3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 26, 2018 12:29:47 GMT
I hate those pencil sharpeners too!
But the Vaporizer has some character. I guess it's quirky. For me though, I'm really digging the non-master volume aspect. It's like riding a bike with no gears again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2018 12:34:44 GMT
I had one of those bikes when I was a kid, saltee. To be honest, it's a miracle I have children.
|
|
|
|
Post by DerAlex on Jan 26, 2018 13:14:46 GMT
Nice links saltee. I was looking at these the other day. My Fender amp's speaker is hard wired so I was thinking about putting jacks on it to fit an attenuator box. I'll read a bit more now! I think a 100Watt L-Pad would be better - I know Monacor do them too - but I cannot seem to find them on Farnells site. MusikDing.de has them in 100W: www.musikding.de/Attenuator-100W-8-OhmThey also have interesting guitar and bass pedal kits. ;-) |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2018 13:30:45 GMT
|
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 27, 2018 11:18:56 GMT
Sooo.....
I spent an hour or so playing it side by side against my Katana 50 last night (using my new AB/Y switcher).
I'm in 2 minds whether to keep it or not
- It really doesn't do much that my Katana cannot do. The Katana cleans have a lot more low end that are impossible to dial in on the Vape - the single tone control there really only acting as a filter for the high mids. The default Katana clean is modeled after a JC something-or-other - inoffensive but with a lot of clarity. I was surprised on how much low end I could dial in on the Kat running on 25watt mode. The Vape has more mids than a regular traditional Fender clean (hence not a good match for a tubescreamer type pedal).
- The hum and hiss on the Vape annoy me somewhat. The hum is 50 cycle (so tubes and/or general screening) and the hiss is really the reverb tank. There is also a little bit of feedback at a certain frequency from the reverb. None of this is particularly loud and gets lost anyway when starting to play. It's kinda like the hum of a fridge. It is noticeable however in comparison to the entirely silent Kat (note Kat does hiss on high-gain patches but that's expected).
- Where the Vape wins is on the overdrive/distortion tone that I get with my Digitech Screamnin Blues. I can get very close with the Kat onboard BD2 effect but it just lacks a little in responsiveness. The pedal into the Kat clean is okay too but (especially on single coils) harsher than the Vape (needs pedal highs dialed way back).
- The Vape natural tube distortion is an unruly thing. I haven't really opened it up at the loud volumes necessary to appreciate it properly. Other have speculated that some Vaporizer specimens break up earlier than others. This may well be the case. My amp has Ruby tubes installed - I'm not sure if that's the case for all of them.
- One thing which tends to motivate me to return the amp is the size of the thing. It's wider than I expected being a fraction wider than a Fender Deluxe. (Yeah I know the measurements are there for all to see). If I keep it I'm going to have to lose my old Laney Keyboard amp to make space for it.
As I said I'm still in two minds... for now I'm telling the kids that no they can not use the box for their 'secret base'!
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2018 11:38:40 GMT
Sounds like the box is more versatile than the amp, saltee.
|
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 27, 2018 12:06:28 GMT
Perhaps that's true Jef... It's certainly not as versatile as the Stage 112se which can also double as a Bass Amp at practice volumes.
I've been playing it in a stereo set-up with Katana too and that really opens up some interesting sounds...hmmm
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2018 12:17:47 GMT
Yes, that sounds interesting. Are you layering the sounds or ping ponging them? Layering is a great trick because you can use as much or as little of each as you desire. And recording both is even more versatile because then you can either layer, AB, or slightly retard one of them in the DAW and pan them hard left and right to give an excellently synchronized twin guitar sound. What I really love to do with that latter option is to record a second take with some slight variations and drop in the odd variation here and there so it sounds like it must be a duplicated guitar line but then magically can't be because, hey listen, there was a variation just there. Makes you sound like a genius player  . |
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 27, 2018 13:03:26 GMT
Just layering so far. I'll need to wire up my Zoom multifx through my mini mixer in order to get ping-pong. The Zoom is stereo but the output plug is a TRS connector. Or maybe I have a TRS to 2 x TS adaptor somewhere.....
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2018 13:08:24 GMT
Find it...find it...  |
|
|
|
Post by DerAlex on Jan 28, 2018 15:27:24 GMT
I will return my Vaporizer - just too loud for my situation - didn´t test it really further to evaluate the sounds or what can be achieved with it. I heard that changing the Ruby tubes to JJ ones improves the sound a lot (just the preamp tubes).
|
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 28, 2018 17:21:33 GMT
I still haven't decided. It's loud but can be tamed nicely with a pedal....and it's quite light for the size of it - so portable enough.
|
|
|
|
Post by DerAlex on Jan 28, 2018 20:22:59 GMT
I tested it with a volume pedal and that sounded really sh1tty. I think I will wait and see what comes up on the horizon. The low price is quite tempting though. But maybe the Stage 112 would be a better alternative for me.
|
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on Jan 28, 2018 20:52:52 GMT
The Stage 112 is even louder! Mine rarely ventures beyond 2 on the volume control. Perhaps a lower power head with a separate 12 inch cabinet might be the job.
|
|
|
|
Post by DerAlex on Jan 29, 2018 8:06:41 GMT
The Stage 112 is even louder! Mine rarely ventures beyond 2 on the volume control. Perhaps a lower power head with a separate 12 inch cabinet might be the job. Ok, thanks for the info. Just sold my Tubemeister 5 which was really great - but I wanted a combo. Seller´s remorse already kicking in. :-( |
|
.