ToneDexter - The Holy Grail!

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

There was a time when I'd use a chorus/plate reverb combination to fill out the sound on slower picking tunes. That just doesn't seem as necessary or useful with a Dexterized signal.

Well I can't wait for mine then.
Simplifying is always a good thing.

[Christopher Cozad]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

There was a time when I'd use a chorus/plate reverb combination to fill out the sound on slower picking tunes. That just doesn't seem as necessary or useful with a Dexterized signal.

Well said.

The most commonly used effects in a typical amplified acoustic guitar setting: A chorus, in an attempt to hide (or hope to mask) that nasty piezo quack, and some reverb to simulate the air / body tone that is utterly missing from piezo-electric transducers, most notably the Under Saddle types.

That is not to say that some reverb will not be effective, especially in larger venues, at reproducing some spatial presence, regardless of the pickup in use. But with the ToneDexter the player does not have to work so diligently at adding outboard effects just to overcome the audio reproduction deficiencies of the pickup.

If you want to go to the next level, please check out the Ultra Tonic pickup from James May Engineering. The first of it's kind to both make up for the dreadfully quiet 1st string and add user-configuarable feedback suppression. I understand that most players never need high volume levels but, for those who do: as of the introduction of this game changing pickup, it is no longer necessary to rely upon a UST (let alone a magnetic) for higher volumes (such as in a large venue or in a band or group setting).

You can get the articulation of an SBT with enhanced string-to-string balance, as well as the first ever customizable feedback control, all in a passive design. In the event you didn't pick this up, I am completely enamored with this pickup! The Ultra Tonic, coupled with the ToneDexter, is the closest I have yet come to a mic'd guitar. In this link, I added a SoundCloud file where you can listen to three recording sources to compare:

Pickup Comparison: Shure Mic, LR Baggs Anthem, JME Ultra Tonic

[varmonter]

Well got my TD a couple of days ago.
Yesterday I sat down and saved about 8
Different wavemaps. With an mxl 603s
And a shure sm81. With the headphones the
81 seemed better. I also tried the sunrise pup.
My guitar came with two holes drilled. I have
A KK and a sunrise installed. Generating
wavemaps with the mag pup wasnt great
As expected. But generating with KK then
Playing the mag pup with the KK wavemaps.
Seems promising. Tonight I have a gig so
I am reserving comment on the TD until
After I try it live tonight. But it sounded
Pretty good through the headphones.
More stuff to play with wooot..!!

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Well got my TD a couple of days ago.
Yesterday I sat down and saved about 8
Different wavemaps. With an mxl 603s
And a shure sm81. With the headphones the
81 seemed better. I also tried the sunrise pup.
My guitar came with two holes drilled. I have
A KK and a sunrise installed. Generating
wavemaps with the mag pup wasnt great
As expected. But generating with KK then
Playing the mag pup with the KK wavemaps.
Seems promising. Tonight I have a gig so
I am reserving comment on the TD until
After I try it live tonight. But it sounded
Pretty good through the headphones.
More stuff to play with wooot..!!

Well my first outing fell somewhat shy of
my expectations. All 8 wavemaps seemed
A bit tinny to me .. quite jangly. Although
Not bad enough to not use the thing
last night. I used the KK pup ..the sunrise didn't sound good.I am thinking perhaps an investment
In better headphones might improve my mic
Placement. If not tonedexter may be in the agf
Classifieds soon.. h

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Well my first outing fell somewhat shy of
my expectations. All 8 wavemaps seemed
A bit tinny to me .. quite jangly. Although
Not bad enough to not use the thing
last night. I used the KK pup ..the sunrise didn't sound good.I am thinking perhaps an investment
In better headphones might improve my mic
Placement. If not tonedexter may be in the agf
Classifieds soon.. h

Perhaps you should hold out for at least one more firmware upgrade? Are you not eligible for the 30 day return?

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Well my first outing fell somewhat shy of
my expectations. All 8 wavemaps seemed
A bit tinny to me .. quite jangly. Although
Not bad enough to not use the thing
last night. I used the KK pup ..the sunrise didn't sound good.I am thinking perhaps an investment
In better headphones might improve my mic
Placement. If not tonedexter may be in the agf
Classifieds soon.. h

As a general rule, I'd expect the miked sound to be less bassy than the Pure Mini sound unaltered. If you want extra bass, and can't get that from mic position manipulation, you can always EQ the mic signal for more bass. I'd expect that would be an invitation for feedback in high volume situations, however.

You could also try training at slot 22, as training in that slot doesn't involve any reduction of the signal at the guitar's lower resonant frequencies. Once again, your signal will be more feedback prone than if you'd trained in a different slot. It may be preferable, however, if feedback resistance isn't a priority in your situation.


I got to hear a young player use my ToneDexter rig last night. In my case, I was quite pleased with the sound. I'll try to post a couple of short vids once I get them processed.

[guitaniac]

https://youtu.be/zgxQ3Vqh49o

This one is picking and strumming with a flatpick. The player is Chase Johanson, a young singer-songwriter and college student who is home on Christmas break. He asked for a bit of a mid cut, so I boosted the bass 1.5db and boosted the treble 2.5db. (I prefer it flat.)


https://youtu.be/fXXNHI9H-ME

This one is a bit of bare-fingered picking. The pickup is a passive Barbera Soloist. I made the mistake of using a longer (20') cable with it last night. (I trained the WaveMap with a 10' cable), but it doesn't seem to have made much difference. The passive Soloist puts out a whopping signal.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

You could also try training at slot 22, as training in that slot doesn't involve any reduction of the signal at the guitar's lower resonant frequencies. Once again, your signal will be more feedback prone than if you'd trained in a different slot. It may be preferable, however, if feedback resistance isn't a priority in your situation.
.

All 8 wavemaps were trained in slot 22..

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Perhaps you should hold out for at least one more firmware upgrade? Are you not eligible for the 30 day return?

What firmware are they on now. I think mine
Says 1.2 when I boot it.

[AeroUSA]

1.2 is the latest. You should also try a couple of maps that were not created in slot 22 and using the different mic positions shown in the tutorial videos.

http://audiosprockets.com/video-demos/

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

1.2 is the latest. You should also try a couple of maps that were not created in slot 22 and using the different mic positions shown in the tutorial videos.

http://audiosprockets.com/video-demos/

I did try all those mic positions and then some.all in slot 22 though
Ok I might be able to try that tomorrow.
But can't test it live for a few days.
Picked up some nice Nc Bt headphones.
Listening to Jason isbell and typing this.

[AeroUSA]

Stick with it. You can get some amazing results! Let us know how it goes.

[varmonter]

i have a stereo matched pair of mxl603.
condensor mics. i am thinking of running
these through my unpowered mackie board
into the tonedexter. any reason i shouldn't
try this?

[AeroUSA]

I think you should try one mic in the three positions that James’ videos suggest and not in slot 22 to start with. Then use the onboard eq or a mixer to shape the tone a little.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by varmonter

i have a stereo matched pair of mxl603.
condensor mics. i am thinking of running
these through my unpowered mackie board
into the tonedexter. any reason i shouldn't
try this?

Be careful not to send an overly hot signal to ToneDexter. Its no doubt designed to deal mostly with mic level signals.

I doubt that ToneDexter's phantom power will harm your mixer, but don't have enough expertise to be sure.