VOX VT60 "VINTAGE AC15" SETTINGS ANYONE

[Stratpicker]

I have been using the Korg Ampworks MiniModeller at home with great success using Bojans most excellent AC15 settings for a great Vintage Shads sound with my '57.
I gigged with it recently with a Live Band. The K A is NOT good PA'd and most of the tone was destroyed by having to ramp up the “Gain” = “AC15 volume” to get a decent output from the PA. I dont think the K A output stage drives well enough to give the PA a fighting chance. It wasnt THAT big a PA to have volume to spare!!
So – for the next band gig I have dug out my Vox Valvetronix VT60 again (mostly used on AC30 setting with my Brason for “modern” Hank etc) and applied the same Bojan AC15 settings with even more disastrous results!!
The tone is NOTHING like it should be. Woolly and dull.
To get anywhere near, I have the Treble at MAX (Bojans K A is 10 0clock or less), Bass is OFF, and MIDDLE is MAX and the Presence is MAX to get anything sounding like.
I am surprised as I would have thought that these two both being Korg products would have the same “engine” driving the Modelling.
I dont like to use the VT60's AC30TB setup for gigging as it is not a good model and overdrives far too early. The AC15 seems to have loads of headroom although it does get a bit raunchy by 12 oclock / 1 oclock on the knob.
What am, I doing wrong?
Anyone got some GIGGABLE settings for a VT60 that give that EARLY Shads tone and allow the VT60 to 'breathe'?
Cheers
ian

[Bojan]

I have no experience with the Ampworks as far as gigging is concerned, but at home, for playing through my PC speakers (which are very good Altec Lansing active speakers) or for recording through Cakewalk, I plug my guitar into the Ampworks and then plug the Ampworks into my Zoom 508. If I am playing to a BT, I use the Zoom patches, which are good enough for me, but when I record, I set the Zoom to bypass mode to get a dry signal. In any case, the Zoom acts like a pre-amp, boosting the signal, and together with the Ampworks gives a most satisfactory sound level.

So Ian, next time you gig, try plugging your Ampworks into your Zoom RX2000, MagicStomp, or whatever you have, and plug that into the PA. Of course, you don't need to set the echo device to bypass mode because you'll need the echoes. I'm sure you signal and your tone will be much better. If the PA is bad or weak, then it's not your fault, or the Ampworks' . . . but adding Vox amps into the equation just kind of defeats the purpose of having an amp modeling processor to emulate a Vox amp in the first place . . .

[roger bayliss]

Hi Ian

I think the most likely culprit for the change in tone is the input / output impedence matching between the KA and the PA mixer or the mixers EQ settings which should be set flat for your tone to be as you set it up... You could try putting another pedal like Bojan indicates in betweenthe two and if the other pedal has good impedance match it should work out better. It is often forgotton that the PA mixers eq changes the tone of any modeller and EQ is often set up for the backing tracks or overall sound which affects the original settings that worked whilst at home !

HTH

[Stratpicker]

Hi Bojan and Rog
I will try that in November. I've been so used to Guitar - Echo - Amp that I forgot that I can reverse the order and use the Zoom2000 to boost the signal. D'Oh!!
Funnily enough I don't use ANY of my pedals when using the '57 - I save all that for the Brason and Hanks later work so couldnt use say the Compressor to boost it up.
I DID check at the time that the Peavey PA was set flat -it was. The tone wasn't the problem - I thought the PA didnt colour the K A at all - it just wasnt loud enough without using a LOT of the "Gain" control. And on these wizard bits of kit that just adds distortion.
So - I'll give it a "GO" one more time and report back in a couple of weeks.
cheers
Ian

[RUSSET]

Hi Ian,
As you may know, with my band I use my Zoom G2 as a pre-amp/echo effects etc. straight into our PA. I have no problems at with the volume. chris, being the techy expert sets up each PA channel & gets the whole band set right in the mix. It is obvious that going this route you need you definitely need a pre-amp modeller to get the right sound through the PA, & I would have thought that your Korg would have provided that without any trouble. Make sure that the Gain level knob on your PA channel is set high enough, as it seems obvious that it is the output level that is the problem, I also have a Zoom RFX 2000 & remember that you have to boost the signal level prior to going into it, as it has very little Gain in itself. I used to use a compressor pedal.

Regards, Tony.