The Doom Room: ILF Edition

[odontophobia]

Sam, I use (or should say used since I just went through a major downsizing on my board) a TC Helicon Mic Mechanic for my vocals live. I use it to record at home as well. The reverbs and echo are pretty nice. Doesn't have any chorus, distortion or some of the other effects that bigger units use but it sounds great. Shroud Eater used one when we played with them and I loved it. I think Ben from Khemmis used one for a bit, too so he might be able to tell you a little more about it.

I also use one. I'm happy with it. If we play out and the sound system has verb and echo built in then I may use that instead but who knows. I think either Khemmis Ben or Conky suggested to never use the "tone" control in it and that's worked wonders.

[D.o.S.]

I have not had the good fortune to try out a KWB...or even a DOD 250, or Distortion+ for that matter. I really need to try one out, I really love that clean/dirty thing they do.

You can try mine if you want?

[conky]

Sam, I use (or should say used since I just went through a major downsizing on my board) a TC Helicon Mic Mechanic for my vocals live. I use it to record at home as well. The reverbs and echo are pretty nice. Doesn't have any chorus, distortion or some of the other effects that bigger units use but it sounds great. Shroud Eater used one when we played with them and I loved it. I think Ben from Khemmis used one for a bit, too so he might be able to tell you a little more about it.

I also use one. I'm happy with it. If we play out and the sound system has verb and echo built in then I may use that instead but who knows. I think either Khemmis Ben or Conky suggested to never use the "tone" control in it and that's worked wonders.

yeah, its pretty useless in a live setting. too much feedback and all. i did find it works ok when doing home recordings. it compresses and gives a little brightness right off the bat so it saves a bit of time eq'ing and adding plug ins for quick stuff.

[gnomethrone]

Yo I'm telling you guys, digitech guitar multi effects for vocals. Built in noise gate.

[samzadgan]

Thanks all for the info...I'll check out those units.

Also a friend has an old digitech multi...I'll give that a spin too.

[BitchPudding]

I use a boss multi for vocals as well. Definitely way more handy than having a "vocal board" unless you wanna get weird.

[conky]

What kind of monitors are you guys using? I have KRK Rokit 5s right now and I like them but they color the tone a bit. I'd like something that is more transparent.

[D.o.S.]

I asked a similar question in T&R, you might be able to find some good suggestions there?
viewtopic.php?f=247&t=53246

[emptyparadigm]

DoS...i had a listen to that album...nice work man...it really spaced me out.

so...New Year, and new band! Crimson Ritual ended when my band mate suffered some sever mental health issues late last year. He's fine now (physically anyway), but he's moved back to his parents place outside the city and is just taking it easy. It's a real shame, because when he was stable, he was a really nice guy...and plus we just clicked musically.

So new band is another 2 piece, but its me on guitar and noise and band mate on drums, which is different for me, because i need to write riffs to a beat. Last week we had our first jam, which went awesome. I had a couple of parts worked out for it, and we jammed it out and we quickly got it to a point where we have the best part of a song done...just need to tighten it up and maybe add some colour to it. I'm also, for the first time going to try my hand at vocals - inaudible death metal growls - so that should be interesting.

so the question is, what effects do people use on vocal's? do you even need vocal effects? im thinking maybe some reverb??

by the way...new band name might be Jackals Peak.

Hell yes on new band. Dig the name too.

Conky is right that I use a Mic Mechanic. Or did. I couldn't fit it on my tiny board for the fly in shows, so I went without vocal effects and just had the FOH guy put delay/verb on mine. It sounded just as good and I didn't have to fuck with extra cables or anything. That said, the MM rules. Super intuitive, and the echo + verb settings rule. As others have said, don't use the tone function -- instant feedback. You could also go for the blue Voicelive Play box -- that's what Phil uses now, and it's got tons of cool things including delay, echo, harmonies, distortion/megaphone.


