What a long strange trip it's been ! NAD

[Tonray's Ghost]

I've been acquiring and disposing / swapping gear in and out like nobody's business lately. Here is an update of my current and hopefully final lineup.

Started with a Roland Jazz Chorus 22. Acquired a Boss ME-90. Both units fine for what they are but don't believe anyone when they tell you the JC is a pristine clean pedal platform. The Jazz Chorus is a clean amp but had its own character which is different than say a clean amp used for a pedalboard. I would say it's ideal use would be for a standalone chorus effect or as a shoegaze ambient platform. Enough said.. loved it for it's chorus but not for much else.

Boss ME-90: unless you are going direct, have a Boss Katana or an FRFR speaker, don't buy it. Boss has designed it so it uses IRs to sound great direct, and also has special EQ to sound good going into a Katana power amp in but the EQs they provide when you want to use any other guitar amp suck straight out and cannot get a decent eq as Boss in their wisdom seemingly tried to build a jack of all trades no IR switch but mastered none but the Katana profile.

So..off went the JC 22, off went the ME-90 (both were bought used so didn't end up losing much in resale at all. )

New:

Amp: Laney lf60 112. Very well built snazzy looking 13 inch SS combo with 2 channels. Clean channel kind of meh but drive channel really good . I leave it at 60 watt mode with gain on 8 and volume @ 2 or 3 for a great edge of breakup tone..

To supplement that, found a sale on the NUX MG-30 , $50 discount new, and I have to say, far easier and better sounding than the Valeton GP-200 I had earlier. Great job by NUX.

The final piece is my first into recording and in decades of having USB audio interface amps I not once used it to record except as a test to see if it worked. Just hate playing with a PC when a guitar is in my hands. At an Audio shop in Bangkok getting rid of old stock discontinued products, found an ancient Zoom R8 mixer /recorder. Missing an SD card but everything else was in the box and it works and is pretty easy to use, was quite well revered in it's heyday and hundreds of YouTube vids on it. Add in to that a discount dynamic mic and I'm almost all set for a mini recording studio in the living room.

This will allow me to record direct and also mic the amps and compare. As soon as I do some book learnin' in these matters will definitely be posting up some demos.

For now ..some pics

[tlarson58]

Hooray for a NAD! I hope that this will be the tone you've been searching for.

I had a fostex recorder much like the zoom in the picture. Man, I used that thing all of the time for both band and home recordings. It wouldn't quit - and I bought it used! Have fun with that yours. Don't be afraid to RTFM.

What is the Laney voiced like (or does it have its own vibe)?

I'm having a problem with the cat climbing on my shoulders this afternoon. One second...

I'm back (with a scratch). 'Can't wait for the first recording.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Hooray for a NAD! I hope that this will be the tone you've been searching for.

I had a fostex recorder much like the zoom in the picture. Man, I used that thing all of the time for both band and home recordings. It wouldn't quit - and I bought it used! Have fun with that yours. Don't be afraid to RTFM.

What is the Laney voiced like (or does it have its own vibe)?

I'm having a problem with the cat climbing on my shoulders this afternoon. One second...

I'm back (with a scratch). 'Can't wait for the first recording.

Thanks, the Laney is definitely voiced on the British side of things, the kicker is with the bright switch and built in boost options, it kind of sounds like a cross between an AC30 and a Marshall. But definitely on the more vintage tone side of things...not a metal or Chugging amp but more of a blues, classic rock voice. Yeah...the recorder mixer is pretty neat...I scoured every shop in Bangkok looking for one and eventually found it on a dusty back shelf of an audio shop right in my local mall, discontinued product line, at least 10 years old, still plastic on the screen, obviously opened and tested at one point and missing the SD card but otherwise essentially new at about 50% discount from original price. I would have bought the successor, which is the Zoom R12 but the R12 is more of a digital touch screen interface rather than faders and most importantly, it didn't have the built in condenser dual mics that the R8 had, great for quick acoustic guitar takes without settting anything up.

[tonebender]

Congrats on the new amp. It sounds like you have finally found your holy grail tone!! Yeah right!!! I found mine at least a dozen times. LOL. I like Laney products but I know nothing about recording gear, especially if it is digital or software driven.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Congrats on the new amp. It sounds like you have finally found your holy grail tone!! Yeah right!!! I found mine at least a dozen times. LOL. I like Laney products but I know nothing about recording gear, especially if it is digital or software driven.

