Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

[jgcable]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

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When I hook up my pedal board between the SP77 and the poweramp I loose a tiny bit of clarity in the highs. Its very small but noticeable to me. Its most likely because most of my Boss pedals aren't true bypass.

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Not only the non-bypass aspect. The REAL issue is it is different impedances.

Pedals don't always deal with Line Level Impedances so well. And high end preamps don't always being loaded with non line impedance effects either.

Aside from that, think about this. You are running a high end amp, into a $30 Boss pedal that was made as cheaply as they possibly could, and then back into a nice power amp. You have a limiting factor there taking away from your potential.

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So Cleve, do you think I would be better off dumping the pedal board and buying a G-Major? I understand your point regarding the Boss pedals but there are so many pro's that use them I would like to think I could use them too. Especially since I have a ton of them. I also like the option of turning individual effects on and off.

[hippietim]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

I dunno about all this. I tend to believe we overthink all this shit.

Back in the 80's when everyone was using racks of shit and I had no money, I used to get *those* guys coming up to me at gigs asking me how I got my tone. Seriously, every gig I had guys from local and out of town bands checking out my rig. Here's my exact signal path of that time:

SD Rhoads Custom (lots of mac'n'cheese for this) -> Boss Volume pedal (the big metal one - still have it) -> Boss DS-1 -> Boss CE-1 chorus -> Boss DM-2 analog delay -> Carvin X-100B -> Tom Scholz Power Soak -> Carvin 4x12 cab on top of a dummy no-name 4x12 cab that wasn't wired. Most of the cables were Veneman music branded cheapos.

So here we have it no true-bypass, pedals all battery powered, no boutique nothing, I didn't know what speakers were in the cab, I didn't know where the tubes were made, I bought everything but the DS-1 and the Rhoads used. All I know is that I could plug that rig in and fiddle with the knobs for a minute or two and I was done. The sound men all loved me because I could dial my setup in at any level - I think this helped me a lot because I was always in the mix because I was willing to turn down whereas other guitar players typically weren't so they didn't get blended into the mix as well.

Ultimately I think this shit is in your hands. Laugh all you want but if you have any sort of reasonable quality gear you should be able to make it sound good.

Having said that, I'm pretty much of a gear whore who dwells on all of this crap just like the rest of you. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

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I dunno about all this. I tend to believe we overthink all this shit.

Back in the 80's when everyone was using racks of shit and I had no money, I used to get *those* guys coming up to me at gigs asking me how I got my tone. Seriously, every gig I had guys from local and out of town bands checking out my rig. Here's my exact signal path of that time:

SD Rhoads Custom (lots of mac'n'cheese for this) -> Boss Volume pedal (the big metal one - still have it) -> Boss DS-1 -> Boss CE-1 chorus -> Boss DM-2 analog delay -> Carvin X-100B -> Tom Scholz Power Soak -> Carvin 4x12 cab on top of a dummy no-name 4x12 cab that wasn't wired. Most of the cables were Veneman music branded cheapos.

So here we have it no true-bypass, pedals all battery powered, no boutique nothing, I didn't know what speakers were in the cab, I didn't know where the tubes were made, I bought everything but the DS-1 and the Rhoads used. All I know is that I could plug that rig in and fiddle with the knobs for a minute or two and I was done. The sound men all loved me because I could dial my setup in at any level - I think this helped me a lot because I was always in the mix because I was willing to turn down whereas other guitar players typically weren't so they didn't get blended into the mix as well.

Ultimately I think this shit is in your hands. Laugh all you want but if you have any sort of reasonable quality gear you should be able to make it sound good.

Having said that, I'm pretty much of a gear whore who dwells on all of this crap just like the rest of you. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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Similar story Tim. I got many compliments on my guitar sound from guys with racks of stuff too back in the day.
I was using a Hiwatt 120w 1 channel head, 2 red Marshall 4 x 12 cabs, a Kramer Pacer, MXR distortion +, MXR Phase 90, and an old tape driven echoplex that had to be kicked sometimes. No true bypass, no boutique. Heck... I didn't even know what impedance was nor did I know you were supposed to use speaker cables to hook up the cabinets. I used el-cheapo guitar cords. It only took me a few minutes too and I never had any problems with tone or soundmen. No programming, no nothing. The only thing I had to worry about was 9 volt batteries.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

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So Cleve, do you think I would be better off dumping the pedal board and buying a G-Major? I understand your point regarding the Boss pedals but there are so many pro's that use them I would like to think I could use them too. Especially since I have a ton of them. I also like the option of turning individual effects on and off.


