Leslie simlulators

Rich Gibson · From: Pittsburgh Pa.

Hi, I,m looking for some feedback on the leslie simulators in some of the commonly used preamp/effectprocessors.GP-100 2112 MPX-100 etc.I used a real leslie for a recent
recording project & it really came out great.
Can you get the sound from a box?Or better said,how close? As always,I truly thank one & all.

Rich Gibson

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Rich
I used to haul around a full size Leslie and it sounded GREAT. But I got tired of trying to carry it around and fit into a car's trunk, etc. So I got me a PE Jr, 3x5 box in 1972 and still have it. It is pretty close to the organ sound, good enough for me....al

Dennis Boyd · From: Suisun City, CA USA

Rich,
The Gtr Vibrto (Program 24) sounds pretty good for fast Leslie on the Peavey Profex-II.
Round Sound (Program 25) for slow Leslie.

Dennis

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

The Digitech RPM-1 does a great simulation. I had one for a while. It's a little bit hard to get set up right, but it really kicks butt if you're looking for that "rock Hammond" kind of sound. Reminds me of Rusty Young, Buddy Cage, or the Big E on the Danny Gatton album.

I'm using a rotary patch in the Lexicon MPX 100 now. It sounds real good, but it's not very convenient. When you switch to that patch, you have to turn the Mix knob all the way up, and you don't have any reverb or echo. I'm thinking of adding a second MPX 100 just for rotary effects, turning it on and off with the Bypass switch.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra 8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

Hey b0b, you should spend a few extra bucks and get the Boss VF-1 processor. It is completely amazing, with 24 bit effects, and the leslie is very, very good, with an easy speed control. The only thing it is missing is an insert loop, so you can put the compressor/stomp boxes before the preamp and the time based effects in the efx loop of your amp.

I use this thing in my studio, and it is great. Great reverbs (as good as the Lexicon), very nice amp models for direct recording, and very quiet. It also has a digital out for direct input to the computer.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I have the Boss SX700 Spatial fx processor that has a completely programmable Rotary section.[which is part of the Mod section]. Fast and slow horn and rotor speeds, independent rise and fall times for each, mic placement, overdrive if you want it and you can use an ordinary footswitch to kick between the slow and fast speeds or use as a brake. Pretty authentic rotating sounds, I think. There is no preamp tho, and I don't believe this unit is in production anymore but have seen them used for around $200. It also has delay, reverb, eq, and RSS which is a 3D simulation. All 5 effects are switchable off & on via a front panel button for each effect.

[This message was edited by Jerry Overstreet on 28 August 2000 at 10:47 AM.]

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

b0b, from what I hear on Redneck Jazz Explosion, all the Leslie sounds are coming from Danny. In fact I was wondering after listening to this, and Chalker's playing on Big Hits on Big Steel, that I think Leslie is the only effect I haven't ever heard the Big E use!

Back to the topic, even though I'm selling my RPM-1 which is a rack unit, the closest Leslie simulator I've heard is still the stomp box Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere.

Tommy Detamore · From: Floresville, Texas

I too have a Tube Rotosphere for Leslie sounds. I used it on steel the Doug Sahm record on the first cut. Unfortunately the album is yet to be released in the US, but that's another story. I'm not a huge fan of Leslie'd-steel, but it sounds pretty good to me, and is portable. It is a bit pricey ($499.00 list I believe) but seems to be well made in the German tradition. I found mine used for $200.00. I use it on organ patches all the time here at the studio and in the context of a full mix it works pretty well. The Motion Sound devices are supposed to be good. (They have an actual spinning rotor). The Harmony Central website has some user reviews of this kind of thing.

