Hi all,
TVS3, Hall and Collins, Q20 with EFTP, Zoom G3X with EFTP, Blue Nebula etc, etc.... just how much difference is there between them that the average player will honestly admit to noticing ??
Yes, I have tried most of these, and recently I set up a sound test using the Q20 with EFTP, the Hall & Collins, and a Zoom G3X with EFTP. I played 'Wonderful Land' three times, each into a separate track in Logic Pro and then muted the same single backing track that I used for all three. Isolating the single BT allowed me to make an exact side by side comparison between each of the three various solo guitar tracks.
The results .. if I am honest .. then I have to say I could hardly tell the difference. With the backing track added to the solo guitar I could not tell ANY difference !
I have no doubt that there are many others out there who have bought and tried all these different units, but for the average player playing mainly at home I have to ask the question 'are the more expensive and complicated options really worth the cost?' In saying that I have to admit to once being an owner of a TVS3 that I bought having heard and been convinced by some very interesting sound samples sent to me by Paul Rossiter. At the time, during a period when I was very critical about what I was playing and how it sounded when compared against the original Shadows' tracks, I did think that the characteristics offered by the TVS3 made a difference. But listening again today, and having listened carefully to the experiment that I have just completed with Wonderful Land, I am left wondering whether all the expense I went to was really worth it.
I suppose it's a bit like buying cars .. yes between a £100 banger and a Rolls Royce there certainly is a stark difference. But for the average man in the street who simply wants to get from A to B, then most makes of cars for much the same budget will do the same thing.
I am getting to feel the same way about Echo units ... Am I being too simplistic or am I just going deaf in my old age? What do others think ?? Be honest, please !!
Cheers,
Ian