Vox Tonelab Amplifier Modellers - Tonelab Studio, Tonelab SE, Tonelab LE, Tonelab EX - reviewed

 

Vox Tonelab Amplifier Modellers review

The requirement

In the early 2000's, Vox through their association with Korg brought the Tonelab amplifier modeller to the world of guitar players. It was a reaction to the introduction of the Line 6 POD Amplifier modeller which was very successful at the time.

The Vox Tonelab 'Brain' of the Studio unit was also built into two vintage looking Amplifiers the AD 60 VT and AD120 VT - giving the retro look of an old AC15 and AC30 but with more onboard functionality than those originals, like the AD 60 and 120 these were amplifiers that Vox has not bettered.

The Tonelab products featured control knobs which guitar players would instantly be at home with, rather than buttons and menus and sub menus that were found on effects rack modules of the time. Simplicity of operation and the tones were key!

Here's a  review of the various Vox Tonelab products I have owned.

The Tonelab Studio version

How it started - The Vox Tonelab Studio

In the late 90's I had a Line 6 POD and that was a great introduction to the new arena of Amplifier Modelling - and the POD was a game changer for live guitar and recording players, with good reproductions of classic amplifiers and effects in one red kidney bean shaped metal box. It could be used on stage or in the studio alike.

It suffered the drawback of the Tonelab Studio unit in that the Patches and Banks had to be manually selected which could be inconvenient in a playing situation.

The Vox Tonelab Studio rear panel

The Line 6 unit prompted other manufacturers to come up with their own type of modeller, Boss for one with their GT multiFX unit, Behringer with their product and so on. Vox as part of the Korg group were not to be left out nor were shy on using the technology and expertise of Korg's synth functionality - seen in their Triton and similar synths in this new area of guitar electronics. 

The Line 6 POD's shape was unique

Vox launched their Tonelab Studio, a standalone unit that could be used in music recording and  also in live playing, with sound patches arranged in banks of 4 x 24 Sets that could be edited, saved and renamed to your own preferences. 

The preset patches often were constructed and modelled to give you the same guitar and amplifier settings used on classic songs by well known performers. Being able to recall these quickly was a major advantage to players on stage. 

Vox's 96 patch palette was a great advance and sadly the VT series of amplifiers to follow after the AD60, had a mere 8 user patches. 

Apart from the Vox amplifiers featured on the Tonelab unit, the other amplifier models likely based on Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall and others were euphemistically named, so you could work out what they represented without having to give the actual name of the amplifier, property of other manufacturers! Once you heard the patch, you got the idea what it was alluding to!

For a performer, especially playing a broad range of music at weddings & functions, the Tonelab gave a quick way of having pre-defined amplifier and guitar effects sounds to hand without the need for changing settings and levels. A problem on darkly lit stages or where one song of a different style and perhaps volume segued into another was now solved by the pre-sets on the Tonelab.

The VC4 Foot Controller

The VC12 Foot Controller - as like the VC4 could be

used with the Tonelab Studio and the AD60 and 120 Amplifiers

The VC12 could store over 100 patches

There was one drawback on that original Tonelab was that it needed to be within reach of the player to effect the change of patches via the small buttons and it was not always convenient to break off playing to select a different patch. Or you would need an assistant to select the patches for you, remotely. This was true when you set a patch for accompaniment playing and then needed to switch to a patch with more gain for a lead solo. 

The introduction of the VC 4 and VC12 Foot controllers solved this issue. Both of these boards could be used with the Tonelab Studio and the AD series amplifiers, connecting to them via a CAT 5 Data cable connection. 

Both of these pedals are hard to find these days - I have VC12s as they offer greater functionality including the ability to back up the patches as I use them on my AD60 and 120's too.

With these, it was a case of using the foot switches to make your patch selection. This made the Studio a viable proposition for live stage work and a benefit in the studio too for volume control. 

The VC12 had 2 pedals one for volume (Outer) and the innermost one could be assigned as an expression pedal for Wah Wah effects for example, independent of the volume pedal as on the Tonelab SE version.

