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  #1  
Old 09-25-2019, 08:24 PM
jklotz jklotz is offline
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Default Anybody not happy with a Tonedexter?

So I've been reading all these glowing reports of the Tonedexter, and think it may be a good solution to my solo fingerstyle gigs. I'm, however, hesitant, as I've got a drawer full of digital boxes that were supposed to be the end all be all, forum flavor of the week, so to speak. I hate to sound jaded - once bitten, twice shy kind of thing maybe?

So I was curious. How many have bought and later sold or stopped using a Tonedexter? What was the reason?
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Old 09-25-2019, 10:49 PM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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Well, I bought my second one (and an SM-81!) from an AGF member last year, so there be at least one

Mine aren't going anywhere.

I could definitely imagine TD being too much for some. It demands some upfront work and it can be hard to forecast how it might 'play' in challenging rooms. If you have audio skills, you'll probably have more success and control.
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Old 09-26-2019, 03:53 AM
AeroUSA AeroUSA is offline
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I had excellent results when using UST pickups and recording and I plan on buying another one in the future at some point to make an updated review for my YouTube channel since so many people ask me about it lately.

I definitely recommend that you try it for yourself as the results can be truly impressive. You just have to see if it works for the way that you play and with your own sound equipment. You say that you play fingerstyle guitar and I think you might like it a lot for that.

Last edited by AeroUSA; 09-26-2019 at 04:00 AM.
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Old 09-26-2019, 04:39 AM
rmp rmp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jklotz View Post
So I've been reading all these glowing reports of the Tonedexter, and think it may be a good solution to my solo fingerstyle gigs. I'm, however, hesitant, as I've got a drawer full of digital boxes that were supposed to be the end all be all, forum flavor of the week, so to speak. I hate to sound jaded - once bitten, twice shy kind of thing maybe?

So I was curious. How many have bought and later sold or stopped using a Tonedexter? What was the reason?

The tonedexter (IMHO) is unlike any other gadget, effect, pre-amp, stomp box, I've ever owned.

The difference in the sound that thing enables me to get verses NOT having it, is a massive game changer.

Once you dial your guitars in with this device, you aint going back to not using one.. ...ever...
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Old 09-26-2019, 05:38 AM
guitarman68 guitarman68 is offline
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I still prefer dual source through a Grace Felix, or I use a mic on a boom stand combined with pickup through RedEye or Fishman Platinum. Did extensive wavemap work with different mics and position. I like the results and find it quite impressive what this box can do. Still not convinced when it comes to guitar.
When I have to plug in mandolin, banjo, Weissenborn and dobro, TD sounds better than my dual source rig.
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:11 AM
Vancebo Vancebo is offline
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I plan on selling mine. But it’s not because it’s a bad unit. It’s actually really impressive. When I used it and got to hear what it sounds like in the House system at my church it was very very good. I would be quite pleased with true result. I don’t use it because the sound guys report that it is easily covered up by the band. My pickup is a Dazzo. I run it through a Sunnaudio preamp which is pristine. My sound is already fairly mic like. But the sound guys can dial it in easier to cut through the mix. The TD takes a bad sounding piezo and makes it darn near perfect. It Dazzo doesn’t need the type of correcting the TD provides IMO.
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:19 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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8.I bought mine quite a while ago.
Sold it maybe 4 months later.
I play 3 instruments in the band. It was just to much of a pain to bend over change
Presets and tweak EQ every time I swapped Inst.
I think the allure of the thing is its ability to shape Tone for 1 inst. It did not work for me.
It was not the grail promised. I personally have gotten away from piezoelectric pickups all together. So a mic and/or a sound hole pup are much better than a TD for me. The mic is used sparingly. But the piezo pups exponential response as volume increases just got old.
It's the limit of the technology and it can't be changed with any amount of wiz bang box. Ymmv.
I use alot less outboard gear as a result now. Simplifies my life as a working musician and let's me concentrate on my art. Ahhhh.
The comment above about being covered up by the band is spot on. I think the ir tends to shuffle things to the back of the mix.
Again ymmv.

Last edited by varmonter; 09-26-2019 at 06:33 AM.
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:22 AM
jklotz jklotz is offline
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I will admit seeing that Mark Knopfler is using them on his current tour peaked my interest.
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:48 AM
mondoslug mondoslug is offline
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Fortunately or unfortunately, like everything else you won't know until you try one for yourself. Getchu one. I had one for a brief period of time, liked it, didn't love it but will probably get another one at some point.