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No, I wouldnt get rid of pedals you like, just use them in the front end of the rig. Don't run them in the preamp to power amp path, UNLESS, you get a switchable line mixer, and that will impedance match all the pedals into the path and make them switchable and when switched off, transparent. Although the rack "pros" say to do that even with higher end rack stuff, I don't do it, prolly should guess.

I really don't use pedals at all, as I like the:

EMG 81>EMG PA-2 Booster/preamp>high end cable>CAE preamp>rack effects>VHT2150 thing. Pretty direct.

On my CAE, most pedals sound like they are constricting my tone even ran in front of that preamp. Most amps don't display that though, I'm suire your pedal board would be fine in front. The CAE is just VERY picky.

[jgcable]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

I can't run my delay in front of the amp. It sounds like ass. I also have to run a boost pedal in between the preamp and the poweramp so I can have solo volume boost. Curious.. what rack effects processor do you use?

[hippietim]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

John - if you want to continue with some Boss style pedals - grab a Roland GP-8. Kickass units for pedals in a rack. As a matter of fact, I may snag one again.

[lerxstcat]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

He uses a G-Major I believe, John. Also though, note that although he's not using a pedal, he IS using an active EMG AND the EMG preamp booster, so he's slamming his preamp's front end hard, it's just onboard his guitar and not on the floor.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

Not much really. I'm using an Intellifex online as it "seems" reasonably transparent and was cheap. Waiting for a deal on a G-Major though as it worked awesome in my rack.

I just need some Echos and some choruses. harmonies would be cool, but, that would be some bucks for a smart one.

[hippietim]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

Cleve - you need an Eclipse [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[lerxstcat]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

Sorry about that Cleve, you know enough about the G-Major I assumed you owned one. OOPS!!!

[jgcable]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

All I really need is chorus, delay and solo volume boost. I used a blackface Intellifex for a few years with a Carvin Quad X preamp and it always sounded great. I don't know if the Intellifex has the ability to boost for solo's though. I know on the G-Major all the presets are set at -6db so you can set up a "solo boost" button on a midi controller that brings the presets back anywhere from -6db up to 0db.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

Dude, I used to have an original Intellifex too, and it was pretty cool, but from how things sound you need a G-Major. So get one! Don't settle for shit. I learned that lesson the hard way. I even do it now still...I settled for a DD6 and I can't wait to get rid of it and replace with a DD5.

[thebisch]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

*****Ultimately I think this shit is in your hands. Laugh all you want but if you have any sort of reasonable quality gear you should be able to make it sound good.*****

DING DING DING DING DING! We have a winner! Truer words have not been spoken in this thread!

[hippietim]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

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All I really need is chorus, delay and solo volume boost.

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Personally, I like the solo boost to be in front of the preamp because I typically prefer the sound of hitting the preamp just a bit harder to make it scream a bit more. Now if you dime your preamp it's not going to help much.

There are a lot of great boost pedals out there for decent money.

[jgcable]

Re: Soldano SP-77/Carvin T100 review..

[ QUOTE ]
*****Ultimately I think this shit is in your hands. Laugh all you want but if you have any sort of reasonable quality gear you should be able to make it sound good.*****

DING DING DING DING DING! We have a winner! Truer words have not been spoken in this thread!

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So.. riddle me this Batman. How do I get delay, chorus, solo boost by using my hands? I can get my guitar to make all kinds of sick noises. Especially my Universe. That guitar is almost alive.. but I can say with 100% certainty that I can't get my tone to have a 420ms delay or add stereo chorus to it or have a solo volume boost by using my hands. C'mon bro. Most of us don't run a dry signal or have a soundman giving us post amp effects at the board. Delay, chorus and solo volume boost is a necessary part of most guitar rigs.