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My Super Reverb is too big to lug to gigs, so I've decided to look into boxes that would make my Clarus 2R sound more like a good tube amp. Does anyone have experience with this issue?
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03-14-2013 12:22 PM
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Nice coincidence. I am using a Sansamp Para Driver DI literally right now with my Tele, going through a Clarus 2R. It has transformed the amp for me in terms of being able to use it with my "real" electric guitars (non-floating pickup, non-piezo, etc.).
I find the sound tweaking to be very wide and the tube feel is very, very good. There is an excellent YouTube demo of it - do a search. The video, plus the advice of one of our forum members, tipped the scales for me and I grabbed one. I had owned the Clarus for years before hand, so it's not a honeymoon syndrome type of thing. The pedal is great.
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What I find most lacking in the Clarus is the tube treble response. How close can you set the Clarus with Sansamp to sound like a Fender?
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Timely. I'm right in the middle of amp shopping. My tube amp, AKA the chiropractors friend, is good but fussy. I'm looking at a Clarus 2 with a RE or Redstone cabinet (~$1500) or a Schertler Jam 150 ($1000). I want to cover acoustic guitar, archtop, and maybe vocals in small spaces. There are certainly other choices in this price range but with my trade off's, those two make the most sense right now.
So.. I'm thinking for archtop electric I'll be using a modeler. I've been using a Mustang floor and I'm kind of surprised how good it sounds (Dlx Rvb/Bassman cab, who knew?) running into a decent PA. I'm hoping it will also work well with the Clarus 2 or Schertler. Just don't think I'll get away with a dry signal and I expect modelers are just going to get better and better.Last edited by Spook410; 03-14-2013 at 01:42 PM.
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I do not like the Para DI "tube emulation". But it's a very versatile eq / booster / di pedal... I would not use it to warm up an SS amp but would use it to better eq it. The mid knob is brilliant but the bass is set too low in my opinion.
The Barber should be perfect. I have modded my Henriksen's reverb to a much better one and got a Barber to use in front of it but I am just getting it early May... if you can wait I can A / B both. I am also planning on modding the Brithsh side for a Brownface side
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The Para DI is also not doing it for me in terms of electric guitar sounds. It colours the sound sooo strongly ... And IMHO not in the best of ways (to my ears it sounds like a bad tube amp with a blanket over it :-) ... People are welcome to disagree of course). I can understand that other people will really like this tone and a lot of tweaking is possible for sure. I also dislike how the controls interact with each other and the volume is very inconsistent. I only like it to warm up piezo pickups in conjunction with an accoustic amp and it does that well.
The Barber is very nice. It is quite subtle and really lets you hear your guitar and the amp - just changes it to the better :-) i don't think it will make an accoustic amp sound like a twin.
Oh, and I also sampled a Tech21 Blonde - also not for me - couldn't get a decent clean sound of it and when it is set clean it sucks a lot of volume. I guess i am just not warming up to the Tech21 line (no offense intended)
So owning (and using) both, I would go with the Barber for magnetic pickups and with the Paradriver for piezo's.
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Like Jorge write, the "secret" of the Paradriver DI is the all important mid control which is semi parametric. The center frequency of the mids is adjustable which provides an awful lot of tone shaping options. Add to tha the very sensitive controls - a small twist on a knob means a lot of difference, so it can bring you all over the tonal palette. It works very well with a neutral amp like the AI head (which is more a PA like amp than an electric guitar amp). The center frequencies of the the AI head are not at all ideal for magnetic pickups. I set them flat and shape the tone on the Paradriver DI instead - combined with the low cut control on the AI head which allows convenient boom control. Like Jorge, I don't like the "break up" option in the Paradriver DI, but then I like a clean tone. However, a slight amound of "fur" on the sound (the drive knob set to between 10 and 11 o'clock) will warm up an otherwise sterile solid state amp a bit without being percieved as breaking up. Some have tried the Paradriver DI with a tube amp, but there it seems to be too much of a good thing. It's strength is with neutral amps or directly into a mixer or PA (and that's what it is designed for).
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Just to complement I would say as a transparent eq there are better options to me - like the VFE Rocket EQ or the Fromel Shape EQ. I have the Para DI because I needed an extra mid band and di out with my acoustic pedalboard.
But you seem to want some sort of "tube emulation". I think the Barber is spot on what you need, it will give you at least two great jazz flavors, blackface and tweed. Again, if you wait I can give you a better answer
I would also warn you that the Barb EQ is a preamp emulator. This means it should 1) give you the respective amp's frequency response, this is for example the huge mid scoop typical of blakcfaces 2) give you some "warm" because of the jfets. There is more to a Super Reverb than the preamp: you cannot compare the small ported cab with a pa speaker with a big open back 4x10 with guitar speakers; you cannot compare an hall digital reverb with a spring tanlk; and, to some, there's still a difference between tubes vs ss so you will have a power amp and a preamp difference too. Still it should help you getting close...