Not much help.
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Old 09-26-2019, 08:43 AM
tadol tadol is offline
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If you play solo, or with a few others with a more acoustic type of sound, it is a really fantastic accessory. If you are running thru an electric guitar amp, or playing with others using electric instruments, you probably don’t need the tonal quality the TD offers most of the time. It does take a little time to learn and adapt to, but it is time well spent -
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Old 09-26-2019, 10:31 AM
Brent Hahn Brent Hahn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vancebo View Post
When I used it and got to hear what it sounds like in the House system at my church it was very very good. I would be quite pleased with true result. I don’t use it because the sound guys report that it is easily covered up by the band.
My take in a nutshell -- sounds really pretty but disappears in a band.
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Old 09-26-2019, 10:43 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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I bought and returned a ToneDexter because it sounded great at home and great at a gig when I was not soloing. I think today I would know how to resolve my issues.

I am currently loading IRs into an HX Stomp to get to roughly the same place. I have a footswitch assigned to bypassing the IR and the parametric EQ I use with it. I thought I would be switching it off for solos but I think I was able to tweak the IR/EQ combination in ways I could not with ToneDexter. Given all the patches and IRs you can store in the HX Stomp, it seems like a good solution for a multi instrumentalist in a band.

You would still need to generate the raw IRs which I received from Cuki79 for my Parlor and Dreadnought. One option is to use ToneDexter's recording studio slot to generate IRs. That way you bypass their IR post processing for feedback resistance. Read them into your PC and and do a spectrum analysis with one of the many free DAW programs. Then make note of where the 100-200 Hz peaks are in the IR (body effect and top resonance). You can then download the IR into the IR pedal of choice or use ToneDexter, and feed that to parametric EQ to handle those peaks trading off feedback resistance, tone, and punch for what sounds best to you. 40% IR, -6 dB body effect, -3 dB top resonance was the sweet spot for my ears and works well playing a solo at high volume.

The HX Stomp is my graphic EQ, IR pedal, parametric EQ, reverb, solo boost compressor, and looper all in one box.

For people with simpler requirements or larger pedal boards, ToneDexter is a fantastic product.
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Last edited by jonfields45; 09-26-2019 at 03:46 PM.
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Old 09-26-2019, 11:39 AM
gfirob gfirob is offline
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I use a Tonedexter with four different guitars (Martin OM, National resonator, Kalamazoo KG 14 and a National/Gibson slope dread) each with its own wavemap. Performing I usually only use two or three of those, and the reset for each guitar is fairly simple, but I don't have it on the floor on a pedal board, I have it on a heavy duty music stand at hand.

I also often run an electric guitar through the system, with the Tonedexter on bypass when I do so.

I am a long-time fan and I think if you are an acoustic solo player or solo duet player the Tonedexter is just about essential. I don't play in a band, but the complaint about a Tonedexterized acoustic having a problem cutting through multiple instruments seems to be fairly common. Sounds like that is not its optimum use, but I have never tried it in that situation.

But if you want your acoustic guitar to sound like it does through a microphone, the Tonedexter is the best way to get there right now.
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  #14  
Old 09-26-2019, 12:35 PM
rmp rmp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gfirob View Post
. I don't play in a band, but the complaint about a Tonedexterized acoustic having a problem cutting through multiple instruments seems to be fairly common. Sounds like that is not its optimum use, but I have never tried it in that situation.
I'm in a trio, we're doing some tunes with an acoustic. I am using my TD, I'm piping one line out (xlr) to a Bose S1 so I can hear it, the unbalanced out goes to the board, then out to the FOH

we all agree the acoustic guitar in this setup, sounds very natural and good..

no issues with tone getting squashed. I think the fact that we're a trio helps that tho
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:14 PM
shufflebeat shufflebeat is offline
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I've been using the TD fairly regulatly in both solo and band scenarios. It is fair to say that care must be taken to make wavemaps suitable for both jobs.

The most versatile has been using an sm57 with a soundhole plug fitted, solved problems, didn't cause others.

I still found the TD not as well equipped as my old Yamaha AG Stomp for solving issues in more hostile environments so I ended up combining both, first using the TD's FX loop and then just in series.

Last weekend I just used the AG Stomp at a solo gig and found myself really liking the sound, both more musical and less prone to resonance and feedback.

Hope that helps.
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Last edited by shufflebeat; 09-26-2019 at 03:36 PM.
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