland 12 inch 8 ohm, with a metallic dust cover, which I prefer to a modern Fane 70 watt, which seems to sound a little 'brittle'.
I have yet to try a couple of 10 inch cabs, which I suspect will probably sound even better, as if anything the bass response can be a bit overpowering with the 12s.
All of this experimenting has been done with the same 2 A / B Tone models on the Tonex One, without altering any of the eq on the pedal - it has been sounding that good I have just been playing more than usual, and the interaction with the volume on the guitar itself is as convincing as any amp I have played, and I am sure that on any of the cabs the eq on the pedal could have tamed any problems.
In short, the cheapest headphone amp can power a guitar speaker at perfectly usable home volume, and sound good due to its HiFi nature.
I am also impressed by the Tonex One performance, being powered by a USB powerbank, and have been playing for many hours using only the powerbank to supply power to both the headphone amp and the Tonex, topping up the headphone amps own battery.
No trailing leads ( apart from guitar lead ), and fully portable, and possibly loud enough to busk.
I have also been putting some thought into how to overcome the limits of only having A/B channels to play with on the Tonex One, with only one switch available, which is a limitation when the new effects are added to the software.
When I switch over to the big version, I am overwhelmed with choice, but patch arrangement seems to make more sense- with 3 patches per bank, not sure anybody needs 50 banks though?
When the new software lands, I am not sure how the effects will actually be incorporated, as they will need to be part of a single preset, and will not be easily switchable, I think the midi capability will come into play at some point.
A basic 'bank' will have 3 versions of the same preset, with a variety of effects added - per patch, so that is doable.
Tonex One, will be a simplified version of that principle - but only one bank, of 2 patches, available instantly, so fairly limited.
A board built out of 3 Tonex Ones could be interesting, if effects alone can be built as patches, but I'm not sure how it could work in practice.
Ramble over for now.
TBC.
sounds fantastic. You can adjust the volume on the speaker as well as the pedal to make it quiet enough for late night practice or loud enough to nearly put your windows through.
with the One I’ve loaded 7 tones I like and just play. I’ve no idea what amps they’re supposed to be etc and I don’t care. They sound bloody good.
Clearly, it is quite a large update to the features that are available, and we must remember it is mainly a software update, and it must be difficult to have these additions be integrated into existing hardware.
I am usually cautious about updates on day one, and wouldn't be doing them if I had a gig coming up, unless I had a plan B, but I think it has been beta tested enough for now, so I chanced it.
Update via IKmedia app went smoothly, and when I connected the pedal it prompted me for a firmware update, which also went well.
It has added more to an already congested window / menu scheme, that continues to be fixed inside its own un sizeable window - very clunky these days.
At this point, I only really want to add some tremolo to a Supro preset, so I didn't dig in to far, and I did add a couple of new presets to my pedal library, at least there is some coherence to the organisation on the pedal via the banks, so that also went well.
Slightly different matter on the One though, as I have made some tweaks to both the A/B presets to match volumes and alter gains, so I wanted to back up these presets first.
I dragged off the presets from the pedal, which then seemed to appear in my presets tab, with 001 added to the names, which was fine - although it is not very clear which list we are actually looking at, and changing tabs sometimes toggles between other lists, quite confusing.
This could be an issue down the road, if I have made changes on the pedal to suit my amp /cab setup, and I have also recently been comparing with the same presets in my DAW, at least in the One pedal, we do not have access to tweaks to the effects, and I have found that tiny changes in gain settings ( both global input and preset ) have a drastic effect on the final tone and feel of the preset.
I have been quite impressed with the 'feel' of some of these presets, and the way they interact with the volume on my guitar, and this is something that the gain settings have a lot to do with, and it is hard to get this right without a display.
When the One pedal is connected, there is a cog for settings, which has a setting for global input level, and it is something to keep an eye on, this can be changed on the pedal but only uses an indicator light to show a signal - very vague.
Any tweaks to model volume or gain or tone, on the pedal are saved instantly, but if this model is not saved back into the library, all these changes will be lost.
I imagine the same issue exists on the bigger pedal, as I suspect most people will just save their tweaks over the existing preset, and again, these will have to be saved BACK into the library, and this will get quite messy if we have to have the effects modded inside the software first - at least this can be done ON the bigger pedal with a bit of menu diving, much easier in software though.
I'm not going to go too far into midi territory at this point, but it would be nice to be able to add effects to an existing patch without having to use up a pedal preset, and on the big pedal it will be easy enough to just save to different banks to achieve this.
I am convinced that a lot of the criticism of some of the tone models comes simply down to using the incorrect gain, as this does have a drastic effect on the feel of the model, and it is something to experiment with.
TBC.