Just got an Alter Ego X4! Fantastic!

1267 Views 13 Replies 6 Participants Last post by tonewoody, May 8, 2018

Moot

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2018 (Edited)

I traded an item for a tc electronic Alter Ego X4 and, for the most part, I couldn't be happier!

Sure, there's a lot of modulation going on, but that's the sound I was looking for: syrupy and thick!
I'm running it in Stereo for best effect and the Modulation sits much better in a Stereo field than in Mono.

I'm loving the whole TonePrint concept. It takes maybe five seconds to swap a new delay in there. The Editor is pretty comprehensive, too.

There are a few drawbacks: no control of the modulation on the 12 pre-sets, no ability to edit the 12 pre-sets, no database of TonePrints created by other users, poor Midi implementation. It's big 9" x 5.5" (but compared to three separate delay pedals plus a looper I feel it's an acceptable size.)

But: there are four TonePrint slots that allow you create your own delays or import other delays. These you can tweak to your heart's content.

The AEX4 + Fuzz = David Gilmour

If you get the opportunity to try one I highly recommended doing so. I'm impressed.

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John Fisher

· #2 · Apr 29, 2018 (Edited)

I have the alter ego and its a blast. glad to know its biger brother is also fun,

Someone asked, I will use this in the front of the amp and an eP3 through the effects loop for more tape delay fun

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Moot

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 29, 2018

A rather ugly picture of my stereo setup. (Vacuum cleaner broke last week - right in time for shedding season!)

Everything before the AEX4 run into both amps set 90% Clean.
I point the cabs at the closest opposite wall and I'm non-literally awash in delay!

Turns out, when you gaze long enough at your shoe, your shoe also gazes at you!

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mhammer

· #4 · Apr 29, 2018

Try reprocessing in mono. That is, feed your guitar to the mono input, then take that output and feed it to the stereo input. Now run your output from the "stereo" output jack to the amp. In reverse delay, you get a mixture of forwards and backwards repeats. Lots more colours to work with.

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Budda

· #5 · Apr 30, 2018

mhammer said:
Try reprocessing in mono. That is, feed your guitar to the mono input, then take that output and feed it to the stereo input. Now run your output from the "stereo" output jack to the amp. In reverse delay, you get a mixture of forwards and backwards repeats. Lots more colours to work with.

*perks up* hm?

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zdogma

· #6 · Apr 30, 2018

The alter egos are really nice pedals, great for ambient stuff and very inexpensive used.

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mhammer

· #7 · Apr 30, 2018

Budda said:
*perks up* hm?

I don't know if it "perks up" the pedal, but I suspect not very many actually use it in true stereo, except for maybe recording. So if those extra jacks are jusat sitting there doing nothing, may as well put them to use.

The Alter Ego is not expressly designed as a reverb pedal, but when you combine the more or less "staggering" of repeats that one gets when reprocessing, you can get some sounds reminiscent of reverb. That is true of pretty much any stereo delay pedal, though I expect there will be some exceptions.

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Moot

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 30, 2018

mhammer said:
Try reprocessing in mono. That is, feed your guitar to the mono input, then take that output and feed it to the stereo input. Now run your output from the "stereo" output jack to the amp. In reverse delay, you get a mixture of forwards and backwards repeats. Lots more colours to work with.

Brilliant idea! I'd not thought of that. I'm off to rewire it right now.
Thanks!

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mhammer

· #9 · Apr 30, 2018

Hardly anyone ever thinks of it, and I rarely see any commercial demos of it in action. So you join a very long lineup.

Let us know what you think.

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Moot

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 30, 2018

mhammer said:
Hardly anyone ever thinks of it, and I rarely see any commercial demos of it in action. So you join a very long lineup.

Let us know what you think.

I tried this for a while - I got some very cool sounds, but my AEX4 makes an electronic whine when I patch it that way. Could easily be something to do with the way the dry signal is remixed.

Then I went back to stereo and got lost in time..., time..., time..., time....

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mhammer

· #11 · Apr 30, 2018

Forum member Zdogma loaned me his Alter Ego (regular unit) for a bit and I did the reprocessing thing, although I hadn't noted any whining. Could have been the limitations of my amp speaker.

Another thing to consider is sticking something else in the reprocessing loop. I have an Echo Park and Line 6 Liqui-Flange, both of which are stereo. I stuck a Foxx Tone machine first, then through one channel of the Liqui-Flange, into one channel of the Echo Park, and back through the Liqui-Flange and other channel of the Echo Park. Hit a power chord, and call in sick to work, because you're not going anywhere until that setup finally dies out.

Something like a Uni-Vibe, or slow phaser, might be nice to insert in the loop. Might even remove the whine.

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tonewoody

· #12 · May 4, 2018

I like your style Moot.
Vacuum breaks down...buy a new pedal!

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Moot

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 7, 2018

tonewoody said:
I like your style Moot.
Vacuum breaks down...buy a new pedal!

I'm on a Gear forum, not a Financial Planning forum!
I feel I made the right choice. HNG^%$

I tried a Vacuum Tube pedal, as a sort of happy medium, but the dog hair smells terrible once the tube heats up.

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tonewoody

· #14 · May 8, 2018

Moot said:
I'm on a Gear forum, not a Financial Planning forum!
I feel I made the right choice. HNG^%$

I tried a Vacuum Tube pedal, as a sort of happy medium, but the dog hair smells terrible once the tube heats up.

Yeah, the early 50's & 60's tube Roombas were pretty evil...

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