Hope this helps,

Tommy

Bill Rowlett · From: Russellville, AR, USA

The Lexicon MPX-100 rotary simulator mode is real nice when used with a stereo amp setup. Other than rotary speed, the Leslie parameters are not adjustable unlike some of the other units. As Bob mentioned, there are some problems using it with steel. (1) You have no reverb when in rotary mode. (2) There is no easy way to control the rotor speed other than the adjust knob on the unit. A large part of the Leslie sound is the speed change between chorale and tremolo modes. You need to be able to do this while you are playing with both hands, which means a foot device or other local control is needed. The adjust knob can be MIDI mapped to a controller, but I haven't found a good variable MIDI controller yet that would work easily with a steel.

On the plus side, the rotary speed is continuously variable, which I find more useful than just slow and fast speeds. I have a Hammond XK-2 organ, which has a very good Leslie simulator built in. I map the MPX-100 adjust knob to the Hammond modulation wheel and use the MPX-100 rotary simulator in addition to the internal Hammond Leslie. I love the fingertip control of the rotary speed, but there is no easy way to do this when playing steel. In a mix or live band context, the sound of the MPX-100 rotary simulator is really close to a real Leslie, however, unless you use an additional distortion box, you won't be able to get that tube distortion growl that is a big part of the rock Leslie effect.

Bill

[This message was edited by Bill Rowlett on 29 August 2000 at 08:13 AM.]

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Bill, my Real Tube II preamp provides plenty of "growl" when I need it

. I played with a rock band recently that was knocked out by my MPX 100 stereo leslie sound.

I've discovered that with the 2-speed patches, you can switch from slow to fast by twisting the adjust knob to the other side of the center line. The speed will gradually speed up or slow down while you play. A footswitch would be handier, though.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra 8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

I've used a Boss SE-50 and later a Boss SE-70 which I still use in my stage steel rig.The Leslie patch was fine in the '50 but is a bit nasal and mid-rangey in the '70 and I can't seem to quite tweak that out of it.One thing I like though,about the '70 is the footswitch input(NOT midi)which can be programmed,among other things,to switch leslie speeds-I mounted a switch on the back apron of my steel just like a leslie switch on a B-3 and plug it into the SE-70.
The H&K Rotosphere though,is the best sounding unit I've found yet-especially for it's size.I have one of those too,and I use it with my 6-string stage rig which is a souped-up Fender Blues DeVille w/2-12s. I put the Rotosphere in the amp's EFX loop.It honks. -MJ-

Rich Gibson · From: Pittsburgh Pa.

My sincere thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond.I kind of figured that the stand alone units(RPM-1, Rottosphere)would probably be most effective, but I really hate to clog up my signal path with a one trick box that won't see all that much use.It is a cool effect to have in the arsenal& can go along way to sell the instrument-in my circles most people have never even seen a steel guitar let alone shared a bandstand(Heathens!) The MPX-100 in particular(cheap & plentifull on ebay) and the VF-1 sound like good bets-how about the GP-100 or the GX-700?

Thanks Again
Rich Gibson

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

I haven't tinkered with my GX-700 enough to get a real good Leslie sound. There is a factory Leslie patch, but it doesn't sound that great. I'd like to hear from someone that has tweaked that patch to their satisfaction.

Jerry Gleason · From: Eugene, Oregon, USA

I was never able to get a satisfactory Leslie sound from my GX-700. I have seen the aforementioned Digitech RPM-1 on sale at Musician's Friend for about 150 bucks, which is a pretty good deal.

I can get a pretty good Leslie sound from my Peavey Max 100 processor, although it's not a box that I would generally recommend for pedal steel.

If you want to hear what it sounds like, I used in on this home recording:
Low life 2.2 MB Mp3

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

The Peavey DeltaFex unit has a rotary speaker simulator as one of it's settings. Not too bad. But, at the time I was using a DOD 565 stereo chorus as a leslie simulator. Got a lot of good comments about the DOD 565 including several that said it had the old "B2" sound.

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

If you want the real deal & not just another
simulator...the Motion Sound Pro 3T is it.
The horn actually revolves & it's portable!

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