# Guitar thropugh p.a live



## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

I do a lot of low volume, small gigs and I,m always to loud with my amp in order to get a descent sound. Anyone go straight into the p.a and what do you use besides a d.i. box.
Any effexs units out there that would help out? I dont play any hard rock, mostly pop, 50's-60's, country disco, cocktail music.
Thanks


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

I've done it with an amp modeller and it was okay, but that was back before they got as good as they are today. These days, with some of the high end modellers you can get really excellent sound and feel. Other than that, I've also used a Tech21 SansAmp, which was surprisingly good.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I used to have a Traynor Quarterhorse which didn't last very long with me because I couldn't get enough 'clean' sound on it. But it might work for you. I have a Palmer Pocket amp on the way and I'll let you know how that goes as soon as I get it.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2013)

I've been doing this for years now. Started with my Axe-Fx Standard and now with my Axe-Fx II. You can pick up a Standard for ~$1000 now.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I just picked up a Palmer Pocket Amp from Noise Supply and so far I'm quite liking it. I haven't actually run it through a PA yet, but I have run it through my little Fostex Personal Monitor, and it seems to do the job. I should say though, that I'm not a tone snob, so I won't make any claims other that I'm pretty sure it will work for me.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Chito said:


> I used to have a Traynor Quarterhorse which didn't last very long with me because I couldn't get enough 'clean' sound on it. But it might work for you. I have a Palmer Pocket amp on the way and I'll let you know how that goes as soon as I get it.


Thanks Chito. I just did a bit of research on this and it sounds good and looks simple to operate. cant wait to hear your impressions.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

bw66 said:


> I just picked up a Palmer Pocket Amp from Noise Supply and so far I'm quite liking it. I haven't actually run it through a PA yet, but I have run it through my little Fostex Personal Monitor, and it seems to do the job. I should say though, that I'm not a tone snob, so I won't make any claims other that I'm pretty sure it will work for me.


Very interresting, thanks


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I recently purchased a used Line6 POD HD bean with the intention of going ampless straight into the PA and possibly without my board if I could program what I needed into the POD. The programming hasn't been productive but I've got some great amp sounds out of it so I think I'll try to use my board into the POD and into a PA.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

marcos said:


> I do a lot of low volume, small gigs and I,m always to loud with my amp in order to get a descent sound. Anyone go straight into the p.a and what do you use besides a d.i. box.
> Any effexs units out there that would help out? I dont play any hard rock, mostly pop, 50's-60's, country disco, cocktail music.
> Thanks


I gigged with a Vox Tonelab LE for several years, direct to the snake and had my own monitor mix to hear, well whatever I wanted.

It was perfect for what you need and my set up was simple and portable.

Here's a couple of youtube clips describing the set up.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gQZrx11Ar10&app=m

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckRapa3vFLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrR1XOEdMV4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4zEyBG-BNc


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Milkman said:


> I gigged with a Vox Tonelab LE for several years, direct to the snake and had my own monitor mix to hear, well whatever I wanted.
> 
> It was perfect for what you need and my set up was simple and portable.
> 
> ...


That sounds pretty good to my ears. Gonna look into the Vox Tonelab. Thanks Milkman. I noticed that it said that Strat was stollen right after the Youtube clip. Did you ever get it back?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

marcos said:


> That sounds pretty good to my ears. Gonna look into the Vox Tonelab. Thanks Milkman. I noticed that it said that Strat was stollen right after the Youtube clip. Did you ever get it back?



No, sadly that one was never recovered. Another guitar and a mandolin stolen at the same time were given back to me by someone who bought them.

The strat is still MIA.

It was a nice MIM with a Carvin loaded pickguard.

just a peach. I was sorry to lose it.

Tonelabs are cheap on the used market. You can get them for less than $200.

That's a lot of sound for $200.


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

Milkman said:


> I gigged with a Vox Tonelab LE for several years, direct to the snake and had my own monitor mix to hear, well whatever I wanted.
> 
> It was perfect for what you need and my set up was simple and portable.
> 
> ...


Nice playing, Mike! 

I actually had the Tonelab SE for a while, the predecessor to the LE. I liked it for messing around with home recording, but didn't like it as much for live playing. I found that there was some kind of "feel" element that it lacked compared to a live amp. But, hey, everyone reacts differently to different setups. The sound was quite good, though, and the latest modellers are even better.

HERE is a clip of me playing around in Garageband with it back in 2006. It's not a song, just a bit of messing around over a backing track I programmed, filled with mistakes and all (I only played for about three months in total from Feb. 2001 - Dec. 2012). I stayed on the single coil bridge pickup of a Strat-style guitar the whole way through.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

I use a digitech rp355 direct to the P.A.

I have it mounted in a S.K.B pedalboard. Used to have a real wah pedal as well but finally figured out how to edit the wah function.
good sounding unit for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBMZz--gI2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zcRFGUtKpc


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I've used a few different Tech 21 Character series pedals in to a DI and then to the board many times and they always sound great and are a cheap option compared to some of the high-tech modelers. I ended up collecting the British, Liverpoool and VT pedal and have also used the Blonde. All fantastic-sounding and definitely do a good job at mimicing the amps they are inspired by. I always carry one as a back-up to my gigging amp.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I'll chime in that my zoom G3 sounds good through a PA - set the output to power amp in and use a model with a cab sim, works fine, can get touch sensitivity no problem.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Thank you gentleman for all your input. Much appreciated.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

You know. I have my Tonelab listed currently but listening to some of the clips here are making me reconsider..........


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

djmarcelca said:


> I use a digitech rp355 direct to the P.A.
> 
> I have it mounted in a S.K.B pedalboard. Used to have a real wah pedal as well but finally figured out how to edit the wah function.
> good sounding unit for me
> ...


I have an RP255 that I play through headphones when I practice and don't want to disturb anyone. After hearing your video, I'll have to give it a try through a P.A. 

Thanks for posting the videos.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

Steadfastly said:


> I have an RP255 that I play through headphones when I practice and don't want to disturb anyone. After hearing your video, I'll have to give it a try through a P.A.


Glad you enjoyed the videos. Thanks.
Make sure you set the 255 output to "Mixer" 
I emailed Digitech and asked what was the best connection for Direct to PA applications, this was the very short response:



> [email protected]​gitech.com ([email protected])
> Add to contacts
> 01/08/2013
> To: DJ Marcel
> ...



Obviously the 255 does not have an XLR output, but the advice is the same. Go to a LINE level input on the mixer as opposed to a MIC level in.


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