The Vox Tonelab SE - Stage Edition

The SE model added extra functions of patch & bank buttons and extra pedals

The Tonelab SE came about as the logical development of the Studio unit, the SE 'Stage Edition' gave you the the VC12 foot controller chassis amalgamating with the Studio 'Brain' of the Studio unit with the addition of a slightly increased functionality all in one place.

The AD60VT and 120VT Amplifiers

The AD120VT Amplifier and VC12 Foot Controller

The AD120VT Control panel - much like the Tonelab Studio and SE

in functionality and largely with rotary controls and few buttons

The AD60VT and AD120VT were a logical amplifier extension of the Tonelab Studio, the 60 was in the style of the old AC15 'TV cabinet' style amplifier, with a single 60 watt speaker and a rear attenuator rotary switch on the back panel giving various set outputs between 1 Watt and 60 Watts. The 120 had two speakers and the same rotary control.

This made these amplifiers ideal for home, studio and stage use. Built around 2000-2004, they were not USB equipped, being somewhere in that netherworld between old and modern connectivity! We have to remember that back then, MAC computers circa 2000 used SCSI as an interface before USB became the most used method of connection of devices. 

Although boards could be used to retrofit a USB socket board to old SCSI era 9600 type Mac computers. The Tonelab Studio and SE did have MIDI DIN Sockets on the rear panel which you could use with some sound cards of the time. This was the time when Cubase and Logic were the new recording studio programs for computer home studio recording.

The AD series amplifiers embodied the Tonelab concept with a reduced 32 patches, still enough for the majority of performers. However, the AD amplifier could also be used as a slave amplifier - on one patch just set it to 'flat' with tones set to mid positions and the Studio module then connected by audio left mono 6.35 (1/4") jack out to the input of the AD60 or 120, so you could use the greater patch selection of the SE via the amplifier as a 'driver'.

The Tonelab LE 

The Tonelab SE was a great success and Vox went onto replace that with a more functional and compact unit called the LE. The LE featured a 120 patch capacity over the 96 of the SE, the LE lost the inboard expression pedal of the VC12 and SE which was a reduction in weight too. 

The Tonelab LE rear panel view

The controls layout was simplified too for the LE but also some of the functions like the Reverb was expanded. Whereas the SE is ideally suited to classic vintage sounds, the expanded capabilities of the LE allow it to venture into more modern sounds too.

The rear panel features send and return 1/4" Jack sockets, Headphone 3.5mm stereo socket, 2 x MIDI Sockets, single 1/4" Jack socket input and left (Mono) and Right 1/4" sockets to a PA or mixing desk. An SPDIF optical socket on the rear panel is also fitted which connects to the G5 type Apple Macintosh.

The Tonelabs from LE backwards all use a din type lead connectable transformer.

Not one to rest on their success, Vox then introduced a smaller still pair of units to move forward from the LE:

The Tonelab ST top and rear views

The Tonelab EX - features on-board speakers

Last but not least are the later incarnations of the LE compact Tonelab un it, the ST and EX Amplifier modellers. 

The ST is the less well appointed and simpler unit but still a very versatile modeller compared to the EX. The EX has a pair of onboard small speakers mounted under the top plate between the 1 & 2 and the 3 & 4 Foot Switch buttons. 

The EX speakers are small but give you the sound of the patch when played without having to use headphones or connect to an amplifier. Both of these new limits now feature USB connectivity having moved on from DIN MIDI connections for a soundcard. 

All of these units differ depending on what you go for and indeed what you are looking for. I have owned them all and the EX is the only one I don't still have. Whichever one you go for the audio is superb, I purchased my Studio to play along to Shadows backing tracks and the sound is really close to the original recordings.

Due to the different features on the individual model types, not all the settings will be the same.

25 years on from the Line 6 POD and the Line 6 Spider Amplifier, these Vox units are still sought after, get one while they are still affordable and about.

Guitar Reviews 4U - Boss Dual Cube LX 10W Desktop Modelling Amplifier review

Guitar Reviews 4U - Boss Dual Cube LX 10W Desktop Modelling Amplifier review

The Boss Dual Cube LX 10W

Need a convenient small amplifier you can run an amplifier modeller on with flat response so you hear the modeller uncoloured by the amplifier?

