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I feel compelled to pipe in here, since in the past I've posted various questions, ideas and frustrations on getting a good guitar/tube amp setup along with all of my looper and fx devices. I've tried a lot of things, including dummy loading my Rivera Knucklehead, tube and digital preamps, full range speakers, JC-120s, stompboxes, and just blowing it all off for a while and playing my new acoustic. :) I've finally ended up with a solution that sounds great, and is fairly portable. The Gibson GA-30RVS combo amp is probably the key to my current happiness. Class A, stereo 15 watts per side, 2x12, stereo effects loop w/ a serial and parallel settings, beautiful reverb and clean+drive tones. I'm not really recommending that all you tube heads run out and buy one... but then again, maybe I am. I put a 4 space SKB shallow rack on top of that, with a Rocktron 612 line mixer, a G-Major, and 2 EDPs inside of it, and run the G-Major and the EDPs in parallel (via the mixer). Level/gain setting is very easy and rarely needs adjustment - I can basically decide my overall volume based on the amp's volume knob. I can (just barely) carry the Gibson amp and the rack at the same time with my guitar gig bag (with an FCB1010 in it also) on my back, so I can unload this rig in a single trip from my car. OK, I usually make 2. I'm finally convinced that I can bring powerful looping and fx options together with a tube amp, and not lose *any* of the tube goodness. I think the key is to keep the loopers/fx in parallel to the basic guitar signal. That requires a tube amp with a good parallel fx loop. Of course, Andre's been doing his thing with just a guitar into a Mesa Boogie combo with a single EDP in the fx loop for years now. Sometimes when I treat a loop with a strange, pitch shifted and filtered G-Major patch... I feel so dirty. :) Doug ----- Original Message ----- From: "L. Angulo" <labalou2000@yahoo.com> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 2:16 PM Subject: Re: live looping amplification etc. > ive recently gotten a Rane sm82 mixer which you can > rack mount easily.The drawback is that it only has 1 > stereo aux send but i suppose i could use the repeater > and the EDP mono. > My Roland GP100 is suppose to simulate tube amp and it > does a fair job so thats the compromise.Weight is also > something i am trying to avoid! > cheers > Louie > > > > --- Paul Greenstein <paul@ubiq.co.uk> wrote: > > Will a tube guitar power amp make a difference? I > > would say yes. The > > main thing I've noticed from using the Mesa 20/20 as > > a power amp is > > that it does bring back the 'punch' and dynamics > > that you want from a > > guitar amp. The looping stuff would probably sound > > more high fidelity > > going through a PA, but you have to compromise > > somewhere, unless you > > can afford to have separate rigs for your 'straight' > > guitar and guitar > > synth/loopers. > > > > Regarding mixers for live setups, personally I'm > > trying to avoid using > > a mixer outside of the studio, mainly because of the > > hassle of carrying > > a desk around as well as everything else. I'd love > > to be able to use my > > powerbook as well, run the guitar through Logic and > > use plug-ins, but I > > don't want to spend hours setting up every time I > > want to play. > > > > Paul > > > > On Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at 06:01 pm, L. > > Angulo wrote: > > > > > Hi Paul, > > > Good that you bring this up! > > > This has been one of my frustrations trying to > > have a > > > good configuration to balance between digital > > > versatility and the warmth of a tube power amp.I > > Run a > > > roland GP 100 and a Roland GR33 guitar synth into > > a > > > small 1202 mackie mixer, sending its aux into both > > the > > > Echoplex and Repeater, and then returning them > > back > > > into the mixers input channels so i can bounce > > loops > > > between both loopers.Then the overall sound goes > > to a > > > pair of yamaha active P.A. speakers. > > > The advantage of this is total flexibility; being > > able > > > to mix all the signals into the loopers and then > > being > > > able to bounce the loops into each other,so if i > > > recorded something i like into the EDP, i can send > > it > > > to the Repeater through the mackies aux and either > > > save the loop or twist the loop further,with the > > > repeaters pitch shift capability,speed it up,slow > > it > > > down etc. > > > But i am not still 100% satisfied with the guitar > > > sound.I played with tube amps half of my life and > > i > > > just dont get the punch i am used to just running > > the > > > preamp into the mixer and to the active > > speakers;The > > > question is if it would make a difference using a > > > dedicated guitar power amp instead? > > > Louie > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- Paul Greenstein <paul@ubiq.co.uk> wrote: > > >> I posted several weeks ago about problems with > > >> trying to run my > > >> Repeater through a Mesa Boogie combo - lack of > > >> volume control, noise > > >> problems etc. A few people replied with the > > general > > >> consensus being > > >> that looping and tube amps do not mix well. > > >> > > >> Anyway, I've managed to finally come up with a > > >> system which works well > > >> both for 'normal' playing and for looping > > purposes, > > >> so I can be at > > >> least reasonable versatile+portable (without > > >> spending ridiculous > > >> amounts of cash). I've ended up with a POD XT pro > > >> (rack) as a preamp, > > >> going into a Mesa 20/20 stereo power amp (the > > combo > > >> went back to the > > >> shop). This goes into a couple of EV speaker cabs > > >> I've had knocking > > >> around for years. I run the Repeater and a > > G-Major > > >> via the POD's > > >> effects loop. All controlled from the FCB1010 of > > >> course... > > >> > > >> This seems to produce minimal to non-existent > > noise > > >> and hiss, and gives > > >> me a good balance between digital versatility and > > >> the warmth of the > > >> tube power amp. > > >> > > >> I thought it might be interesting to hear what > > other > > >> people use > > >> sound-reinforcement wise, guitarists or not... > > >> > > >> > > >> Paul > > >> > > > > > > > > > ===== > > > www.luis-angulo.com > > > > > > __________________________________ > > > Do you Yahoo!? > > > Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on > > time. > > > http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html > > > > > > > > > > > ===== > www.luis-angulo.com > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. > http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html >