What I bought

• Digitech RP350
• Crate GTD15R

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One of the really nice things about the Digitech RP350 is that you can use it at four different levels:

1. You can just play the presets.
2. You can choose a "tone" from the tone library, an effects chain from the effects library, & set an effects level.
3. You can enable/disable each effect (in this case using "effect" to include the amp/cab models & everything else the unit does) & tweak its parameters.
4. You can edit presets on a computer--including access to some parameters otherwise unavailable (or does that only apply to the 250?).

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So, I need to clean-up the mess below...

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My so-called “needs”

• Recording & live performance.
• Would like to be able to change sounds mid-song.
• Prefer simple. While I like a decent tone, I don't really want to spend a lot of time tweaking knobs. I just want to play.

New plan

Buy a new multi-FX box. (A floor model.) Buy a simple practice amp.

Practice Amp:

• Fender 15R Frontman ($100)
• Crate FW15R ($100) or GTD15R
• Roland Cube15 ($100)
• Marshall MG10CD ($75)
• Fender 25R Frontman ($140) footswitch!
• Marshall MG15CD ($115)

FX

• Line 6 Floor POD ($200)
  • +The POD amp models
  • ±FX aren't tweakable
  • -Only up/down switching between patches
  • -Perhaps not so durable
  • -Controls seem fairly lame (mid-range EQ is accessed by holding a button & using the bass knob)
• Digitech RP350 ($200)
  • +Sweepable mid-EQ!
  • +Has A/B in addition to up/down patch pedals
• Zoom G2.1U ($170)

Expensive (or otherwise out of the running:

• BOSS ME-50 ($300)
  • +Like a bunch of stompboxes with a memory
  • +Durable
  • -Slight delay when switching patches in memory mode
  • -Doesn't come with power adapter
  • -Helpful to buy separate footswitch
• Line 6 Floor POD Plus ($300)
• Line 6 PODxt Live ($400)
• Yamaha Magicstomp
  • +Cheap on clearance, it seems
  • -Discontinued

A plan?

Towards a dream setup, bit by bit. In rough order of planned acquisition.

• Carvin SX300 or SX200 2x12 combo amp ($350)
• Danelectro compression & 2 EQ pedals (& more?) to help shape the distortion on the Carvin amp ($30 for each pedal)
• Variax 300 guitar ($500)
  • The 300 doesn't have a vibrato; maybe hold out for a 600 or 700?
  • Although at least one customer had an issue stemming from bridge pick-up + vibrato arm
• PODxt Live FX & modeling (in foot controller format) (Can control the Variax) ($400)
• Carvin G212 2x12 speaker cabinet ($219)

Variax competition?

• Fender/Roland VG Stratocaster
• Gibson HD-6X.PRO digital guitar (a Les Paul)

Amps I'm considering

Here we go again:

Name	F/X loop	line out	speaker ext.	phones	price
Crate GT65 (or 212)	yes (insert)	no	yes	no	$150–250 ($200–350)
Crate GLX65 (or 212)	yes (insert)	no	yes	no	$200–$350 ($250)
Crate GTD65 (or 120)	yes (insert)	no	yes	no	$250 ($350)
Carvin SX200 (or 300)	yes	yes	yes	yes	$300[363] ($350[418]) [plus footswitch & shipping]
Line 6 Spider III 75	no	yes (phones)	no	yes	$300 (sans footswitch)

¿Can the FX loop out be used as a direct out? Some (mix loop) can.