I saw this Boss Cube unit and what appealed to me was the facility to be able to connect an amplifier modeller like a Vox Valvetronix SE and an Ipod to the Boss to use for playing against backing tracks at low volume at home. 

The top view of the controls layout -

note the typical Boss control knobs used here

In this 'flat response mode' (selectable as a position on the amplifier models control), the amplifier modeller would come through with the sound 'as played' and not influenced by the base amplifier tone controls or efffects. It means you can in most cases avoid using an external mixer as an input device before the Cube, for most playing along to tracks situations.

With an 8 AA Battery bay, you can take this onto the street to play or outside as a small PA, there is Bluetooth connectivity via an optional module so you can stream music to it. And with 2 small 5 watt speakers it should be loud enough not to annoy the neighbours!

The main inputs are stereo left and right 1/4 jacks so you can use the left as a mono only if using a guitar for example or both if the external effects unit has two outputs so you can get true stereo. 

The unit is very easy to use, with the benefit of Boss style pot knobs as you get on the famous guitar pedals, so the controls are easy to set without having to use push button menus. The only slight issue perhaps is there is no on-board tuner for the guitar, but if like me you'll use it for amplifying a modeller unit, chances are the modeller will have a tuner built in there, as my Vox units have.

The effects are good for a small unit and the amplifier types of which there are 9 on a rotary knob control include an acoustic guitar simulator, a Roland Jazz chorus amplifier, Fender Twin and a range of higher gain units are modelled. Plus the dedicated microphone and flat response as the last two settings on the rotary switch.

I have mainly used the Roland setting for guitar to do some song writing and the sound is good, it goes down low so you can play along without disturbing people and up to 5W so it is fairly loud for a room.

Its a very versatile unit and does just what I want and I think it is good value for money. I connected a Vox Tonelab SE to the Cube and it sounded good, which was the reason I purchased it for.

The rear panel with foot switch, USB & Blue tooth connection

(This stereo input section also allows you to use a mixer, if you want to change the tone of the modelling input device - rather than put say an Ipod into the aux input, you can output signal sound to a mixer and then bring that into the Cube - giving you more control over the tone.)

Besides that, the Dual Cube LX10W is a small programmable amplifier you can connect via USB to a computer for recording with 3 presets you can save per amplifier model. 

The Dual Cube LX offers many ways to play along with backing music from a mobile device or computer, via a stereo aux input, USB and i-CUBE Link Loopback, and an optional Bluetooth® adaptor. 

With the Phones/Rec jack and mic volume control, you can capture your voice with a headphones mic and send it to the USB and i-CUBE Link outputs along with your guitar sounds. You can also add the optional foot controllers for the sample Loop option.

Here are some great features of the Boss Dual Cube LX:

• Ultra-portable stereo guitar amplifier with professional sound and features
• 
  
• Two custom-designed 4-inch speakers
• 
  
• 10-watt stereo power amp (5 watts x 2)
• 
  
• Eight newly developed guitar amp types plus one mic preamp type
• 
  
• Seven onboard effects with deep editing via the DUAL CUBE LX Editor app 
• 
  
• Stereo input mode with wide, immersive sound for modelers and stereo pedals
• 
  
• Three-band equalizer
• 
  
• Store amp and effects settings in 27 memories (3 memories for each amp type)
• 
  
• Powered via AC adaptor (included) or eight AA batteries 
• 
  
• Stereo line output with mic’d cab emulation
• 
  
• Phones/Rec jack with support for an inline headphones microphone
• 
  
• USB audio for direct recording and livestreaming 
• 
  
• Control jack for up to two external footswitches
• 
  
• i-CUBE Link/Aux In jack for audio playback
• 
  
• Selectable Loopback function for USB and i-CUBE Link/Aux In
• 
  
• Onboard looper (requires optional footswitch)
• 
  
• Connector for optional Bluetooth® Audio MIDI Dual Adaptor (BT-DUAL)

Optional accessories:

• Boss Bluetooth MIDI Dual Adaptor
• Boss Unlatched Footswitch
• Boss FS-6 Dual Footswitch
• Boss FS-7 Dual Footswitch

Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 6118T Platinum 140th Anniversary guitar

 

Review of the Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar

limited edition in 2 Tone Platinum Silver and Blue

Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar - 

made for 1 year only - a collector's limited edition guitar -

this guitar is seriously under the radar!