As far as recording gear, I'm with you on that. This is an old school mixer / recorder / sampler (has some drum pads to create your own beat which you then can save to one of 8 tracks). The only digital part is that it saves to SD card and eventually you can actually use it as a USB interface should you want to control a DAW like Reaper from the manual sliders on the unit...I just love the idea of not having to use the laptop/PC duing any recording, just set your input, arm your track, adjust levels and record. Later you can use SD card to load recordings onto PC for post work. That is what I was after. I play lots of original stuff (and some clearly derivative stuff I have stolen too) but really wanted a reasonable way to record for posterity, maybe someone will find the songs when I'm gone and enjoy them, "hey I never even knew he could play those guitars on the wall...I thought they were just for decoration"....ha ha ha ha.

PS: You know once you alterted me to that UK made Laney 5 watt tube amp, I spent weeks trying to locate one in Bangkok, but it seems they were only available here when they briefly switched production to China a few years back. Laney uses Yamaha as a distributor here in SE Asia and once the amps went back to UK production, apparently the tariffs were too high to justify selling them here. I thought I had located some old stock but turned out to be a mirage and the shop sent me a Reverb link and offered to 'import' one for me....at a ridiculous cost. So the new SS Laney is the alternative...pretty nice for a little not too expensive combo with a 12 inch, 5 year warranty too.

[tonebender]

I still have the UK Laney on my radar but I am happy with my amp situation. I have a Peavey C30 I keep in the rehearsal studio, a Gibson Goldtone that I gig with and a Ken Luker boutique tube head with a closed back Orange can with a V30 and an open back cab with a V30 that I use on special occasions. I have all the bases covered. I have a Fender SCXD that I use around the house mostly but I do gig with it from time to time. I still have one Ampeg, a J20 which is very much a boutique handwired amp despite being made in Vietnam. Still it is a far cry from back in the day when I had 25 tube amps, Vox, Marshall, Fender, Traynor, Univox, Laney, George Dennis, Ampeg, Peavey and several other brands.

[toomanycats]

Your sense of enthusiasm coming through on this thread makes me happy. It's a wonderful feeling when you have something to say artistically, you have the enthusiasm to see it through, and you have the technical and material means to make it happen.

I am reminded how extraordinary it is to live in a time when somebody like you (or like myself for that matter), has the ability to record, produce, distribute, and promote their own music to the world. In times past this would have required a huge outlay of money for studio time, a record deal for distribution, and professional management for promotion.

Those stand alone DAWs like the Zoom R8 are fantastic. In the 80s I did a lot of recording with a 4-track Fostex cassette machine. What a struggle that was with bouncing tracks down endlessly, the sound degradation, and draconian post production options. My first stand alone DAW was a BOSS-BR1180, which is not dissimilar to the Zoom R8. With both units you've got the storage capacity of digital, multiple available tracks, non-destructive editing, plus the tactile feel of the sliders and knobs. In a way, it's really the sweet spot.

[BrianSkeezer]

Congrats! I have the Zoom R24, which I love. I had Tascams before that. The learning curve is quick on the Zoom units. It's easy for recording. I got mine because I can't play drums (I've tried, and I just can't make all 4 limbs do something different), and the used price was great at the time. I found out that I can program drums somewhat decently through the R24. Just as a warning, you will lose hours of your life playing with the drums to build a song, but it's worth it when it all comes together. Have lots of fun!

[andrewsrea]

Happy New Gear Day!

I remember some of my metal / shredder friends in the 90's would use some of those 2-12 Laney SS to great effect and a wonderful value. I've seen the Nux MG30 videos and although the consensus is, it doesn't reach the level of nuance of UAD modelers, it is way better than its price point.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Happy New Gear Day!

I remember some of my metal / shredder friends in the 90's would use some of those 2-12 Laney SS to great effect and a wonderful value. I've seen the Nux MG30 videos and although the consensus is, it doesn't reach the level of nuance of UAD modelers, it is way better than its price point.

Yes, the NUX is remarkably easy to get good sounds out of. The Valeton GP-200 seemed to suck tone from the amp but this does not. The amp models are also pretty quiet as far as things go. It has a limited number of amp models and effects compared to the other units in its price range and I think that's what allows it to be a step up. One of the best features are the EQ 'pedals' available, very effective in taming any highs or lows that tend to overpower your sound in modelers of this type. The software is awesome too. NUX has really hit it as far as a company, great products at a reasonable price.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Finally got the Zoom R8 mixer cabled up and was able to do some extensive testing.

1) Output of the Vox Stomplab into the Zoom. Zoom output into 2 Caline S4 mini amps as monitors. Absolutely great sound, no extraneous noise and the recording sounds exactly as the Vox into speakers does . The Zoom apparently also has dozens of modeled preamps and effects built in but they didn't seem as good as the Vox stuff anyway but can play with them in post processing I guess.

2) Output of Nux Mg-30 into the Zoom. Quite a bit more noise floor than the Vox although using the IRs from the Nux sounds good but the noise is annoying. I'm guessing it's because the Zoom is running on battery power but the Nux cannot. We do have noisy AC at times so I may try a better adapter later. Also went straight out of the amp line out but that sounded crappy without IRs.

