Revisiting the Tone Dexter

[AeroUSA]

I have been using the Tone Dexter at my shows the past few weeks and plan on making a comprehensive review soon. I have discovered that I much prefer the Wave Maps when I have the mic around 14” from the 12th fret and I am also using the Slate ML-2 with great success. I plan on discussing the Tone Dexter and Impulse Responses in detail. Here is a video where I run through the training process. I’d be interested in hearing how others are finding this preamp now that the ‘dust has settled’. Just to clarify I bought the TD from Sweetwater and all opinions are my own :-)

Apologies for the ‘click baity’ title but I do this it’s pretty amazing!

[Petty1818]

I need to work with mine more but my biggest discovery was that a much lower blend (around 35-40%) made the Tonedexter far more usable live. It adds enough air/natural mic tone without stripping some low end and giving that hollow tone. A 100% blend just doesn't work for me.

On a side note, I have watched your videos and surprisingly, I feel that the K&K is the most natural sounding pickup that you have reviewed. It just really works with your Martin. Blend in 40% Tonedexter and you would have a killer live tone.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I need to work with mine more but my biggest discovery was that a much lower blend (around 35-40%) made the Tonedexter far more usable live. It adds enough air/natural mic tone without stripping some low end and giving that hollow tone. A 100% blend just doesn't work for me.

On a side note, I have watched your videos and surprisingly, I feel that the K&K is the most natural sounding pickup that you have reviewed. It just really works with your Martin. Blend in 40% Tonedexter and you would have a killer live tone.

Thank you. I’m about to post my K&K review as part of my pickup series.

I have thoughts on blending. When I blend the K&K back in the fullness of the pick up means I have to add more treble to compensate and I end up feeling like it just sounds the same as if I leave the blend at the 0 focus. I’ll experiment with this some more.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I need to work with mine more but my biggest discovery was that a much lower blend (around 35-40%) made the Tonedexter far more usable live.

I've said it in other threads as well, but I do some FOH mixing and I totally agree. A 100% setting might sound great in your living room, but live and especially with other players it becomes "meatless" while the treble content is musically useless and fights with the vocals.

I think because of both the money and the work involved, I've had several Tonedexter users actually get angry when I suggest that they dial back the blend. Or it might be a Groucho Marx kinda thing -- if I'm mixing sound in the kind of joint that'll hire them to play, I must not be very good.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

I've said it in other threads as well, but I do some FOH mixing and I totally agree. A 100% setting might sound great in your living room, but live and especially with other players it becomes "meatless" while the treble content is musically useless and fights with the vocals.

I think because of both the money and the work involved, I've had several Tonedexter users actually get angry when I suggest that they dial back the blend. Or it might be a Groucho Marx kinda thing -- if I'm mixing sound in the kind of joint that'll hire them to play, I must not be very good.

I hear you. It definitely depends on the room and the player. I’m playing solo and find that character setting 0 gets me where I need to be but it’s good that it has a blend control and you definitely need to use your ears and figure out what is best for the playing environment (like with any system).

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I hear you. It definitely depends on the room and the player. I’m playing solo and find that character setting 0 gets me where I need to be but it’s good that it has a blend control and you definitely need to use your ears and figure out what is best for the playing environment (like with any system).

Another thing -- many PA tweeters don't sound good. They're mainly designed with survival in mind. And there's something about Tonedexter treble that cheap tweeters will turn into icepicks.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Another thing -- many PA tweeters don't sound good. They're mainly designed with survival in mind. And there's something about Tonedexter treble that cheap tweeters will turn into icepicks.

Best not to use cheap speakers. I use QSC K.2's.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Best not to use cheap speakers. I use QSC K.2's.

Right, but I'm not talking about a BYO PA, I'm talking about what a bar or club might already have in place. The kinds of places I work in, in other words. You deal with what you're given.

[gfirob]

I have been using the Tonedexter for more than a year and I would not go out of the house without it if I’m off to play in public.

After about six months or so, I re-did the all the wave maps for the four different guitars I use, and improved the sound overall, just because I was used to the process and more comfortable with the device itself. I always play solo, so I can’t speak to the band situation.

I would describe myself as someone who is not too anal about the actual sound at the venues in which I play because they are almost always out of my control even if I am bringing my own PA. The different rooms, the different audience noise, the amount of time for setup (or sound-check if there is time for that) all just mean every experience is different. So I try to get the thing set-up the best I can at home and then tweak a little if I have time, but generally not.

One thing I often think of when discussing the Tonedexter and other pre-amps is that the sound of the physical guitar in your hands always colors the sound we hear coming out of the speakers and it’s hard (for me) to be entirely objective about what that preamp is actually doing because I can hear the true acoustic sound of the guitar in the foreground.

Often that takes some of the stink off of the sound of the pickup, but of course the audience is not hearing that acoustic guitar sound, they are hearing what is coming through the speakers.

But I remain a true Tonedexter fanboy and one of the great side benefits of owning one is demonstrating the training process to another player and watching his or her face as the miracle unfolds in the headsets. I love the thing.

[Marshall]

I love it. Don't leave home without it !

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I have discovered that I much prefer the Wave Maps when I have the mic around 14” from the 12th fret...

I found this too. I'm not a fan of extreme close miking - especially with only one microphone. And somehow the WaveMaps created this way (closer than 10-12 inches) end up sounding - odd.