Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

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somanytoys
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by somanytoys » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:13 am

Yeah, I really, really wanted to like it because the concept is so awesome - a literal amp in a pedal. I think if they either only did the poweramp or had a way to bypass the preamp, I'd have kept it. The microblock is 45 watts, but only at 4 ohms, I think it's somewhere in the early 30s using an 8 ohm speaker, but it is definitely loud and powerful.

If you get the chance, it may be worth checking it out to see what you think & hear. For me, it was just a squishy sound (like the ZT), and no matter what pedals I used, it changed the sounds of pedals that I know I liked into something really meh.

Talking about ss amps, though - a few years ago I bought a Traynor TS-10 ss 10w guitar amp, thinking it might be really cool, like their ss bass series amps that I have. Newwwp. The gain is squarewave trash, just terrible, and the amp is really quiet without the gain. But last night I tried leaving the gain as far down as possible while still allowing some very small amount of sound, and dialed up the master volume about halfway, and used the RAH pedal with the volume and the gain absolutely dimed (along with a Symphonic Resonance reverb), and it sounded badass! Huge, lots of bass, amazing sound for an old 70s, small 10w ss amp. And that's only halfway on the master volume.

Turned the pedal off, and I could barely hear the amp at all, with the gain turned that low. But with the RAH on it and it'roars and sounds great. I'm not sure how many other just normal "dirt" pedals would have that nice an effect on it, but at least with that pedal, it's like having a new, very usable amp. I'm going to try some other pedals with it to see, but I really do like that RAH.

Now one day I really want to check out a Leeds. I didn't notice the last time I looked at it, but I saw on a video that it has the speaker emulator button on/off, right? That's a great feature.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by mackerelmint » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:57 pm

It does have that little button. I always leave it off, and I couldn't really tell you if it's accurate to a fane cab or not. Still, it's a good feature to have.

I also just remembered that Tech 21 makes (or maybe they don't anymore? Dunno) a powered 112 cab with no preamp. It's meant for extending their combos into a stereo configuration, IIRC. I think they're 60 watts? I dunno, could be interesting to you.
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X-Ray Spex
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Tue Apr 16, 2019 4:55 am

This thread is super getting away from me with all the recommendations, my options that I'm leaning most towards are as follows.

1/ Amplifire Firebox
2/Cabzeus Mono
3/ Tech 21, maybe thinking the Blonde rather than the Leeds as I really don't get on with Vox stuff and that seems to be a clone of same BUT it doesn't have a XLR out so I'd need a DI Box but you can get a great one these days easy enough so not really a big deal.
4/ Copy of the Tech 21 Blonde that JOYO / Harley Benton make called the American Sound that may be good for a laugh but it would also require a DI Box and I'm not sure about the quality.
5/ Get a smaller decent version of the HiWatt and just get it miked correctly, or DI that with something in between.
6/ That weird powered amp thing that Mackerelmint mentioned, I'm going to look into it regardless.

So yeah, the journey towards amplessness goes on. Thanks for everyone's input :D
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by somanytoys » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:18 am

Just for clarification, the Leeds is a HiWatt, I think it's the Liverpool that's the AC30.

I may have to keep an eye out for a Leeds popping up for sale one day, I'm really enjoying the sounds from that RAH, even through a not so great amp.

The DI is nice, but yeah, the DI boxes now are so good and cheap, it's not too inconvenient of the pedal is really good. Good luck on your quest!
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by mackerelmint » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:28 pm

Right. Liverpool is a faux Vox.

The harley benton/joyo knockoffs are, I understand, just as good as the Tech 21s they emulate, but for the "speaker sim" button. IIRC, they're set to always have the speaker sim "on".
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:15 am

somanytoys wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:18 am
Just for clarification, the Leeds is a HiWatt, I think it's the Liverpool that's the AC30.

I may have to keep an eye out for a Leeds popping up for sale one day, I'm really enjoying the sounds from that RAH, even through a not so great amp.

