Unlock the Full Potential of Your Modeler

[Spudler]

I made it fairly simple not to confuse them, all my speaker cables are 10 Guage 4 Wire setups that have a Nutrik Speakon Connection on one end and Soldered end to go in teh Binding Posts on the other end and all of my Instrument cables have 1/4" TS ends on them, Absolutely impossible to accidentally use the wrong one LOL.
(4 wire setup as I run Bi-Amped soon to be Tri-Amped system so I will have to add a extra cable and figure out how I want to connect it to the cab)

[gumtown]

Once upon a long long time ago...

I saw first hand an instrument cable blow out used as a speaker lead,
first the lead started squirting out a stream of smoke, then a hole blew in the cable,
then the amp started squirting out smoke too.

Only if i could have captured the smoke and put it back in the amp, it might have fixed it.

It was probably a blessing in disguise because shortly after that, the noise control police came around..

[GLUGSTER]

Once upon a long long time ago...

I saw first hand an instrument cable blow out used as a speaker lead,
first the lead started squirting out a stream of smoke, then a hole blew in the cable,
then the amp started squirting out smoke too.

Only if i could have captured the smoke and put it back in the amp, it might have fixed it.

It was probably a blessing in disguise because shortly after that, the noise control police came around..

This post...right here, is my favorite post of the year...I laughed out loud....

[AaronB]

Kewlpack,

Thanks for the original post back in 2007 -- it still seems to be the best article on the subject after a fair amount of searching. I have a Digitech RP355 MFX pedal that I was running through my Blackstar tube amp using the effects loop. Some of it would sound good with my Schecter C-1 but a lot of the preloaded patches just didn't, and almost nothing sounded good with my Strat. After reading your article I invested in a pair of used Mackie MR5's, and I'm really stunned at the quality of tones I'm now producing on all of my guitars, and in stereo no less.

I've also thrown an Alesis iPad dock into the mix and all of the Garage Band instruments sound amazing through the Mackies as well, and I can now do multi-track recording using Garage Band. I can set up the rhythm tracks using the Garage Band instruments and then bring in the Digitech stereo input for my guitar tracks. It's really very exciting, all in all. I also added a cheap laptop for easier control of the Digitech pedal -- much more back-friendly to change settings with a mouse than bending over all the time.

I'm surprised that the Digitech manual doesn't stress the powered-monitor setup, rather than just showing it as one possible alternative. They simply show the FRFR setup as a way to do recording, rather than as the optimal tonal setup.

There is some tweaking involved -- I found I had to jack up the output on the MFX pedal while keeping the Mackies on the loudest setting. But it has volume to spare, and I generally have the MFX expression pedal set as a volume pedal to control it. Bringing the iPad dock in also adds a layer of complexity that took some tweaking but I got there eventually. I'm running 1/4" cables (stereo) between both the pedal and the iPad dock and between the dock and the monitors. Or I can just go direct to the monitors if I don't feel like doing anything with the iPad.

Thanks again!

[Kewlpack]

Hey there - glad it's still worth reading. It's been a long time!

Looking back, it seems that the various MFX manufacturers should've latched onto FRFR amplification right away... or at least told the market about the approach. I've only seen it mentioned as a viable option by a few of them in the last couple of years. Many don't even acknowledge it beyond mentioning "going direct" or similar.

Glad to have you aboard. There's tons and tons of info here these days. Be sure to dig around with the search feature.

[echoraven]

Picked up a JBL 210P. Ran my POD X3 through it and the Fender Blackface patch sounded fantastic. I was almost bothered by how good it sounded to my ears, after all it's a all solid state path. Played just a bit with my Vox Tonelab, but this article is making me want to do more of it, after I stuff a sock in those tweeters, because darn they are bright.