ToneX Pedal With Fender FRFR Review



Here's a quick review of my new setup which features the ToneX pedal coupled with the Fender 12" FRFR powered cabinet.
  • The Fender FRFR cabinet weighs about 25 pounds and is very compact
  • Tilt back legs are included
  • No cover is provided (not a concern, just information)
  • The tweed covering is really sharp and adds a nice vintage touch to my studio
  • I use a popular amp stand and thankfully the back is solid and rests firmly on the stand with no modifications
  • I've added a pic of a nice tool box (in the background) I bought at Lowes for storing all my miscellaneous electronic gear. It was $100 off and sold for $399 and has soft close doors and interior pads for each shelf. Home depot and others have similar setups but this has turned out to be the best storage option I've ever had. The toolbox top makes for a great work bench.
  • I purchased this amp from a major retailer for $699 including tax and shipping
  • Amp input can be either an unbalanced phone plug or an XLW cable. The ToneX pedal however only provides a 1/4" phone input

Some useful links:






Review Summary

I did a review of the ToneX pedal as a stand alone unit without an FRFR amp and you can check that out at the link posted above. This review uses the ToneX pedal coupled with a Fender FRFR amp and you can hear this setup in the sound samples below. The other big change here is that I now use the XSONIC AIRSTEP TX Edition to control the ToneX from my iPhone (also can use Andoid phones or IPAD). Otherwise a MAC or PC computer is required for remote control and the iPhone is much more handy and compact! I don't use any of the other functions provided by the AIRSTEP but you can see what else it can do by clicking on the AIRSTEP link above. I consider the AIRSTEP a more than worthwhile purchase just for the remote control function alone! Check out the pics below to see how quickly you can view and change presets, preset settings and effects settings. Setup is a breeze but it does require 9 vdc power and USB cabling.

I know that the ToneX pedal is not very user friendly but it's very powerful and has decent if not limited effects. I use the ToneX software to sign on to ToneNet, search and download steel related models then use ToneX editor to drag these models into my presets. See the sound sample table below see which presets I found usable for steel guitar, some from ToneNet and some from the built in ToneX pedal. All needed a lot of tweaking to get close to what I needed to use for pedal steel.

1) I've gotten great sounds from the ToneX pedal standalone by feeding it directly to my Zoom R24. This new setup so far has given me useful sounds, IMHO a bit better than I was able to get from the new Peavey Nashville Session amp. I still prefer a regular combo amp like the Peavey Nashville 400, Webb 6-14-E or Fender Steel King for studio and live use. These combo amps just seem to have a more lively sound and a more balanced sound to my ears for Pedal Steel and require very tweaking effort for different venues.

2) What you hear in my sample sounds is the quite raw sound with no attempt at leveling, EQ or adding stereo effects in Reaper to fatten up the sound! With some mastering effort I can pretty much make these sound big, wide, even and alive but that would not represent what I am hearing in the near field at my guitar with the amp a few feet away.

3) Obviously I need to try out the awesome models provided by Joe Rogers and maybe those will bring this thing to life! I'll post some updates here when I get around to that.




Sound Samples



Here's some sound samples from my first week of playing through this ToneX/amp combination. All samples use the Goodrich volume pedal with a Dunlop Hotpotz, Hall of Fame reverb set on "Church (Hall)", then into the Tone X pedal. The Fender FRFR was captured a Shure SM-57 with an inline premap onto a Zoom R24 then ported to Reaper to convert them to mp3 files at 320 kbps. Both of my Studio Projects VTP-1 preamp boxes died so I bought a Triton Audio FetHead in-Line Microphone Preamp from Amazon that works flawlessly with the Zoom inputs. No hiss and 48 volt phantom powered from the Zoom. The ToneX has a really nice Plate reverb but I ilke the Hall oF Fame reverb a bit more and I also like the tone I get with the Hall of Fame pedal buffering the signal chain. Guitar is an MSA D-10 with Alumitone pickups.



Selection
Recording Method
 		Comments
Shure SM57
 Preset 2C, Fender Twin Reverb (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 3B, Peavey Nashville 112 from ToneNet
Shure SM57
 Preset 3C, Milkman Jupiper Alnico from ToneNet
Shure SM57
 Preset 4A,CGT22 Small Watter Edge nrm (Little Walter 22W) from ToneNet
Shure SM57
 Preset 4B, DLX 65*, Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 4C, BMAN 59, Fender '59 Bassman LTD (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 5A, Clean?, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 5B, DMBL B, Dumble Overdrive Special #0080 (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 5C, TWINY, Fender Twin Reverb (stock preset)
Shure SM57
 Preset 6A, DualB, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (stock preset)

There are quite a few pictures below. Click on them to see them full size or at least sized to a browser window. Click on the picture again if needed to zoom in even more!







Comments? email webmaster Greg


Home