Priced at £2500-£2900 in the UK new, this one was priced used

at £1699 and then reduced to £1499 in a sale so made it a real bargain!

The Gretsch 6118T 140th Anniversary Guitar -

a guitar packed with top-drawer features!

The glorious blue colour changes hue as the light sources change -

here the neck looks lighter, although they are the same colour!

In 1985, 40 years ago, I bought my first Gretsch guitar, a 1974 Viking and 40 years on my latest Gretsch guitar is appropriately being the 40th anniversary of that purchase, a Gretsch Anniversary model - namely this 6118T Double Platinum 140th Anniversary model guitar.

Late in 2024, I was looking to buy a 6118 Anniversary in 2 tone green, but they were hard to find, so I went for a 5420T in 2 Tone green which I purchased. Then I saw this 6118T advertised on youtube, which looked interesting.

The 6118T as purchased

This 6118T version is a special 1 year only production guitar, a 140th Anniversary Platinum model made in 2022 for the 2023 anniversary. The guitar as befits the Anniversary model theme has a 2 tone colour scheme, in this case Platinum Silver top and and a (Blue Stone) Platinum back, neck and sides. The paint is metallic with a slight sparkle to the finish.

In the plush lined case

The finish is in nitro cellulose rather than the more widely used Polyester epoxy paint. It is a flawless finish and the metallic pearlised paints really look fantastic. I have other Gretsches with thin poly finishes and these allow the guitar to remain vibrant. In my mind too much store is put in the nitro finish as the holy grail, I have guitars in both finishes and they sound equally great. The rub is the woods need to be good quality and the finish thinly applied. My 1975 Stratocaster had a thick poly finish!

The rear view of the Platinum Blue paint

The Binding is a parchment white colour that blends in nicely to the paint. The neck and headstock feature binding which is usually absent on the 6118T and Player series 2-tone Green Anniversary model guitars (some Japan 6118's prior to 2003 had neck binding reflecting the c.1961-2 style binding which you can see on the Brian Jones 6118 guitar). 

The wood used on this guitar's top is a departure for Gretsch 6120 shaped guitars from the customary Maple - in that it is Adirondack Red Spruce which is often used on Martin and Gibson guitars as a guitar top tone wood. 

Inside the body is a modern take on the Trestle Bracing assembly based on the style of 1959 bracing, connecting the back to the top and providing extra strength and tone transfer.

The FT-67 Filtertron pickups are Gretsch's own pickups -

they have pearlised internal cover plates

On the top of the body we have a pair of FT-67 Filtertron pickups modelled on the Baldwin era 60's pickups which have a trebly sound, almost single coil-like and quite bright. The Bigsby is a B6CP string thru type unit. Having a number of guitars with the B6C with the pegs on for the string ends I find the old B6C easy to string, this B6CP string through bridge was more fiddly to string I found and the job took far longer to do. 

The string ball ends get pulled into the bar on the B6CP too which might make removal less straightforward if they get corroded in, although this string seating might give more tone transfer.

The pickup mounts and pickguard are made in blue transparent plastic and the pots all have 'Falcon' style jewel insert control knobs which are stylish. The neck side features pearlised markers not the usual red side marker dots as found on many of the Japan guitars.

The rear view of the blue paintwork -

the blueness and darkness varies according to the light source

The neck is the usual 12" radius often found on most of the 6120 style arch tops bar the Brian Setzer Hot Rod model guitars which are 9.5", the back of the neck is a U shape and very comfortable to play, being topped with an Ebony fretboard which has bound sides. Many of the upper bracket Gretsch guitars have gone to Rosewood from Ebony, so the board being Ebony is a nice touch.

The tuning machine heads are Gotoh locking units as used on the Player series and the Brian Setzer Hot Rod guitars. These are nicely engineered units with a good ratio. These feature adjustment in the turn resistance by the screw in the key end.