3) Tested a decent dynamic mic and testing 123 vocally sounds clean and crisp but when trying to mic the Laney, the mic catches the low level SS hiss the amp naturally makes and that ruins the deal. I guess there is some DAW hiss removal plugin or feature that perhaps will take care of what must be a common issue.

So far the clear winner is the Vox Stomplab direct out inti the Zoom R8 using the twin speakers amps as monitors. Sounds great

Now I know this seems illogical but here is a quick and dirty cell phone vid of my test of option #1). Just testing functionality now so later will transfer files to PC for true process test.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCUFV-1p ... A3MG5nZmcz

[Tonray's Ghost]

Ok update: resolved the noise issue from going direct from the NUX to the Zoom Mixer: Using the Nux procvided power wart cleaned it up 100%. I was using this cheap little Caline pedal power supply that seemed fine with some devices (the Zoom for example) but introduced noise in others. Finally took that out of the loop completely and all noise gone when recording. So using all native supplies that came with respective units works for me.

As far as the hiss noise floor on the amp, set it down from 60 watt mode to 1 watt mode and the noise decreased significantly and using the NUX as a front end to manage volume anyway, it sounds just as good. But for now no need to set up the mic (which is a pain for positioning, catching my foot tapping and just something extra to trip over.) I might try to use it upstairs to capture the Yamaha THR10C which is dead quiet and has no hiss or hum whatsoever. Maybe look for another clearance table for old Zoom products. The Mixer/Recorder is fantastic, I've recorded (just in testing) more in 2 days than I ever did with any looper or interface in 15 years. The only issue is sometimes it does not read the SD card on power up, just popping out and popping back in seems to make the difference when that happens. Maybe just some contact cleaning needed as this thing sat on a shelf for about a decade in the back of an audio shop. So far....EXTREMELY juiced and happy about the new setup, especially the recording capabilities. Need to learn more and start tracking some stuff in earnest.

[sabasgr68]

Boss ME-90: unless you are going direct, have a Boss Katana or an FRFR speaker, don't buy it. Boss has designed it so it uses IRs to sound great direct, and also has special EQ to sound good going into a Katana power amp in but the EQs they provide when you want to use any other guitar amp suck straight out and cannot get a decent eq as Boss in their wisdom seemingly tried to build a jack of all trades no IR switch but mastered none but the Katana profile.

I'm happy that you're happy with your current studio setup. It will certainly add the inspirational ingredient to start making sounds.

Now, about the ME90, which is in my whenever-I-can-I'll buy one list, in short, it sounds good direct - say, into a PA, for example - or through headphones? If that's the case, I think I can still leave it on my list. The ME80, and now the ME90, have always been in my list of wanted things. I like their simplicity and operational modes.

But now I'm not sure because of your comments about it. Anyway, getting one is not happening any time soon LOL. I guess I still have time to study it.

Enjoy your studio!

And I love that Zoom R8!

[Tonray's Ghost]

Boss ME-90: unless you are going direct, have a Boss Katana or an FRFR speaker, don't buy it. Boss has designed it so it uses IRs to sound great direct, and also has special EQ to sound good going into a Katana power amp in but the EQs they provide when you want to use any other guitar amp suck straight out and cannot get a decent eq as Boss in their wisdom seemingly tried to build a jack of all trades no IR switch but mastered none but the Katana profile.

I'm happy that you're happy with your current studio setup. It will certainly add the inspirational ingredient to start making sounds.

Now, about the ME90, which is in my whenever-I-can-I'll buy one list, in short, it sounds good direct - say, into a PA, for example - or through headphones? If that's the case, I think I can still leave it on my list. The ME80, and now the ME90, have always been in my list of wanted things. I like their simplicity and operational modes.

But now I'm not sure because of your comments about it. Anyway, getting one is not happening any time soon LOL. I guess I still have time to study it.

Enjoy your studio!

And I love that Zoom R8!

Yes...I did try it with headphones and also thru the little amps I use as monitor speakers, which are very FRFR like. It did sound good..but BOSS just has a switch fro either amp/line which either off/on the built in IRs for each model. When you switch to amp setting you have 12 pre-set EQ choices, and I found that none sounded good for all pickup combos for example on a strat. I spent too much time switching and trying all the combos each time I switched pickups. Fair enough though, they seemed to have the EQ setting for going into a Katana power amp 'in' down as many people claim that is the best partner for this unit.

I would also say that down the line when you look at the ME-90, also look at the NUX Trident as it is similar in its manual knob operation and if it has the same modeling as in the MG-30, it is sure to be a winner.