Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I bought a Vox Tone Lab a few weeks ago and...dang! This thing does amazing things to the tone of my Ricks, especially my 360/6 and 12 VP's. Want "the sound" from your 330 or 360/12? I'll bet you can get really close with this box. With my 620 and 650 I can get all kinds of cool tones. I use it in front of my amps as well as in my studio. Here's a question: If I dial in the AC 15 TB model on the Tonelab and then run it into a real AC 15 TB, do I have an AC 30?

OK, now for the bad news. I got hooked on a Gibson ES 335 dot neck that Steve had on display at Wildwood Guitars. So...uh, I guess I'm not getting a fifth Rickenbacker until next summer:-( I feel like a bit of a traitor, but the 335 is pretty amazing. I hope you don't ban me from the forum, Peter.

song from my new CD at:
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer
photo of my new guitar (50k)
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/es335.jpg

A 335 is right up there with a Rick for my fave guitar of all time. Such a completely different tone but very complementary.

There are a few irritating things about my new Gibson that may not surprise you; while this new 335 is nicely finished and sounds absolutely killer, there are some minor niggles that separates it from my four Ricks in terms of attention to detail. The setup on the new Gibson was an absolute joke (that's OK, I prefer doing this myself...but for 2 grand you'd think someone at the setup and inspection booth would care). Also, there was glue from the nut that had run down the fingerboard binding on the treble side making a rough edge. A little wet 'n dry solved that, but again %-( Also, the neck binding has an ugly stain on the butt end that runs parallel to the neck pickup. I own three other Gibsons and, except for my expensive Historic Les Paul, the others had similar minor issues. I own four Ricks and have not seen this kind of sloppy workmanship in any of them. Having said that, there are some inherent design flaws in my 360's (poor bridge placement causing intonation problems...well documented in this forum) and my 650 Dakota had an output jack that was designed to short out because the tip of the cable's plug touched a bare wire inside the guitar's cavity when you plugged it in. All of these things give us guitar tweekers plenty of challenges to keep us busy.

Did you have a chance to try out a Heritage 535 before you pulled the trigger on the Gibson?

John:

I did look at the Heritage H535. Very nice, indeed. I played a couple at Roman's shop in Vegas. I really like the sound of the new Memphis 335s, though, and the 60's profile neck is my absolute favorite. So, I opted for the Gibson. Steve at Wildwood Guitars here in Colorado always gives his customers great deals! It ended up costing about $400 more than the Heritage.

I saw 1964 The Tribute perform last night and they were using Vox Tonelabs.

I've seen 1964 play, and I've met them. They told me they used to use all vintage VOX amps and stuff, but it was costing way too much to take them on planes and stuff with them, so they switched to the Tonelabs to save on freight weight costs. They still have amazing tones that match the Beatles stuff incredibly! When I heard them play "I Feel Fine" I nearly lost my mind from that great guitar sound!

I, myself, have a VOX Valvetronix AD120 Combo. I think it's got everything the Tonelab has, but I could be wrong. I love that amp!!

Just bought a Vox ToneLab myself - what a great piece of gear! My 330/12 FG absolutely chimes through it.