Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Tonedexter 2 Initial Thoughts and Reviews
- Thread starter Ryan Stanford
- Start date
The new one arrived and it worked! Sure enough, the first one was defective. Kudos to Sweetwater for all the help over the phone, the great customer service and getting me a new one quickly. I used it on a gig Saturday night. Love it! My upright never sounded this good plugged in! Now to learn more of what it offers.
I’ve only played with it at home so far, but i would say it’s excellent, and it inspired me to put together a new pedal board. The big draw back that I quickly discovered is limited signal routing options. I would like the compressor (and hpf) before the FX loop and the EQ after, but both come before.
I also had a little trouble figuring out how to route things so that the reverb would not come before the FX loop.
Good Morning Tonedexter II lovers. After a week or so with it, I love it! For the last 10-12 years Ive tried too many preamps, pickups, etc, to get the real sound of my upright only louder. Thank You Audio Sprockets for the ToneDexter. Its amazing!
QUESTION - I'm shopping for a fretless bass guitar that I can plug into the ToneDexter and use the mapping that I created with the upright. Should I look for one with a Piezo or does it matter? Even if it has a piezo, there wouldn't be enough volume to mic it and create a new map. I don't want an acoustic/electric bass guitar. I'm looking at the Ibanez SRF700 which has both magnetic PUs and a Piezo vs the Sire Marcus Miller GB5 which just has a piezo. Which one would be a better match for the ToneDexter II?
QUESTION - I'm shopping for a fretless bass guitar that I can plug into the ToneDexter and use the mapping that I created with the upright. Should I look for one with a Piezo or does it matter? Even if it has a piezo, there wouldn't be enough volume to mic it and create a new map. I don't want an acoustic/electric bass guitar. I'm looking at the Ibanez SRF700 which has both magnetic PUs and a Piezo vs the Sire Marcus Miller GB5 which just has a piezo. Which one would be a better match for the ToneDexter II?
I’m not super optimistic about that working well, but i would think something like the Ibanez SRH500 with the chambered body would be your best bet. (I’m not familiar with the Sire.)
Edit: i see the GB5 also has a chambered body.
I agree with Eli that it may not work that well. Don't forget that the TD II can import impulse response files. e.g. the offerings from 3 sigma audio..
Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio
I have a wavemap saved for my jazz bass which is based around an IR for a Bassman 4x10 cabinet.
Steve
I'm very curious about the Tonedexter.
-I would like to understand if it was possible to use two or three different mcrophones for mapping and then use a mixed sound of the three
-For mapping I would use a WarmAudio WA47 and/or a hypercardioid Oktawa MK 012. What do you think?
I am now using Oktava microphone and Realist Lifeline pickup both in my GR AcousticCube. I'm thinking of going back to using an Headway EDB 2 VAP or switching to the Tonedexter. Do you have any suggestions?
-I would like to understand if it was possible to use two or three different mcrophones for mapping and then use a mixed sound of the three
-For mapping I would use a WarmAudio WA47 and/or a hypercardioid Oktawa MK 012. What do you think?
I am now using Oktava microphone and Realist Lifeline pickup both in my GR AcousticCube. I'm thinking of going back to using an Headway EDB 2 VAP or switching to the Tonedexter. Do you have any suggestions?
The Tonedexter II has a “morph” function that allows you to combine the sound of two wavemaps.
You might find it unnecessary to get this complicated with the Tonedexter. There are lots of options with positioning the mic during training and then with shaping tone within the software, and adjusting for the venue setup at a gig. The makers of Tonedexter say that an expensive mic is not all that important for training, I have had a lot of success with a recently purchased Line Audio CM4 and before that with AT2021 and Remic 'White' mics in various positions.
Once I got a really good sounding map on my akg 414 (centered over bridge, a foot away), I never looked back - even though there are several reports of this being the wrong mic for this application. It’s easy to get lost in the minutia of map making, though. Good luck!
The sound of the omni capsule is a bit better than the hypercardioid for the Oktava MK-012, but both are much better than the cardioid.
Keep in mnd that training is a studio situation, not a live situation where bleed can happen and you need off-source rejection.
The Line Audio CM4 and Audio Technica AT2021 are both very good and cheap microphones and I’m sure they will work very well for training.
If they don’t you should try other mic positions, not other mics.
Keep in mnd that training is a studio situation, not a live situation where bleed can happen and you need off-source rejection.
The Line Audio CM4 and Audio Technica AT2021 are both very good and cheap microphones and I’m sure they will work very well for training.
If they don’t you should try other mic positions, not other mics.
When I was training the old version of the ToneDexter I ran a few mics through a mixer and made some pretty great wave maps (my favorite was a ribbon). When I got the ToneDexter II, I did one map through my Remic Red and another through a basic Dynamic mic. Honestly couldn't tell much of a difference between the two, especially once I started tweaking settings in the device itself. They were both pretty great.
How is the audio quality of this thing? how does it compares to the Grace ALIX for example? I Stop trying digital devices on stage (specially on the floor), as my experience with them (including, IR, Cabinet & Amp simulators, DSP, digital fxs, etc) have been bad, (electric or upright) sound wise and use wise. Is there anything out there that also does the "training" and allows you yo use your own preamp?
I haven't used many other preamps to compare, but the audio quality of the ToneDexter II is excellent. And it has so many adjustments that you shouldn't need anything else. It's the best amplified sound that I've ever gotten from my bass. I'm completely satisfied.
Earl
Supporting Member
Very good. In case you are interested I have a Tonedexter 2 for sale in the Classifieds.