The control knobs are stylish and unusual 

Unusually, the guitar features Schaller Strap Locks and they are a nice uprated design with larger locking collars on. Much as I like the old Gretsch screw-on strap top buttons, they are a worry as they can slip out of your hands when putting on or taking off a guitar strap and can become easily lost which is an issue if you are playing live and have no spare ones in the case! These new strap mounted locking units clip on to the strap buttons easily. 

Locking machine heads by Gotoh 

Hardware is chrome plated fare throughout and a Tunamatic blade saddle bridge sits on an Ebony base which has locating pins under the base feet to stop the bridge base moving about.

Also note the double anniversary inlaid logo here near the neck volute

The build quality is as you would expect from a Terada-made Japan Gretsch is superb, with faultless construction and finishing. You could pay a lot more money for this guitar and still consider this a top quality guitar. The quality is about the best I have seen.

The beautiful vibrant abalone inlaid Gretsch logo

This review instrument was a used guitar with little use and 'out of the case' I found it really nice with a slick action, the strings were old and probably the originals - these were changed straightaway after the guitar had a clean up and a set of D'Addario 10-46 strings were put on. The guitar is supplied new with 11 - 49 strings, 10's are more my style.

The sound after my clean up and new strings put on was bright, I found a buzz higher up the fretboard which wasn't the frets but found to be the Tunamatic bridge causing the problem - I suspect it was resonating and causing the issue. 

I changed the Tunamatic bridge out for a Vanson Tunamatic with roller saddles that I have fitted on most of my Gretsch guitars and that solved the problem straightaway as the buzzing ceased. Brpoken spring clips on these Tunamatic bridges can cause the buzzing due to loose parts. 

The Vanson did change tone as the new bridge sat lower as it is slightly taller although the string height was set to the same as it was previously and the Vanson metal alloy is different, however I had purchased the Vanson bridge some months before buying this guitar, which I then had hoped to buy, so I had the new bridge to hand when it did come my way. I am wondering if this buzzing problem was why the guitar was sold by the previous owner?

Top view of the body and the straplock button

Once I had adjusted the bridge unit height and intonation I was back in playing mode and the guitar sounded fantastic with plenty of natural sustain, the Adirondack top I think makes it ring more and you can feel the tone in the neck as you play chords. It has a nice bright sound.

The front pickup is a favourite sound of mine and sounds nice and clear, the middle position neck and bridge pickups combined sounds great too and I was looking forward to trying it out with a band. The bridge pickup on its own is quite trebly sounding but usable. On stage it sounded clear and a lot of people liked the sound when I used it with a jazz band recently.

Top quality all round

The guitar uses the pre 1957 wiring harness type design as used on the 5420T and early 6120's with single pickup selector switch layout with tone and volume pots and master volume rather than the two switch 'mud switch' tone circuitry.

I test played the 6118T through a Boss Twin Cube practice amplifier on the Jazz Chorus amplifier setting in a clean sound setting and it sounds very nice, clear and even. The change of Bridge has improved the sound to a more rounded sound. I did try the overdriven sounds from the high gain amplifier models on the Cube with the guitar, but that isn't a sound I use.

The Player's edition 6118 Anniversary in Green based on a 1960 guitar -

for comparison - I do love these 2 tone green guitars too!

This 6118T 140th Anniversary guitar is part of a limited edition lineup including a 5420T with FT5E pickups and BC60 Bigsby and a Falcon version, I am quite happy with this 6118T as it sits mid-range price wise, the 24.5 scale suits me over the longer Falcon scale and there was a big money saving too. 

The guitar has a superb Gretsch hard shell case with cherry colour faux fur lining and it is quality all round. 

Overall, what is my impression of the guitar? I really like it, it has a nice colour scheme, it is built very nicely and it sounds great. The limited edition cache is nice too. 

Having owned a 2003 2 tone green 6118 Anniversary before, I think this one is upgraded over that and better for it, although I do like the old green 6118. The extra binding on the neck and F holes on this guitar and the better machine heads looks and works better, it makes the guitar look more complete and less of a poor relation to a 6120 that the green 6118.

