i scored a vox tonelab desktop edition on ebay for £66 the other day. its old news here of course, but generally well regarded.
i was pleased with my bargain, and could hardly wait to try it out this evening.
sticker on the side of the box says the orginal buyer paid £359.99 - i'd have been completely gutted to pay that much to be honest.
but not to criticise too much, i'll continue with a review:
the presets are a bit of a waste of time, its far better to dial ones own sounds in from scratch.
the vintage and lower gain sounds are convincing to be honest, not as convincing as Hunter's AxeFX, but pretty good to be fair. i quite liked the modulation effects and reverbs also - when used in moderation.
comparing the JCM800 simulation to my 2204... they got the general spirit of the controls definately - in fact i ended up setting the model very similar to how i set up my own jcm800.
once you get to late 70s gain levels... well i'm not too sure about the sounds to be frank. you can hear grainy/fuzz/digitalness. i actually think the levels of noise on the tonelab are higher than my 2204.
if you're careful (tip: wind down the 'vr gain' for higher gain sounds) you can get a decent enough compromise between grainyness and warmth. its possible to get some decent 80s rock, or even slight brootalz. but these sounds need teasing out, and they aren't instantly available.
the V30 4x12 model is savage and simply not good. the vox 4x12 is pretty nice i think - a cool surprise for modern tones
there are many great clean and crunchy sounds from the box though. the vox models were really outstanding, as i suppose is to be expected.
i had a go at changing the valve with positive results. mine had a groove tube installed. i tried a JJ and NOS mullard. different tubes gave audibly different results.
the mullard did sound great where the tonelab excels - in the more classic tones. for the more brutal sounds (if the scorpions can be considered brutal) it felt like it was bringing out alot of the digital graininess - nevertheless it was better for these sounds than the groove tube.
i actually like the JJ in it to be honest. for the higher gain sounds, the tube compresses more and hides some of the digitalness. its smoother, but lower volume. i could push up the 'vr gain' control for a bit more richness.
so i'm not sure what to do about it. i might sell it on.... hmmm (pm if interested btw)
going back to play with it some more.