• Investigate clean (acoustic/keyboard) amp + stomp box angle some more?
  • A multiFX in a foot switch package would be less transport/setup trouble than the GSP-21.
  • A pedalboard could be just as good as a multiFX box, but can't preset programs.
• Mosvalve? Best solid-state distortion?
• ¡New to the list! Carvin SX100, SX200, & SX300
  • SX100 lacks FX loop.
  • SX300 has 3 channels.
  • Consensus seems to be that the SX clean channels are great, but the gain channels have a lot of hum. (& don't have great distortion compared to a tube pre-amp, but there's nothing surprising about that.) How does the hum & distortion compare to the Crate or Line 6 solid-state amps I'm considering is the real question, though.
• Crate GLX212 (what about their other lines)
  • 3 channels
  • FX loop
  • Direct out
  • Extension cab out
  • --
  • Decent review by Guitar Player
  • Pop when channel switching?
  • Channel tracking only covers which FX applies to each channel, not the level setting!
• Crate GTD212 (also played the GTD65)
  • Played at Guitar Center.
  • I assume the sound is going to be similar to the GLX series.
  • Built in tuner didn't seem easy to use.
  • Didn't notice much difference between the 1x12 & 2x12 models.
  • Sound is good, but sounded a bit chorusie even when the FX were off.
  • While not as flexible as the Line 6 as far as sound, much more flexible in working with other gear.
• Line 6 Spider III 75
  • Multiple virtual channels
  • No FX loop
  • Headphone/direct out (?)
  • No extension cab out
  • --
  • Footswitch is extra!
  • Level problems between "channels"?
  • Decent Guitar Player review of the 150
  • I played one at Guitar Center. Digital, while maybe not as good a tube, seems to sound better than analog solid state. Very flexible in the sounds it can produce. Not very flexible in working with other gear. Complex (which is a negative in a combo amp, IMHO).
• Peavey KB 3
• Fender FM 65 DSP
  • 2 channels
  • No FX loop (spec mentions it, but manual doesn't & I don't see it in the pictures)
  • Headphone/direct out (?)
  • No extension out
• Fender FM 65R
  • 2 channels
  • FX loop
  • No direct out (FX out for this?)
  • No extension out (FX out for this?)
• Crate FW120 FlexWave
• Crate GT212
• Crate GTX212
• Behringer (V-Tone GMX212)
  • It looks great on paper, but I'm very concerned about the quality.
  • Guitar Player review
  • Not great at crunch or chorus
  • Separate footswitch?
• Roland Cube 60
  • Played at Strait music. I wasn't particularly impressed.

Guitar Player readers choice award winners to look into

• Yamaha Magicstomp
• Stagemagic Pedalsnake

Option 1

Get a keyboard amp, like the Peavey KB 3, to use with my Digitech GSP-21.

Pros:

• A keyboard amp is like a mini-PA. (The KB 3 has four channels!) I could run a mic, my flat top acoustic, & my keyboard through it in addition to the GSP-21.
• KB 3 has direct out. (doesn't it?)
• KB 3 can connect an extension speaker cabinet.

Cons:

• GSP-21 may be on the fritz.
• Different GSP-21 programs can have radically different volume levels. So, using the footswitch to switch sound mid-song doesn't always work because it would require adjusting the volume at the amp or the output level knob on the GSP.
• Having to tote & setup both the amp & GSP-21. An electric guitar straight into a keyboard amp isn't an option.

Option 2

A 1x12 or 2x12 combo guitar amp with two or three channels.

Stomp boxes that I might want to add to such a setup: compression → EQ → amp → effects loop out → chorus → effects loop in.

Pros:

• Simple. Grab & go! Can take or leave effects.
• Separate foot-switchable channels means it is easy to switch sounds mid-song.

Cons:

• More affordable combos don't have direct out so I'd have to mic the amp for recording.
• More affordable combos don't have extension cabinet outs, so no upgradability.
• Once you add additional effects, switching sounds mid-song becomes impractical again. Could probably be taken care of with A/B switches or an intelligence patch device, but that's a bit much for my needs.

Option 3

GSP-21 into a guitar combo amp.

Cons:

• Kind of a waste to get a guitar amp if I'm just running the GSP-21 through it clean.

Option 4

A bit crazy perhaps: Two stomp box chains & an A/B switch in a clean amp.

Hmm...could still have trouble matching volumes between the two chains if they both go into the same amp.

Danelectro Mini Effects of interest

• DJ-25 Chromatic Tuner
• DJ-9 Surf & Turf (Compressor)
• DJ-14 Fish & Chips (EQ)
• DJ-7 Milkshake (Chorus)

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What I have:

• Westone Spectrum ST with a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge position (I think)
• 12-string
• Washburn SCX:7 Stereo Chorus stompbox
• classical
• Digitech GSP-21 "Guitar signal processor" rack-mount multi-effects unit with footswitch
• Yamaha flattop
• Washburn Camping Guitar
• Danelectro Honeytone mini amp
• Original Crybaby wah, model GCB-95

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Musings on what my dream guitar might be...

• No knobs. Just a volume on/off switch & a pick-up selector.
• 4/3 tuners. (like the MusicMan guitars)
• Tele neck? (Every Tele I've ever played seemed effortless.)
• I love the cross inlays on the Tony Iommi signature SG.

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I tend to prefer to record guitar direct (through a pre-amp/FX unit like--e.g.--the Digitech RP350 or from an amp's direct out) mostly for practical reasons. I record in my home study & don't want to pick up the noises from the kids during the day or wake them at night.

But I'm a bit perplexed by the people who mic an amp. You're going to expect a tiny micophone diaphragm to pick up the tone you bought a 12" speaker to produce?

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last updated 1 year ago #