I recently purchased a Gretsch 5420T in 2 tone 'Anniversary Green' which you can see my upgrade work on here. This is a Chinese made 5420T and is a very nice guitar for the money.

I am glad I bought this 140th Anniversary guitar, it handles and plays very nicely and also looks great. It also marks the 151st guitar I have owned since 1983!

Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 5420T Fairlane Blue upgrades you can do - improve your Gretsch 5420T with these easy revisions!

 Guitar Reviews 4U - Gretsch 5420T Fairlane Blue upgrades

Gretsch 5420T Fairlane Blue easy but worthwhile upgrades -

Hardware upgrades for your 5420T guitar

The purchase price leaves you a good guitar base

to upgrade with higher quality hardware

The Gretsch 5420 guitars are nicely made guitars for the price ticket and I've owned a few of them over the years! Starting with a 5120 in Orange that I upgraded and then a couple of 5122's, they offer you a great basic platform to personalise. I now own a couple of 5420T guitars, a Fairlane Blue Korean 2016 guitar and a Chinese made 2023 2 Tone Anniversary Green guitar.

There are great things about these guitars, with great quality construction they are not big ticket prices to buy, giving you plenty of scope to add upgrade hardware later or right away.

The hardware on these guitars is adequate, but can be easily improved, used examples of the 5420T guitars for example can often be picked up for reasonable deal prices and also one-owner guitars are often found for sale where they have not been set up.

Here the owner often new to playing quickly gives up on them sadly and the dream of playing, all these situations I found on these used guitars are mostly easy fixes. If only the new players knew, they could easily make their guitars more friendly to play.

A nice Stray Cats pin badge brightens up this

G5420T Truss Rod Cover Plate

We'll start with a few areas to improve  that will give instant improvement - such as the Bigsby, Tunamatic Bridge & Tuners. Our main example is a 2016 Korean made 5420T in Fairlane Blue and I'll include some pictures of a 5420T Chinese made 'Anniversary' guitar I've also upgraded. 

G5420T guitars upgraded and featured in this article

An instant improvement on the 5420T has to be the machine heads. The ones fitted work but are easily replaced with these Wilkinson WJ45 units. These Kluson style WJ45 units have better gearing and can be greased as I did before fitting them.

 Wilkinson WJ45 Machinehead upgrade

I used masking tape placed alongside the old units so the new ones would follow the same placing. The old holes were filled using cocktail stick cut into short length pegs which were glued with PVA wood glue and then the peg glue when dry paint matched.

 Vanson Roller Saddle Tunamatic Bridge

The Roller Saddle Bridge drops on as a unit, I've fitted this make of Bridge on six or more Gretsch guitars over the last 12 plus years. They are simple and inexpensive and do a great job.

 Bigsby B6C unit installation

Thr Bigsby B60 supplied on the 5420T can be upgraded with the B6C, which I've done on 4 5420T's over the years. 

Bigsby B6C in-filled with matched Fairlane Blue paint

On the Fairlane Blue guitar I in-filled the B6 details with colour matched acrylic auto touch-in paint mixed by hand from MG Trophy Blue and MG Platinum Silver to the correct shade.

 B6C and Roller Bridge installed

The B6C looks such a good unit, it makes an obvious visual improvement, as it also does to the sustain and tone of the guitar.

Wilkinson WJ45 Machine Heads

 Bush added to the WJ45 unit for support

Gotoh SG381 locking machine heads 

Used on the Brian Setzer guitars

Gotoh SG381 Dimensions

 Straplocks were added to the 5420T 'Anniversary"

The Schaller Straplocks fitted to the Green 5420T guitar when the wood was damaged removing the old strap button posts, on the Chinese 5420T, the posts are left hand threaded into the wood, not right hand threaded as on the Korean and Japan guitars.

The straplocks are more convenient as they are quicker to put on or remove the guitar strap.

 G6118T Anniversary Plate

Plate part number

The Green 5420T in the 'Anniversary' 2-tone green looks great with this Gretsch Anniversary plate on the head stock. It adds the finishing touch to the head. I have a choice of Gotoh or Wilkinson machine heads to fit to the Green 5420T. 

 Anniversary Plate on the 5420T