Milkman, that sounds pretty great. I've always used modelling pedals into amps, with the amp pre's running in the loops, and have never found them satisfactory. But this go-it-alone approach seems like a nice way to travel light. I might have to seek out one of the ToneLab units and have my way with it.
I've some questions for you if you don't mind. Why'd you go with the LE over the SE? I'm a sucker for expression pedals so the two pedal model has a little more draw. I believe you mentioned before the model you went with had a better A/D converter. I've found that each unit I've owned in the past (GT-6 and before that the RP2000) had it's "thing" -- the GT did a good approximation of Boss stomp boxes for example. How does the ToneLab do on "the Vox tone" -- has it got a good, chimey AC30 model in it?
Hey thanks for checking the clips out.
Actually going direct is the best way to get the most out of these things as long as you have the monitoring element taken care of.
I went with the LE because of the improved resolution and because they eliminated the A/B switch (annoying as he11 to me) as well as because of the reduced size. Of course I nullified that advantage by mounting it on a pedalboard anyway.
As for the added expression pedal, for the most part I use volume or wah and this is easily assigned with the one pedal. I really never found myself using two pedals at once.
Also there are a few new effects.
Really I was quite happy when I had an SE. I just tried this one and liked the presets better so I grabbed it.
As for the Vox models, I hate to admit it, but I really haven't assessed the unit from that perspective. I don't start from scratch (build my tones from the amp up) but rather modify existing presets. I don't even pay attention to the model used in the presets.