compact guitar processor for travelling

smegolas

im lookin for something much smaller than the gnx4, but that still sounds real good. it would be great of digitech made a small box with a compact flash input so i could use my gnx patches on the road (or in the living room) with headphones, but as far i know, they dont.

can anyone recommend something? it should be quite basic, compact, possibly even run on batteries, and have some great sounding presets - hard rock to bluesy distortion and some nice cleans. where should i look? zoom, behringer, boss, digitech?

web surf

I did see an advert for an MFX that was small enough to clip on to the Guitar belt, it was a Zoom pfx9003

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/pfx9003/index.php


And Behringer has a USD 20 Multi-Distortion stomp that possibly could get you the distortions you need.


I have no experience with both of the above products !

ponq

Line6 pod 2.0 small enough? Pretty decent tones for the size/price.

archon

korg ax3g

macman

I have the Korg Pandora PX4D. It has helped me a lot as it has all the rhythm backing tracks in it . It has good tone and I practice with headphones using that.

It complements my GNX3000 very well. In fact I have some patches in the PX4d that I need to recreate on my GNX3K as I think they are very good.

It is small like a Palm pilot and will fit in your rucksack or guitar case easily.

You can also record phrases and play em back at slower speed.

macman

Dobb

Hey,

I've been a guitar player and an on site oilfield worker for over 20 years, so I've tried many different options over the years. I've done everything from a slim acoustic electric, to hauling the GNX4 around. If you've got a decent laptop, the line 6 toneport is like $150cdn. It has all the tones and most of the capabilities of le pod. The difference being that all the dsp and amp modelling is done with your laptops processing power, and you gotta carry around both. It comes with ableton live lite, so you'll have a full rhythm section to jam with or import backing tracks to practice.

Zoom it seems to me has always specialized in the pocket rocket type processers over the years, mind you they've been criticized in the past for not having the best modelling engines out there. I bought my son a little RPX50 digitech unit for $60 bucks, it has a tuner and headphone jack, amp models and efx, a lot of what you'd need, and he loves it (mind you he's 14)

For under $200 you should do really well though. All other obvious choices aside, have you ever thought of picking up an old used Tom Scholtz Rockman? I see 'em go on ebay regularly. I had one for years and LOVED it. My two favorites over the years would be the toneport (flexibilty, wicked tones, but you need laptop) and the Rockman (great if you love that Boston tone,small and extremely portable,not as flexible tonewise, no longer manufactured). HTH

Peace 8)

Dobb.

guitar3456

Any of the smaller RP series (50-100), Zoom, Behringer V-amp. All under $100. PX4, and Yamaha Magicstomp.

zap

\Dobb\ wrote:

I've been a guitar player and an on site oilfield worker for over 20 years, so I've tried many different options over the years.

... and the Rockman (great if you love that Boston tone,small and extremely portable,not as flexible tonewise, no longer manufactured).

Thanks for keeping the oil flowing, Dobb.

S R & D sold Rockman to Jim Dunlop and might as well stopped making the little headphone amp. The ACE lacks chorus and echo like my Rockman IIB , Soloist(no echo), X100 and the Ultralight that Scholz made. http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=288&pmh=products/p_and_e_detail

Reviews are terrible for the new ones at GC and others. Those older modules rock and were used to record Boston's Third Stage. Only the Smart Gate is better under Dunlop's MXR line of discontinued Rockmans. Many simply add a Sustainor to their existing amp/rig. The 1/2U modules were used by about 20 famous artists and countless others in various degrees not necessarily producing a Boston sound but tweeked to their own. www.perfectsoundrockrefurbs.com

Or make one http://www.runoffgroove.com/mockman.html

Actually the Nobels were thought by some to have inspired the Rockmans and the new ones are smaller but available. http://www.nobels.com/en/index.htm See headphone amps.

iliace

AdrenaLinn is a good one, it has pretty sophisticated built-in drums.

http://www.rogerlinndesign.com

smegolas

cool - also, would it be possible to patch my ipod into one of these units so i could play along with it on the phones? aux in? what would i need to do that?

anyone tried the zoom g2? ive got an old zoom 505 and it blows. the main tone id need is a nice thick heavy bluesy lead tone.

id worry about the smaller digitech units cause the presets on the gnx4 are so bad.

iliace

If you want to plug in your iPod, you might consider the good ol' trusty Genesis 3; it has a CD input just like GNX3. Unfortunately discontinued, so you'd have to look around.

Of those mentioned here, V-Amp has an Aux In with volume control; others have options (e.g. M-Audio blackbox has an XLR-in) but no convenient ones; most have none at all.

Knowing what I know now, I would probably take my GNX3 on any trip where I might want a portable traveling multi-functional guitar effects box. It easily fits into the gigbag, along with all pertinent accessories, has a recorder/looper, allows for mic in (or another instrument - DI box fits in the gigbag too), and the aux in is 1/8\", so if I'm traveling with a laptop, there's my \"jam-along\" right there. GNX4 would work equally well or better with a laptop, depending on how extensively you'd want to record; but the line-ins are 1/4\" and are best at +4dbu. Generally I grab a set of DJ cables (1/4\"->RCA) to be able to plug into whatever audio device is at wherever it is that I'm accomodated on my journey.

If you're trying to not buy something that big or expensive, Behringer is probably the place to look. Their amp models sound good, that's definitely a plus.

guitar3456

Or a J- Station

smegolas

cool. i dont care about features - all i want is great tones and a few basic effects. no recording needed, no drum machine - although a metronome and a tuner would be nice. anyone else have any ideas about wether i could plug an ipod in and jam?

perhaps i could get a Y cable for the phones - one output to the ipod, the other to the processor?

iliace

I was thinking J-Station too, but it doesn't have a line-in? Or am I thinking about something else?

smegolas

g3456 - have you tried all those units? which sounds the best?

smegolas

i tried the korg, was fairly underwhelemed. g3456 - you thinking of doing a superseries for behringer?

you need to connect the v amp to your computer with midi (to download patches), i guess you need to buy a soundcard with a midi in/out? or can i do it by connecting the gnx4 to the computer via usb, then connecting the vamp to the gnx4 via midi? is this possible?

jt93

\macman\ wrote:

I have the Korg Pandora PX4D. It has helped me a lot as it has all the rhythm backing tracks in it . It has good tone and I practice with headphones using that.

It complements my GNX3000 very well. In fact I have some patches in the PX4d that I need to recreate on my GNX3K as I think they are very good.

It is small like a Palm pilot and will fit in your rucksack or guitar case easily.

You can also record phrases and play em back at slower speed.

macman

i have the px4a (acoustic) version, and i love it. i bought this for playing open mic's around town. i have a 99 000-15ce (mahog top) and it has always had a bit of a subdued sound, and the piezo is kinda harsh. running thru the korg, it sounds beautimous. the only complaint i have is the verb on it is pretty crappy. and the phaser is a little noisy, but it still kicks much ass .

and the drum tracks on it are very sweet and plentiful. you can also chain them together ot create your own backing track. and the drum track has bass also, and you can set the key it's in. book details all the choard progressions for each drum style.

id rate it 9.5 /10

archon

hmmm v-amp2? = good call!

man i miss my v-ampire, might get the v-amp next pay day - should fit nicely in my gig bag..