Guitar Cab Emulator

[jjnelson]

Has anyone used any??? HK Red box??? Cab-Tone??? any others... what are you thoughts on their...

jj

[vvv]

I have an ADA Microcab. I like it better than the Red Box. I have the older model, which cannot take the amp speaker out, only a pre-amp level signal. Combined with a Hafler T2, I used it extensively when I lived in an apartment, and it did a decent job of giving believable, and varied, sounds, if not exactly accuarate. I thought, and think, it is a pretty cool tool - I may just have to get it out this weekend...

Haven't used it in a while, I use the emulation on my little Roland recorder for scratch tracks, or a Zoom GM-200.

I mic. amps for keeper tracks.

[Fletcher]

I've been having way too much fun with the Palmer "PGA-04"... it works as a load for my amp and has some tone controls that have allowed me to really get a tone that pleased me.

As always... YMMV.

[kayagum]

I think many of the cab emulators (by themselves) work better for live settings than in recording settings. Most of the active emulators tend to either be rather bright (which works well through PA speakers). Passive emulators tend to be thick and dull (e.g. Koch and Red Box Pro), and not much in the middle (figuratively and literally).

Personally, I like the H&K Mark III for some things (as opposed to the Pro- dull dull dull)(MKIII is phantom or battery powered, Pro is passive). They sound great with distortion boxes with a lot of gain directly in (e.g. Rat, ZVex Fuzz Factory), and paired with a SansAmp (to add meat) it actually has an OK clean sound. (They should be split, not in series) The Pro actually works pretty well if you want a lofi ambient background filter that won't jump to the front of the mix. I used one once on a guitarist that used loops and toys like transistor radios on single coil pickups and such, and it blended quite well with the rest of the mix.

For direct recording, pairing a H&K Tubeman with a SansAmp original seem to work pretty well, but I've been having better luck lately with the newer generation SansAmp stuff (TriAC, Bass Driver DI).

[I'm Painting Again]

guitar pod xt. i know a lot of people hate pod..it does not do great distortion..but the cleanish tones are pretty rockin on the new pod..i like to blend this thing with a real amp..or set it to play through the amp..or send it through a stereo tube pre..sounds pretty good this way..a great guitar tone shapeing tool no doubt..but not a replacement for a great amp..but a better alternative than a crappy amp..