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 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 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.