On an unrelated note, I scored an Orange Thunderverb 200 for under a grand. Initial thoughts are that it rules, but it's weird using amp gain again (the thing haaaaaaates my Quantum Mystic, sadly). The downside of using amp gain is that I have to cable up my time-based stuff in the loop, which isn't a huge deal but just means more cables to tote around. On the plus side, slamming it with the Black Forest with just a tiny bit of gain makes the dirt sound massive. Going to take all of my dirt pedals to the practice space today and really dig into it.

Now, while it sounds good, part of me doesn't want to rethink my whole pedalboard/tone deal. But touring weeks at a time with my V4 or V2, both of which are 40+ years old, seems like a bad idea even with a killer backup (have a ToneBlock 201 arriving today). So, I figured I'd ask this: is there a new(ish) amp that is loud, clean, and reliable other than going with something ungodly expensive like a Science Mother? I saw that EHX reissued the Mig50, and I'd like to try one out, but 50 watts means way less clean headroom and I haven't been able to find any reviews on the amp's reliability. But they go used for under 500 bucks, so maybe that's the ticket?

Also, I need to sell some of my stockpile of amps. Holy shit I have a wall in my office now.

[D.o.S.]

Did they reissue the Mig100, too? That would be the one I would recommend first over the 50 for what you're doing since it's basically a JCM-lite (this is just going by the Sovtek versions, haven't tried the reissues yet). Otherwise the Mesa F-series are an absolute fucking steal for the prices they're going for now on the used market:
http://www.musicgoroundgreenfield.com/p ... gQodqwsLGA

That's been my go to recommendation for people looking for the Sovteks/Sunns of today.

Obviously there are loads of power amps that will do what you want but I don't believe/think you have a go-to preamp in your mind's eye -- although obviously you can afford one now that you're a big shot FLY INS AND FESTIVALS SUPAHSTAH -- I know one dude who has replaced a bunch of his Sunn power amps with one Peavey IPR. Band sounds just as fucking massive as ever (similar to The Body in volume and tone), rig is about a million pounds lighter in the head department.

[emptyparadigm]

Hahahaha. you. Also, fuck, that Mesa sounds like EXACTLY what I want. Is that a "hit it now" kind of price? Or would patience pay off a bit more?

[D.o.S.]

I'd say that's a pretty good price (~650 shipped) for the head alone, they usually go for a little bit more than the combos, but yeah 5-600 without shipping is what they seem to be selling for/fair price.

Also it kind of goes without saying but the Mesa will be way easier to deal with than a Sovtek, both in terms of component/build quality and as far as actually having a company to fall back on. i.e. working with your tech/work on the amp itself.

[emptyparadigm]

I'd say that's a pretty good price (~650 shipped) for the head alone, they usually go for a little bit more than the combos, but yeah 5-600 without shipping is what they seem to be selling for/fair price.

Also it kind of goes without saying but the Mesa will be way easier to deal with than a Sovtek, both in terms of component/build quality and as far as actually having a company to fall back on. i.e. working with your tech/work on the amp itself.

Word. Once I move some of these other amps, I'll probably jump on it. Good lookin' out, bud.

And I've heard so many horror stories about vintage sovteks, which is why the idea of a brand new amp with (presumably) easy to find/replace components is ideal. Also, anything that doesn't weigh as much as my v4 sounds like a winner because OUCH MY BACK FUCKKKKK.

[sergiomunoz74]

It's weird people always talk shit about Sovtek's reliability but I haven't had problems with mine after one year. I have never taken it to a shop for repairs and the last guy who had it whom was the first owner said that it hadn't be serviced and doesnt even have new tubes. Its still running absolutely fine. I think its strange because there are some that would break down pretty damn easily, but this is my second sovtek and knock on wood I haven't had any real issues.

Although often I want to go for a new science, but I stop myself because there is no point in my apartment and the fact that I'm trying to downsize for a big move

[D.o.S.]

The thing about the Sovteks is that the QC is totally hit or miss -- Pope's posted a bunch of horror stories about trying to get his up and running, mine played a lot nicer than his but would go through occasional spurts of eating fuses like Tic Tacs -- but most that I've seen/played have had their share of loveable quirks... and while that's defensible/part and parcel when you're buying a $350-400 tube head, but the value is totally lost (IMO) for the prices they go for now.