PS - The Barb EQ blackface setting is to be achieved with the mids on zero (the mids work differently on the pedal than on the amps I think). The Super Reverb has more mids than a regular blackface, so mids on 1-2 and bass / treble as you usually use them should yield the desired results.Last edited by jorgemg1984; 03-14-2013 at 06:09 PM.
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i like the para DI for the tube emulation. Don't get me wrong, it ain't the same as a tube amp on stun, but with my Henriksen i find it really helps to give it a bit mor bite. I use it with a Tele for pop type gigs and it works fine. I agree there are better eq's out there, but i find the tube emulation useable, and more options for output/DI purposes.
I owned the barber too, and did an AB test. I sold the Barber, you don't get the warmth that the DI brings, also, no gain or grit.
all personal choice of course
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Check out the Empress ParaEq w/Boost pedal before taking the plunge on the pedals you're talking about.
Best I've seen/heard.
Feature laden: -transparent sound [doesn't mask the tone of your guitar]
-3 bands of parametric eq, widely sweepable [15 db cut or boost] and also 3 X q width settings,
narrow/med/wide
-plenty of headroom, switchable power supply from 9/12/18 v
-quiet, pristine clean sound [distortion measured @ less than .03%]
- true bypass
- up to 30db of boost, with a separate switch
etc,etc...
No I am not in any way connected to Empress....but I hope to be before long when I purchase one.
There a couple for sale in my town....and I'm jonesing for one.....They are spendy mind...US$249 rrp
I think it would be well worth your while to have a look at the demos on the Empess site.
I'll do a review when I get mine.
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The Empress is fine although I would trade one band for full Q control. I think the OP wants something that emulates his Super Reverb sound not a general eq.
Gareth I get your point. I must add that my posts mean a 100% clean tone - I don't want any sag, compression, grit, whatever. If you want that the Barber is not designed to deliver!Last edited by jorgemg1984; 03-15-2013 at 03:21 AM.
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The Empress does it best for me too, but ...
Originally Posted by Moonray
The boost on the ParaEQ is pristine, and the EQ does not emulate tubes. Anyway ... Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
If the OP is interested in the modeler route, the Zoom G3 is small, light, and reasonably priced. It offers several amp and cab models, as well as EQ and other effects.
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Yes, I don't have much experience with modelling but have heard great sounds taken out of the G3 and the Pod HD - although I still have to hear them in a band context to be fully convinced. Modelling would have the advantage of cab / speaker emulation and also spring reverb / tremolo - at the expense of being more complex. But I guess once you find the right spot you just save the preset and it turns into a plug and play setup.
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The Para Driver DI can be used as a transparent EQ by turning the blend control off. This will disengage the SansAmp circuit. If you just want a little bit of tube emulation you can blend in a small amount. The trick with the Para Driver is that the midrange is before the Sansamp circuit, This means that different midrange settings will change the gain structure and you may need to alter the drive and level controls when changing the midrange.
Whether you use our pedal the Barber, etc you will have the best luck by setting your host amp to a flat our neutral setting. Otherwise the EQ's will fight one another.
Did the OP mention his speaker cab? No EQ can recreate the sound of 4 10" speakers in an open back cab. Open back cabs tend to have way more midrange and a more 3 dimensional sound than say a closed back or front ported cab.
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Tech21 an AI amp with tone controls at 5 is flat frequency response so it's great for that use. I even believe it has an fx loop so you can avoid the preamp's.
I agree the Para DI is transparent without the blend circuit and with everything at noon if you set the level to unity gain.
To emulate the 4x10 sound the only solution is modelling. As I said the Barber only gives you the tone stack, all the rest of the tone's equation is out! But that is true for both Barber and Para Di.
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personal, but i haven't found a pedal as successful as the Para DI for getting close to a tube amp sound. In terms of of that low gain fender clean that i'm heading for. Obviously cabs have a huge effect, but having owned both the Barber and Sans amp, and extensively tested the Empress, and going back to the OP's aim with this, I rekon the Sansamp is by far the best product. I won't go to a gig without it in my case.
Perhaps Tech 21 can chime in on how they think the 'Blonde' character pedal would perform in this setting. Fender clean, perhaps verging on slight break up...
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Gareth the Barber is very clear in that aspect: it's a 100% clean pedal, it does not emulate breakup at all. Same for the Empress which does not even emulate any amp's sound (although with the right knowledge you can probably get there).
What settings do you use for the tube emulation of the Para DI? It has been impossible for me to find a sound like, the minute I turn the blend knob on I start to get that upper-mim sound I hear on Boogies with V30s.
