Songsimian.com just posted a review of 4 top amp modelers, one of which is our own favorite, the Digitech RP500. That’s the one we used for every harp track on our record “The Lucky One;” check out the player above to hear what it sounds like.
Digitech RP500: We like it too
Another choice mentioned in the article is the Vox Stomplab IIG; we’ve discussed its little brother the IG, which has the same sounds minus the expression pedal on the IIG, on this blog.
The four pieces listed in the article run the price gamut from $25 (a very limited Behringer pedal) to $500 (the Line 6 HD500), with the Digitech RP500 right in the middle price-wise. Check it out.
If you liked that, you’ll like these:
the 21st century blues harmonica manifesto in sound
The Vox Stomplab IG is a full-blown multiFX device that includes amp modeling, dynamics processing, a range of FX, delay, and reverb, all in a two-button stompbox design that runs on 4 AA batteries and sells new for under $70. I’ve had good experiences with Vox modeled amps, and I decided to give this box a try, especially because I’m not yet entirely satisfied with any of the battery-powered devices that I use for jam sessions and other situations where setup time is at a premium and AC isn’t always conveniently located, such as the Tech21 Blonde pedal. (I might be satisfied with the Blonde if it had delay and reverb, not to mention a rotary speaker and pitch shifter FX.)
First Impressions: Solid, not Perfect
The IG arrived from Sweetwater Sound last week. The form factor is very nice: smaller than a Digitech RP155, and very lightweight. The overall design could be improved. Yes, it runs on batteries, but to load the batteries you have to remove the rubber feet from the bottom of the device with a screwdriver. Whatever happened to removable battery cover panels? The device’s layout and user interface is fiddly and a bit complicated; most of the controls serve two functions at least, and every function is coded as a 2-digit mnemonic on the display, which means that you either memorize what all those (literally) hundreds of 2-digit codes mean (e.g. a 4×10 speaker cab model is coded as “t3”–that’s easy and intuitive, right?), or keep the manual close by while programming. The same issue applies to the Digitech RP155 (not to the RP250 and up), which only has a two-digit display, but the RP can be programmed using Digitech’s very good Xedit program, which gives you plenty of additional information about every parameter. Alas, the Stomplab has no USB port, so you can’t connect it to a computer for editing, saving, and loading patches. In summary, programming this thing is more difficult than I’d prefer.
The programmable memory is also much less extensive than the RP155’s: 20 user slots instead of 50. However, keeping in mind that I bought the thing for use in jam sessions, where you usually only need a few good sounds at most, that may not be a problem.
In Use: Sounds Good Without Too Much Work
I spent a few hours working with the Stomplab IG over the last couple of days. The architecture of a patch is very similar to the Digitech RPs, with 7 FX in a fixed order. The Stomplab’s fiddly interface is not terrifically helpful to a programmer. Among other things, the setting for any given function only is visible while you’re editing it; if you move away to edit something else, when you come back the parameter you previously edited resets to whatever the current rotary dial position is. That’s a real bummer: you can’t be sure what settings you just created unless you write them down as you go along. I like machines that remember that stuff for me.
Still, in a few hours I’ve managed to produce eleven or twelve good blues-rock amped tones for it, one of which is an uncanny match for a tone that I put together on the Digitech RP500 for the lead harp on my looped arrangement of “Key to the Highway”– a big loud amped sound with a slapback delay. In other words, the Stomplab sounds good, and it’s plenty loud.
Here’s a clip of me playing a groove with all of the sounds I’ve created for the Stomplab, one by one.
Overall: A Great Price For A Device That Makes Some Great Sounds
The Stomplab IG has a lot going for it at its price point of $70: a metal case and two metal footswitches, four bands of EQ on every patch, good FX, including nice delays and spring reverb, a decent pitch shifter, a rotary speaker effect that sounds very good, and a broad selection of good-sounding amp and cabinet models, including plenty of crunchy stuff. I really like the echo models, which have a big fat sound that adds a lot of depth to the harp tone. The most difficult omission to accept is the absence of a USB port and computer backup and restore for single patches and the entire user memory. But the price is amazing considering what’s in the box.