The DI is nice, but yeah, the DI boxes now are so good and cheap, it's not too inconvenient of the pedal is really good. Good luck on your quest!
Cheers, I'll keep this thread updated if I can.
mackerelmint wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:28 pm
Right. Liverpool is a faux Vox.

The harley benton/joyo knockoffs are, I understand, just as good as the Tech 21s they emulate, but for the "speaker sim" button. IIRC, they're set to always have the speaker sim "on".
Thanks for the clarification, also I don't actually know what the drawbacks of the speaker sim button being always on versus switching it on and off would be. What exactly does that mean? (I know nothing about speaker/cab sims)
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:28 am

Well, I guess the "drawback" of it not being switchable is that it's arguably less well suited for running into amplification. You can think of a speaker as a filter, in a sense, with a distinct EQ signature to it. That's really all "cab simulation" is, an EQ approximation of a certain type of speaker/cab combo. I'm not aware of any that can do the whole dynamic reaction to signal level like real speakers do. Ultimately it's worth a try and there's no reason to think it'll make it sound terrible if you amplify it rather than running it direct, just a bit different EQ curve to work with.
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:48 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:28 am
Well, I guess the "drawback" of it not being switchable is that it's arguably less well suited for running into amplification. You can think of a speaker as a filter, in a sense, with a distinct EQ signature to it. That's really all "cab simulation" is, an EQ approximation of a certain type of speaker/cab combo. I'm not aware of any that can do the whole dynamic reaction to signal level like real speakers do. Ultimately it's worth a try and there's no reason to think it'll make it sound terrible if you amplify it rather than running it direct, just a bit different EQ curve to work with.
Ah right, thanks for the clarification.
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:01 am

Just an update to this thread I ended up getting a Tech 21 Leeds Sansamp pedal, fairly difficult to find as they're discontinued so I ended up getting it from a dude in Greece.

I haven't attempted to use it in a live setting yet but I'll report back when I do.
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by mackerelmint » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:14 am

Congrats on that! I'm sure you'll like it, it's a fine pedal.

I wasn't aware they'd been discontinued. That's a shame.
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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Mon Feb 03, 2020 5:21 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:14 am
Congrats on that! I'm sure you'll like it, it's a fine pedal.

I wasn't aware they'd been discontinued. That's a shame.
Cheers! And yeah it sucks that they're discontinued, took me ages to find one!
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by somanytoys » Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:39 am

Yeah, I think that series has been discontinued for quite a while. When I bought my VT DI, it was already discontinued and I think those had been discontinued before it was.

I imagine it’s a great pedal, T21 does good work.

And honestly, you only really need the cab sim if you’re going direct/through a pa. If you’re going into an amp and speaker cab with the pedal, I think it would probably mush up your signal more, since it’s just trying emulate that situation in the first place.

I only use the cab sim when I use it direct into the pa, and it does sound better on than with it off. I would also use it if I went direct into a recording interface, although some people prefer a truer direct bass sound, to modify in the DAW. I think that happens less with guitar, but everyone does their own thing.
-David

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Re: Replacing My Amp With A Cab Simulator Pedal

Post by X-Ray Spex » Mon Feb 24, 2020 5:22 am

somanytoys wrote:
Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:39 am
Yeah, I think that series has been discontinued for quite a while. When I bought my VT DI, it was already discontinued and I think those had been discontinued before it was.

I imagine it’s a great pedal, T21 does good work.

And honestly, you only really need the cab sim if you’re going direct/through a pa. If you’re going into an amp and speaker cab with the pedal, I think it would probably mush up your signal more, since it’s just trying emulate that situation in the first place.

I only use the cab sim when I use it direct into the pa, and it does sound better on than with it off. I would also use it if I went direct into a recording interface, although some people prefer a truer direct bass sound, to modify in the DAW. I think that happens less with guitar, but everyone does their own thing.
That's what I'm basically using it for, I'm doing a lot of recording at the moment so I'm using it between my pedals and the direct interface.
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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