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I have cabinet IR's in my computer recording software and to me modeling won't get you a 410 sound either. When push comes to shove you can't recreate the physics of moving air molecules. It really captures the EQ curve of the speaker. It can't recreate the sound reflecting off the floor, ceiling, coming out the back of the cab.An open back is a very 3D experience.To emulate the 4x10 sound the only solution is modelling. As I said the Barber only gives you the tone stack, all the rest of the tone's equation is out! But that is true for both Barber and Para Di.
I actually own the 1st gen Empress EQ which is a really nice pedal. It is a very flexible EQ but offers no amp emulation. The Barber pedal probably has a more intuitive "feel" as it is designed to give you classic amp EQ tonal curves. It doesn't offer any tube overdrive. From the Barber site.personal, but i haven't found a pedal as successful as the Para DI for getting close to a tube amp sound. In terms of of that low gain fender clean that i'm heading for. Obviously cabs have a huge effect, but having owned both the Barber and Sans amp, and extensively tested the Empress, and going back to the OP's aim with this, I rekon the Sansamp is by far the best product. I won't go to a gig without it in my case.
Perhaps Tech 21 can chime in on how they think the 'Blonde' character pedal would perform in this setting. Fender clean, perhaps verging on slight break up...Our Blonde pedal is one of our most popular pedals and would probably be a bit easier to get the Fender type of tone vs our Para Driver. As I stated before, much of it comes down to your speaker system. The speaker is the last component in the chain and much like the way your tires on your car will determine your overall performance the same applies here.The Barb E.Q is a high headroom classic EQ that adds no overdrive to your signal yet imparts the famous "sound prints" of classic amplifiers.
What happens is that people set up expectations for the "feel" of an amp based on the "sound" of an amp. They don't always correspond.
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.... which is why the Paradriver DI often does not work well with tube guitar amps or other non-neutral amps - there's simply too much of a good thing. The Paradriver doesn't work well with my 30 years old Cube40 amp which was designed as a guitar amp. Nor does it work well with my vintage Gibson 79RV tube amp. However, many - me included - get good results with the Paradriver DI in front of an AI head with the controls set flat (except for the low cut filter of the AI head which I use to control room boom). Hook it up to a good speaker and you are ready to go (I use a Redstone RS10ER). Or plug it directly into a PA system or a mixer. Originally Posted by Tech21NYC
The Paradriver covers a huge range with the tone controls, meaning that the slightest turn of a knob - especially the midrange - can change the sound significantly. One has to get used to that when getting a Paradriver. Some find the knobs too temperamental and prefer, say, the "Blonde" (which is also a great pedal), which is more forgiving - though not so immensely flexible.
That said, I have just taken delivery of a Mambo head. The Mambo in itself has a very nice tone for jazz, unlike the AI head which to my ears is dull and wooly, lacking edge, without something like a Paradriver or a Barber BQ in front (or a Pod, but I like the analog preamp units better). It's not that I can't get the same tone as the Mambo with the Paradriver + AI head, but I don't like those wall warts and their flimsy cables which fall off if you accidently push or step on them. With the Mambo I can just plug in and play. Yes, the Paradriver can be powered by Phantom Power from the AI head, but the noise level increases and the sound is not quite as clean and clear that way, so I ended up powering mine from a wall wart.
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Really good to know you're happy with the Mambo!!
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I wouldn't say the Para Driver doesn't work well with tube amps. While it is a very flexible pedal it's not always the easiest pedal when it comes to instant gratification. It depends what you are trying to accomplish. It helps if you understand the host amp's tonal curve. For instance, a Black Face Fender Twin is most flat response (according to the Duncan Tone Stack Calculator) when the mids are full up and the bass and treble are turned off. Of course even if your amp's preamp is "flat" from an EQ point of view in a tube amp the output also has an EQ curve as well as the speaker cab.
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personally, i cut the bass to 9 o clock, and have a slight, 12.30-1 o clock boost at what i'm guessing is about 500, I.E the mid sweep is at about 10 o clock. Drive at about 9 o clock Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
this seems the setting for me, never really moves from that. just right for guitar/hands/ears.
like i said, for the OP's aims i think this is a good choice, the others are amazing pedals, but as you rightly said are 100 percent clean.
I see the advantage of the Sansamp as being able to just use it as an eq by blending out the tube circuit. also the DI options make it pretty versatile. engineers love it in the studio, just so they got options. It's saved my ass on a number of gigs with house backline.
All personal preference.
Tech 21, how about a version like the bass preamp, with 3 presets and an effect loop?? i'd have one of them. in fact i'd be first in line.. i saw a Blonde version on a namm vid, they released yet?
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Thanks, I will give it a shot. As to what pedal is best to the OP it depends I guess - a Super Reverb can be very clean so the OP might not need the tube emulation Tech 21 provides. We would need for him to come back and tell us
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We've thought about doing a programmable Para Driver but we are limited by the form factor we currently use. We would need 7 digi-pots and the circuit can only use 6. Originally Posted by whosgarethparry
The Blonde Deluxe which is a limited run should be available in May.
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