I’m trying to figure out how I can package these sounds for sale, but the fact that an owner can’t just plug the thing into a computer and load my stuff in makes it difficult. Perhaps I can figure out a way to communicate both the sound configurations and the process for setting it up to a Stomplab owner. I hope so; I think this device, with its low price, good sound, and high portability, could help a lot of people figure out that they need an amp modeling device in their kit.
Zoom G3--plenty of power in a battery-powered device
There’s a button on the back of your G3 in the INPUT section (far left when you look at the back of the G3) marked “Active” and “Passive.” MAKE SURE THIS BUTTON IS SET TO “PASSIVE” BEFORE YOU PLUG THE G3 INTO YOUR AMP OR PA. If the button is set to “Active” with a mic plugged into the G3, the resulting output signal will overload the amp or PA input; you’ll get heavy feedback at even low volume levels. Zoom G3 back view, input jack and passive/active button at far left
A simple thing, but important. So check the Input setting before you connect the G3 to the amp or PA. You’ll be glad you did.
I’ve been jamming with my new rig, and as usual I’m recording those jams. The new rig lets me get big tones in two different ways: first, I can combine the amp modelers and the iStomp running SwingShift to get big textures with lots of motion in them in real time; then, I can loop those sounds and add more on top.
The rig that makes the amazing big sounds
Here’s a cool sample that combines the Zoom G3 with the Digitech RP500. The Zoom is running a patch from my new set for Zoom G3 that features an autowah with a Twin Reverb amp model. The Digitech RP500 is running the patch called “TuffSli” from my patch set for RP500, and it’s also getting its input from the iStomp running SwingShift, meaning that there are multiple octaves in the signal. You can hear the pitch of the RP500 moving up and down against the G3’s tones as I work the expression pedal to shift the pitch.
This one uses the same patches on the same devices as the first, but the lines are played in chords. The pitch on the Zoom G3 doesn’t change in tandem with the RP500, but because the RP500 patch has a stronger tone than the G3, you hear both sounds as shifting pitch, with the autowah putting more attack on the tone.
This sound is created by looping a phrase from the Digitech RP500 using a single patch from my RP500 patch set, MA816D, which shifts the pitch two octaves down or 1 octave down depending on the expression pedal. I record a phrase using both, then play over that using a very nice clean amped tone based on a Fender Twin amp model with a big medium-length delay.
And finally, a nice funky phrase that uses a Zoom G3 patch that combines a Bassman amp model with the G3’s very funky phase shifter, over which I play various tones from the RP500.
All these samples were recorded with a Zoom H4 parked a few inches from the front grill of a Peavey KB2 keyboard amp. Sample volumes were normalized to the same level; otherwise there was no post-recording processing applied.
My rig is always in flux; I’m always trying a new piece here or there. Over time my rig tends to spread, like kudzu, taking up more space on the floor and more time to set up and tear down.
As readers of my blog know, just before the end of 2014, I did a couple of recording sessions for an ESPN documentary called “Keepers of the Streak.†To my surprise, the show, which I watched last night from start to finish, turned out to be a very cool piece about four very accomplished photographers who’ve collectively photographed every Superbowl from the start. The music included a lot of nice stuff that I didn’t know about when I recorded my own parts, and most of my favorite harmonica cues from the sessions ended up in the final cut, with the harp positioned nicely up front in the mix. I enjoyed every minute of it, which is saying a lot, because I’m not really a bigtime football fan. (Beyonce won the SuperBowl last year, right? I wish I’d seen that…)
There was a recent discussion on Harp-L of FX, which I found revealing of all sorts of things. It’s chronicled here, and be warned: gotta lotta words. (The boldface emphases I put on certain lines in that discussion were added by me, and were not present in the initial conversation. However, I thought it a good idea to break up all that text once in a while, and highlighting some of the big messages seems like a good way to do it.)
